“I’ll let you drag me to hell if it means you’ll hold my hand.”
Right when I needed him. He was here.
previous chapters
“But Niall, the baby…I thought that…” I breathed out as he pulled away from me slightly. His pupils spreading dark again, he locked his stare with mine, licking at his lips.
“The baby’s sleepin’.” he whispered, voice raspy in his throat, “An’ I want ya t’ stay with me. No arguin’.” Feeling the blood rushing like oxygenated fire to my cheeks, his fingers gingerly uncurled from my hair and ran down the side of my neck, surely able to feel the rapid thump of my pulse against his fingertips.
Nodding my head, I swallowed hard as I dropped my stare. “Okay.”
Giving me a smirk, he leaned in, his hand sliding up to grab around my chin to bring my full attention back to him. “Now go take off that dress an’ get in me bed. ‘m gonna lock up.”
I didn’t even answer him that time, just fluttered my eyes lightly as he pressed his lips to mine and felt the drag of his calloused fingers on my skin when he pulled back and stepped past me. I flicked my stare over my shoulder at him as he routinely checked the locks on the door before I quietly walked back into his bedroom.
We had sex again that night, probably the first time in my life that I’d ever done that twice in one day, or even wanted to, before helplessly falling victim to the pure exhaustion of our evening. I drifted off in total bliss a bit after he did with his heavy arm draped over my naked waist and his shallow snores grumbling out in my ear.
I awoke to an empty bed again, but this time it was apparent that it had been very much slept in. I rolled over onto my side as my sleep laden eyes struggled to blink open, breaking through the early morning light. I had only been asleep for about four hours according to his clock. Breathing in deep, I shut my eyes again, a tiny smile falling across my lips as I began to replay the prior night in my head, every single little detail fresh as snow in my mind. My knees curled to my chest as I tugged his duvet closer, not quite ready to get up and start my day just yet.
No sooner had I let out a yawn and twisted my body over to lie on my belly, did I hear a small noise echo out through the house. My eyes flew open, hazily trying to focus on the open door to his bathroom that sat adjacent to this side of the bed, when I heard the noise again. A cooing noise. It was tiny and high pitched and upon hearing it followed by the short rumble of Niall’s chuckle, I pushed up from the bed with the heel of my hands, my unruly mess of blonde hair streaming down over my face. I blew a puff of air up trying to fix it, unsuccessful as I sat all the way up and ran my hands through. Completely naked, I bit at my lip as my eyes searched the floor for my clothes, strewn about and mixed with his own.
After finally finding my strapless bra on the floor by the other side of the bed, I quickly finished getting dressed and quietly walked towards the cracked bedroom door. Peering out, I stood hesitant for a moment before hearing the small noise again, this time followed by the tiny gargles of raspberries being blown. Letting out a hushed giggle under my breath, I could see the door to Cash’s room was wide open, a soft glow of light streaming out. Sucking in a breath, I carefully stepped across the hall over to the door, not really sure what I would be met with when I looked in.
I had never in my life seen anything as sweet. Niall, hair disheveled, face still all cut and bruised, sitting in a soft microfiber rocking chair in only his white boxers. He had a smile on his face brighter than any morning sun and in his hands was the tiniest, cutest little dark haired baby I had ever laid eyes on. Placing my hands at the door frame, I stood silent just watching as Niall cooed at Cash, smiling and talking to him as he held him up in a sitting position in his lap. Even with Niall’s scraped up and rough hands wrapped solid around Cash’s little body right under his arms, it was still the most gentlest touch that could ever be.
I could feel my heart swelling in my chest, my body growing warm with such adoration as I watched them. How could this be the assertive, cocky party boy Niall that I first met, how could this be the Niall that was in jail from getting into a bar fight not even eight hours earlier, how could this be the Niall that fucked the life out of me, twice, in that unbelievable way that he did? How in the world could this be the same Niall?
“Fucked ya right into a coma last night, didn’t I?” he spoke up, startling me from my thoughts. Still the same Niall.
