Lessons Learned

Part 16.

"I don't want you to go to bed yet," Niall held the flashlight under his chin in an attempt to look scary. All he ended up doing was looking cute. "Wanna tell ghost stories?"

"I don't know any ghost stories," I went to work straightening the strings on my sweatshirt as I yawned.

"Fine be boring," Niall switched off the flashlight. "You're no fun."

"Tell me a story then," I rolled over and curled my body into a tight ball, trying to ward off the cold of the October night. "But not a ghost one."

"Once upon a time," Niall's arm snaked around my waist as he joined me on my side of the tent. I relaxed at his touch, liking the way he pressed the front of his body to the back of mine and mumbled in my ear. "In a land far away, lived a beautiful girl. Her father was a painter and he enjoyed using her as the subject of his creations. He was a very popular artist and people from all over the land flocked to see his work. Many gorgeous women asked to be the model for his next masterpiece, but the painter always turned them down. He said he would only use the most beautiful girl to create his art, and that girl was his pretty daughter. The other girls in the land began to get jealous; they wanted everyone to admire their beauty as well. Because of this, they were very mean towards the painter's daughter. They called her names and insulted her whenever they could. The daughter was afraid to tell her father because she feared he would stop making art. So she dealt with it every day, letting the mean words pile up until she began to believe them. One day the daughter was sitting by the river, crying because no one understood just how much she hurt. That was when she met a beautiful boy, with chestnut curls and sparkling blue eyes. The boy listened to her and told her that everything would be all right. He became her friend and told her how beautiful she was. With the boy on her side, the daughter was suddenly happy. Then one day she went to the river and her boy wasn't there. For weeks he was gone, but the daughter didn't fret. She knew he was out there somewhere and she knew she had to be strong for him. She knew he believed in her and deemed her worthy. She knew he only wanted her to be happy. The daughter never saw the curly haired boy again but she always felt his presence. She knew he was watching over her and making her feel important. When the daughter finally died, old and happy with dozens of grandchildren to succeed her, she was greeted in heaven by the curly haired boy's open arms. He had never been real. He was her guardian angel, always in the back of her mind, looking over her when she needed it most. Because of him, she had found the true value in herself."

Niall nuzzled my neck, "I'm your guardian angel Belly. You won't remember me when you return to the real world, but I'll be here looking over you. I'll be at the back of your mind, a shadowy memory that you can't grasp completely, but whenever you need me most I'll be there. At your deepest and darkest points you'll hear me telling you just how perfect you are. You won't know me, but it should be enough to knock the evil voice away and help you get better. I will always be a part of you."

That was a nice thought, always having Niall as a part of me. "I don't want to leave," I rolled over, my nose rubbing his in the darkness. "I want to stay here with you forever."

"I wish you could," he smiled sadly. "But I don't know if that's allowed."

"When I asked Liam if I was allowed to stay with him, he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket." The memory came flooding back, "But I fell in the pool and I don't know what it said. I think it had to do with me staying."

"Let's call him," Niall's hand escaped from his sleeping back and felt around the dark tent until it closed over his phone. The dim blue light of the screen was reflected in Niall's eyes as he called his long ago friend.

"Hello?" Liam's voice crackled through the static. Terrible reception here in the limbo. "What's up Niall?"

"Can Annabelle stay here with me forever?" Niall got to the point quickly. "She said she asked you the same question and you pulled out a piece of paper. Is that like a list of rules that I never got?"