Alone [One Direction: Niall Horan]

Chapter 2

-Zayn's P.O.V- 

It's been four days now. Niall's family is here but Niall isn't. Physically, yes, but nothing more than that. He hasn't even spoken a word to anyone since we left the room that day. All he does is look at us blankly until we leave him alone and then he turns his head away from us to stare blankly at something else.

"Niall, dinner's ready!" Maura says at the top of the stairs. She sounds desperate for him to just run out of his room, smiling and making a joke as he normally does. We all miss him a lot. He doesn't eat much anymore, either. He won't eat with us, but once in a while, he'll stop by the kitchen to grab a gab of crisps or a glass of water, then he leaves again.

As always, he doesn't come, so Maura descends the stairs again. She looks exhausted.

"What did we do last time?" Greg asks us as we sit down to eat. None of us really have an appetite, so we mostly just pick at our food, taking a bite once in a while.

"He went to a therapist, but it took him two months until he actually said something to him. Also, we would joke around with him and make him smile a bit, but we don't get anything from him anymore," Liam says as he rubs his neck. We fall into a tense silence, all of us trying to think of something that could help him. 

It doesn't really feel right to sit here and eat, knowing he's by himself in a different room. Normally, Niall will crack some corny jokes or say something to keep the conversations going around the table. He's always there to brighten the mood and he was always there for anyone if they needed him.

Ever since we became a band, he has always been the ray of sunshine. He basically never frowns or is grumpy, aside from when he's hungry. Whenever he's happy, it made us all feel happy. If we were down, he'd notice right away, and he'd always be there for us. Niall has never let us down, he's never been rude or fought with any of us. He's the one that would always help us without any hesitation, and we let him down, we never returned that gesture. 

We, as disgusting as it is, forgot to invite him along with us. We did as we pleased and pushed him away in the process. Honestly, we have been terrible friends.

"Maybe we should get him a therapist again?" Bobby asks as we're all finished, but remain seated around the table.

"Yeah, I know a good one," I answer and get out my phone. "Do you want me to call her?" 

"It's worth a shot," Maura nods. I dial her and keep the phone pressed to my ear.

"Yes, Rita Collins speaking," she answers in her typical business tone. 

"Hey, Rita. It's Zayn," I say. There's some shuffling on the other side before she speaks again.

"Hello, how are you? Do you have something you need to talk about?" she asks in a friendly or more like a motherly tone. She's kind of still my therapist. After one of my girlfriends died tragically in a house fire, I went to Rita to deal with my emotions. 

"Uhm... Do you have any free time for a friend of mine?" I ask her as I stand up and head into the living room. It feels a little weird sitting in front of people while I'm on the phone. I sit down on the couch and get comfortable.

"What's wrong with him?" 

"It's Niall. He got depressed to years ago, but he recovered quite nicely, but we think it's taking control of him again. Only this time it's considerably worse. I think he feels very lonely. It's really bad. He won't eat or talk to anyone anymore. He just stares out the window. Last time he talked to us was four days ago, but he said he'd been alone for four months or something. He won't even talk to his family," I explain the situation. People now start to ended the living room as well.

"I've got time. I only have 7 others at the moment. When do you want to start?" she asks me and I can only imagine she's looking at her calendar right now.

"As soon as possible."

"Okay, in two days. I'm free on Friday at 4, does that work?" she asks.

"Does Friday at 4 work?" I ask everyone as I cover the phone briefly. They all nod, so I uncover the phone again. "Perfect, we'll see you then," I tell Rita now.

"Alright, take care." We both hang up and I nod to the group, telling them it's been settled.

"How do you know a therapist?" Louis asks me curiously.

"Okay, In two days. Friday at 4, what do you say?" She asked me.

"Does Friday at for go?" I covered the phone and everyone nodded. "Perfect, we'll see you then."

"Okay, take care." And then we hung up and I nodded to them, telling it was settled.

"How do you know a therapist?" Louis asked me curiously.

"She was mine when a girlfriend of mine passed away in a fire when I was 15," I answer honestly. They seem stunned but just nod quietly.

*Friday*

-Niall's P.O.V- 

I sit in a waiting room while Dr. Collins is talking to everyone else. The room I'm in is completely quiet. However, a woman enters the room with a girl just then. The girl has pale skin and dark hair. Her eyes are blue/grey, and she has sweet pink lips. The woman looks very stressed while the girl sits down quietly beside me. She looks forward blankly. It looks like she's lost in her own world, her face completely blank.

The woman says something, but she leaves quickly. The girl beside me is wearing a white shirt with a pink cardigan over. Her sleeves are pulled up to her elbows and she's wearing dark blue skinny jeans and some pink ballerina flats.

The girl doesn't move at all, she just sits here. She'll blink once in a while, but nothing else.

Looking down to my right, I stop looking at her and watch as cars drive by through the window instead. I've already been in there and "talked". Dr. Collins talked a bit in the beginning, then she just waited for me to talk to her. She sat on a couch opposite me with a pen in her hand and a notebook on her lap. However, I never said anything. 

Even though I never spoke, she still wrote something down once in a while. She never pressured me into speaking. After 40 minutes of silence, more or less, my time was over and I was told to wait here. The lads are now inside since my family had to head back home to work.

"Elizabeth?" Dr. Collins says as she opens the door to let the lads out. They all shake hands except Zayn, he gives her a quick hug. The girl beside me gets up and walks over there. She doesn't say anything to Dr. Collins either, just disappears behind the door.

Liam takes my hand and pulls me up from my seat. They're talking, but I can't process their words. I just look at them blankly and eventually they give up. We all get into the car. I end up sitting by the window so I can watch as everything moves outside. I observe stuff.

Being quiet has given me a new perspective. Everything is so alive around me. It moves and make sounds. It's alive. It's so unlike me. I've become a ghost to everyone.

We arrive back at the flat. I remain unmoving in my seat until the door beside me opens. Louis pulls me out and leads me somewhere. We enter the house and I head to the window in the living room. Sitting down on the sill, I end up observing the life around me again.

I watch as the trees and the grass move in the wind. I watch the clouds move and change all the time. There are people that pass by. Some of them seem to be happy while others are angry. No one is the same.

Nothing is the same.

Edited: June 21st, 2019