Rolling my eyes, I shifted my weight on my foot as I looked over at him, leaning my body against the doorframe. “Don’t be shy, Jules. Come in here. Want ya t’ meet Cash.” he told me, flicking his head back to motion me in.
Gnawing at my lip, I slowly stepped into the room, my eyes stuck to both of them as I shuffled closer. I was a bit nervous if I was being honest. I had never really been around babies, let alone interacted much with one. But I was willing to make an effort, as long as Niall was willing to let me. Cash was a part of him and that already made the little guy special to me.
He turned him around as I stepped up to them, Niall’s knee rubbing at my leg as he continued to rock back and forth just a tad. I smiled down at Cash, his big round bright blue eyes tinged with the same ring of gold, puffy cheeks and that sweet soft pale skin an instant give away that he was, in fact, a mini Niall.
Bending down, I locked my stare with Niall for a moment, his half lidded eyes drifting across my face as I reached out to grab at Cash’s tiny hand with my fingers, gently shaking it up and down. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Cash.” I said lightly.
Niall let out a chuckle and lifted the baby up from his lap, his tiny hand slipping from my fingers as he held the baby outwards, up in front of his face. “Hiya Jules,” Niall mocked in a high pitched voice, “Heard me Da givin’ it t’ ya right last night. Surprised ya can proper walk.”
With my mouth dropping open, I gasped in a laugh, slapping Niall over the knee. He rested the small baby back down, tipping his head back in a rowdy laugh. “Not cute, Niall,” I joked, shaking my head as I stood up straight. He laughed out again, my eyes stuck on the rhythmic movement of his Adam’s apple in his throat.
“It’s a bit cute.” he quipped, his eyes glued to me as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Cash’s head. “Got some work t’ do today, so ‘m gonna get him dressed, yeah, then we’ll drop him off with the sitter an’ I’ll take ya t’ yours.”
Nodding my head, I crossed my arms over my chest and rolled my lips into my mouth. “Sounds good.” I mumbled and began to walk out of the room. Turning to glance over my shoulder, I watched as Niall stood up, pressing the baby to his chest as he tossed his arm under his tiny little bum and walked over to the dressing table, gently laying him down on top to change him out of his pajamas. I couldn’t fight the smile off my face if I tried.
“They’re really decent with him, that lady. She’s good people.” Niall told me as we got into his car. We had just walked a couple buildings over to another complex to drop Cash off at the babysitter. Niall explained that he goes there a few times a week while he goes to work.
“She seems nice.” I told him, reaching over my shoulder to buckle my seatbelt, “Cash seemed happy to see her.”
He shot me a smile as he pushed his sunglasses back up his nose. “Yup.”
Turning my head to look out my window, I watched as we pulled out of the parking lot, both of us quiet as he began to drive me to my flat.
“Um, gotta make a short stop, okay?” he spoke up after a good five minutes of not a word being spoken. God, these bouts of silence would be the death of me one day. I hate how awkwardly nervous I could be. Why couldn’t I just ever strike up a conversation with him without embarrassingly blurting out some random ass shit? I really had issues.
“Okay, that’s fine. Don’t really have to be anywhere.” I replied, glancing over at him. He kept his stare ahead and I watched as his teeth gnawed lightly at the corner of his lip, his jaw flexing with the movements. He hadn’t shaved since the day before and I could see just the sharp peaks of the dark stubble spreading down his chin and neck.
Pulling up along the side of the road in front of a small house, he threw the car in park, turning his head to look over at me as he pulled off his sunglasses. “Stay here.” he ordered, “No matter what, do not get out of the car. Got it?”
I knitted my brow at his chosen words, but remained silent and just gave him a quick nod in response. He pressed his mouth in a thin line and nodded back before taking the keys out of the ignition and stepping out of the car. I kept my focus on him as he slammed the door shut and pressed the lock button on the key remote. He had literally locked me in the car. I leaned forward in the seat a bit, looking out the driver side window to let my eyes scan across the front of the house, my focus falling back to him every few seconds as he walked up to the door and knocked. Narrowing my stare, I watched as someone opened the door, the light inside too dim to make out any faces, and let Niall step inside, closing the door behind him.
