Broken Strings || Niall Horan [AU]

● PART TWO: 09 | just friends

❝He wants to say I love you, but keeps it to goodnight, because love will mean some falling, and she’s afraid of heights.❞ ▬ R.I.D.

CHAPTER NINE

"You have to be quiet, okay?" I hiss at Niall, carefully easing my key into the lock. We stand in front of my house, our feet planted on the tatty Welcome To Our Home doormat, which is dirty and reeks of mould and rain from the many years it's been here (my father bought it, of course). The house is nothing special; it is terraced, meaning that it's crammed between two other identical houses, and sits inside a nondescript brown picket fence with a tiny garden, too -- but I can't complain, because it's home, and it always has been. 

"Why?" Niall asks. 

"My mum's in."

"I guess you've haven't told her about me?"

"I have, actually, but she doesn't exactly approve of you."

Niall stares at me, his mouth open and his brow creased in confusion. "Why?"

I sigh. A cool breeze flutters around me, tickling my neck and dancing tauntingly up and down my spine. My knees begin to shake, an anxious tremble brushing my lips -- but it's not because I'm cold. In fact, it's because I'm nervous. Nervous about where mine and Niall's friendship goes from here. Nervous about what my mother will say if she catches us. Nervous about opening my bedroom, my world, my life, up to the boy I just rejected. 

"Because," I say eventually, "She doesn't want me falling for anybody."

Though I'm expecting Niall to say 'why' again, he doesn't. Instead, a shadow passes across his face and, his expression darkening, he mutters, "Well, she has nothing to worry about. Doesn't look like you'll be falling for me anytime soon."

In that moment, I want to slap him. How dare he turn this around on me? How dare he say it like it's all my fault? He's the one to blame, for rushing into things. We barely know each other, and already he's made it clear that he wants something more from our friendship; what did he expect me to say, when we've only been acquainted for one measly day? Did he expect me to rush into his arms and let him shove his tongue down my throat? Well sorry, Niall, but this isn't a movie. This is real life, and in real life, relationships take time. You can't just dive in and expect everything to turn out okay.

"Let's just go inside," I murmur. I twist the key, pushing open the door; before I step across the threshold, however, I glance over my shoulder. I lock eyes with Niall. "Stay quiet," I remind him, and he wordlessly nods.

I begin to creep down the hallway, Niall tiptoeing behind me; I can hear a faint chatter coming from the television in the living room, but other than that, the house is silent. Fear is building up inside my body, my heart ramming against my ribcage because I'm painfully aware that my mother could appear at any second, from any direction, and in this hallway there's nowhere to hide. I've just reached the stairs when her voice, coming from the lounge, causes Niall and I alike to freeze in our tracks.

"Is that you, Anna?"

I gulp, trying in vain to swallow away the huge lump that has formed in my throat. "Er, yeah, Mum. It's me." l turn straight to Niall and whisper, "Go upstairs. Second room on the left." There's no time to worry about what state he may find my room in; just as he reaches the top step, Mum emerges from the living room, clutching a glass of red wine in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. She glances up the stairs and my heart practically stops. Thankfully, Niall is nowhere to be seen.