Dangerously Obsessive [N.H.] (AU) #Wattys2020

חמש-עשרה

Fifteen - 'Khamesh-'esrey'

'And now it's no ones fault but yours
At the foot of the house of cards
You thought you'd never get obsessed
You thought the wolves would be impressed
And you're a sinking stone
But you know what it's like to hold the jeweler's hand
That procession of pioneers all drowned' - The Jeweller's Hands, Arctic Monkeys

Nine years ago: 14 Sept, 2011

It'd been more than a month of friendship with Niall, two months and a half to be exact. And Ainsley wanted to tell him the real reason behind their friendship. But decided not to tell him, because she felt it didn't matter anymore since she eventually gave up on the plan. She'd lost all her friends in the process, except Chrissy of course, who stopped hanging out with them as well, in favour of Niall and Ainsley. Ainsley was walking towards the parking lot. Niall said that he had a surprise for her and not to board the bus. She texted her dad about hanging out with Niall and Chrissy, even though Chrissy wasn't with them. Her dad didn't completely trust Niall, even though her father liked him, but he, nonetheless, had to be a dad.

Niall wore his school uniform, but he'd taken off his button-down shirt, leaving him in his undershirt: a simple white t-shirt and had a backwards cap on his head. He looked at his phone, as he sat on the bench waiting for Ainsley. She smiled as she took his cap off and ruffled his hair, before he grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips, where he kissed it. She blushed, yet again, as she felt his warm, soft lips and her breath caught.

She tried so hard to push back her feelings for him and thoughts of him even having some kind of feelings for her. Especially since they've only known each other for a couple of months and there was still very little she knew about him. She tried to brush it off as him being playful, but she could've sworn she saw a flash of lust, or some kind of tenderness in his eyes, with his actions. He stood from the bench, snapping her from her musings and thoughts.

'The surprise is right this way, Ms Asenath.' He gestured towards the parking lot with a smile and then entwined his fingers with hers. It took some time for her brain to register before she relaxed and accepted his lead to where ever he was taking her. After a bit of silence, Niall opened his mouth. 'Ains, I've been meaning to ask you something.' Ainsley tightened her hold on Niall's hand, in panic, in hopes that he wasn't going to ask her what she was dreading.

'I was wondering, is Asenath your real name? I looked it up and found it was Hebrew and that it means belonging to her father. Is it your middle name or summat?' Ainsley's grip loosened.

'Um, yeah. It is my middle name, but my mum prefers me to use it as my last name, for controlling purposes. Her maiden name is Alpert.' She looked at the ground as he looked over at her. She didn't want to tell him the real reason...that her parents had separated. Her parents still lived together, but slept in different bedrooms.

'Ains, is there something you want to tell me?' Niall felt concerned about her. Even though she doesn't seem scared of him anymore, he was still very careful around her. She'd eased the voices, but they're still there and appear every now and again. I hope I don't blackout again. He almost felt as if he was at some kind of peace when he was with her; Almost like a weight was lifted off his shoulders and not even he could control his feelings for her.

He held her hand absentmindedly, but noticed she didn't withdraw her hand or ask about it, which made his heart race. He too, still knew little about her, but was willing to wait for her to open up. He didn't want to push her or pressure her into giving him information. They came to a stop when they reached halfway through the parking lot. She looked at the only car in the parking lot: a blue 2009 Subaru Forester and she gasped.