BIRDS (Niall Horan/ Keep Me Warm Sequel)

Chapter 11. Go and get it back, honey.

"There you have it" I said throwing the folder on top of the table.

"Niall, tell me you didn't steal that"

"Harry, I told you I'd show you what's inside so here it is"

"It's been a few days, I thought you'd forgotten"

"I've been flicking through it over and over again. Now you can check if everything that's inside is about me or not"

"I'm not sure I should do that, you shouldn't have stolen that from her"

"You don't even have to read the songs, just open the folder and look at the pictures"

He looked at me without really knowing what to do, until he decided to see what was inside. He took the polaroid picture from Leigh and Nate's wedding and a few photos more. He sighed, put everything back in the folder and closed it.

"You shouldn't have brought it"

"Harry, it's not a crime"

"It's her privacy, don't you think that's enough?"

"Oh c'mon man, I have the right to see this. Those songs, pictures, poems and letters belong to me, they talk about me"

"She would've given them to you if she had wanted you to see them"

"Maybe she couldn't show them to me, but I still deserved to see them"

"Are you insane? How would you feel if she had heard everything you said about her when you two broke up or seen what you were going through back then?"

"It's not the same thing. She still feels the same about me, look at those songs!"

"So what?"

"Does that give you the right to steal the folder where she's kept all her feelings hidden during all these years?"

"You don't get it, now I can..."

"You can't" he interrupted me "Do you want to go and ask her to leave Peter? Are you really going to ruin their relationship?"

"No, I just want her to know how I feel"

"For what? So she cancels the wedding? Or are you planning to interrupt it?"

"Harry she's going to marry the wrong man, and I am the only one who can make her change her mind"

"Niall, don't you think maybe he's the right man for her? Haven't you thought about finally getting over it and moving on? Maybe those songs do talk about you, but maybe she wrote them about how she felt when you broke up or when you were still together. There's no one who wants you and Maddie back together more than I do, believe me, but there's a chance that she actually loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life beside him, and you have to accept it"

I had never seen Harry like that. I had never thought that maybe my feelings towards her weren't the same than her feelings towards me. And even just thinking about it hurt like hell.

Maddie's POV

Where the hell was the freaking folder? I had been looking for it for days and it was still missing. Losing what was inside didn't even worry me that much, it was Peter finding it what really scared me. Things weren't going as well as I'd like them to between us, and him finding that folder would most likely be the end of us. I didn't feel right about it. I knew it was wrong writing songs abour Niall and keeping all those pictures and poems, and Peter would have a hard time if he found them, but truth is I couldn't help it. Niall had been, and still was, a huge part of my life. My job consisted in writing and producing songs, and for that, I used my personal experiences, because that's how I could express feelings easily. If I had to write  break-up song, I couldn't be inspired by my relationship with Peter, because we had never got to that point. Of course we had had fights, but with him everything had an easy solution. That's what I liked the most about us, and I think that's why we had been together for such a long time. Peter gave me stability, and that's something I had never had with anyone before. He made me feel safe and secure about every decision we had to make. All of them but one: the wedding. It's not that I didn't want to marry him, it's that I just didn't feel ready to take that big step. It was going to change my life for real. Marrying him would mean having kids soon, and I didn't really want to have them yet. Peter had always dreamt about it: getting married, having a family and living in a huge house. He had been telling me about it for years, and I didn't feel like I could make that happen. What I'm trying to say is that it's a huge reponsability. I wasn't like playing with baby dolls like we used to do when we were kids, it was about raising children and giving them a nice life and future. And to be honest, that freaked me out. Maybe I was just exaggerating, but I still knew those doubts would be in my mind for a long time. 

The folder was still missing, and I was starting to worry about it now. Suddenly, the doorbell rand and saw Alan on the door.

"Hey Alan! I thought you were at work"

"Yeah, but I was allowed to leave a little earlier, my pupils are on a school trip today"

"So I guess you've come here to ask me to cook you lunch"

"Yup. I knew Peter is having lunch with his mates so I thought I'd keep you company today"

"I'm okay with that, but I don't feel like cooking so let's just call some restaurant"

I went to the living room followed by Alan to look for my mobile phone.

"Why is your house this messy?" he asked.

"Truth is I need your help. I've lost a folder which is really important to me, and you'd be realy helpful if you could look for it with me"

"What was inside it?"

"Some songs"

"So why is it that important?"

"They're about Niall and I don't want Peter to find it"

"I knew it! I knew it was something about him"

"I've been looking for it for days and it's nowhere to be found. Maybe Peter found it"

"You know he doesn't. He would've said something. Who has been here lately?"

"Niall stayed the night after Leigh and Nate's wedding, but the folder was still here the next day and the only ones who have been here since then are Peter, you, Hollie and..."

"Who else?" he interrupted me.

"Niall... Now I remember, he had dinner here and he was acting really weid. And now that I think about it, I haven't seen the folder since then"

"Niall had dinner here!? Why didn't I know about it!? Tell me everything about it! What happened between you two? Did you talk about feelings or...?"

"Alan, not now. It's him. He's got the folder. He's seen everything: pictures, songs, poems, quotes... Everything I have been hiding for the last years was there, and he's seen all of it. Fuck. What will he think about me now? How did he know about the folder? Alan, I need to get it back, how can I talk to him now that he knows everything?"

"You know he has it, but maybe he hasn't opened it yet or maybe he thinks you wrote that years ago"

"You know he's opened it. Everything has the date on it. What am I supposed to do now?

"Hey babe, it doesn't matter, he'll understand you still find enough inspiration in your relationship to write songs about it"

"He didn't have the write to see it and steal it from me. It's private, it's something that belongs to me!"

"If it belongs to you, and if it is really that important, go and get it back, honey"