She Can Hear Us - COMPLETE

Chapter Fifteen

*Kinda short. But it's good!*

*Claire's POV*

I laid there in the bed watching Niall as he slept. I can't believe it's been a whole four years since we got together. I knew there was a reason I came back. I knew. I still remember the day like it was yesterday. Haylie answered the door and knew who I was. She was only thirteen back then. Back then, she was so against me and her father being together. But now that's she's older she kinda gets that he had to move on from Bailie. Key word being kinda.

But that doesn't mean she likes me though, and she makes a point of it every day to remind me.

I was taken out of my thoughts when Niall shifted in the bed. He had turned over and I couldn't see his face anymore so I decided to get out of bed. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Haylie was standing at the refridgerator with her back pack on.

I just stood in the doorway and smiled. She turned around and saw me standing there and kind of grimaced. "What?" She said.

"You look so much like her, it's scary." I said. It was true. If I wouldn't have been at Bailie's funeral I would've thought something fishy was going on. The only thing different about them was they way they dressed. Bailie used to dress sweetly, Haylie dressed like she's in a motorcycle gang and always wore thick eyeliner. I was always on her about the way she dressed. Sometimes her fishnets had one too many holes in them, or her skirt was too short or her shirt was too revealing.

"Uh, thanks I guess." She said. "Is my dad still asleep?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Today's the anniversary you know." Haylie smirked.

I was confused. "The anniversary of what?"

She walked over and stood right in front of me. She was towering over me, just her her mother used to. She got this look on her face as if she was about to be sick. "The anniversary of the day you came back and ruined my life."

"Haylie!" I was shocked.

"Claire!" She shouted back. She let out a laugh, that sounded exactly like Bailie's except with a twinge of evil in it. "As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm taking my trust fund money, and my motor cycle and I'm disappearing just like Uncle Harry did all those years ago. Except when I leave, I'm not coming back. And you wanna know why? You. You are why." She walked past me and I turned to watch her leave. "You were a slut back then, and you're a slut now." She lifted her hand and stuck her middle finger out as she walked out of the door.

I ran to the bathroom after she left. Even though I was nearly forty, the things she said still hurt. I leaned over the sink as I heard her rev the engine of her motor cycle and rip out of the drive way. I looked up in the mirror at myself. Is that what I was? Is that what I am? A slut? I still feel guilty for kissing Niall back then. She never lets me forget about it either.

But we're in love now and her opinion really didn't matter. Remembering those words, I left the bathroom and headed back up stairs. I slipped back into the bed with Niall.

"What was that fight about?" He said. I jumped a bit because I wasn't aware he was awake.

"Oh, you heard that?" I asked.

He stretched and nodded. "Not really, I just heard the yelling at the end."

"You heard what she said?" I asked him.

"No, wanna tell me what she said?"

"She said, 'You were a slut back then, and you're a slut now'."

"Aw babe," Niall put his hand on my cheek an stroked his thumb across it. "You're not a slut Claire. You never were. I love you ok. You know what she's going through." A tear came to my eye because her words really hurt today. "Claire, don't cry."

"I just don't know if I can deal with it anymore. Today was really bad. I think that's the worst fight we've been in."

"No, that time she threw that plate at you. That was bad..." Niall started to laugh.

"It's not funny Niall!"

"You're right," He stopped laughing then pulled me in close for a hug. "Do you want me to do something?"

"You have to Niall, before she turns eighteen." I said. The tears came back. The thought of Haylie leaving and doing what Harry did scared me. Just because she hated me didn't mean I hated her. "She said she's leaving."

"We can't stop her from going to uni."

"No," I pulled back from the hug to look in his eyes. "She said she's leaving like Harry."

Niall got this empty look in his eyes. "I can't lose Haylie too."