Adore

Chapter 26

I scrunched down in the passenger seat of Zayn's car. I kept my focus out the window as everything passed by me in a blur. A million things ran through my mind. Why was Niall at the hospital? Was he okay? Was he visiting someone? I thought everything was fine but maybe not? 

I shook my head and sighed, trying to stop worrying about it.

"So, you really like him?" Zayn asks me.

"Huh? Sorry, I was kind of in my own world."

He laughed, "Niall. You really like Niall."

"Yeah," I muttered. "That was he cousin, you know," I said after some silence was shared.

"Who? Adam?" 

I nodded. "The one and only."

Our conversation was kept pretty quiet. I think we were both trying to distract ourselves as we made the trip to the hospital.

Once we pulled up, we drove around the parking lot to see if he was still there. We searched for his car and after about three minutes of driving around and not seeing it, we finally saw the old, white car. "There we go," I nodded. 

My heart began to race again. Things started to hit me. You never really know the reality of a hospital until you get there or even when you hear someone say the word. Seeing his car in the parking lot made me aware this was actually a thing. He was actually here and something was actually going on. I wasn't sure what it was but clearly, it wasn't good.

Zayn pulled into an empty parking spot. He leaned forward as he put his car into park then rested back, exhaling. "Well, do we go in?" He asks me.

"I don't know is it really a good idea? I mean we don't know what's going on and there's obviously a reason why and I just--"

"Get down, get down," Zayn said, very rushed as he slid in his seat.

I mimicked his actions, looking around out the windows. Niall had just walked behind Zayn's car. I held my breath as he walked past, looking around at his surroundings.

Once he was out of sight from us, we sat back up. Zayn looked out his side window before turning his gaze back to me. "We do not tell him we were here," he instructs. "He does not find out. Got it?"

"Shit, why would I tell him I was here?" I state.

My phone went off signaling a text message. It was from Niall.

Babe, are you busy? Can I stop by? I don't want to be in the house anymore.

"Get the fuck out of here, Zayn. He's going back to the dorms," I rushed him as he turned his car back on.

I replied to his text once we were out of the parking lot. From what it looked like, he was still sitting there.

"What did he say?" Zayn asked.

"He asked is he could stop by," I said. "He said he didn't want to be at the frat house anymore," I said, kind of dull. I didn't want to look at it like this, but he basically lied to me. There was no denying that, really.

"Was that him?" Zayn's eyes went wide as a car that looked like his drove by.

"Take a detour! There's a faster way to get there!' I panicked.

We got there not too much faster than Niall. He had to have hit every green light on the way here. We pulled up at basically the same time but he went in the main entrance. I found a door that lead to the stairs and sped up four flights of stairs. Once I got to my floor, I quickly pulled out my room key and rushed in. Without much thought, I stripped out of what I was wearing and into some mens pajamas bottoms I got from JcPenny's.

"What on earth?" I heard Ree.

"Sorry," I smiled at her and Adam watching a movie together. At that moment, I heard a knock at the door. "Niall's here," I made them aware as I walked to the door.

"Audrey," he exhaled, embracing me in a hug as I opened the door. It was probably the best hug I ever received.

"Hi, Niall," I smiled as I pulled away from the hug. My smile quickly fell though as I observed his face. His eyes were red and puffy. Something was wrong. He had been crying. "Is everything okay?"

He shook his head, "Can you really tell that easily?" He spoke rather softly, looking as if he was about to break down. 

"Niall, what's going on?" I say as he looked back down at his feet, tears now brimming his eyes. 

"I'm not ready to talk about it yet," he swallowed his tears. "I want to take you somewhere," he said taking my hand.

"Niall, it's kind of late and I'm already in my pajamas..." I trailed.

"Please, Audrey," he begged. "I really just want to be with you right now."

"Alright," I sighed. There was no way I was about to shut him down, not when he was like this. "I'll be back," I shouted to Ree and grabbed my key.

+++

The drive was rather long to get where we were. But I must say, it was actually worth it. We parked at the top of this mountain that overlooked the city, kind of like the one Harry and I always went to back home. 

We sat out on the hood of his car and looked up at the empty sky. It wasn't long until I began to freeze out in the cool air and Niall wrapped his arms around me.

We sat there silently. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was comfortable and relaxing. I felt so secure here with him; I never wanted to leave.

He shifted a bit uneasily and I heard him sniffle. I moved from his arms and looked at him. "Niall, what's going on?" I asked softly and he just shook his head. "Niall, please. I really want to help you and I can't stand seeing you so," I paused, looking for the right word. "Hurt."

"I would figure it's something you'd be use to," I heard him mutter.

"Niall," I stopped him.

"I want to tell you, Audrey. I really do, but I'm not ready yet. There are so many questions I have that haven't been answered and I don't want to start saying too much blindly," his soft eyes were kept sincere.

"I just want you to know,' I swallowed and my heart began to race. "I'm here for you, Niall. I know I've been a shit person in the past but I'm here and I want to do everything I can to make sure everything is okay with you."

I felt his arms wrap around me in a hug once more. We sat there just embracing each other. I felt his tears hit the top of my head and before I knew it, I was crying myself.

"Why are you upset?" He laughed at me.

"Because you're upset," I laughed with him.

"Aw, you're so cute," he said attacking my cheeks with small kissed.

"Stop, Niall," I laughed until his lips fell onto mine.

I knew he wasn't ready to be anything more than what we already were. Even though it's only been less than a days time, I've accepted that he wasn't and I could see that now more than ever. And even though he wasn't ready, I would still adore him and that's all that was important.

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Hey there! Sorry this one was a shorter chapter. I'm am so incredibily beyond words right now. I never would've thought that anything I ever wrote would get 32k reads. It is also #430 on the fan fiction list at the moment. I know it's still a low number but I honestly am struck beyond belief. Thank you all so, so, so much. (:

Til next time,
Denise Rose x (: