When he got home, he kicked off his shoes and ripped his jacket and tie off. Unbuttoning his shirt a little so he could breathe properly. He felt he had been struggling all day. Not wanting any extra headaches or the trouble of hosting people, he had set his parents up in a hotel and the boys went to their respective homes. The only person he had left was the only person he needed – Edie. He turned around as she shut the door behind her.
She tossed her own shoes off and dropped her bag onto the ground. She looked over at him and a sad expression crossed her face as she walked up to him and hugged him as tightly as she could. At her touch, he finally broke down. Everything he had been holding in for the last ten months came pouring out onto her shoulder. He had spent so much time focusing on her that he hadn't realized just how much he needed to let things out.
She let go of him for a moment, only to turn on a lamp and turn off the main hall's light. She then returned to his side, reached for his hand and led him into the living room where they sat down. She got herself comfortable, fixing the skirt of her dress a little, before reaching for him. Bringing his head down on her chest, she held his head as he wrapped his arms around her waist. As he calmed down, he felt his head rise and fall to her breathing. He could hear her heart beating beneath him. Her hand absentmindedly played with his hair. He closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent. Everything about this moment was perfect for him.
"Edie?" he whispered.
"Hmmm?"
"Thank you."
He looked up at her. Her eyes were closed. "Always," she whispered.
He rested his head back onto her chest and squeezed her tightly. He closed his eyes. The last thing he remembers was Edie twirling a finger around strands of his hair.
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The next couple of days were just as exhausting as the first, but Niall's part was done. He listened to the two people who saved his life, as well as the EMTs who had worked on him, and the surgeon's as well, recounting how he had technically been dead for several minutes. And that he was lucky he had no brain damage.
When all was said and done, there was nothing left for him to do but go home and wait. He had just walked through the door of his house when his lawyer called him, "They're back."
"What? So fast?"
"Yeah, well, pretty open and shut case, if you ask me. Be here in an hour."
One hour later, Niall heard the words he had been waiting ten months to hear. The jury found the guy guilty of attempted murder, robbery, assault; every last thing he was charged with. And the best news – he would be spending the rest of his life in prison.
Niall let out a breath he had been holding. In what seemed like slow motion, he hugged his lawyer and shook his hand and then turned to his family and his best friends who were all hugging each other. Louis had Edie in a tight embrace and picked her up in the air but as soon as he saw Niall had turned around, he gently let her go and turned her around. But before he could get to her, his mother reached for him, his father reached for him, his brother reached for him; but all he saw in his line of vision was the prettiest smile on the prettiest girl.
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Mirrors |NH|
Fanfic"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'...
