Everything I Never Asked For

Chapter 29

NIALL'S POV

"Well, they're missing so obviously no one knows for sure, right?" The night wind begins to pick up, carrying the clouds in with them.

"Wrong. I know for sure that they are alive."

I suddenly feel extremely uncomfortable. Like I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time. I shouldn't know this. Why did you have to be nosy Niall?

"What?"

"They aren't dead." He repeats even slower and softer.

"And that has to do with me why?"

"It's not directly you. It's your dad."
The tips of my fingers are cold. I try to make sense of how my dad would have anything to do with this. I didn't even know Jade until she moved here.

"Your dad knows what happened to them. He helped them. And he still is. If she finds out, it's going to be a ginormous wreck that you don't want to get caught in. I'm just trying to help you ok. I wanted to keep you out of this mess, but you're leaving me no choice. I figured if she got too close to you, she might find out. You're my friend. I didn't want to see her figure out one day and this whole thing between you guys going all catostrophic. She's a ticking time bomb Niall. Dont ruin yourself."

"What are they doing? Hiding? Why is my dad helping them? How is he helping them? How does he even know them?" Questions escape one after another as I pace back and forth in front of him.

"You know enough. Now that you know, can you just stay away from her?"

I consider for a moment that it would be reasonable to keep my distance. But I promised her. She needs stable people in her life, she doesn't need anymore people leaving her.

"No."

"What? Are you stupid or stupid Niall? Did you not just hear everything I said?" He stands up and grabs my collar. I knee him in the gut and he stumbles back.

"I actually care about her. I don't know what you sick people think you are doing keeping her parents away from her, but I'm not apart of it. I want to help her."

"Dont tell me you're going to tell her." He stares hard at me, still holding his stomach from where I hit him.

"What if I did?"

"You don't even know what's happening. And what are you going to say when she asks for the truth? For the proof? You dont have it. She's just getting over it, do you really want to startle her all over again? You wont be helping, you'll be making it worse."

He has a point. I really dont know anything. The worst thing I can do right now is give her false hope.

"I wont tell her. But I'm not leaving her either."

"You're making a mistake."

"I don't care." I walk off the porch and head home.

I get home and my dad is in his office as usual at this time. I find myself wondering what he could be doing. He's a cop, would it be reasonable for him to be hiding people? He's on the phone. I try to peak into his office, but as soon as the door creaks he swings around and I back off into the darkness of the hallway and go to my room.
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JADE'S POV

I don't answer any of Luke's messages the next morning.

He claims nothing was going on. It was a joke.

Calum tries to tell me it wasn't what it sounded like.

Ash tells me Luke was being stupid.

Mikey doesn't even say anything. I appreciate him the most. I know what I heard.

I leave my phone at home to have a stressless day with Niall.

He takes me to the high school I'm supposed to attend for senior year. It takes up two huge blocks. The paint looks fresh and the tulips in front of the office are young and vibrant.

I can imagine Niall and I walking through giant halls, holding hands, the other students turning and wondering how the new girl already has a boyfriend.

Kayla's face would pinch whenever we pass. The thought pleases me.

We also settle the issue of neither of us having eachother's number by me entering my number into his phone.

We play tick tack toe on a blue wooden table, using rocks to write with. He runs his fingers through his hair when he gets frusatrated and sits criss crossed apple sauce with two fingers on his chin. This is his "staying focused" position according to him.

"Tomorrow is your birthday right?" Niall says a few losing rounds (for him) later,

"Yeah. Unfortunately." I hope he doesn't try to buy me something, I don't like the idea of guys spending money on me.

"Unfortunately?"

"I used to love this whole maturing thing but now I sit here and soak it all in. I'm a senior. We're graduating this year. I always wanted to be set free, but time is moving so fast and now I'm starting to realize that I don't know if I'm ready."

"Dont be scared of maturing and being free. It just gives you what you need to actually pursue your dreams. You can do whatever you want with your life. That's the beauty of it. You have a lot of people that love you and will support you, you're not alone. We'll be right behind you if you fall. Don't be afraid to do what you fear." He touches my palm reassuringly.

"Come on, I have to stop by OfficeMaxx." He takes me under his arm as we walk down the block.

"Why?" I ask.

"A special project. You'll see."

At OfficeMaxx we go to the end of an aisle where there's several selections of whiteboards. He keeps our index fingers locked, swinging our arms playfully as his blue eyes scan the selections on the wall. He picks up a box and as he carries it with one arm I see his muscles bulging through his thin shirt. I offer to help but he refuses. What is he doing?

"What's the whiteboard for?"

"I'm working on something with Alex and the guys. Can we go to your house so I can drop it off in Alex's room?"

"Alex? I thought..."

"We worked it out last night. He wont bother us anymore okay?" I love it when he rubs my arm to comfort me and that's just what he does at that moment.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, I didn't mean to make your life more complicated."

"Jade don't say that."

"I just..."

"Life is complicated no matter what you do and it pushes you around regardlessly. I'm just glad that now you're my motivation to fight back." I lean into him and mentally thank him for being so positive. I dont know how he does it, but he makes everything better.

Ten minutes later I unlock my front door to let us in. I can tell no one is home since the door was locked. I follow him up the stairs, planning on going to my room really fast to get a sweater as he stops at Alex's room, but when we make our way down the hall, he opens my door.

"What do you think you're doing? I thought you were going to Alex's room?" I push my door shut.

"Sorry, I lied. Wait out here please." He gets between me and the door and opens it again.

"Whoa whoa whoa. You are not going into my room by yourself." I pull him but he softly nudges me off and slams the door in my face, locking it. I stand dumbfoundedly. He suddenly swings open the door and quickly plants a kiss on my nose.

"Sorry, again, babe. I promise you'll forgive me in about 2 mintues."

The door is closed again before I can even react.