I settled back into my seat in a huff, peering out the windows as I waited. I had zero clue what he was doing inside, or even who’s house this was, but he told me to stay put and that was exactly what I was going to do. Reaching up, I decided to see how atrocious I must’ve looked after the eventful night we had and yanked down at the visor, attempting to use the mirror. I jumped in my seat as a ring of four small brass keys fell into my lap. Furrowing my brows, I picked them up, twisting them around as I studied them.
Way too small to be house keys and clearly not a set of vehicle keys. They all matched and had an unusual cut to them. What could these be to? What do these open? What in the world are these for? Shaking my head, I set them down in my lap and peered up at the mirror, smoothing down my frizzy hair and pressing my fingertips under my eyes in attempt to smooth down the grey bags that had formed underneath. This is what no sleep and a baby will get you. I giggled to myself at my own joke before picking up the keys and putting them back in their place, pressing the visor up.
He hadn’t been inside for much longer when I suddenly started to feel this overwhelming sense of being watched. I couldn’t put a finger on it really and I nervously tucked some hair behind my ear as I skimmed my eyes out of the window on my side. I couldn’t see anyone. Flicking my stare back over to the house, I let out a small gasp as I saw a face peering out of a front window. A guy. Just staring at me. Old ratty curtain pulled back slightly, his dirty face screwed up in a scowl. I swallowed hard as I shakily moved my eyes from his. He had totally caught me looking at him. My stomach began to twist in that same uneasy feeling that I had that very first night I met Niall’s friends at the pub and my hands began to sweat in my lap.
Curling them into fists, I kept my eyes forward, afraid to look back over at him. What the hell was going on. Squeezing my eyes closed, I began to take deep breaths, blowing them out jumbled, past my rounded lips. Niall come on!, I thought to myself, screaming it in my head, Fuck, where are you!
No sooner had the thought left my brain, I heard the door unlock, my eyes flying open to look over at the driver side just as Niall rushed to the door and jumped in. He seemed a bit frantic, a slight sheen of sweat on his brow. Starting the car, we hastily sped away, his eyes finally looking over at me as neither of us had said a word.
“You okay?” he burst out, his hand coming up to wipe at the front of his head.
Swallowing hard, I really had no idea what was going on. “Yeah, I’m…fine.” I said lowly, before my eyes caught glimpse of his knuckles, blistering a cherry red with a fresh cut across. “Oh my God, Niall, what happened?” I lifted my hand to his, my fingers just grazing over his busted knuckles before he swiftly pushed my hand away. I recoiled at the action, my fingers instinctively folding into my fist and dropping into my lap.
His hand slapped down to grab at the steering wheel while his other shoved down into his pocket to pull out his pack of cigarettes. “Sorry,“ he harshly barked out at me, his stare flicking between the road and his slightly shaky hand as he pressed a cigarette between his lips and lit it. "It’s…it’s nothin’.” He took a deep breath in, settling himself as he inhaled.
My mouth parted slightly at his answer and I slowly let my stare slide down his arm and fixate on his faintly bloody hand, gripping increasingly harder to the steering wheel as we drove, the thoughts I knew were scrambling around in his head, obviously affecting him.
He rolled his window down a crack, his lips pursing to the side to blow out some smoke. “Who was that?” I asked him, my voice cracking as my eyes stuck to his profile.
“Huh?”
“Who’s house was that?” I repeated.
“Oh..u-um,” his words broke past his lips in a stammer, something I rarely ever heard this confident boy do. “Jus’ some…clients. No worries.”
He didn’t look over at me as he said that, his focus straight ahead as he continued to drive me back to my house. His elbow rested on the door ledge as he kept his cigarette close to his mouth, reaching up to flick the ends out of the slightly open window.
“Clients?” I finally said, my voice soft as I dropped my stare to my lap.
