Rewinding Time (Narry)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

It is currently 2am and I am seriously questioning my random splurges of motivation to write. Anyways, I have nothing else to say so I guess I'm just going to keep this A/N short! As always, I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading and supporting! 

If you're ever having a bad day, just remember that at least you didn't fall on national television like a certain Niall Horan :-)

⌛ ⌛ ⌛

❝NIALL❞

"Niall?"

My body completely froze in its place and I could hear Liam and Zayn's voice droning out from above me as I tilted my head up and saw Liam's face pale.

"Honey, is that you?" she asked again, cautiously approaching me, almost as if I were a ghost, something intangible. My breath got caught in my throat as I tried to say something, anything.

"Hey mum," I smiled weakly, voice barely above a whisper. I raised a hand and shyly waved at her. My hand slowed to a stop as her blank stare bore through me; I gradually dropped it back down to my side and stood there silently, not knowing what to do.

Mum approached me slowly and reached her hands out towards me, cupping my cheeks in her hand. Her lips began trembling and she blinked once before pulling me into her arms and engulfing me in a hug.

Whatever stronghold I had on my emotions prior to that very moment immediately crumbled as tears began to prick at my eyes.

Her warmth melted through my tough front, tapping into the depths of my heart and forcing the memories of the painful nights where I had lain in my cold room, wrapped in thin sheets, lamenting.

Words could not even begin to describe the feeling of utter joy that was bubbling in the pit of my stomach; it was almost as if the nightmarish confusion I had been undergoing was all coming to an end. I knew that everything was going to be alright now, now that mum was here.

Somehow, she always made everything better, no matter how much I was hurting or how lost I was. She always made things better—she always found me in the end.

The world around us seemed to disappear as I pulled her closer to me and buried my face into the crook of her neck. Even though my jaw was slack and my tears showed no signs of stopping, not a single sound left my mouth; I never knew I could ever possibly cry so hard in my entire life.

Even when Harry had hurt me to the point where the pain of spraining my ankle repetitively couldn't even possibly compare to the pain in my chest, I still had not cried nearly has hard then as I had now when I was in mum's arms. For the first time in months, I felt safe.

"Baby," she cried, releasing me from her grasp before pressing our foreheads together and letting out a weak laugh. "I never thought I'd seen you ever again."

My throat began to choke up as I tried to respond. "Me too," I croaked, gently slipping my hands into hers and squeezing them tightly.

"Don't cry," she smiled weakly, sniffling and pulling one of her hands away—only to brush the pad of her thumb over my cheek. It was endearing to see her try to stay strong for me.

"I love you," I mumbled, dropping my head back onto her shoulder and letting out a string of sobs. "I missed you so much. I'm so sorry. I-I-"

"Niall, it's alright."

A soft disapproving whine left my throat in response to her words; I sure as hell knew things weren't just alright. It was not alright that I had practically abandoned her for months. It was not alright that mum had to listen to the media drone on for weeks about my disappearance and possible murder. Mum was not alright. Even if I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I could see that things were simply not alright.