Second Snapshot (Picture This Sequel: Niall Horan)

-Catch me out. [Chapter 57]

I slid my phone from my pocket, my fingers shaking as I did so they slid across the screen with the sweat on my fingertips, half of the letters came out wrong, the spaces not inflicted, but he would know what I meant.

All hll breaking loose already.

He text back almost immediately.

Want me to come and meet you? x

I sighed. That would be Niall. Get yourself out of the situation before you get hurt, but things weren’t that simple in my family. If you couldn’t do it right the first time then there was no point in trying again, if I backed out now this would be the end for me. And although I was scared to renew, I was just as scared to cancel. Things are permanent in my family; the only thing that’s temporary is relationships.

No. It’s fine. I’ll live, do what you’ve gotta do x

In all reality, yes, yes I did want him to come and meet me. To take me out of this broken world of my family and back into my blissful world with him, but I wasn’t about to be selfish. They were my family, it was my responsibility to suck it up and live with it. I wasn’t about to just run away to him every time.

I can’t now you’ve said that x

I bit my lip as I looked around the restaurant, there was no sign of my parents and for  a moment I wondered if my Father was even going to get her to come back. Maybe I hoped she didn’t. I was about to begin tapping away some reassuring remark to Niall when somebody caught my eye. He was sat in the corner, a fishing hat covering his hair, it was long and black and knotted tied in a rough and low ponytail only slightly shorter than my own. There were also small red beads in a loose bit that he tucked behind his ear as he licked his thin and chapped lips. A coffee was on the table in front of him but it appeared untouched and as there was no steam I assumed he was just choosing not to drink it. I was trying not to be obvious but he kept on sliding his glance to me, his algid eyes latching onto my appearance, scanning my body. He ducked his head down as he rested his arms on the table his khaki green coat sleeves picking up crumbs as he did so. His face was no longer in view as he brought the magazine he was reading in front of his face his dirty fingers clasping around the glossy paper. Arcing my back slightly I tried to get a glimpse of his reading materiel and sure enough the bright yellow block print was evitable as ever on the cover.

Criminal Happenings 101.

I didn’t know what it was, but I knew him. I had to, he was so familiar. But he didn’t look like somebody I had acquainted with, I had to know him. You don’t make mistakes like that, there was something almost radiating off of him, telling me that he was trouble. But yet I kept staring, it was almost like I couldn’t drag my gaze away, his looks were so prominent, there was something about those dark eyes that you would never forget. I jumped in my seat as he got up his biker boots squelched against the surface of the tiles as he covered the radius of his table towards…Me. He was getting closer, his magazine rolled up in-between his arm and his side he kept on licking his lips, his eyes heavily set straight ahead. It was only then that the musty smell greeted me that I realised I knew where he was from, where I had seen him before. He was just dressed differently now, slightly, he didn’t have those glasses on that he worse so close to the end of his nose. New Year and my dinner with Niall that night, he did exactly the same thing, sat himself in the corner booth, read a magazine, and watched me. It wasn’t the smell, it wasn’t the same boots, or the same coat or the slightly greyer hair, it was the tattoo. Using four fingers and one thumb, one letter etched onto each in a simple, black font.

D E A T H.

It was so simple. That one word. One letter on each finger, permanent black pink printed this onto his skin, and all I could think of was, why? Something so dark, and hollow printed onto you for life. I didn’t have time to ponder over this properly as I heard footsteps and an abrupt clearing on the throat that was undeniably my Father behind me. Right now I was expecting him to be alone, a remorseful look on his face as he told me we would have to schedule this for another time, I would quietly agree and then I’d be on my way again back to Niall. But instead what I saw shocked me, and it didn’t half scare me either.