Adore

Chapter 27

The final whistle blew signaling the end of the game. Parents cheered and the girls ran in a huddle, excited about their first win of the Thanksgiving tournament we were in. I quickly grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder before running to the field to congratulate the team. I said a quick "good game" then ran off to my car.

Both teams - volleyball and soccer - had been entered in Thanksgiving tournaments and I was needed at as many games as possible for both but my priority this weekend was the soccer team. The coach's wife was pregnant and ready to pop any second, so he'd have to leave at any given time.

Thankfully, there were about five hours between the soccer games today and the volleyball team had a match inbetween. Everything worked perfectly for once. When I got to the gym where the volleyball tournament was, the match was already started. 

I looked around at the crowd that was there before taking my seat on the bench. I landed my eyes on a familiar face but before I could put a name to it, the match ball graciously hit me in the face.

There wasn't too much audible laughter but you could tell by the look om some of the people's faces, they were amused. I laughed it off myself as I tossed the ball back in.

"Nice to see you here, Coach Price," the head coach greeted me, trying to not laugh.

"Hey, Lauren," I shook my head.

"Spot an attractive guy out there?" She teased.

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I'm going to miss picking on you," she smiled. "Are you sure you won't be able to come back in the spring?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "My schedule next semester is going to be too hectic. Plus, I just found out that the soccer team is going to start traveling and rumor has it, the coach is leaving to spend more time with his wife and his newborn."

"Oh, so you're actually going to be the soccer coach now? Not an assistant?"

"If he leaves, yes," I smile.

"Wait, Coach Audrey, you're leaving?" One of the girls on the bench glanced over to me.

"Pay attention to the match," I scolded her in a teasing matter.

We all went silent on the bench as we focused on the match. I would frequently check to find the familiar face again but my attention span didn't last very long.

As we stood from the bench at halftime, my eyes landed I'm the familiar face once more. Once I saw her face light up, I knew exactly who it was. Bethany. She spotted me at the moment I found her and waved in my direction. She rose to her feet and made her way over to me. "Audrey!" She smiled.

"Hey, Bethany," I smiled in return. "What are you doing here?"

"My sister is on the opposing team," She shrugged. "Odd coincidence, huh?" She giggled.

"Guess so," I nodded.

"Bethany," I heard a males voice call out to her from a distance.

"Liam," I greeted him with a nod as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Nice to see you're sober," I stated, remembering the last time I saw him when he confronted Niall and I, drunk off his ass in the midde of the afternoon.

"Audrey," he nodded in response. "I'm surprised you're sober."

"Asshole."

"Let's be nice guys," Bethany laughed at our cnversation.

"Well, I've got to go," my voice trailed.

"We'll all have to catch up sometime," Bethany waved me off. "You, me, Liam and Niall."

"Alright, I'll see you around then," I turned away and left.

Catching up with Liam? Not a chance. Bethany? We'll see.

+++

I went back to the dorm room and crashed onto my bed. My long day had finally came to an end. Coach never showed up to the final game of the day. His wife went into labor so he left to go to the hosital but didn't tell me. Instead, I showed up late to the game due to a parent phone call letting me know they were coachless. Thankfully, I had just finiahed up lunch at the time and the field was no more than ten minutes away.

I flipped the channels on the tv while I waited for Niall to come over. We weren't doing anything special tonight, just relaxing. We were probably going to end up watching American Horror Story or The Amazing Spiderman.

It took him about fifteen minutes to get here and when he did, he didn't seem like he was in the best of moods.

We sat down on the small bed together. Placed his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him as I cuddled up to him. "Niall," I breathed out.

He tilted his head to look down at me and smile.

I smiled in return but it quickly fell as I realized his was fake. "What's wrong?" I furrowed my brows in concern.

He shook his head,  "I'm fine."

His voice was quiet and hardly audible. I sat up from my position. "Niall, what's wrong?" I asked once more. "You can tell me."

He stayed silent for a bit as his eyes began to turn red. "Remember when I said I didn't want to say anything blindly without some questions being answered?"

"Yeah," I nodded.  "Babe, what's going on? "

"I need to stay at my father's place over break."

"Thanksgiving break?" I try to reassure.

"Yeah, that holiday that only you American's celebrate," he laughed a little.

"Shut up," I laughed with him. "Why your dad's place though? Is everything alright with him?"

He shook his head as he tried to find the right words to say. "I don't know," his smile left his face. "I don't have enough answers to say."

"Well, what can you say?"

"He's in pain," his eyes began to well up again. "A lot of pain."

I watched the tears come down his face and I quickly placed my hand on his cheek to wipe them away. "Don't cry, Niall," I tried to comfort him. "I'm here for you, okay? If you never need anything or anyone to go anywhere with you,  I'm here," I said taking him into my arms.

With those words, I had really hoped he would take me to the next hospital trip that I knew he had still been taking.

"Will you stay at my dad's place with me?" He said eventually, after he picked himself up.

"Of course, of course," I reassured him.

I let my hand run along his back as he stayed in my arms. "I like you as the big spoon," he smiled,  changing the subject.

I smiled down to him, "I guess we'll just have to do this more often."

That was it for the night. We didn't say much else as we both focused on the tv screen. He eventually fell asleep in my arms. He had to have had a hard day considering how emotional he had been tonight but I didn't mind. I'm probably worse when I'm on my period.

"I adore you, crazy kid," I kissed the top of his head. "Adore you," I repeated as I gently ran my fingers through his hair and played with it before falling asleep.

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Sorry it's taken me awhile to update! And also sorry for another short chapter. Next one won't be so short, I promise!

Just wanted to write this to apologize. (:

Stay rad!(:
Denise x