Capture My Heart (BK3: Niall Horan)

-Ch 31: Neglect + Necessity.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

“And then I was like, no, you obviously can’t book me for a date that I’m already booked for. It’s really-“ My sister was saying, her voice was too loud, or the house was just quiet. I assumed she must have gotten back recently, since I did not remember her presence earlier.

It was later now, after I had arrived at work a full two hours late it was safe to say I had earned myself a lot of work to do. I hadn’t chosen to work late though, even if the principal of it seemed marginally inviting. I’d felt kind of sick about coming home after the argument with Niall this morning, since I hadn’t seen him since. But he wasn’t here when I got back from work, and he wasn’t here when I finally finished my bath this morning. Should I have expected him to hang around and sort things out with me? This time last year; yes, maybe, possibly. Now, I wasn’t really sure if anything I expected would still be too much. I’d always indulged in low expectations for the sake of being less disappointed. But with him, it seemed to have built up to something where I didn’t even expect the best; I knew he would give me the best.  Not anymore, though.

Me feet pressed against the warm surface of the bathroom floor as I leaned upon my tiptoes to reach the window. It had begun thunder storming around twenty minutes ago. Although it had not really stopped raining since yesterday afternoon. Now it had transformed into something bigger, and harsher, something that really would trigger some flood warnings. The cool air patted against my cheeks, which were warm and moist with the condensation of the bathroom smothered over them. I squinted at the fierce downfall, swift winds throwing branches back and forth in their powerful gusts. The darkness of night added to the grisly scene, the rain splattering on the grass and morphing it to bog. Reaching my arm out I pulled the window closed, the sound of the rain pounding against the glass as the wind changed direction following. I hoped the British weather would stop being so typically British soon, since it wasn’t exactly the best for my mood. It’s kind of frustrating, when everything and everyone around you seemed to coordinate to a bad mood.

Securing a towel around my torso and pushing my wet hair from my face I switched the bathroom light off. It was still fairly quiet in the house; the only sound my sister’s voice briefly floating in the air from her room. I wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but I was assuming it was probably one of her friends, since she always seemed to conduct these phone calls at this kind of time. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was the fact that she had been gone for so long that a lot of her stuff had been lost, but she always seemed to be taking mine. But it wasn’t just things she didn’t have herself, it was also things that she did have of her own, but chose to take mine anyway. In pursuit of this time round – the hairdryer – I made a point of peering down the stairwell. No visible light could be seen, revealing the fact that Niall still wasn’t home.

As per usual, I was growing bored of the state of being in a progressive argument. The majority of the argument had already happened though, and this was the silent aftermath – at least I hoped so. You know when the heat of the argument finally stops fuelling you? And then you have to put more effort into it, and it doesn’t seem worth it anymore because it’s so purely exhausting to drag it on when your entire motive has slipped away from you. The missing of your relationship prior to the argument takes over, and that’s the sign that it’s time to make up. It’s strange when you begin to miss someone’s toxic presence, what they left you with shouldn’t leave you to miss them, but it does.

I curled my fingers around the handle of my sister’s bedroom door, pushing it open. “Ellie how many times have I told you that you have your own hairdryer? You don’t need to…Oh, hello.” I faltered, noting my sister’s company in her bedroom.