Niall’s P.O.V.

I watched as Aria neatly folded her clothing, and wondered how she could make it all so neat when her hands were shaking. I wanted to help her, but I wouldn’t. I wasn’t going to help her do something that would make it easier for her to leave.

The past few nights, she had stayed up really late downstairs, typing up information on her laptop. Sometimes it reached midnight before she crept into my room and grabbed an extra pillow from my bed so she could sleep more comfortably on the couch. I had offered her my bed, but she refused.

Naturally.

Every day since we broke up, she’s been quiet. And when Aria is quiet, the whole house is quiet. I could barely stand to see her huddled up against the wall of the living room, crying like she thought I wasn’t there. I wanted to kiss her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but I just didn’t have that authority anymore.

Amber and Harry have also noticed how Aria and I aren’t very happy anymore. I heard Aria telling Amber that we had broken up, and Amber had given her sympathy.

Aria only started crying again.

Amber asked her why, and Aria was about to tell her, but then I had walked into the room and gained her attention.

“Why are you staring at me?”

I shook my head quickly, my thoughts disappearing at the sound of Aria’s voice. I realized I had zoned out with my eyes on her.

“Sorry.” I mumbled, turning back to the book I was supposedly reading. The whole world knew I really wasn’t.

The room went silent again, and I could barely take the tension growing between us.

“Will you let me say goodbye before you leave?” I asked quietly. Aria placed a folded shirt in her suitcase and looked at me. She shrugged for an answer. I could tell that she would start crying again soon, the way her back muscles tensed and how she was biting hard on her lip. I don’t think I would be able to handle seeing her cry one more time, so I dropped my book on the bed and left the room.

I found Harry sitting on the couch downstairs, engaged with something on his phone. I cleared my throat, startling him.

“Oh. Hi there.” Harry grinned happily, patting an empty spot on the couch. I rolled my eyes but joined him as he put his phone away. “So lad, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on with Aria.”

“We broke up.” I gulped, the words ringing through my ears.

Harry frowned, looking a tad bit shocked. “But, you guys are so perfect.”

“Were, “I grumbled. “We were perfect.”

“I’m so sorry, man.” Harry sighed, placing a hand on my back.

“She’s leaving soon.” I said. “She didn’t say when, but she’s packing right now.”

Harry studied my face carefully, clasping his hands together while resting his elbows on his knees. “You really love her. I can tell.”

“I do.” I said, feeling the need to cry. “I love her more than anything.”

“Then…why?” Harry asked. “Why did you guys break up?”

“It’s-“ I paused. “It’s complicated.”

“Oh.” Harry said. I guess my expression told him I didn’t want to talk anymore, because he pulled out his phone again. I stood up and headed into the kitchen, piling a box of Oreos, Chips Ahoy cookies, and whipped cream. I normally didn’t eat when I was sad, but today was an exception. I was so hurt that I was starving.

I took my food outside to the balcony and sat down on the ground, closing the glass door behind me.

The air was cold, even though there was no wind. I could see cars driving by, people walking in and out of the lobby. Kids laughed and screamed, chasing each other down the sidewalk as a mother struggled to keep up. Couples held hands, sneaking a kiss as they walked by. Today, everything seemed lively and happy.

Everyone but me.



Aria’s P.O.V.

I zipped up my suitcase, staring at it one last time as if it would remind me of anything I had forgotten. I planned to leave tonight. I knew it was much earlier than Niall thought, which was good.

I would leave while everyone was asleep, and call a taxi to take me to the airport. I was going to go to Florida, which was still half way across America from California. Good enough for me.
I left Niall’s bedroom and dragged myself downstairs, where Harry was sitting on the couch on his phone. He didn’t see me walk by, and I didn’t mind, as I wasn’t in the mood for a conversation anyway.

What I was in the mood for was some good fresh air, and I was on my way to it, to the balcony, when I saw who was already there. I stopped in my tracks and started to turn back around, but my feet were stuck. As if my feet wanted what my heart wanted.

