Twenty One Letters To Niall

Fourteen Letters To Niall

AN: I cried while writing this one. I don't even know why, because pretty much all of these chapters have been awful, yet I just burst into tears and blubbered all over the keyboard. I haven't done that before, so. this one's a bit short, oops 

but i love you guys! xox

ALSO THANK YOU to jafijaji for making the adorable cover at the side

dedicated to charlies_angel because she was the only one who noticed what Liam does in this chapter! x

"I can't find which hotel we were in, Niall." Liam said, biting on his nails nervously. His face was scrunched up in thought, eyebrows mushed together. 

Niall rolled over onto his side to look up at the brunette boy, and felt a pang of sadness. Liam looked like he felt awful, and he hadn't even read the letters. He considered for a moment offering to let him read them, but quickly shoved it to the back his mind. Not yet. Maybe one day, he'd ask Charlie, be able to ask her, and then Liam could read them. But for now, they were addressed to him, meant for his eyes only and that's how they'd stay. 

"Maybe - Did she say anything in the letters? About where she lived?" Liam asked. 

"I don't know." Niall said, frowning. "Maybe."

"Do you want to have a look? I can't think of anything else."

Niall paused, and stared at the pile of letters in his hands. The fourteenth one sat on top, still unopened, and he sighed heavily. He wanted to read the latest one, after all. Liam watched him carefully. 

"I could do it, if you like."

He stopped. Did he want Liam to do that? He really, really didn't. Charlie was his secret, and maybe that was stupid, but she was. "I don't know," He replied truthfully.

"I'll just skim over them, I promise. I'm good at that." Liam said. "If you just read your letter and I'll look through the rest, then maybe we can find her quicker. Yeah?"

Niall paused. Thought about it.

"Okay," And he handed Liam the pile of letters, ripping open the fourteenth. 

Dear Niall,

There's not much to tell you about, right now. New kid looks even more like Blake than I'd originally thought. Alice is still acting weird. Ruby rang up yesterday, babbling about her new school - 'they play lacrosse here Charlie, it's so cool' - and her new foster family and her new life without me in it. I'm happy for the kid, I really am, she deserves all this more than anyone, it's just. I miss her a lot sometimes.

And then there's still the crippling sadness that feels like it's eating me up from the inside.

Oh Charlie, Niall thought, biting his lip.  Beside him  Liam was flicking through one of letters, brown eyes skimming over the slanted handwriting.