I Need You || n.h

thirty seven.

"Yes. I like the way you think, Horan." She said, patting my back.

I grabbed her hand for the third time today as a reply and we kept shopping for Christmas decorations.
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Two hours later

Ashley and I walked outside and into the blistering heat of July.

It was 5:30 in the afternoon when we finally got all of the supplies and now we're going to get food.

She hopped in the passenger seat after putting the bags in the trunk.

She buckled her seatbelt and pulled out her phone and stared at it. She then locked it put it down, and she looked at her hands in her lap.

"Ashley, what's wrong?"

She turned and looked at me, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes as she spoke.

"They found me Niall. And they don't like me." She whispered.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I asked softly

"Us Niall! Someone took pictures of us today and its all over the fucking internet!" She yelled, the tears running down her face.

I didn't know what to say. I don't know what the big deal is..

"The fans."

Oh shit.

"No. Don't believe what they say, Ash. They're just jealous." I said, trying to calm her down.

"I'm trying so hard to believe what you say, but people lie, Niall. People say that they'll come back, then they're never to be seen again. People say that they'll do something for you and it will never be done. Then you have the people who say will never leave you, but do the exact opposite of that and leave you stranded without an answer." She said, her voice cracking slightly toward the end.

Me.

I did that to her.

Will did that to her. I left her when she needed me most.

"Ashley, I promise that what they're saying isn't true." I took her face in my hands and looked at her. "I will never leave you, ever. I promise."

She closed her eyes and more tears fell, but I wiped them away with my thumbs.

"Niall."

"Hm?" I hummed.

"Don't make promises that you can't keep." She said, putting her hands over mine and gently tearing them from her face.

"I will never ever break that promise for as long as I live, Ashley." I spoke up after she calmed down. I continued driving to go get some frozen yogurt because that's what she wanted.

She chuckled slightly and smiled at me, her eyes hopeful.

"I was hoping you'd say that." She said.

"Why?"

"It gives me more hope and... Motivation" she explained, using her hands while she talked.

"Okay, enough about this depressing shit. Let's play a game." She suggested.

"Okay, what game?"

"You have to say the first thing that comes to your mind when its your turn. Whether its embarrassing or not." She said, smiling

"Okay,"

"You go first." She said.

"You're really pretty when you don't wear makeup." I blurted.