Glancing over at me and clearly sensing my uncertainty, he let out a sigh, reaching out his big hand to press it to the back of my head. The feeling made me turn my stare to his. “Baby, don’t worry, okay?” he told me, raising his brow. “Everythin’s fine.” His thumb roughly rubbed down my scalp and I could see the wrinkles spreading across his forehead as he stared at me.
Rolling my lips into my mouth, I gave him a nod. “Yeah, o-okay.”
“I had fun last night.” he remarked, his attempt at easing me off the topic. I breathed out a smile, the thoughts of him and I from the night before creeping back into my mind and flooding me with warmth.
“It was fun.” I agreed, watching a smirk tug at his dry lips. “Most fun I’ve ever had, really.”
He let out a short chuckle, his fingers carding down through my hair as he moved his hand and placed it on his thigh. “An’ t’ think,” he said, the tone in his voice dipping low, “That’s jus’ the beginnin’, little one.”
Quirking a flirtatious brow at me, I rolled my eyes in a laugh, flicking my stare away from his as the heat began to rise to my cheeks. He never failed to make me blush.
I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow, basically sleeping the rest of the day away. Lucky for me, I had off of work that Saturday, but in turn had to go in extra early Sunday evening until close. Nevertheless, I was extremely happy for the break. And the sleep.
I got up a bit early on Sunday, more so being woken up by some obnoxiously repetitive laughing I heard filtered out from the living room. I slumped my body out of bed and swung my bedroom door open only to be met with Naomi and Tessa sitting on the couch with horribly done makeup spread over each of their faces. My brows pulled in and then realized they were obviously filming some stupid video again.
Rolling my eyes, I shut my door and plopped my lifeless body back on my bed in a huff as another roar of squealing laughter rung out. Why couldn’t they ever do this shit in their room? Letting out a groan, I decided to go ahead and get up, maybe try and get some work done on my paper.
Work was normal as usual that night, some regulars coming in as well a few new faces. It was rather packed for a Sunday night and I was busting my butt running around between the many tables I had. Aoife was busy tending the bar, so it was pretty much up to me to take care of the rest. It was okay with me though, any tips I got would be swell.
About an hour until closing time, I was taken aback as I heard the tiny bell ring out and looked up to see Niall’s rowdy group of mates file in the door. I stayed quiet, trying not to focus my attention on them as they grabbed the same table that they had sat at the first night I met them. How familiar all this was. I did notice that Niall was nowhere to be seen and figured that he had just chosen to stay home with Cash instead.
Swallowing back any nerves I had with actually interacting with them, I walked up to their table and threw some napkins down. “What can I get you?” I asked, keeping my eyes down as I half expected some rude comments to immediately fly my way.
“Round of Guinness would be grand, love. Thanks.”
My wide stare shot up to a dark haired boy, surprised by the relatively polite answer. The others were quiet with all eyes on me and I even got a sincere smile from Reddy. “Okay…Guinness it is then fellas.”
I shot them all a grin and walked over to the bar to prepare their pints. I could hear them chatting and laughing as I made my way back over to them and handed them their beers. “How’ve ya been there…Jules, is it?” Reddy spoke up, making me glance over at him. How did he even know my name?
“I…um, I’m good, thanks.” I stuttered out, wiping my hands across my apron before planting them at my hips. “And you guys? Good?”
“Perfect.” Another boy spoke up, holding up his pint to me.
I nodded a smile at them and let them know that I would be back around in a bit. It was pretty much smooth sailing after that, no rude or suggestive comments, no cat-calling, no vulgar out of line touching. It was…weird, if I could say that. So different from the last time I had interacted with them and I began to wonder why the drastic sudden change.
After my shift was over, I helped Aoife begin to clean up, Niall’s friends just finishing up their pints. They had sat for over an hour, just chatting and being dumb boys, but stayed decent and actually gave me a pretty good tip when they left. Aoife let me go about ten minutes after them, telling me she could handle the rest of the sweeping, and I gladly took her offer to leave as I had come in early, slipping on my thin jacket and saying goodbye.
