By Chance (Niall Horan Fanfiction)

Chapter 24

Niall's POV

I seriously need to stop drinking. I know I've said this to myself before. I could barely open my eyes. I saw the clock read 8 am. The sun was shining through the windows and it was impossible for me to go back to sleep even though I felt terrible. Emma wasn't in in bed again. She must not have been able to sleep. I checked my phone before I got out of bed.

7 missed calls from Harry and 2 text messages from him.

Emma is here and she's safe. I told you that you could be an asshole when you are drunk.

Answer your damn phone, we need to talk.

What the hell did I do last night. I know this had happened with Emma before, I had gotten drunk and made stupid decisions. I know I didn't flirt with anyone or go home with anyone. I remember Harry bringing me home but that's the last thing I remember.

I called Emma first, no answer. Then I called Harry. He picked up right away.

"Next time I tell you to crash at my flat, just do it and don't fight me. Better yet, stop drinking and getting yourself into these situations. If I were Emma I'd be on a plane back to New York right now." He was yelling at me.

"What happened?" I was scared to hear the answer.

"Well I had made it a mile down the road when she called from the driveway. When I got back she was hiding on the side of the god damn house holding her shirt together that you ripped and she had a nice mark on her arm forming from where you grabbed her." He was even more upset...

"No she didn't. I couldn't have put my hands on her like that." Could I?

"You did. She spent the night here. I'm pretty sure she's still sleeping, I haven't heard her moving around in the guest bedroom."

"I'm coming over." I hung up my phone and looked for me keys. I couldn't find them anywhere. I had a spare key in a drawer in the bathroom. I found it and ran to the car. I drove to Harry's as fast as I could.

"Where is she?" Harry was watching tv when I walked in. He pointed upstairs.

I walked upstairs and stopped when I got to the door to the guest bedroom. What was I going to say to her? I had hurt her once when I was drunk and I knew the issues she had with men and drinking in her past. She wasn't going to forgive me for this. She was going to leave me. I knew it. I still had to see her. I slowly opened the door and saw she was still asleep. I walked over to the bed and that's when I saw it. Her left arm was resting on top of the blanket and there was a bruise on her arm in almost the perfect shape of a handprint. I must have grabbed her hard. I sat at the end of the bed and I saw her eyes open and look at me. She started crying immediately. So did I.

"You're gonna leave me aren't you?" I could barely get the words out.

"I don't know Niall." My heart broke.

"I don't even know what to say. Sorry isn't good enough. It will never be good enough for what I did last night and there's no excuse for how I acted." As I was sitting here talking to her it was all coming back to me. I told her to shut up because I just wanted to have sex with her and then I tried to force her to stay in bed with me.

"I've felt safe with you from day one and I loved that about you, about us, and now I'm just nervous around you. I feel afraid and that's killing me." She started to cry harder.

"Please don't leave me. If you leave me I have nothing left. I need you with me to be complete. I could never say sorry to you enough times to make you realize how terrible I feel about how I treated you. I drink too much and I get out of hand. I know that you don't have a good past with alcohol and I'm willing to,do anything to make you feel safe with me again." I reached out to touch her but she pulled away from me quickly.

"Your Irish charm isn't going to work this time Niall. You can't just say what you think I want to hear and this will all just go away. What would you have done if I didn't run out? Would you have forced me to have sex with you? Would you have hit me if I kept saying no? This isn't a joke Niall. You left a damn handprint on my arm and you ripped my shirt off me. Do you know how pathetic I felt when I ran outside and didn't know who to call. I felt so alone. I gave up my life and my friends and my family to be here and I don't regret it but I just...I've just never felt this alone." She burried her face into the pillow and pulled the covers up over her face.

I had broken her. She had been here for two days and I had ruined everything. I know how I can get when I drink but I've never had to deal with my drinking and how it would effect a relationship. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. She was the best thing that has happened to me and in one stupid moment I had ruined it all. She was going to leave me and I couldn't blame her. She uncovered her face and stared at me.

"I love you Emma. I know that doesn't mean much to you right now but I need you to hear it. It breaks my heart to see you like this. It's disgusting how I acted and I can't believe I left this mark on you." I touched her arm where the bruise was. She didn't flinch or pull away.

"I know you do. I never doubted that you loved me, I just doubt how safe I feel with you now."

"What if I stopped drinking. What if I never took another drink again?" I couldn't believe the words had left my lips, but they had and I didn't want to take them back.

"Stop drinking? Niall you're Irish and I know how much you love to drink. I appreciate the gesture but I don't want you to say something you don't mean, and I wouldn't want you to give it up anyway." Was she testing me?

"If giving up drinking meant I wouldn't lose you, it would've the easiest decision I ever made."

"Listen, we may have only been together for a matter of months but I know you better than anyone. I know that giving up drinking for you is going to be stressful and that's not what I want out of this. I just want us to fix this. I'm not going to leave you, I'm not going to just give up on what we have. I may not trust drunk Niall but I trust sober Niall. I just need you to make an effort to maybe drink less or if you do drink like you did last night, crash somewhere else, WITH A GUY, NOT SOME RANDOM GIRL."

"I promise you Em, I won't put you in that situation ever again. You can trust me, I will show you." I pulled her in close to me. I didn't want to let her go. She smelled like Harry though, it was odd. She was wearing his shirt, so I knew why but it still made me insanely jealous. I could never let her go. She rested her head on my shoulder and kissed my neck a few times and then kissed my lips.

We walked downstairs. Harry was still sitting watching tv.

"Things all sorted?" He looked upset with me when he asked.

"Yeah, we're okay. Thanks again for everything last night. I would have been sleeping outside if it wasn't for you so thanks for coming to rescue me." She walked over to Harry and kissed his cheek.

"I'm here anytime Emma, you know that's now. Niall, you and I will talk later." He was definitely angry with me still.

Emma and I drove home and when we got there we just sat on the couch outside and cuddled. I still had this nagging feeling that things weren't fixed and I would be paying for this for a long time, but maybe I was wrong.