Damaged - N.H.

25

Niall's P.O.V.

This was it. Today was the day I'd been waiting for. By the end of the day, I would be a married man. At least, I think I'll be.

I was up half the night, stressing far too much over something seemingly insignificant. Julie was fine yesterday. For the most part, at least. At some point, she started acting different. She was a little jumpy and completely distracted, even at dinner when we were all making conversation with her. She was totally zoned out. I did notice she was on her phone a lot, but I decided not to say anything.

I'm starting to regret not asking her about it now.Maybe she started getting nervous about the wedding, or something triggered her. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that PTSD acts out whenever it wants to. She said she was fine after what happened at that club the other night, but maybe she isn't. Maybe it really did trigger her and she just didn't want to admit it. She was always trying to put on a brave face. There's a lot of reasons she could've been acting different but something about her being more protective over her phone didn't sit well with me. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was definitely off. And I was going to find out exactly what it was.

I tried to relax as the day passed by. Us guys spent most of it at the hotel, mainly playing video games and distracting ourselves until we had to get dressed and head to the beach. I thought my worry would fade throughout the day, but I couldn't let go of that feeling that was eating away at me. Something just wasn't sitting right with me. I thought about going up to our suite where the girls were getting ready, but I knew they would never let me actually see Julie, so I tried to brush it off.

After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, we finally got dressed and prepared to leave. I was surprised at Julie's request for what we were supposed to wear. Khakis and Hawaiian print shirts. She really did want to keep it low key, but I had a feeling her dress would be anything but that. None of us guys cared what we would be wearing, so we easily complied. I never thought I would care or even notice what my bride would look like when I got married, but for some reason I was really curious to see her. I knew she would look beautiful, though. She always does.

I smiled as I got lost in my thoughts of her, buttoning up my shirt and glancing in the mirror. Unfortunately those thoughts were short lived and replaced by a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I remembered why I was so stressed out.I needed advice, but this wasn't something I could go to my friends about. I told them to go ahead to the beach and I would meet them down there shortly, then I went to the one man I knew could give me an honest, unbiased perspective. I knocked lightly on his hotel room door, grinning when he opened it.

"Hey, Dad."

He smiled, clearly a little jetlagged from his flight. He had landed early this morning.

"Hey, lad. Shouldn't you be taking pictures right about now?"

"I have a few minutes. I wanted to talk to you." I said, swallowing harshly.

His smile dropped to a look of confusion, but he opened the door wider for me to come in. I walked past him and sat at the small table in the corner of the room while he sat on the edge of the bed across from me.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

I sighed, looking away from him. "I'm not sure."

"What's going on?"

I didn't even know what I was trying to say to him. "Something doesn't feel right."

He was quiet for a moment. "Are you having second thoughts? Because you don't have to do this--"

"No." I interjected, shaking my head abruptly. "I want to marry her, but something isn't right. She isn't telling me something. I don't know what it is, but it's driving me mad."