The night was dank, the air a typical bitter cold. Chillingly dark out as it was just past 10pm, I hugged my arms to my chest as I quietly began making my way down the sidewalk to the bus stop. It was only a few blocks down, but it was eerily silent and it only made me shiver more when a slight wind began to pick up.
I had only walked a good few feet when a sudden feeling made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Goosebumps. Someone was watching me again. I could feel my pulse begin to quicken as I shot my eyes up from my feet to glance around in front of me, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip. I could hear something. Something distinct. Something that almost matched with the sound of my own. Footsteps. No, someone wasn’t just watching me, someone was fucking following me.
My small feet picked up their pace and I swallowed hard, the person behind me speeding up as well, intent on keeping their trail on me. Loud pounding thumps, like heavy boots hitting the pavement, swifter longer strides. No way could it be a woman. No way. My lips trembled open as sucked in a breath, holding it in my chest as I forced myself to flick my stare over my shoulder. I gasped sharp as my eyes quickly caught a glimpse of a dark silhouette not twenty feet behind me.
Gulping back the rising sick, I turned my face forward, my chest rising high as my mind began to swirl in a blurry haze. It was dim along the street, but even in the slight glow of the moon and the flickering light from the every so often street lamps, I could swear the man looked oddly familiar. I don’t know how, but his face…it was one that I had seen before. Maybe one of Niall’s friends? Oh, God, I don’t know but please just make him go away.
I shot my eyes up ahead of me, the bus stop now just a block away. I could see it. My legs went faster, shaking under me as I tried not to make it too obvious that I was speeding up. Helplessly tightening my arms around my middle, the wind pelted against my face.
The footsteps, they were getting faster. Closer. I whimpered out just under my breath, my eyes flying over my shoulder to see he was gaining speed on me. Shit, shit! I shook my head at myself and I could feel the hot tears beginning to well up in my eyes. Even if I did make it to the bus stop, the bus wasn’t anywhere near yet, what the hell was I going to do? Oh my God.
My body began to shake as my stomach dropped. I was practically running now, the sidewalk whizzing under my feet as it fastly began to come to an end as I now had to cross the street.
Just past the crosswalk was the stop. I prayed someone else would be there. Someone. Anyone. Just so I wouldn’t be alone. I shot my eyes up to the traffic light, a few cars driving past and I could feel the presence of the guy right behind me. I sucked in a breath, my fingers clawing at my jacket just as I stepped into the road.
I jolted back as a black Range flew up in front of me, screeching to a stop. My eyes went big, my heart jumping out of my chest.
Niall.
“Get in the fuckin’ car!” he shouted at me, his arm flipping out of the rolled down window, fingers trying to grasp at my arm. My mouth dropped and I quickly whipped my head around to look behind me at the guy before I ran around the front of the car, opening the door and jumping in. I didn’t even have the door all the way closed before Niall sped off, tires squealing.
I quickly raised my hand to my face, wiping the few tears off my cheeks that had slipped out, just catching a glimpse of Niall yanking his hand out from the small compartment in the dash by my knees, quickly slamming the little door shut. Whipping my head around to glance behind us, I shifted my eyes over to Niall, my heart still thumping wild in my chest. “What the fuck was that?” I said to him, my voice cracking through my struggled breaths.
“I…I don’t know.” he said, voice quiet as his stare stuck to his rearview mirror. I fixated my eyes on him, running over his sharp features as I knitted my brows.
Shaking my head, I ran a hand through my tangled hair, my eyes fluttering lightly as I began to realize the severity of what had just happened. “What…how…” I drew in a deep breath, desperate to settle myself as I tried to figure out what the fuck was going on and how the hell Niall ended up being where he was, when he was. Not that I wasn’t grateful, he had saved me, but… “Were you…following me?” I asked him, my voice soft but curious as I truly did not understand.
He shot his eyes over to mine, his brows furrowing at my question. “What? No.” he retorted, his top lip curling. “No, course not…Jules, ‘m not a fuckin’ stalker. I was s’possed t meet the lads up at the pub tonight.” I blew a shaky puff of air past my rounded lips as he continued. “Got held up with some shit…so when I got there everyone was already gone. Aoife told me ya had jus’ left.”
