I Need You Here With Me Now

Chapter 5

*Niall’s POV*

Lauren gripped her hand in mine as we turned onto Oxford Street. I tugged on my jacket hood and put my sunglasses on, even though it was November, I still had to stay disguised. I wouldn’t normally, but today I promised Lauren that it could just be me and her all day. We were going to pick up a few Christmas presents for our family and friends, before the Christmas rush began.

“One second, Lauren, my phone’s ringing,” I said, reaching into my pocket and grabbing my phone. Before I could say a word, Louis’ voice was at the other end.

“Niall, can you call round at Harry’s today? I can’t see him, I have plans and he hasn’t contacted any of us since Rachel got home, I just need to make sure he’s okay!”

“Alright, alright, we’ll go. I’m with Lauren though, so I’m not staying long!” I said, laughing. Louis agreed and hung up, wow, he was in a rush.

“Lauren, we need to go see Harry. He’s been in a bad mood and nobody knows why, don’t worry we won’t be long at his house,” I said, smiling down at my girlfriend. We’d been together for 4 months now, but it really did seem like forever. She just smiled and nodded, gripping my hand tighter. As we walked, she kept gazing into shop windows, sighing as she knew she couldn’t get any gifts from me till Christmas. I nudged her as she glanced at a pair of shoes in a window.

“Lauren, if you’ve been good this year, you might get them from Santa!” I laughed, and she laughed back. She knew I’d buy her anything that she wanted.

Turning onto Harry’s street, she let go of my hand and reached into her bag for her phone. She’d always been awkward when I was around Harry and Rachel, so I’m guessing she was getting her phone out, ready to use it as an excuse not to get involved in the conversation. I rapped my knuckles on the front door, seconds later, the door flew open to reveal Harry, who sighed and motioned for me to go inside.

“Harry, are you alright? Louis told me to come and see you,” I asked, making my way towards the kitchen. Harry followed closely behind, whilst Lauren was busy taking her shoes off and hanging her coat up. She knew we were going to be here a while.

“No, Niall. I don’t know what to do anymore,” I turned to face Harry, who was tapping his fingers on the kitchen surface. I grabbed myself a can of Coke from the fridge, one for Lauren and we both followed Harry into the front room. It looked strangely different. It was tidy, for the first time ever. DVD’s were stacked neatly in the cupboard, cushions were placed perfectly on the sofa, and the magazines were in a rack under the coffee table. This was strange. As Harry sat, he sat perfectly straight, his posture better than ever.

“So, what’s happened? Rachel tidied up?” I asked, letting out a laugh. Harry darted his eyes to me, giving me a look I’d never seen before.

“Niall, she’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yeah, I don’t know where. But she’s not living here anymore, I woke up a few mornings ago and she was nowhere to be found. I went to her room and the wardrobe was empty. All that was left were a stack of photographs of me and her.” Harry responded, tears pricking his eyes. He looked down at his twiddling thumbs.

“Mate, I’m sorry. Do you know why she’s in this mood with you?”

“Yeah, she thinks I cheated on her…”

“But you love her don’t you? You always say how you do and-” Harry cut me off by looking back up at me.

“I do. I really do love her, Niall. But she doesn’t know it yet,”