The next week, Niall sat in the car outside the stone building his meetings were in. He knew Edie had dropped the charges but he hadn't spoken to her or heard from her all week. He had tried to call her and text her numerous times but he wasn't sure if she wanted to hear from him.
"Sure you want to go in there?" Louis asked him. "We can wait out here for a bit in case you change your mind, okay?" Niall nodded. He took a deep breath and got out of the car.
When he entered the room, all eyes turned to him. No one said anything. He looked around for someone to be on his side. He saw no one. He didn't even see Edie or Charlie.
"Ahem," came a voice behind him. He turned to see Charlie standing there, "I think it's time you talked, Niall."
He nodded and slowly made his way to the circle. "I, uh, where's Edie?"
"She's not here, yet, Niall. And, perhaps that's for the best at this moment," Charlie said. "Everyone, we obviously all know what happened last week but I think we owe Niall here the opportunity to speak. Edie didn't press charges which means there's more to the story. Right, Niall?" Charlie asked, turning her gaze upon him.
He took a deep breath, "Here goes," he said. "In January, I was walking home from a day spent in the studio. It started to rain pretty bad and I ran to my car which was in a parking garage. It was parked on the roof so the rain was still beating down on me. I got to my car and someone jumped out from the other side and demanded I hand them my keys and wallet. I did so but with the storm, lightning allowed me to get a look at the guy. He realized that and he shot me....three times."
Niall, paused as he looked around the room at the faces which had relaxed since he had first entered the room. The only person's face he wanted to see was hers. He needed to explain this all to her. He continued,
"I, uh, nearly died. Had multiple surgeries. Was in the hospital for a month. I started lashing out at my friends who enrolled me into these meetings. Last week, yes we skipped the meeting, but we were doing fine. We were actually talking to each other a little." He looked over at Charlie who had a small smile on her face. "And then, there was a noise. It sounded like gun shots. I panicked. I grabbed Edie and threw us both into the alley way. I didn't mean to hurt her."
Niall stopped, a sob escaping his lips. He put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I didn't mean to hurt her! And I can't even tell her that. She's not here for me to tell her that!"
No one said anything. Niall continued to cry, finally letting out some of his pent up frustrations. He ran his hands through his hair again, leaving them on his face as he said through his hands, "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside, Edie had pulled up to the building. She had convinced her brother that she could be trusted to go alone. "You sure?" Benny had asked.
"Yes. If he's there, he's all alone up there. They may not believe him," Edie had told her brother as she got her keys, gave him a hug and left.
They had spent the week outside of London, away from the noise of the city and, most importantly, away from the noise of social media. When they got back to town, she saw all the headlines about that night and the nasty things people were saying about him. She also saw where he had called a few times and one text that read, "I'm sorry."
Her heart broke a little when she got that and she knew that she had to be here to support him; to let him know that she was fine and that she knew why he did what he did.
She got out of the car and was about to walk inside when she noticed three guys sitting in a car she had seen before. She recognized the guys as Niall's band mates, and friends. She walked over to the car and tapped on the window.
The curly haired one, Harry, jumped a little before he opened the door to get out. Liam and Louis soon followed suit. "Hi," Edie said, sheepishly. She wasn't sure what they thought of her.
"Hey," Louis said, a smile appearing on his face.
"Niall upstairs?"
"Yeah," Liam responded.
"How are you?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine, really. I, uh, saw you here and I wanted to say how sorry I am about everything that happened last week. But, I promise, he wasn't trying to hurt me."
All three of them nodded, "We know. We're just sorry it happened. And so is he. It's been eating him up all week. He doesn't want you to hate him," Louis said.
"I don't. He's about the only friend I have these days." Edie paused, "Well, I, uh, better get in there." She started to walk off before turning around, "Um, if you don't mind, I'd like to drive him home tonight. You know, to his house. If he'll let me. I think we need to have a chat. Alone."
The three boys simply nodded and got back into their car. They all waved a little at her as Liam drove off, leaving her there to fend for herself and she suddenly felt a desire to run. She didn't want to face these people anymore than he did, but he was up there, probably being forced to tell his side of the story....without her. Without her to back him up.
She took a deep breath and made her way upstairs. As she was about to enter the room, she heard Niall talking, "Yes we skipped the meeting, but we were doing fine. We were actually talking to each other a little. And then, there was a noise. It sounded like gun shots. I panicked. I grabbed Edie and threw us both into the alley way. I didn't mean to hurt her." There was what sounded like a cry before he continued, "I didn't mean to hurt her! And I can't even tell her that. She's not here for me to tell her that! I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Edie's heart broke listening to him. He was just as broken as she was. She pushed open the door to see everyone in the circle. They all turned to see her but not Niall. He had his head buried in his hands. Charlie gave her a small, reassuring smile.
She slowly walked up to him. He didn't even hear her footsteps through his own crying. She knelt down in front of him and lightly touched his arm before saying, "I know you are." His head moved upward until his swollen, red and blue eyes met hers. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me, Niall." She gave him a small smile and squeezed his arm a little, to reassure him that she held no hard feelings towards him. Edie then stood up, pulled the chair closer to Niall, sat down next to her partner and took off her scarf, exposing her scarred face for the first time. "Sorry I'm late."
YOU ARE READING
Mirrors |NH|
Fiksyen Peminat"You know that Alessia Cara song "Scars to Your Beautiful"?" "Mmhmm." "I used to think she was saying 'we're scars and we're beautiful' instead of 'we're stars and we're beautiful'. I kind of wish that was what she was saying, ya know. I mean, we'...
