Picture Imperfect (Niall Horan)

33 - Cassie

33 – Cassie

My heart races as I pull into the parking lot, rethinking going in there for the millionth time since I got in the car. I know everyone is leaving for Miami and I don’t want to let them go without saying goodbye like last time. I care about everyone here and I think it’s the right thing to do to wish them luck.

I take a deep breath and step on the bus, looking around. Clothes and open suitcases are everywhere; they must be packing before they leave for the airport. Liam, Zayn, Louis and Niall are on the couch. They look up at me when I enter and I smile at them before my eyes find Niall’s. This sounds incredibly cliché, but it appears as it time slows down and no one else is around us. His blue eyes find my brown ones and it pains me to see the saddened look in his eyes. I know Niall well enough to tell what he’s feeling.

Guilt consumes me when I remember that it’s my fault he’s so upset. I didn’t come after him after he left my apartment after seeing Will and I together. Not together, but I know it hurt Niall. Something inside me ceased me from chasing after him, begging him to let me explain that there is nothing going on between Will and I. But I didn’t. I just stood there.

*****   

“Hey,” Will says as he walks in. I smile at him. The only reason I called him was because he made a very good first impression, and I need more friends now that I’m going through a difficult time.

“Thanks for coming over.” I close the door behind him and silently follow him as he looks around my apartment.

“Nice place,” he compliments and an emotion I can’t name washes over me. That’s basically the same thing Niall said when he first came here.

“Thanks,” I mutter. “Can I get you something to drink?”

Will looks at me. “Geez, Cassie, we’re just hanging out. It doesn’t have to be formal or anything.”

“I know,” I awkwardly laugh. “Sorry.”

“You okay?”

I shrug, not wanting to share my personal issues with someone I hardly know. “I’m just not feeling like myself lately. It’s not a big deal.”

Will looks at me for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to believe me, and then he just nods and sits down. “Want to watch a movie?”

I nod. There has been so much drama lately it feels so good to do something normal. “I would love that. I’ll order a pizza too.”

Will and I end up watching Frozen, because he’s never seen it. “This actually isn’t a horrible movie,” he admits, fighting a smile. He’s sitting fairly close to me on the couch. Our hands brushed together once, and Will flushed slightly, but I felt…nothing. I felt nothing at all. The doorbell rings and I jump up, Will behind me. I grab the money from the table by the door and open it, expecting it to be the pizza. But it’s not.

It’s Niall.

“Cassie,” he sighs, a smile forming on his lips. Oh my God, what will Niall think when he sees that Will is here? I look back at him and then at Niall.

“Niall, I…” I choke.

“Is that the pizza?” Will asks, stepping behind me so Niall can see him. The look on Niall’s face goes from hopeful to absolutely despondent. I must be imagining the wetness in his eyes.

“Niall…” I whisper, wanting to comfort him and wanting to know what he was going to say if I had been alone tonight. It’s silent for a moment before Will breaks the silence.