Different From The Rest (Niall Horan AU mature)

Chapter 41

A/N
Poor Neil, nobody knows your name haha.
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I quietly follow Niall outside. I have been so back and forth about wanting to know who Brooke is to Niall, but I have reached my breaking point. I have to know who she is and I don't want to know. I don't want what he says to destroy us, but I have a feeling it will.

After a couple of silent minutes of us just walking. Niall reaches for my hand and I lean away from him. I look up at him and he doesn't seem surprised by my action, but he does look hurt. Brooke was right when she said that Niall's eyes give away his every emotion.

"I'm sorry for what happened back at the house. I think it's time for me to tell you who Brooke is. Clearly she is more than a friend." Niall pauses to look at me. I nod my head for him to continue. "I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to start at the beginning. It was my first semester in UNI. Louis, Liam, and I just moved to America without any family. Harry would be joining us the next year and we were excited. We finally made it and were independent. We all decided to join a fraternity. Our first night as pledges the frat threw this huge party. Tons of people everywhere. I bumped into Brooke while being extremely drunk. Even though I was drunk I still remember the first time we met. A beautiful girl with long blonde hair and sweet innocent blue eyes. I fell in love with her almost instantly. Her laugh was contagious and she was always up for adventure. As the year went on we got very serious, but the lads were hesitant for me. Louis kept telling me to take things slow and Liam encouraged me to get to know her better before anything crazy happened. I didn't listen and after our first year of school I proposed. When we came back to school for our second year, Brooke and I decided to move in together. Harry came and took my spot at the fraternity. After Harry met her things got tense with everyone. Harry was constantly fighting with Brooke. Even my mum told me something wasn't right. I didn't listen to anyone though. Brooke was suppose to be the love of my life. She was suppose to be 'the one' for me." I notice how Niall puts air quotes around the one. "We got married after our second year of UNI."

I stop walking as soon as Niall says that he got married. I don't know how to process this. Niall and Brooke were married?

"Come on. There is still more to the story." Niall keeps walking so I jog to catch up to him. "We were happy, I think, for the next three years. UNI was fun, but when med school started I had to get serious. I started spending all my time at the library studying and at the hospital volunteering. My first year of med school dragged on, but Brooke kept me sane. During my second year of med school Brooke started to grow distant. I didn't think anything of it though. Fast forward to the end of my surgical internship, Brooke tells me that she wants to have a baby. It didn't feel like the best timing, but I agreed to it."

I don't know what to think right now. Niall is or was married to Brooke and they started trying for kids. Are Brooke's kids secretly his?

"I remember coming home one night exhausted. I had just worked a straight thirty-two hours. I was a second year resident and was tired all the time. If I wasn't at the hospital, I was home arguing with Brooke. Everyone at the hospital said that was normal though, so when I came home to find three very large suitcases by the front door I didn't think anything of it. I walked into the kitchen to see Brooke sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me. I walked over to her and tried to kiss her, but she turned her cheek. I was three hours late for dinner so I thought she was a little upset. I asked her if she was going to visit her family and she glared at me and shook her head no. She stood up, fixes her shirt, and says, 'I'm leaving you. I found a man who loves me more than his career. He loves me in a way you never have or ever could. He gives me all of his attention and makes me feel good enough.' We sat in silence for I don't know how long. We heard a car horn honk and she walked out. I followed her outside and helped her with her suitcases. I didn't know what else to do. When I got close enough to the car I recognized the guy in the front seat. It was a guy from my fraternity. Turns out Louis' girlfriend and Brooke were out partying with two guys from our fraternity. I asked Brooke for an explanation and she said it started out as just friends hanging out, but she fell in love with him."