I Wish (Niall Horan)

Chapter Twenty Two

Twenty Two

I woke up the next morning on the couch, Sophia cradled into my side perfectly, like she belonged there.  It was only about eight in the morning, and the sun was shining high in the sky, brightening the room through opened shades.  I carefully slid Sophia off me to get up without waking her.

I opened a window, leaving the screen shut she Bad Kitty wouldn’t escape out the windowsill.  The room filled with the fresh air of late spring, a smell that always woke Sophia in the morning.  I took a seat on the floor by the window and played with Bad Kitty.  Her attacked my arms with his clumsy paws and wrestled with them as if they were another cat, rolling around the hardwood floor.

It wasn’t very long until I heard light footsteps and a yawn as Sophia walked toward me, rubbing her eyes.  “Why on earth did you open a window?  I could’ve easily slept for another three hours.”

“Because I’m not going to let you waste another beautiful day!”  I said theatrically.  Sophia just laughed and asked what I was planning on doing today.  “We’re going out to breakfast, so I suggest you shower.  Most people would be scared off at a sight like that,”  I teased.

“Look who’s talking,” she muttered.  Sophie was never a morning person.

After we were both showered, Sophia emerged from her room in a sweater and jeans.  I knew what she was doing.  She was trying to cover up her scars on her arm and neck, but it was over seventy degrees outside.  “Nice try, Soph.  It’s a beautiful day, go put on something that’s not going to give you a heat stroke.”

I waited near the door with my wallet until Sophia came out in a sundress.  I smiled.  “Much better,”  I told her, giving her a kiss on the forehead that brought her out of her pissy mood.

We walked to a café a few blocks away from her flat.  We took a small table outside on the sidewalk.  I looked through the menu and decided what I was going to get.  “What are you getting?”  I asked.

“I’m not that hungry.”

“Yes, you are.”  I told her, seeing right through her.

“John would disa—”

I cut her off.  “No.  You’re not allowed to talk about him anymore.  Not today, or tomorrow, or ever.  He’s irrelevant, now.  I’m not him.”  I said.  “You’re the tiniest thing ever anyway, Sophia.  You’re eating, even if I have to force it down your throat, which I really hope I don’t have to do.”

Sophia was quiet.  I looked back at my menu, angry.  “I think I’m gonna get a bagel and some bacon,”  she said then, her mood a complete 180 from what it had been moments ago.  She sensed my frustration with her before.  She always could.

I looked up at her and smiled.  “Good choice.”

We ordered our food and I watched her discreetly the whole time to make sure she was eating.  I felt bad doing it, but I was still worried about her.  She did eat, and she even stole a piece of my food, too.

I noticed her looking off to her right, and I turned to see what she was watching.  It was an old couple seated across from each other.  They were at least in their sixties, and they were smiling and laughing together.  The old man reached across the table and squeezed his wife’s hand lovingly.

I smiled.  “That’s so sweet,”  I said, but Sophia looked upset.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,”  she lied, toying with her straw.

“You’re a terrible liar, you know that, right?”  I told her.

“It’s dumb,”  she said, covering her forehead with her hand.