Bittersweet

31

"Okay Niall, this is the last one. Do you remember Esme Harris?"

"Esme...Harris...yeah, I remember her," He replies slowly, massaging his head a little. "We went to high school together, right?"

"Right." I answer, relieved.

"Cool," He looks around awkwardly before continuing, "Um, so where's my girlfriend, Gaby."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't notified about a Gaby." Doctor Reese looks at me then Niall before looking back at me.

"Niall, what do you remember about me?" I ask with tears brimming my eyes. But I couldn't cry, it would throw him off.

"Well not much, we never really spoke at school. Maybe a few times here and there, maybe at Fin and Zayn's wedding but we were never particularly close." He says, sitting up in his bed.

"How," I come off loud and I could see Niall's eyes widen so I try my best to lower it. "How can he remember Finley and Zayn's marriage but not me? Does he not remember the whole Gabrielle Yeltsin case? Do you remember that?"

"Why does Gaby have a case? Where is she, I want to see my girlfriend!" He demands.

"She's not your girlfriend dammit Niall, she killed herself because of you!" I scream and seconds after I wish I hadn't.

He had the worst horrified face in the world as tears began to spill between the both of us.

...

"Esme," A deep voice grasps me from the most realistic dream and a sit up gasping for air with a hot face. "Are you okay? You started crying in you sleep and kept on saying 'no'."

I wipe my forehead from the collective sweat and look at Harry as he stares at me blankly.

"Niall didn't wake up, did he?" I whisper, looking around for the others but only the two of us were left.

Harry sighs, pushing a like of hair back before saying, "They've put him to an induced coma. His brain injuries were more serious than they thought."

My heart sinks to my stomach and I feel like I can't breathe. "For how long?"

"They're not sure yet, it depends on how long his body takes to heal those injuries but I know it won't be more than a few months. Well, that's what Reese said, but he did tell us he was waking up sometime soon," He sighs, "The others went home for the night, they do have lives to get back to. But Zayn and Fin are alternating days off to visit, and Niall's dad is staying as long as Niall's in the hospital."

"And what about you?" I ask as I fiddle with my thumbs. As much as he annoyed me, I wanted him to stay, to keep me company at least.

"I'm not leaving unless you want me to leave. I could stay at my parents house since they're on a cruise to the Bahamas and they're planning on staying there for awhile at their beach house. Hmph, they have money to spend on extravagant trips but not enough to help their own son with his student loans from college." He tells me.

"I want you to stay, please," I say before he can continue rambling on. "But remember it doesn't mean I forgive you."

"Just the fact that you're still talking to me is enough. Esme, I almost ruined your happiness for my own, I owe you unlimited debt." He says, holding my hand in his. Not what seemed like a romantic type way, but one that was friendly and reassuring.

"Almost. I know you Harry, I've known you like the back of my hand since I can remember and I know you would never hurt the ones you love." I can't understand why I'm consoling him, I should be yelling my head off, but why yell? Where would that get us? I'm sure as hell that getting into another heated battle wouldn't solve anything, and it'd probably hurt our friendship even more than fix it.

"Love can make you do crazy things, Harris." He gives me his genuine smile as the sound of my last name leaving his mouth sends shivers. All of them used to refer to me by my last name, just like they would with their other guy friends. Finally, we were comfortable with being just friends.

•Four Months Later•

This is what my life has come to. I was sitting in my car, applying my lipstick and fixing my curls to look decent as possible in front of the old high school waiting on my dear friends. As if they read my thoughts there's a knock on my window that almost makes me ruin my red lips.

"Really Violet!" I yell at the long haired brunette that giggles at my reaction. I stick my middle finger up at both her and Harry as he takes the passenger seat and Violet reluctantly takes the back.

"You're too pretty to need that lipstick but I must say it looks amazing with your skin tone." Violet says, moving up in her seat to examine it closer.

"You know you're not the one being photographed, you're behind the camera." Harry smirks carelessly going through my glove compartment before pulling out my Chapstick and using it.

"Oh damn babe, props." Violet smiles as she plants a kiss on his cheek before settling back in her seat.

"Says the boring English teacher everyone hates." I tried to use a good comeback, but fail. I've always sucked at comebacks.

"My kids love me, you're just mad you're not a kick ass educator like Vi and I." He says proudly.

"Vi is a Physics teacher, she deserves the most awards," I say still in astonishment that someone actually has a passion for science. "Bleh. I can't understand why you'd do that to yourself."

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing," she sighs, looking out the window as I drove.

She was probably the most perfect girl for Harry, and I was thrilled I was apart of the reason they're dating today. You would think any girl would never put up with a guy after knowing that he used to be in love with one of his best friends, and Violet was no exception. They had been seeing each other for probably three weeks when Harry decided to tell her everything, and she was so overwhelmed she didn't want to see him anymore. Of course when I heard this I drove straight to the school, bursted in to her classroom and gave her one of my famous speeches, this time about how much of a great guy Harry was and how nothing will ever happen between us. Now, they're going on three months strong and Violet and I are the greatest friends. She's like a second copy of me, but better. I could not be any more happier for my two friends and their love for each other.

If only love worked in my favor like theirs did, my mind repeated as we pulled in to the parking lot of the hospital.

(A/N: Lol, I loved your comments last chapter and I am proud to say I have thrown you all off! So, I'm thinking maybe eight more chapters left and then I will be starting a be story asap! If you guys have any ideas as to what you want to see in my new book, what new love interests maybe, please tell me in a comment because I'm still deciding what path to take on this new story! Thank you all for your support, ox, Dee)