My eyes pressed closed in a sigh, my face dropping into my palm as my light colored hair fell across my face. Rolling my lips into my mouth, I could finally feel my heartbeat slowing back to normal. He shot his stare between me and the road, a shift in his body causing me to open my eyes.
“You alright though?” he asked me calmly. I turned to look over at him, nodding my head. “I saw that guy followin’ you an’…Jesus Christ, Jules, I got such a bad feelin’. I-…this is a shit area, okay? Baby, ya can’t be doin’ that.”
Shaking my head, I knitted my brows, my mind still struggling to place the face of the man that had been following me. “Doing what-…I…I was just going home, Niall. Like…like I always do. Just going to the bus stop.”
My body careened to the side as Niall pulled off into an empty side street, bringing the car to a sudden stop. I flicked my stare over to him, watching as he twisted his body to the side slightly to face me, his hand raising to brush through his hair.
“Look, I want ya-…I need ya t’ ring me, okay, ring me whenever the fuck ya need me. Anytime, it doesn’t matter. I don’t fuckin’ care, I will come pick you up. Wherever ya are, I will be there.” He swallowed hard, his eyes wide as he spoke. “I don’t want ya walkin’ round here like that anymore. It’s not safe.”
My mouth parted slightly at his words, his half lidded eyes darting fast with mine. I couldn’t do anything but stare at him. I hadn’t even talked to him since Saturday morning and now…just like that, here he was. Right when I needed him. He was here.
“Niall…I-I always take the bus.” I said to him, my eyes floating down his face, watching as he tipped his head down into his hand. “I don’t get what’s so differ-”
“Listen t’ me!” his voice raised a bit, cutting me off as he lifted his face, “ ’s jus’….it’s not safe anymore, alright? Fuck.” He muttered out that last word under his breath, his eyes shutting in a frustrated head shake. My stare narrowed a bit. “I want ya t’ come back to mine tonight, jus’…jus’ for the night, yeah?”
I swallowed hard. “I…I have class early in the morning.”
“I’ll take ya, I don’t care, I jus’…I need ya-…’s easier if we jus’ go home tonight.” he whispered.
Home.
Sucking back a breath, I shifted my eyes out to the front window, sitting back in the seat as his words bounced around in my head. He wanted me safe. He wanted me to stay with him. He wanted me home.
He wanted all these things, but why?
As if reading my thoughts, I shot my eyes back over to his as I heard the deep rumble of his voice again. “Jules, ‘m not leavin’ ya alone.” he stated, his accent thick. His brows pulled up at his statement, his lips parting slightly as he dipped his tongue out to run across them. I could see the hesitancy wash over his face, the worry, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard. Biting at my lip, I reached my clammy hand over to brush right at the top of his fingers, his hand resting at his thigh. His darkened stare shot down at my touch for a moment, his chest rising in a heavy breath and I felt his fingers curl around mine as they slipped in between. Looking back up, he caught my stare once again.
“I know ya don’t understand, but…I always got people watchin’ me, okay?” With his voicing dropping to just above a whisper, my eyes shot across his face as I took in his words. “Always. Constant…constantly lookin’ over me shoulder. It’s shit an’…fuck, I know you don’t get it…” He paused, his teeth scraping at his lip before he continued. “An’ I really fuckin’ wish I could explain everythin’ but…ya jus’…ya gotta trust me here, okay? Please.”
I could feel my stomach tighten and twist at his words. So much I wanted to know, so much I deserved to know. So much I didn’t understand. But for the life of me, I could not figure out what to say. I could only stare at him, listening intently.
“Bein’ with me…Jules, it’s not…” his voice drifted off and I locked my stare on him as he reached up with his free hand and frustratingly rubbed at his eyes, a loud huff falling past his lips. I stayed quiet, just watching as this beautiful boy in front of me struggled with whatever he was trying to get out. Swallowing back my nerves, I squeezed my fingers around his, the action causing him to peek at me through the corners of his eyes. “Is this what ya want?” he asked, his voice low, “Really what ya want? ‘Cause I gotta know… I gotta know that-… that ya want me.”