Niall.

Hesitantly, I moved forward and opened the balcony door. Niall turned instantly, his face brightening a bit when he saw me. But his expression soon became sullen.

“I just needed some fresh air.” I gulped, walking past him to lean against the railing. “Continue with whatever you were doing.”

“I wasn’t doing anything.” He answered bluntly, keeping his eyes directed into the distance. “I was just sitting here. Alone.”

“O-Okay.”

Niall sighed. “Does this hurt you? Does it hurt you like it’s hurting me?” I heard him stand up, joining me at the railing. I faced him, seeing the tears brimming his eyes as they were for mine.
“More than you know.”

“Can I ask you something?” he whispered, rubbing his shoulders and arms to keep himself warm. I nodded. “If everything turns out alright in the end, will you come back?”

“Yes.” I promised, then squeezed my eyes shut and let my head hang low as tears began to fall. I didn’t struggle when Niall pulled me into his arms and cried into my hair, both of us shaking from the cold. A strong wind picked up, stinging my eyes. But it definitely didn’t hurt more than my heart was.

Niall’s arms tightened around my shoulders, and he had stopped shaking so much.

“I-I get the feeling, t-that you’ll be leaving soon.” He stammered, leaning back to look at my face. I kept looking at him, silently telling him to go on. He looked away. “Will you let me kiss you one last time?”

I was shocked by the question, but knew I wanted it just as much as he did. So I nodded.

Soon, Niall’s lips were on mine, at first barely interlocking, just brushing against each other, but then he and I became more impatient, and the kiss became more intense, but the speed never changed, staying at a slow pace. It was as if we were savoring our last moments together, taking in all that we could. Just as my hands came up to his hair, Niall slowly pulled away. He was crying, faster and harder.

“That’s not what normal ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends do, is it?” I managed to laugh, just
lightly, wiping away his tears.

“No,” he agreed. “But we’re no normal ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend.”

“Right you are.”

I hugged him one last time, and spotted the moon beginning to show, knowing that whatever I was about to get into may lead me to never seeing Niall again.

Dinner was quiet. Amber kept glancing at me with a curious look, while Harry tried to make Niall and I laugh by sticking macaroni up his nose. It didn’t work, only made him look like an idiot. Eventually, Harry and Amber left with plates in their hand and went to eat together in the T.V. room.

Niall and I really did make things awkward.

Once again, Niall and I were alone, and the dinner table this time. He picked at his food, moving it around his plate as if it was so interesting. He flicked away a tear when he thought I wasn’t looking, and took deep breaths, as if trying to prevent himself from breaking down right in front of me.

Keeping my eyes on my food, I ate quietly, making no eye contact with Niall. Until his fork clashed against his plate. His hands were shaking, his tears falling onto the plate of untouched food. He got up and left in a second.

I felt guilty and terrible, knowing I was the one doing this to him. I kept telling myself that everything would be okay. I would get to Florida, buy a small apartment with the money I had, and find a job. The threats would stop eventually, and someone would turn themselves into me and the prankster, and I would go back to Niall again.

Yeah. In my dreams.

But that’s what I was aiming for, and if I wasn’t kidnapped and killed first, then that was exactly what would happen. Everything would be fine. Not that I was sure it would. At all.

When my phone time hit 1:00 am, I crept upstairs and rolled my suitcase out of Niall’s bedroom, getting one last sight of him. I forced myself not to cry and quickly carried my suitcase downstairs, going slow enough so I wouldn’t trip, but fast enough to the point where I got down in a timely manner. I took one last look at the house and whispered, “I’ll be back.”

I unlocked the front door and locked it from the other side, then stepped out into the hallway of the building, closing the door as quietly as I could behind me.

I took then elevator down to the lobby and exited the building, gripping the handle of my suitcase tightly. I sat on a bench just outside the building, staring out at the completely empty street, and began dialing the number for the taxi driver.

That was when someone put me in a head lock and punched my gut, knocked me out in a second.

Notes

dun dun dunnnn.