Need You -N.H- Book Two

Twenty Five; Storm Warning

Storm Warning:

A loud bang on the door of the large home wakes me from my sleep almost instantly. I roll over in the bed and reach my arm out to pull down the blankets so I can see the alarm clock sitting on the dresser. Who the hell is banging on my door at four am?

I sigh deeply still not completely sober I sit up in bed to steady myself before I get off the bed. Without luck I lose my balance and fall back to the mattress. My foot kicks the bottle that lies on the floor and it only makes me angry with myself again. I push it gently towards the door, the glass rolling around on the carpet it clings loudly against the closed bedroom door.

I hit the floor with my knees and slump across to the laundry basket grabbing a shirt that was probably extremely dirty. I pull it over my head and try to get back off the floor. Standing against the dresser I look over at the small photo frame that sat on the corner. Sarah smiles back at me, her beautiful eyes shining even in the still moments of a photo. I run my fingers over the cool glass protecting her and give a weak smile.

I hear Greg leave his room and wander down the loud wooden stairs, creaking under his feet as he goes. I shrug my shoulders walking-stumbling back to the bed-and lay back trying to close my eyes again. My head was spinning in circles from lack of food and water but sleep was all I wanted. The past couple days had been nothing but awful, all I could think about was Sarah and the things she said to Louis.

All I could do was sit around and let the words sink into me like daggers. Within five hours Sarah had called me over fifteen times. I had nothing I could say to her that would make her or me feel better. I got so drunk that night I tossed my phone out the bedroom window, hadn't seen it since.

Downstairs you can hear the muffled sounds of two people arguing. I figure that it's just another idiot wandering the town that had gotten lost. But within moments of closing my eyes loud footsteps come bounding back up the stairs towards me. I roll over assuming that Greg is being an asshole and trying to play protective big brother again.

I groan as the door slams open, "Get the hell outta bed," to my surprise the voice is not my brothers in any way.

"Mate you need to leave," Greg's voice booms over the other one. I roll over in bed as the sheets are pulled from my bed. Brad stands over me, looking tired and worn out from the drive here.

"Get the hell up," Brad says loudly. His voice is demanding and hard to ignore. I roll from the bed and sit on the edge staring over at Greg who is still trying to talk Bradley into leaving the house.

"I'm sorry Ni he just-" Greg starts but I put my hand up to stop him from talking which thankfully he does.

"He's my roommate, it's fine." Greg shrugs his shoulders and stands back from the two of us. "You come up here to give me another pep talk?"

"You call Sarah back lately?" He asks shoving his hand into his pockets. I assume he does this to keep from punching me in the face. He grinds his teeth to keep from saying anything he shouldn't.

"I don't even know where the hell my phone is," I say shrugging my shoulders, "Whatever though she can call Lou right? He'll answer her when she decides to call him at three in the morning."

"He's gone Niall," Brad says and it's almost like I don't hear him the first time. I swallow the words I was about to say and look down at my feet.

"That's a fucking sick joke mate," I snap.

"He died Niall three days ago from cardiac arrest."

I don't say anything to him because I don't know what to say to him. Over the past years I had become numb to anything that came from Louis. But it was like the past fifteen years of being his friend is flooding back. My heart is beating so fast that I can barely breathe.

I scratch my finger along the wood on the bed frame and swallow the anxious feelings clogging my throat. The sun is rising through the window painting the scene of my bedroom around us. The broken bottles that spread across the floor, the empty ones that have piled next to the full garbage.

The smell is awful even I know that, but it goes unmentioned in the light of things running through my mind. How was I supposed to feel about this? Hurt, sad? I wasn't even sure how to decide. There was so many years between Lou and I, within seconds it was all gone.

I should have been there for him, but I was too stubborn for that. Too stubborn for apologies that should have been said months ago. I was holding onto a grudge that turned both of us into anything but friends. We were driven to making each others lives a living hell. I stop looking up to Bradley and I want to say something kind, and something that would make sense but nothing.

"Why didn't anyone call me?" Is the first thing my mouth forms. Even though my head is screaming, my breathing is so fast that I can't get it under control. "Why did no one fucking call me?"

"All she's been trying to do is get ahold of you," He says so calmly that I almost choke on my anger.

Part of me wants to freak out, to lose it. I want to trash something but everything in my room is already trash so that would be pointless. I won't lose it in front of Bradley, he already knows I'm unstable. This would just add to his confirmation of it.

"I lied to her tonight. I told her I was going to work but some stupid bone in my body told me I needed to come get you. But now I see that was a mistake because you still haven't changed, you don't care, you really don't give a shit."

"Is she okay?" I ask trying to ignore the things he's been saying.

"Of course she's not, she was there when it happened."

"Fuck, let me get clothes and we can go." I say pushing off of the bed, uneasy I stumble to my feet.

"No," he says holding his hand out. He presses it tightly against my chest and pushes me back onto the bed. "You aren't coming back with me."

"You can't stop me from seeing her," I say angry with him in that moment. He shakes his head at me and just laughs.

"I've spent my entire friendship with that girl protecting her from shit like this, I was there when her dad died, I was there when she found out about her cancer. I backed your relationship and now you're throwing it in my face. So until you can get your shit together, shower and act like the Niall she knows and loves. You don't get to come home, you don't get to see her."

"That's not your decision Brad." I say my voice low. I needed to see her.

"She's not in a position to make the decision herself," He says backing up towards the door.

"She'll hate you for this," I say and he turns to look at me again. "For not letting me come to her when she needs me."

"I don't care if she hates me as long as she's safe and she isn't having her heart broken anymore."

"I never meant to break her heart," I say quickly before he walks away but he doesn't turn around this time. He doesn't even acknowledge what I've said to him. I close my eyes as the front door slams and a tear trickles down over my jaw line.

I never meant to break her.

**It's a slightly shorter update than I wanted to post but the next two are huge so just be patient with me ;) Comment and Vote. And if you haven't yet, go get yourself educated on Project No Control. It's a crazy fun time.**