Seeing Blind |NH|

Chapter Thirty Three

I had to control myself from not puking when she said that. "No, Esta, he's manipulated you into thinking you do. You know how you could tell Melissa wasn't meant for me? Well, I can tell that Jace is not meant for you. But, he's probably somehow convinced you that he's the only one for you and that no one else would be good enough for you. Which is the farthest thing from the truth. And he is now trying to convince you that you're the crazy one. You're not. I can guarantee he's been doing something behind your back, probably the whole damn time. And let me tell you, Esta, you are way too good for him. You are so far out of his league that he shouldn't even be able to distinguish your form in the distance." She laughed a little at that as she wiped away another tear. I brought her in for a hug. Kissing her forehead, I said, "I hate seeing you cry. Especially because of him. He's a dick to you, Esta. And he's a dick to your friends, too."

"What do you mean?"

I hesitated but kept on, "All of us. All of One Direction, that is. We all think he was just putting on an act around us; trying to fool you into thinking he's changed. But, Esta, he hasn't. I know you thought he had because he was being civil with us but none of us like him. He even told me to leave you alone when we were leaving."

Her head snapped up to look at me. "What?"

"When we left back in July and he came down to say his 'goodbyes', which no one bought, by the way. Remember how he hugged me?"

"Yeah, I thought that was really kinda nice of him."

"Yeah, well, what he said wasn't nice at all. He pretty much told me he didn't like me, couldn't understand why you liked me, and that I better stay away from you."

"He did what?!" She screeched. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope. And since I hate him, and I really do, Esta. I can't stand the guy. I'm not going to act like I'm joking, not even to make you feel better. You deserve to know that he isn't on your side. I mean, think about it? Remember how when we first met you said you didn't keep friends very well? Well, I bet Jace has something to do with it."

Her face had scowled up again. "That piece of shit."

I let out a sigh of relief. The entire time I spoke, I was afraid I had gone too far and that she would end up mad at me and siding with him. But, she hadn't.

"He swore he would do better for me. He swore he'd change and work on his negative tendencies and I fucking believed he was!"

"It's not your fault, Esta. He manipulated you into thinking he was."

"You know, he did try to tell me things about you."

"What?"

"Yeah, he kept trying to convince me that you were in love with me and were trying to destroy our relationship. How ridiculous is that?"

I stood there, shocked.

"I told him he was being ridiculous. I told him he was being paranoid simply because I had become such good friends with a guy who had no desire to date me. You know, because guys and girls can't be friends." She paused. "You know what? He even just tried to tell me that upstairs. He tried to tell me that if he turned on my phone he would probably find inappropriate messages from you. He implied I was the one cheating and that I was trying to pass my own guilt onto him, so that I wouldn't feel bad about cheating on him. Therefore, I shouldn't accuse him of cheating when, apparently, I've been the one cheating on him. With you, of all people!"

"Well, that is just stupid," I said.

"No shit. Like you and I would ever!"

"Hey!" I said, slightly offended.

"You know what I mean, Niall."

"Yeah but damn, didn't have to sound grossed out by it."

She laughed, "Sorry."

I pretended to be hurt by her words but when she started to look upset I realized I was practically doing the same thing Jace did to her. "Shit, Esta, you know I can't be mad at you. Just, ya know, don't sound so offended at the thought of dating me. Geez."

"I'm sorry, Niall. I didn't mean it the way it came out."

"I know. It's all good." I gave her a hug, unsure as to why I had gotten even remotely upset at her for that. "Let's focus on what's really happening here, Esta. I'm gonna be blunt. Jace is a dick and you need to dump him. Today. Now would be better." She looked like she was hesitating and I about wanted to slap some damn sense into her. "Esta, you know I'm right. He doesn't deserve you."

She nodded. "I know. I know he's lying. But, he's just going to keep trying to tell me I'm hallucinating all of this."

"But you know you aren't. The only delusional one amongst us is him."

She nodded. "Okay. You're right. He's a dick. A dick to me. A dick to you. A dick to everyone. Let him be someone else's problem."

"That's my girl!" I said, wrapping her back into a hug as we turned around and headed back to our apartments. The entire way home, she kept worrying she was going to fall for his crap again and I kept reminding her that she was strong enough to face him.

When we got back, I almost didn't want her to go in there with him alone. I was afraid he'd somehow convince her to let him stay.

"Movies and junk food when you're done?" I asked, unwilling to let go of her hand as she faced her door.

"I'm gonna need it."

"You've got this. You know that this is the right thing to do. You have to think about yourself, Esta. You have to take care of yourself."

She nodded. "You're right. I know you're right."

I gave her a quick hug and kiss on the forehead before letting her go.

When she opened her door and walked back inside, I could see Jace on the couch, his face red from supposedly crying. I clenched my fists, knowing he was about to put on some pathetic little act. My only concern as I went back into my apartment, was that she was going to believe whatever bullshit he said to her and give him another chance.