Picture Imperfect (Niall Horan)

28 - Niall

28 – Niall

“Niall?Niall.Niall!”

I look up; breaking from the trance I was in. Parker is smiling at me kindly. “Yeah?”

“Could you stop that tapping please?”

I hadn’t even noticed that my fingers were tapping on the armrest of the seat. “Sorry,” I mutter and look out the window of the plane. I am itching to call Cassie, but I’ve got to have some dignity left, right?

Oh, screw it. I’m calling her. I don’t know when we will be back from Chicago and I can’t leave without knowing she doesn’t hate me. She said she didn’t, but then why wouldn’t she just tell me what’s wrong? Cassie is a happy person, and even if she’s not she pretends she is. This isn’t her. This isn’t the Cassie I fell in love with.  The Cassie I want would run into my arms and tell me what’s wrong. She might not do it willingly but she would do it. Something is making her shut down more than usual and it truly breaks my heart not knowing.

I press the call button and try not to start tapping my fingers again. When I get her voicemail, I’m not as surprised as I should be. A little part of me wanted to leave her a message, but I didn’t. From the corner of my eye I see Zayn looking at me. His eyes travel from my phone, and then he meets my eyes again, eyebrows rose.  I just shake my head, telling him that she won’t talk to me. He motions his head over, so I stand up and take a seat next to him.

“Nothing from Cassie?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Wait…how did you know? Has she spoken to you?”

“Mate, she hasn’t spoken to anyone,” he says, shaking his head.

I groan. “I thought she trusted me. She told me she does but obviously not.”

“She does, I know she does.” Zayn claps a hand on my shoulder and leans in closer, lowering his voice. “I see the way she looks at you.”

“What way?” I gape.

“Like you’re the one person in her life that she needs the most. She might not know it, but I do. I see it.”

I don’t answer.

“Niall, why is it so hard for you to believe that she might actually love you as much as you love her?” Zayn seems almost frustrated.

“Because!” I exclaim. “Because someone as amazing as her would never be interested in someone like me. That’s why.”

He rolls his eyes. “That has to be the most shit answer I’ve ever heard.”

I sigh and lean back into the seat and mutter, “It’s true.”

“You know you can talk to be about her right? I won’t get mad.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

Zayn turns his body so he is fully facing me. “You can, Niall. I don’t care.”

“Don’t say you don’t care. You can tell me that you don’t have feelings for her and you just want to be friends, but don’t say you don’t care. Of course you care. That’s what you do, Zayn. You care. A lot.”

Zayn purses his lips. “Alright, fine. I do care. But we’re best mates.”

“Yeah, we are, and that’s exactly why I can’t talk about her with you,” I say.

“What do you mean?” How does he not understand this?

“Mate, we’re like brothers. You dated her, you broke up, and then I kissed her. If you were someone else, I would come to you all the time. Liam, Louis and Harry haven’t dated Cassie; they never felt feelings for her. You did. So no, I can’t talk to you about her.”