I am so sorry.
Leah pulled a sweatshirt over her head and stumbled to her bed. She could hear Meaghan flipping pages and tearing things. The faint smell of glue hung in the air.
“Are you working on the scrapbook?” Leah asked, leaning against the wall and hugging her knees to her chest.
“Yeah.”
Harry and Louis had passed out around eleven, which was when Liam began rounding everyone up and getting them into cars. He hadn’t let Meaghan out of his sight.
“Are you scared, Meg?” Leah asked softly.
Meaghan didn’t pretend to misunderstand. She finished gluing in a picture and sat down next to Leah.
“It’s not going to be painful,” she lied. In fact, Meaghan had no idea what it would be like. “But you’ll be fine, right? You’re a fighter, Leah.”
Leah rested her chin on her knees and shrugged. Meaghan ran her hands through her friend’s hair and hugged her. A tap on the window broke the silence of the night. The girls pulled away as another tap was head. Meaghan lunged toward the window and opened it warily.
“What the—? NIALL, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? GET OFF THE SWING!”
“Where’s Leah? I’m tryna serenade her,” Niall called up. He strummed his guitar immediately.
“What if I told you she’s asleep?”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Well, you probably just woke her up with your hollerin’, didn’t ya?” He was starting to get irritated. “Could you just get her to the window?”
Leah, having followed the voices, leaned slightly out the window. Niall beamed as Meaghan backed away.
She rubbed her temples and muttered, “This is turning into a horror story.”
“Meaghan, come listen,” Leah whispered as Niall began to sing.
I’m broken, do you hear me?
“Leah, this is so cheesy. If you don’t tell him to shut up, I will.”
I’m blinded, ‘cause you’re the only one I see.
His voice faltered on “blinded”.
“I’m so tempted to throw something at him,” Meaghan muttered to Leah, who giggled and shushed her. Niall began the chorus, staring at the brunette hopefully.
“He might as well propose while he’s down there. I don’t think he could possibly make this any more awkward.”
“If I’m louder,” the boy sang. “Would you…see..me…” His voice trailed off as his face flushed crimson. For a minute or two, the only sound was the crickets chirping. Finally, Meaghan spoke up.
“I’ve been proved wrong. He did manage to make it more awkward,” she mumbled before yelling down. “Is there anything else you’d like to point out? No? Then why don’t you leave before you let something else slip?”
“This has gone horribly wrong. I was gonna sing ‘I Wish’ to her,” Niall insisted.
“Oh, you mean the one where you ask her why she won’t look at you lovingly or whatever?”
Leah dissolved into a fit of laughter. “That’s my favorite line! Niall, I’d look at you however you wanted me to, but you’d have to tell me exactly where you are first!”
Meaghan glanced down at Niall, who looked on the verge of tears. “I assume you had a purpose in coming here. Why don’t you share it?”
Niall blinked at the sudden lifeline. “Leah, will you be my…you know…girlfriend?”
Leah nodded and shouted down, “I don’t think you could’ve taken any more time.”
“Lucky you didn’t wait until the day after her wedding to ask her,” Meaghan added.
Niall laughed and scratched the back of his head.
“Do you want to come down?” he asked Leah.
“I’m not chucking my friend out the second floor just so you can live out your fantasies,” Meaghan said as she pulled Leah back into the room. “Good night, Niall. You can see her in the morning.”
Niall whooped and ran off to his own house. Meaghan sighed, amused.
“Alright, Leah, time for bed.” Meaghan flipped the light switch and lay down on her own bed.
“Do you trust him, Meg?” Leah asked in a small voice. “Can you trust him with me?”
“Trust has to be earned, Leah. He’s done nothing to make me not trust him, but he’s also done nothing to show how dependable he is either,” Meaghan explained. “I can tell you this, though. He’s a good person.”
Leah smiled at her friend’s approval before mumbling a “good night” and curling up under her blanket.
