Just Trying to Keep Up {Niall Horan Fan Fic}

Chapter 2 {A Sneaky Little Leprechaun}

Chapter 2 {A Sneaky Little Leprechaun}

Emma Claire really liked her teacher. She was an old sweet lady named Mrs. Tommy. I think this would be a good year for my little Emma Claire.

I walk down the street to my house. Our house isn't too far away to the school, that way I can just walk to and fro to get Emma, without traffic or getting in my car. Just an easy 10 minute walk.

As I get to my house I see a car parked in my driveway. It's a nice European car, something way too expensive for my budget. I see someone standing at my front door, ringing the door bell and banging on the door.

"Um, hello can you please not knock down my door?" I say as I walk up the steps to my front door.

The man turns around. He has dark brown hair spiked up, he's kind of tall, and has perfectly straight teeth. But then I see his eyes, I would know those eyes any where. I gasp in shock and fear.

"Niall?" I ask stepping towards him.

"Hi, Florence." He says with a smug smile.

I step up towards him and look him straight in the eyes and slap him.

"You bastard, leaving me 19 and pregnant not even caring about me. Just yourself. And now you come back 5 years later to do what? To make things all better? To make truce? To actually get to know your child? Is that what you want?" I ask him.

He looks at me hurt, but I don't fall for that little look. I get even more pissed at him.

"Yes, that is why I came here." He says.

"We'll too bad. The day I left you I told my sweet little Emma Claire, that I would take care of her. Just me. I could do it. I don't need you Niall. She doesn't need you. " but that last part was a lie. She did need him. But I couldn't let him know that.

"Florence. Please, can you just tell me about her. Emma Claire. Please?" He asks.

I look at him solemnly.

"Why should I? If you didn't care for her 5 years ago, why would you care about her now?"

"Because 5 years ago I was stupid!" He yells. "Florence, leaving you was the stupidest thing I have ever done. I regret it every night. I cry myself to the boys thinking of what a bastard I was for leaving you and my child. It was immature and idiotic. I couldn't get it out of my head. I started having nightmares and breakdowns about it. I went to therapy, it didn't work. Thr boys tried to make me fall in love again. I couldnt do it I only loved you. The only thing to help me was to say sorry. But I screwed that up five years ago. I screwed everything up five years ago. And then with the band ending didn't help me either. I need you Florence. I need you, and I want you. I can't live without you."

"Why'd it take you so long to realize?" I ask.

"I... I don't know." He says.

I could see tears coming into his eyes, but I can't feel sorrow for him.

"That isn't good enough for me, Niall." Even saying his name brought up pain for me. I avoided so many things to make sure his name or picture never came up into my life. But now he was here right in front of me, begging for forgiveness. I couldn't avoid that.

"You know Niall. Today before I brought Emma to kindergarten she looked at me and said "Why don't I have a daddy?" And you know what I had to tell her, Niall. I told her I didn't know why. But honestly I knew why, I had to lie to my own daughter because of you. To spare her own feelings. How could I told her that her daddy didn't want to take care of her? Didn't want her? How could I?"

Niall just looked at the ground not knowing what to say.

"Exactly. I couldn't."

"But I want to make it up. Please Florence. Please." Niall says getting on his knees begging.

I look down at him, wanting to say so many things but I don't say them all I say is "Fine."

He looks up in surprise.

"Really?" Getting up off of his knees. "No argument? No calling me a bastard? No slaps? Nothing?"

"Nothing." I say crossing my arms.

I don't know exactly what I was thinking when I said fine, but there was something inside of me telling me to forgive him. To let him know what he missed out on, to kill him with regret.

He nods, still in shock.

"Okay,well come in." I say unlocking the door.

"Okay." He says entering the house.

I flip on the light switch revealing our house. It's actually a cute little house. The living room is a nice light olive green with faded pink couches, and a flat screen tv, and little toys spread out all over the floor. The kitchen was a light blue, with granite countertops, and black appliances and a refridgerator covered with Emma Claire's artwork. We had a small dining room with a small white table with four chairs and a daisy in the middle. That was Emma Claire's touch since it matched the yellow walls.

"Nice house." Niall says looking around.

"Thank you, Emma Claire and I decorated it together." I could see the pain of regret Niall had in his eyes when I said that.

"You can go sit down." I say slipping off my shoes.

Niall goes and sits on the couch and I sit on the couch opposite of him.

"What's she like?" He asks me.

I knew he meant Emma Claire. I picked up the picture of her from beside me and handed it to him.

"She has your eyes." I say.

Niall doesn't say anything. Just looks at the five years that he missed. His eyes started to swell up with tears.

"Tell me more." He says biting his nails.

"Well, she bites her nails. Like you. She really loves to draw and sing, her voice is beautiful. She could light up a room in a minute with her personality. Shes just a littlr sweatheart. And she's beautiful. She's a beautiful little girl, everything about her. Though she has trouble making friends, I don't know why and she's very sensitive. She's smart too. I think she knows more about us than we think. She's also short, and left handed. She's different. But different is originality, and I love that about her. She doesn't enjoy sports but she likes watching soccer on TV. She enjoys reading too. "

"Wow..."Niall says not looking away from the photo of Emma Claire. "She's a lot like the both of us."

"I know... It kills me. Her eyes kill me." I say and Niall knows why it hurts me so much.

"I'm sorry." He says reaching for my hand.

"Don't touch me." I say, and he pulls his hand back.

There's an awkward silence between us, but I figured that would happen.

"Will you let me meet her?" He asks breaking the silence.

"One day..." I say.

"Will that one day be soon?" He asks finally looking away from the picture.

"I don't know, Niall." I say. And Niall just nods his head, finally letting out his tears of disappointment. Not in me, but in himself.