NIALL’S P.O.V.


When Hannah texts me that she’s outside, it’s half past three and I’ve been messing with my hair for twenty minutes.

I tried calling my dad’s nurse, Haley, earlier, but I didn’t talk to her and haven’t heard back. I can’t pretend that it doesn’t worry me. I took a long shower and decided that jeans and a black v-neck would suffice for me and Hannah’s first official date. I don’t want to over-do it, but I also want to make a good impression. I know that I’ve already given her a first impression, even a second and third. This shows her how I react to things couples do. I’ve never been a good boyfriend, so I hope I can convince her to let me try. Most importantly, though, I’d like to part with her tonight feeling like we know each other better.

It makes it somewhat complicated that we’ve rushed into this emotionally. Had it been two other people meeting the way we did, surely they would have shagged and moved on. Hannah and I are different, though, and that scares me. Commitment in general scares me, but I know she’s wroth it.

I walk outside and check that Louis’ parents’ cars are gone before exposing myself in their driveway. I approach the black Rolls Royce and Joe begins to unbuckle his seatbelt so he can open the door for me. I wave him off, though, because I am perfectly capable of opening a door, and he smiles kindly before settling back in his seat. I walk to the passenger side of the car and climb into the backseat, only to be greeted by Hannah’s warm embrace.

“Hey.”

She doesn’t say anything back; only squeezes her arms tightly around my waist and I chuckle.

“I’m happy to see you too. So, where are we going?”

“Hempstead is only about fifteen minutes away and we can see a movie there if you’d like.”

I’d do anything she wants if it means spending time with her.

“Sure, as long as I can take you to dinner after. We can’t talk in a movie.”

She loosens her grip on me and settles for laying on my shoulder. She leans up to peck me on the
cheek and whispers so that Joe cannot hear.

“No, but we can do other things in a movie.”

I scoff and rest my hand on her knee.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, love. You’ll let me buy you dinner, though, right?”

She nods and curls her arm around my arm, resting her hand over mine as it stays on her knee.

“Are you feeling okay today? You seemed upset last night.”

I only ask out of concern, but she seems nervous. She doesn’t move to look at me when she speaks, but I feel her body tense up next to me.

“I’m fine now.”

“Was it your parents?”

“No- um, it was nothing. I just didn’t feel well.”

I shrug and face forward, almost missing Joe’s eyes shifting back in worry. I’m pretty sure something happened that Hannah isn’t telling me about, but it isn’t my place to pry on what I assume is a family matter.

“Glad you feel better then.”

“Thanks.”

She sits up and smiles at me before scooting over to the other side of the car and staring out the
window. I’m a bit confused by this action, but I brush those thoughts aside and look out my window instead. That’s when my phone rings. Since it can’t be Hannah, it’s either my brother, Allison, or dad’s nurse, Hayley. All three are stressful options.

It’s Haley.

“Hello?”

Hannah is watching me and I’m glad it wasn’t Allison.

“Niall, it’s Haley. I’m sorry I missed your call earlier, but I just received your message.”

“Thanks for calling back. How’s dad? Greg told me he wasn’t doing well the other day, but I
assumed that since I hadn’t heard anything, he must be doing better.”

I hear a sigh through the phone and feel my heart begin to race.

“Your father isn’t doing too well. He’s been digressing in a lot of the progress he’s made and he’s
been refusing medication again. He-“

She seems skeptical to continue.

“You can tell me. I can handle it.”

“He’s been talking to your mother more. He’s always talking to her about how he’s worried about you and your brother. I think he just misses you guys and he’s a little more out of touch with reality since he has no visitors...”

I know she doesn’t mean to make me feel guilty, but she sure as hell does.

“I know that we should do more-“

“Don’t take that the wrong way; I don’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s not that. I need to come visit soon. My sister-in-law is back in Ireland, though. I’ll call her and see if she can pay him a visit.”

I shift my gaze to Hannah and she looks concerned. I suppose she doesn’t realize how common
this all is for me. I guess common isn’t the best word, but I’m used to it. I grin feebly at Hannah to assure her that everything is okay.

“I’m sure he would appreciate that. Allison, isn’t it? He talks about her sometimes. Um- Niall. One more thing before I let you go...”

Hayley always walks on eggshells when she speaks to me. She’s more straightforward with Greg and that makes me believe that she views me as weak.

“Yeah?”

I gulp, nervous of whatever she has to say. Maybe I am weak.

“We think your father was trying to kill himself. I- I didn’t tell Greg when I spoke with him the other
day because it hadn’t been confirmed, but there’s substantial proof that he had suicidal intentions.”

“What the hell? What exactly happened? And don’t beat around the bush anymore!”

I’m not yelling, but I’m speaking sternly. It pisses me off that they would keep something like this from us.

“I- I’m Sorry,” she breathes deeply and sounds sincere, “He was in the cafeteria during lunch time and he sat with a few other patients, which is unusual. He hasn’t been accepting medication, so we kept an eye on him. When everyone was handed their meds, he went on a rampage and took the pills from all of the patients at his table. As you can assume, most of our patients are on multiple medications and a mixture of them all would be fatal.”

Why would dad try to kill himself? Sure, he’s crazy and he’s only gotten worse, but he hasn’t really been suicidal before; not on purpose, at least.

