Moments In Time

Chapter Twenty

We walked in silence as the two of us passed a few small shops. I made sure to be about a foot away from him, and it wasn't just for the stench from his breath. Niall kept looking down with his hands in his pockets, trying to think of something to say. I, on the other hand, wanted to run back home. 

"Auddie?" Niall finally spoke, "I...I...honestly don't--know what to--say."

I noticed that he was way too tipsy, so I sat him down on the first bench I could find, "Niall, are you alright?"

His blue eyes were so dull, "No. No, it's actually freakin' terrible."

I don't know what possessed me to hug him, but there we were holding each other tightly. Tears sprang from my eyes, "Niall--"

"Look, Auddie, don't feel sorry for me, okay?" Niall said wiping the tears from my eyes.

Shaking my head, I said, "Niall, what happened?"

Taking a deep sigh, he began telling his story, "The day after I came home, I wasn't feeling myself. I felt like I was missing something, you know? So I went to go eat Chinese food."

I started to laugh, "Why did you go eat Chinese food?"

Niall blushed, "Because you said it made you feel better, so I thought I'd see if that was true." Then he continued, "Anyways, some of my band mates called me up that night and invited me to go to a club. They said it might get my mind off of--you. So I went with them and I probably had a few drinks." I scoffed.

"Okay," Niall smirked, "More than a few. Well, I was having some fun when Josh told me that there was an American asking for me. My first thought was that you came to see me, so Josh led me to the girl. And that's when I met Nastia."

He must've seen how uneasy I was, so Niall said, "I mean, I wasn't interested in her at first. In fact, I was mad that Josh introduced me to her. Nastia kept pestering me for a while before I just told her I wasn't interested."

"But then why are you with her now?" I asked.

Niall rubbed his neck and closed his eyes, "I was at a pub one night, and there she was. Nastia told me she was in love with me. All I could do was think about you, but I knew I could never have you, so I just decided to give a relationship with her a chance.

"The lads hated her though. Liam kept telling me she was just using me and even Harry told me just 'cause Nastia was hot doesn't mean she was worth it. They kept telling me I should try to get you back but I--I couldn't do it. Not to mention, I had seen that some girls on Twitter were already against you and I didn't want them to say anything else about you."

It was true. I stopped getting on Twitter for a while, because some girls decided to tell me I was just a loser trying to get attention for myself. Squeezing Niall's hand, I smiled weakly as he continued, "Auddie, I never meant to hurt you by going out with Nastia. I promise you that."

I nodded my head slowly, "Niall, I was never upset about you going out with Nastia. I was just worried about you partying so much."

Niall caressed my hand, "I know, and you had every right to be. It's just--Nastia needed to get recognized and she didn't want to be alone at the parties and so I promised her I'd go." Then his face changed from a small smile to a tense expression, "But there was just a point where I think Nastia didn't want to get any model agencies' attention, she just wanted to party. And you know me, I like to have fun, but there's just a point when you just want to relax.

"So, I decided to talk to her about it and all she did was laugh in my face. Nastia just kept telling me that I would lose fans if I kept myself indoors all the time, so she started to take me to fashion shows and concerts and parties..."