Pulling my face in at his question, I licked at my dry lips, surprised that he would even have to ask me something like that. “Yes.” I breathed out, a bit broken but with no qualms in my answer. “Y-yes, of course.”
“ ‘Cause I want you…” he mumbled back to me, his mouth pressing in a line as he swallowed. Eyes shifting everywhere but on me, I could feel the emotion he was so desperately trying to hold back, his head shaking as he struggled to finish. “I’ve never-…I want you, Jules. But ya gotta let me protect ya, okay? ‘m not takin’ ya away from anythin’, I promise, it’s…it’s jus’ for tonight. I jus’…I need to keep ya safe, I need to know you’re safe-”
Bringing up both hands, I leaned over the seats, cradling them around his face. “Shhh.” I hushed him, his eyes finally meeting mine. “Shhh, Niall-…Niall, it’s okay.” Tipping my face to the side, I let my fingers brush against the sides of his face, carding into his thick hair. Hooking my thumbs under his ears, I slowly pulled him closer to me, pressing my forehead to his. He was so warm, his skin trembling under my touch and it hit me that I had never seen him like this before, so…vulnerable and open. So real.
Shutting my eyes, I breathed him in, my nose brushing at his before pushing a soft, reassuring kiss to his mouth.
“I’ll stay.” I complied, slipping my lips from his and pulling back.
Darting heavy eyes with me, he let out a relieved sigh, giving me a nod. “Good.” My hands slipped from his face as he sat back in his seat, calmly putting his car back into drive and turning around to go back to his.
He fell asleep pretty quick, happy to have me with him, safe in his bed. This was so new to me, so different. To have someone care so much about me like that, it was overwhelming, but also incredible.
I laid there awake for quite awhile, resting on my back as my eyes shot across the patterns of the moonlight that danced on his ceiling, my mind being unable to settle itself as it raced with so many thoughts. Who was that guy that was following me? Why did he look so familiar? And what was Niall talking about? Why were people always watching him? Why did he need to keep me safe so bad? Safe from what?
I tugged at the covers, huddling them up to my chin. Why couldn’t he just tell me what was going on? I just didn’t understand. I sucked in a deep breath, my tired eyes shooting over to him as I heard a rumbly snore filter out from his parted mouth. He rolled his body, obscenely hot and surprisingly heavy, onto his side towards me, flinging an arm over my waist under the covers and pressing his face into my shoulder.
Letting out a tiny chuckle under my breath, a smile pulled at my lips as I looked down at him. His lips, bright pink and still cut up from the fight a few nights before, all smooshed up against my arm. He was so peaceful looking, so lovely. Shifting my body, I rolled over to my side under the dead weight of his arm and tucked my one hand up under my cheek, the other resting at his chest as I faced him. He grumbled lightly as I moved, pressing the side of his face into the corner of my pillow.
I laid still for what seemed like ages. Just watching. Watching his exposed bare chest and shoulders rise slowly and steadily with his shallow breaths, his eyelashes fluttering lightly against the round of his cheeks every so often. Bringing up my hand, I delicately slid the pads of my fingers over his eye, tracing the tiny curve of his eyelashes. He was so fucking pretty.
Cupping his cheek, I closed my eyes and leaned in to press my mouth to his. I stayed close to him, our heads sinking into my pillow together as my nose touched his nose, my breath mixing with his breath as my hand cradled around the softly worn skin of his cheek.
As I drifted off to sleep, my heart swelled in my chest as I felt the slight curl of his fingers into the skin of my waist, pulling at me slightly, desperate to keep me close. I knew that he was making sure I was still with him, still safe.
I was. And I wasn’t going anywhere.
I had no answers to anything that had gone on that night, or why Niall had said what he said to me in his car, but at this point, none of that mattered. I didn’t care about anything else, only that I was with him and, for the first time in my life, I finally felt safe.