Imagines with Niall Horan

97. You write him a letter

A/N: This was inspired while I was listening to Someone Like You by Adele. And I'm also 70% sure I might use this idea for an actual story. I hope you enjoy; it gave me intense feels.

You're sitting in a café across the street. The sun is setting, casting a dark shadow on half of your face, but I know it's you. I'd always know that it was you. You've been letting your hair grow out a bit, and your brown ends are starting to show again. Your hair's down. I always preferred it like this. I'm sure if I think really hard, I'll be able to remember where I put all of the gel that I stole and hid in my parents' house back in Mullingar. But, that's the thing, I don't let myself remember. It hurts too much.

I haven't been able to move from my car since I parked it across the street from where you're seated. I parallel parked. You stayed with me for hours until I could successfully parallel park in the town. I haven't been able to muster up the courage to walk across the street and into the café, where you're waiting for me. I know that she's sitting in the shadows of the booth you've chosen.

In your letter, your normally block print handwriting was turned into almost illegible chicken scratch. Your pen was obviously dying, as marked by the more indented ending of the letter, "I'd like you to meet her one day." I could read it like Braille. The words can still tickle my fingertips when I think about it. Your pen was dead by the time you forcefully shoved the pen tip into the paper marking a date, time, and location for us to all catch up.

I'm not sure how we ended up like this. After that night that you left, we had no contact. It wasn't until Greg and Denise decided to throw Theo's birthday party two days before I left for London. I should have avoided it like the plague because it still made my heart ache to just think about you. It hurt so much that I took to sleeping on the lumpy couch because our room still smelled too much like you. Like home. It wasn't fair.

I walked into that room, where it was warm and happy. Greg and Denise greeted me, holding baby Theo. They said that they would miss me when I left. I couldn't be bothered to listen to them because you were standing just ten feet away, talking animatedly to your cousins about something. Your blue eyes finally locked with mine. I got a shocking flashback to when I was panicking over some stupid test I had to take in school. "Has anyone literally died while taking an exam?" I was now wondering if anyone could literally die in a situation like this.

Only this time, you weren't there to comfort me. You approached me with such a warm smile as I choked back my rising tears. You had only left two months before. I wasn't over it yet. But, you seemed to be moving on just fine. You gave me a loose hug, as I was overwhelmed by your cologne, which was still soaked into your side of the bed. I drank it in, as a round of champagne was passed around.

Your letter directed me to this café. I've only had your letter for a couple of days, but the edges are tattered and the creases are fraying. I've taken to memorizing the letter, much like I've memorized all of the words of encouragement you would give me in the past years and the door slam when you left our apartment for the last time. In fact, sometimes the slam of the door is all I can hear in our otherwise silent apartment. I make sure that I never ever slam the front door because it would just bring back too many memories of how easily you could leave and never look back. Not that I didn't give you a good reason to go.

You told me in your letter that you met her at an art show where one of your mates forced you to attend. You were looking at the same piece. She tilted her head in a way that reminded you of me. That was all it took for you to dive into a conversation with her about the artwork in the gallery, which surprised you because you couldn't even bother before. It led to drinks, which led to a date the next night. You never told me exactly when this happened, but I just know that it took place sometime before the Theo's birthday. You were so overcome with love, but this time, it wasn't for me.