Finding Niall

Fall 2010: Split

I had only seen Niall truly upset once, and that was when his grandpa died. So it was a complete shock to me when my parents told me one drizzly October morning that Niall had run away.

"What the fuck?!" I shouted.

"Language," my father reminded me and I glared at him.

"You're telling me my boyfriend is missing and you're worried about my language?" I gaped. "That's hardly the biggest problem right now." My dad seemed to agree with my reasoning although I knew I shouldn't have spoken to him like that. I would apologize later. "What happened? I don't...I don't even understand." I was on the verge of tears, wondering why he would do such a thing and if he was upset about something, why wouldn't he come and talk to me? I had always been there for him.

We always talked to each other.

Always!

"Niall's parents are splitting up," Mom said gently.

"Wha...?" My mouth just fell open, not even able to complete that simple word. The Horans were like family; this was almost as bad as my own parents getting divorced.

"I don't know exactly what happened," she continued. "Maura came to talk to me this morning and she was looking for him. They told him last night and I guess he left. She felt for certain he would be here. Are you sure he's not?"

Like I wouldn't know if my own boyfriend was in my apartment.

"No, I haven't seen him since before Cross Country practice yesterday. He stopped in after school to hang out for a bit. I swear that's the last time I saw him."

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" My dad asked.

That question hit me with new terror. I had no idea where he would have gone if he didn't come here. "I don't know," I said, now choking on my tears. I hated crying but this was a good reason to cry. Poor Niall, he must have felt awful and I needed to be there for him, wherever there was. "I don't know," I repeated, but I was going to find him!

I threw on some clothes and jumped into my car, yelling after me, "I'll let you know as soon as I find him!" Niall's mum was on the front porch with my parents by that time, looking more distraught than I'd ever seen her.

I drove all over town, looking in every possible place I could think of. I stopped at Tony's house and he hadn't seen Niall all week. My next stop was Spencer's house; he was Niall's best friend and I thought I'd walk in and Niall would be there, pile driving some breakfast or asleep on his couch. When I told Spencer what happened, his face made my heart sink. I knew he hadn't seen Niall either.

"I don't know what to do," I told Spencer. "Everyone is so worried."

"If I know Niall, he just went out for a drive," Spencer reasoned. "He does that when he wants to clear his head, doesn't he?"

That was true but I knew that wasn't the case. "His car is still in his driveway."

Spencer looked even more concerned when I told him that. "Okay," he said. "I'll get my coat and take my car to go out and look for him, too. Let's keep in touch, all right?" I nodded in relief.

Before I left Spencer's driveway, I got a text from my mom. Maura and I are going to go out and look for Niall. Let us know if you find anything. Dad is trying to find Bobby.

Great, now Mr. Horan was missing, too. Maybe they were together....But it didn't seem likely. Niall and his dad weren't super close, and I'm sure one of them would have told Maura if they were going out for some father-son time.