One Step Closer (Sequel to OSAAT)

Chapter Forty

(Ooh! Maybe I'll get to scare you guys with an ending soon... chapter forty... there will be no third book.)

There was a knock and I reluctantly got out of bed. Niall wouldn't text me back and it had been at least an hour since Lauren left. I walked to the door and opened it slowly.

"Uhm..." I looked at the guy standing in front of me and furrowed my eyebrows.

"Why did you have to answer the door?" The guy asked with a sigh. He had a familiar British accent and I looked at him.

"Ed?!" I asked, completely surprised to hear his voice. He pushed me aside slightly and walked in. He shut the door and looked at me. "Oh, come on, I didn't say it that loudly."

"Is Lauren here?" Ed asked me and I shook my head. "Of course she isn't." He sighed and started opening the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked him.

"I'm leaving... I only have like ten minutes to tell her something... I have to go catch my flight." he said and I sighed.

"Well, I could tell her." I said and he pondered on the thought but shook his head.

"It's a secret, sorry." He shut the door behind him and I crossed my arms.

"Well, I didn't want to know anyway." I said to myself and walked back to my bed. I laid back down and looked at my phone. Niall had texted me back and I gasped, excited. I quickly opened his text and realized how long it was.

Niall's POV

From Ali - I miss them, too.

My eyes widened and I stared down at my phone. I looked around, not really sure what to do. If she missed the days where we both loved each other... what does that mean for me? I started thinking of ways to reply. Should I be a smartass about it? Or should I be genuinely happy through text, like I am now. I'm also a little pissed off, to be honest... I don't know if I can trust her again. Lauren started calling me and I took a deep breath in, relaxing myself.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey! Are you still texting Ali? Please say you are because if you aren't, I'm going to need you to continue texting her. She's a little down at the moment and I'm not there to comfort her..."

"Where are you?" I asked her.

"With Jack." Lauren said and my eyes widened, slightly.

"But..."

"Not with him, my God. I'm just with him, he's a little down, too." she said and I smiled.

"Did Ali break up with him?" I asked, now happy.

"Uh, no..." My smile turned into a frown and I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll keep texting her." I ended the call and looked back down at my phone. I stared at my phone, waiting for a reply to pop into into my head.

-

To Ali - If you miss those days... why would you have hurt me so badly to end them? I realize you thought I never talked to you, but in reality whenever I talked to you, you'd stop replying. Maybe Jack is a great guy... I wouldn't ever think so, but that's just me. I still don't understand why you cheated on me... and I still don't understand why Lauren never told me, even though she clearly knew. I'm still holding a slight grudge on her for leading me to see you with another guy, but I guess that's not really her fault... only yours. I say all these things and you would think I'm over you, maybe, but that's not the case. I think I love you more than ever when we're apart... when we were together and I was always on tour, I thought it was my job to love you more when I was away, so you wouldn't feel alone, but that never worked out and if it did, it backfired in my face considering you cheated on me... maybe I'm taking this too personally. Maybe I shouldn't be so hurt from all this, but thing is... I am, and I can't change that.