Disastrous

Forty Two

Note: please read the authors note at the end of the chapter, it's important.

Niall's POV

I slammed the door of my car, sliding my hands over the quiff in my hair. My jeans were sagging off my hips, and I struggled to yank them up and keep them there; even with the belt. It was no secret that I had easily dropped 25 pounds and was beginning to look like a walking zombie.

My fighting off the booze hadn't been going down so well. After a couple of days I started to get the shakes but I forced myself to fight it off, push the urge to go buy a bottle away. I had to stop drinking before it took me down too far. I had to quit for Shay, because I didn't want her to see me this way. I didn't want her to know how fucked I'd been since she left me, almost 4 months ago.

I wondered about Rory every single day of my life. He was my very first thought when I dreadfully opened my eyes in the morning. I wondered constantly how big he was, what his first words were, what he looked like crawling around, if he was walking yet. Surely I had missed a lot. So much. Everyday, I was missing something. I was missing the way he smiled, and I was missing the noises he made. I was missing all his new words, and how quickly he can move on his own.

That's the thing with babies, they're always doing something and I was missing every second of it.

I wanted to hate her, god did I want to.

But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't. I fucking loved her, still, and I didn't understand why after what she did and what she took from me.

Zayn's door swings open before I can even knock. He squints into the sun that was barely out, hidden behind grey clouds. He moved to the side and motioned me in, shutting the door briskly behind him.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when his fiancé, Isabelle, rounded a corner with a bright green gooey facial mask coating her entire face. She hardly gave me a second look, strutting up to Zayn. I watched as she stretched on her toes and pecked Zayn's stubbled cheek, before turning and walking into the adjacent kitchen.

"She doesn't like you." Zayn stated and I nodded, thinking that much was obvious.

"Let's get down to business, though."

I slipped my runners off and followed him down a long hallway. Zayn opened the door to a very high tech looking office and I stepped in, my feet squishing against a shag carpet. He closed the mahogany door and twisted a lock in place.

"You know, I could get charged with stalking." He grumbled as he sat down behind a computer, jiggling the mouse and bringing the screen to life. A white illuminated, and then he clicked a picture gallery.

His previous words completely left my mind before I had a chance to respond. My mouth went dry and I nearly tripped against the carpet as my legs shakily brought me over to his desk.

"Oh my god." I breathed as I stared at her face. I felt like crying, because my god it had been so long since I had seen her. She looked tired in the photograph, seated in a car, and I reached out to touch the screen, when Zayn clicked the mouse and the picture vanished. I was about to argue when another appeared, this one with Rory cradled against her chest. My own chest ached, and I felt stinging tears gather in the corners of my eyes.

"Where is she?" I choked out, wiping off my face viciously to rid of the embarrassing moisture.

"Don't freak out...."

"What?" I snapped, an awful feeling settling in my stomach at the tone of his voice.

"She's in Colombia, Niall."