Mirrors

Chapter Twenty Nine

"Niall. Hi." Benny stuck his hand out which Niall took. "Good to see you. How've you been?"

"Um, fine. You?"

"Good."

Niall remembered how Edie was supposedly out of town helping him, "That's good. It'll be good to see Edie at the meeting tomorrow now that you're back."

Benny looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"She told us she was out of town helping you with something," Niall said, seeing that his hunch had been right. Benny's face gave him the answer.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Edie told Charlie that she was helping you with something somewhere."

"Nah, I've been here, I wouldn't--. Wait, has she not been at the meetings?" Benny's voice was getting upset but Niall didn't care, he was too worried about where Edie was.

"Not for the past month."

"Are you kidding me?!" He nearly shouted. "That, uggggh, that woman!"

"I knew it. I knew she was lying."

"Why did no one---, ugh, for crying out loud I'm going to kill her."

"So you thought she was coming to them?"

"Yes, I thought she had been picking you up and the two of you were going together?"

Niall just shook his head. "I haven't seen her in a month. Since her first night back after her surgery."

Benny ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "Ugh!! Do you have a sister, Niall? I hope not. Mine drives me fucking insane."

"Well, she is going through something."

"No shit." Benny calmed down a bit, "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so rude. I thought she was doing better.  Wasn't she doing better?"

Niall could see tears coming up in his eyes and he felt bad. He was the kind of brother people dream about having. He gave a shit. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't know," Niall mumbled.

"It's okay. Thank you for telling me."

"Yeah, I was just...uh...getting worried but Charlie said that she had told her she was helping you with something, so I thought maybe that was true, although I had my doubts. I guess this confirms it, though."

"Yeah. Well, looks like I've got some answers to get." Benny began to walk off but stopped. "Wait a minute, what are you doing here?"

Niall looked at him. "I, uh, was just walking down the street." He wasn't sure he could tell him that he was trying to play detective.

"Oh, well, are you busy? Seems to me you deserve some answers too. Why don't we both go get them?"

Niall was shocked. He had not expected that invitation. But he was also not about to pass it up. "Uh, yeah, sure. Okay."

"Meet me at her place, then."

"I, uh, don't know where she lives," Niall confessed.

"Oh, okay. What's your number? I'll text you the address, we can meet outside."

Niall gave him his number and got the text as he was just about back at his car. He googled her address and met her brother outside at the main gate.

Niall followed him up three flights of stairs. Benny banged on the door but no one answered. "Good thing I have the keys," he said as he unlocked three different locks. Niall thought that was strange. "Edie! Get up!" Benny yelled as he went into the flat.

Niall slowly followed. The entire place was locked in darkness.

"Edie!" Benny walked back into the main room. "She's not here which is fucking odd because she never leaves this place. She's always here."

"So no idea where she'd be?" Niall asked, meekly, still uneasy about being in her home without her knowledge.

"Unless she had a doctor's appointment."  Benny ran his hand over his face before throwing his hands in the air.  "Well, fuck it, take a seat, we'll wait."

Niall slowly made his way further into her flat. Benny had sat down on the couch, so Niall slowly sat down on the other end of the couch.

They sat there for a few minutes before Benny spoke, "Has she been doing better, at all? Or has she just been playing me?"

"Huh?"

"She's been going to these meetings, right?"

"Yeah."

"Has there been any actual progress or is she that good of an actress?"

"I thought she was doing better. The last time I saw her, we were celebrating because the police found the guy who shot me and she had just had her first surgery. She was in a good mood. I later even remarked to myself how things had changed since I first met her."

"They found the guy?"

"Yeah," Niall whispered, unsure of how this would make him feel.

"That's good to hear. I'm sure she was thrilled for you."

"I thought she was."

"But she gave no indication that something else was going on?"

Niall wasn't sure what Benny knew, so as to protect her, and himself, he shrugged, "Not that I can think of. I mean, she's always been quite distant, which is understandable but I thought she had gotten comfortable with me. I know I had gotten comfortable with her. But, then again, I know my story is different from hers."

Benny just nodded. "I really thought she was going to these things. She seemed better to me. She seemed a little more like herself." He paused. "You know, she once gave you credit for that."

Taken aback, Niall said, "She did?"

Benny looked at him, "Yeah, she did. She kept saying that she finally felt comfortable around someone again and, okay, she didn't mention you by name, but I know she was talking about you. Who else could it be? You're the only person she ever sees."

Niall smiled a little. It made him momentarily feel good until the current situation came back to him. "This feels weird, being here, without her knowledge."

"Yeah, well, she has some explaining to do," Benny said unapologetically.

They sat there for several hours, talking here and there. They turned on the telly and watched a few movies. Benny ordered them food but both of them found themselves not very hungry. The later it got, the more worried they both became. Benny kept trying to call her but she never picked up. That somewhat made Niall feel less ignored but more anxious. He would've thought she would answer her brother's calls.

It was around two in the morning when Benny's phone rang, "It's Edie," he said as he answered, putting it on speaker, "Edie?"

"Hey Benny!" she said happily. Just then they heard footsteps on the stairs and the sound of keys. "Sorry, been busy. What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to hang out with my sister today. Been a while."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Been helping Niall out with something." They looked at each other as they heard keys drop and Edie say 'shit' from outside the door.

"Oh, yeah, is that so?"

"Yeah, he's having a rough time right now."

"Oh, sorry to hear that. Hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he will be."

They both heard her put the keys in the locks and begin unlocking her doors. Niall was getting nervous. He hadn't liked being there without her knowing and he knew she would be pissed. He got up and moved out of her line of sight.

"Been helping him all day?"

"No, just the past few hours. I had a late night last night and slept most of today."

"Is that so?" Benny said as the door opened and she walked in. "Edie?"