The Reason (Westlife) //Completed

Chapter 29. Courage

There's one thing I'm certain of at this moment.

Mom and Dad have got something to do with this. They must have set this all up!

Nicky turns away from me to grab a chair for him to sit down in. And then he looks back at me again, his face a foot away from mine which I thank God, because I can't handle the proximity between us.

"So," he says, snapping his fingers as if to catch my full attention. "Do you have any idea why I'm here?"

I quirk my left eyebrow up, confusion and terror written all over my face. As if I have no clue, I answer, "No, I don't."

You're a big liar, my subconscious echoes inside my head.

Oh, shut up!

"Of course, you don't." he says with no emotion at all but I can clearly sense the sarcasm.

"Then why are you here?"

"Three reasons," he says almost immediately as though he has planned a speech. "Would you like to know?"

I don't know if he's messing with me because he's not the kind of guy who takes things seriously at all times but right at this moment, he actually looks like he's about to lecture me. I cringe slightly as I remain glued to my bed.

"Yes, now tell me those three things."

"Not yet, not yet. Do you actually think I'm going to tell you why I'm here without you explaining why you left?" His eyes lock to mine so I look away immediately, suddenly finding interest on the strawberry cake.

Idiot.

"Now, what if we do a Q&A? Let's throw questions at one another in turns," Nicky suggests when I don't speak for one full minute.

Looking back at him, I shrug my shoulders reluctantly whispering an "Okay."

He smiles playfully and then he starts, "How are you doing these past few days?"

I bite my lip. How have I been doing? That's a simple question but it comes out a bit tricky. "Good," I answer without emphasis and before he objects to my lack of words, I shoot a question at him. "Why are you here? Tell me your reasons one by one."

"Okay, easy," he holds up his hands. "Firstly, Miss Streisand, I came here to tell you that I-- we, we respect your decision for leaving us with nothing but a note containing not more than 50 words and that itself is not enough. But like what I said, we respect what you did, it's just that we're pretty upset about it to be honest. You left us like we were the worst people in the world. You didn't even say a proper goodbye so that we would fully understand why you wanted to leave. The damage has been done, anyway."

I feel guilty. At least they respect my decision which isn't bad at all.

"My turn again," he announces, taking a moment to think of a good question. "Do you like being back to where you belong? I mean, are you happy being here again?"

"Yep, I am so happy." When the words come out of my mouth, it sounds more like an insult. "They make me feel happy but... I totally miss everyone of you," I admit shamelessly.

"I knew--"

"And my question is the same as the first one but this time, you have to give me your second reason why you're here." I don't intend to look mean but the more he speaks, the guiltier I get so I have to cut him off.

"Okay," he frowns slightly at my interruption. "Secondly, I came here to tell you we miss you too and our house is not the same without you there. I also have got to used to sharing my room with Shane but now he went back to using his room which had become yours while you were still there. It's kinda lonely, yeah. But we don't hate you and you might not believe it but..."