For Your Eyes Only

Why did he care? Why did he kiss me? I wasn’t pretty. I wasn’t worth pursuing. He quickly spotted the tears in my eyes and moved to embrace me. I hesitated a moment, but soon melted into his comforting arms. I couldn’t make them stop; the tears spilled over my cheeks as I sobbed into his shoulder. Suddenly he stooped down and swept me up, carrying me over to his car, but he didn’t open the door. He slid down the side and simply sat there on the ground, with me weeping in his arms. Why was I able to hide from everyone until now? Why did he make me feel so important? How can he bring these tears out when not even Auntie could do that?
“Shhh, Annie, I’ve got you. You’re safe with me. I have you. I won’t let go. I’ll never let go.” I’ll never let go. After what seemed like ages my tears finally began to stop. It hurt. It hurt so bad. But I couldn't make it go away. What was happening to me? I realized that I had fisted his blue Nike t-shirt in my hands, which were now white because I had squeezed them so hard. He sensed my coherency and pushed my forward a bit. He reached between us and pried my fingers from his shirt and gently massaged the knuckles until blood began to flow again.
“It was my dad and mom,” I whispered, surprising myself.
“Annie, you don’t have to-”
“I do have to.” I took a breath before continuing to voice my pain for the first time. Somehow I knew he wouldn't tell. He wouldn't judge me. He would understand... “They used to… to go and get drunk. Then they came home and they, um, they… they would hit me and shout at me. Dad once almost let one of his friends, um… take me… if you know-”
“Yeah.”
“But no one believed me, so I stopped. I stopped talking about it. I just said that the bruises were from falling off my bike, or down the stairs. I said the broken bones and cuts were from falling out of a tree. But I knew they weren’t. I knew, and no one else did. But then two years ago… the police came. They found heroine and marijuana in the house. They took Mom and Dad away. They sent me here.” I watched his face, waiting for him to say “I’m so sorry,” or “I didn’t know.” But he didn’t. Instead he got up and carried me around the car and set me carefully in the passenger seat. He reached around and buckled my seatbelt before climbing into his own seat.
“Wh-” I started, but he cut me off.
“I’m going to spend the rest of the day showing you how perfect you are. I’m going to tell you as many times as it takes. I’m going to get the boys and we’re going to make today the best day of your life. If by the end of the day you don’t know how I feel about you, then I’ve failed.”
“But… Why?” I asked as soon as I recovered. I was in shock. Why? Why? What makes me so special?
“Because you deserve so much more than you’ve been given,” he said quietly.
He drove me to Harry’s house where they were all staying. He must have texted them ahead of time, because When we got there, they had five large pizzas, five tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and five two-liters of soda. We watched movies, played games, and laughed. I did more laughing in four hours than I had in two years.
Finally nine o’clock came around, and Niall had to take me home. The twenty minute drive was completely silent, and we were both a bit disappointed as he helped me out of his car in front of the shop. We stopped in front of the door and he took my hands.
“I-I have to leave tomorrow,” he whispered. “Back to work.” I stared at the ground, willing down the tears that were pushing through my eyes. How can I care so much about someone I just met?
“What time?” I asked hopefully.
“Six A.M.,” he replied. My eyes dropped again, and he pulled me into his arms. “I just have one question…” he said.
“What?”
“Now do you understand that I care about you?” he asked. A certain tinge of desperation tainted his angelic voice.
“Yes, I do,” I replied with a small smile. He surprised me with a kiss, pressing his nose into my cheek and resting his hands on my hips. I returned it as best I could, but I’d never been kissed before today.
“Good, then, I can leave content,” he grinned. I reached up and placed one final kiss on his mouth before I closed the screen door between us. “Goodbye, Annie.”
“Bye, Niall. Thanks for… everything.”

Notes

Yay! She finally let out her pain :) 'Just like them old stars, I see that you've come so far.'