Rewinding Time (Narry)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

This chapter makes me very uncomfortable. But on a side note, thank you so much for the 2k+ votes and the ridiculous amount of reads! I'm sorry it takes me forever to update, but thank you so much for always reading and supporting me regardless! 

PS. You smell :-)

⌛ ⌛ ⌛

❝HARRY❞

"Have you seen Niall?"

I sighed and ran my hand frustratingly through my hair; I've lost count of how many times I've repeated those same four words over and over again.

After returning from my date with Taylor, I had expected Niall to be waiting for me in my bedroom; when I arrived to the room and discovered that he wasn't there, I simply shrugged it off and headed towards the servant's quarter instead. Unfortunately, the five or so minute walk was all for not when a long minute of knocking resulted in an empty bedroom.

A part of me was slightly relieved that Niall was not around; I was unprepared to face him just yet after the events from the previous night. I couldn't believe I kissed him. Not once, not twice; no, I had kissed him to the point where his lips were questionably red. And the worst part was that I enjoyed every second of it. Surely I couldn't be the only one at fault since he did kiss back.

"Sir? I apologize for the interruption, but may I ask what type of business you have here that requires you to journey all the way over to the servant's quarter?"

I peeked over my shoulder and spotted a petite maid, timidly standing behind me; her head was lowered and her hands were folded neatly in front of her dress. Her posture and her choice of words reminded me a lot of how Niall would behave when he was annoyed at me; he would suddenly become extremely formal to the extent where it would drive me absolutely mad.

"Have you seen Niall? Perhaps you know where he's run off to," I exclaimed as I approached her and placed my hand onto her shoulder, squeezing it ever so lightly in a conveyance of urgency.

"The last time I saw him, he was running some errands for the seamstresses," she replied, waving her hand vaguely in the direction of the thread shop. "However, that was in the early morning. I have no clue where he might be now."

I quickly thanked her before making my way over to the shop; despite her emphasis on having only seen him there in the early morning, there was still a very, very slim chance that he was still there. Regardless, at least I was one step closer to Niall.

Upon arriving at the thread shop, I came face-to-face with a response quite similar to that of the maid; it seemed that Niall had left the shop at around nine or so in the morning and had gone to the stable instead.

I sighed and dragged my feet through the snow as I reluctantly walked the long distance from the thread shop to the stable—which was nearly on the other side of the estate. As I continued my walk through the lonely courtyards, my thoughts became preoccupied with Niall once again.

What was he to me? What did I want him to be to me? I enjoyed his company the way I enjoyed Zayn's company, but I also liked kissing him the way I liked kissing women. The most astounding part of our relationship was the fact that when Niall was around, all of my troubles seemed to disappear. I didn't feel the need to sleep around. I didn't feel the need to fool him with one of my façades. It was almost as if he was the one missing piece in my life that completed me and made me feel full.  

As I came closer and closer to the stable, my nose scrunched up from the pungent scent of horse manure; no matter how many times I visited the stable for my horseback riding lessons, I still couldn't get used to the smell of steed and moldy wood.