“So, I assume someone took them away before he could swallow them?”

“Not exactly. He had to have his stomach pumped, but he’s alright now.”

She rushes the last part, ensuring that I hear it.

“Why the fuck haven’t we been notified? That’s pretty serious! I know I’ve been a shit son, but he is my dad and I do care.”

“I’m sorry, Niall. I was going to phone and tell you today. I didn’t want to worry you when he wasn’t in any immediate danger.”

“For future reference, I consider that danger. Just, please. Call me if anything happens, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal. I’m not a kid anymore; I want to know these things.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry again.”

“It’s fine, Hayley. Thank you for calling me back. Can you-“ I don’t know if I should ask for her to
tell him hello. After all, I haven’t been entirely there for my dad through everything. “Never mind.”

“You want me to tell him you called, don’t you...”

She has an understanding tone.

“I thought about it, but maybe it isn’t the best idea.”

“Look. I’ll tell him if you want me to, but I suggest writing him a letter. Send him pictures of you and your friends. Introduce him to them in the letter so that he feels like a part of your life. He loves you and your brother very much. I know that it doesn’t seem that way, but everything he talks about revolves around you boys and his memory of your mother.”

I honestly feel like crying. I feel like I’ve let him down so much, even though we did what we thought was best. It probably still is best. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s all alone.

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Do you have the mailing address?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it in my phone. Thank you, Hayley. Oh, also, please call Greg and fill him in. We aren’t exactly... well, it’s complicated.”

“You don’t have to explain. I’ll call him right away. And I’ll call you for updates more regularly. I
promise.”

“Great. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Goodbye, Niall.”

I hang up and feel my sinuses burning. I sniff away any sign of tears and look over at Hannah briefly, but instantly regret it. The concern on her face mirrors the concern I’m holding in and trying so hard not to let out.

“What happened?”

I shake my head because, no; I can’t talk about it right now.

“Just please, let’s talk about something else for now.”

Hannah hesitantly nods and scoots over to me again. She prods at my hand as it rests on my thigh and I turn it over so that my palm is facing up. She connects our fingers and squeezes softly.

After a few minutes of semi-awkward silence, Hannah pulls out her phone and looks up movie
times.

“Drama, comedy, or horror?”

I shrug because I honestly don’t care.

“You choose.”

She scrolls through the movie titles and clicks on one that I can’t read from where I’m sitting. I expect that it’s a sappy love story, which is fine, just probably not what I would choose.

“Anchorman 2 is playing at five. We can eat after?”

I feel my lips curving into a smile, because I was completely wrong. That’s exactly what I would have chosen.

“Perfect. The first one is at the top of my ‘favorite movies’ list.”

She giggles and leans onto my shoulder.

“Ah, so you have a ‘favorite movies’ list, huh?”

I roll my eyes and poke her side playfully.

“Not really. I do love anything with Will Ferrel, though.”

“Same.”

She grins and nuzzles into my neck. I smile to myself and find relief in how easily she can take my mind off of things. I’m so worried about dad, though. I need to call Allison tonight and see if there’s any way she’ll see him. I hope it doesn’t put her in an awkward position, but he needs to see a familiar face.

After a few more minutes, the car comes to a stop on the curb of an unfamiliar town. I’ve never been to Hempstead, but it’s much more of a town than Old Westbury is. The movie theatre is across the street, but it’s only four.

“Where should we go until it’s time for the movie to start?”

She shrugs and suddenly Joe is at my door, opening it for us. I step out and hold a hand out for Hannah to take. She does and climbs out of the car behind me. People walking on the sidewalk are gawking, probably at the car, and it makes me feel uncomfortable. This is how I felt driving Louis’ car yesterday: out of my element. I search the strip of buildings for a place we can go to and tug on Hannah’s arm when I spot a frozen yogurt shop across the street, next to the theatre.

“I’ll text you, Joe! Thanks!”

She’s practically yelling because I’ve pulled her half way across the road already.

“Slow down, babe.”

I smirk at the pet name and release her hand once we hop onto the other curb, far enough away from the overly priced car for me to feel like myself again. Instead, I wrap my arm around her waist and we walk comfortably with my hand resting on her hip. She leans over and pecks my cheek before I open the shop door and hold it for her. She walks in backwards cooing because I “acted like a gentleman”, and almost runs straight into a middle-aged brunette woman. I bundle my arms around her body and pull her toward me to prevent the catastrophe.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!”

Hannah turns around and comes face-to-face with a smiling woman who immediately assures her that it’s okay, balancing her yogurt cup safely. The stranger’s happy expression sinks, however, when she gets a good look at Hannah. I instinctively grip Hannah’s waist a little tighter, feeling the tension between them. Then, the man that I assume she is with turns around after accepting his receipt from the young girl behind the register. He has dark hair with flecks of grey and tired blue eyes.

“Hannie?”

I could tell by the way the woman looked at Hannah that they knew her. The man is the only one who seems excited by this encounter, though. Hannah’s entire body tenses and she reaches her hand over to ensure that mine stays where it is.

“Dad?”

Notes

Ahhh does that count as a cliffhanger? haha

How do you guys think everyone will react? Will Hannah introduce Niall truthfully? What about Niall's dad? What will happen with him?

I'm glad that the story is starting to pick up :D Prepare yourselves! haha

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