Mirrors

Chapter Thirty Five

He held on to her as they made their way past the dumpster towards the street and to his car. They rode in silence, all the while he held on to her hand, rubbing his thumb along it every once in a while. When they arrived at her flat, she handed him the keys. It took him several tries to unlock all three deadbolts mostly because he refused to let go of her hand. When he swung the door open, he led her inside. He shut the door and was about to lock only one lock when Edie reached around him to lock the other two.

She kicked off her shoes and slowly walked to every window. Niall just stood there, watching her, unsure of what to do.

"You can come in," she said, softly as she went into her bedroom to check her window there. When she came back into the living room, he hadn't moved. "I've nailed the windows shut. In case you were wondering. And I had the extra two deadbolts installed. Otherwise, I don't think I'd ever feel safe. Not that that's a huge help, to be honest."

Niall just nodded his head. "How about we get you into something more comfortable?"

"Okay," she went back into her bedroom to change but Niall had finally decided to move and he followed her.

"Want a hot shower first? I can get the water started for you, if you want?" He asked.

Just as he turned on the lights, Edie remembered her broken mirror. "Niall, wait!"

But she was too late. He was looking down at the floor. "What happened here?"

"Nothing, I, uh, just broke the mirror."

"The way you tried to break the dumpster?" he asked, giving a weak smile.

"Except I used my fist for that."

"Ouch. How about I clean this up real quick?" He started to scoot the pieces of glass with his foot but then stopped, "Hey, uh, is this blood?" He pointed to her floor.

"Yeah, well, I cut my hand."

"Let me see," he walked over to her and before she could do anything he had both of her hands in his, palms up. "This looks like it's been healing for awhile," he said as he rubbed his thumb across her scar, "When did you break the mirror, Edie?"

She thought about lying but was too tired to even try, "Two months ago."

"What? Why haven't you cleaned it up?" She just shrugged, too tired to care. "Sit down and let me clean that up for you first before you get into the shower, okay."

He went and found a broom and swept it all up. Edie just watched as he did this. She sat in the darkness of her bedroom watching his face in the light of the bathroom. She couldn't understand why he was doing any of this for her, after the way she had been treating him. She watched as he dumped all of the glass into her trash bin and took it out of her bathroom. He came back, turned on the shower and got the water warming up. When he came back out of her bathroom, he looked a little lost on what to do next.

"Okay, uh, I'll let you do this part alone," he said as he ran his hand through his hair.

Edie nodded. She shut the door behind him and turned to lock it but thought otherwise. She peeled her dress over her head and stepped into the shower. She winced a little as the hot water hit her arm which was still tender from all she had done the night before. 

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Niall shut her bedroom door behind him and stood in near complete darkness. He managed to find a lamp and turned it on. He made his way to the couch and sat down. He then stood back up and went to her windows. She wasn't lying. Some pretty hefty nails were lodged securely into place. He ran his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes. Somehow this night had gotten out of hand but he was glad that he had gotten her home.

He heard the water shut off and a few minutes later, the bathroom door open. He heard her fumbling around before there was silence. A few minutes later, she opened the door and stepped out. She stood in the doorway, in a long-sleeved shirt and shorts. Her long hair was wet and sticking to her shirt and face.

She looked at him. He looked at her as he moved towards her a little. Despite the darkness, he could see enough of her to know that if he tried to hug her, she'd let him. But before he could do it, she ran straight for him and wrapped her arms around his waist as his arms instinctively wrapped around her neck. He held onto her as tight as he felt he could safely do without scaring her.

He heard her whispering, "I'm sorry," into his chest as she cried a little.

After a few minutes, she pulled away from him to look up into his face. "I'm so sorry, Niall."

Niall shook his head, "Don't be. It'll all be okay." He wanted to ask her what she had been doing but he just didn't want to risk her snapping again. He smiled a little at her before kissing her on the forehead. "We can talk later, okay."

She nodded. "Would you like to get a shower? I have extra clothes that would probably fit you."

"Uh, yeah, sure. A hot shower sounds like a really good idea.  Therapeutic, really."

She let go of him, which made him a little sad but he felt like he'd back in that spot in just a few minutes. She found him a towel and handed it to him. "Want anything to eat or drink?"

"Sure. Whatever you've got."

He went into her room and shut the door. He turned the bathroom light on and was still a little shocked at the lack of a mirror. "Definitely asking about that," he whispered to himself as he got undressed and into the shower.

He heard a knock and then her voice, "Is it safe?"

He smiled, "Yeah, I'm in the shower," he called out to her.

He moved his head around her shower curtain to see her peeking in.  "I'm leaving you a t-shirt and sweatpants." She placed the items on the countertop before leaving.

Niall wanted to shower quickly, despite really wanting a long, hot shower. He grabbed her shampoo bottle to wash his hair. As he was putting it back down he noticed something shiny hit the light. He put the bottle in one hand as the other picked up the tiny razor blades, fingering them slightly so he wouldn't cut himself.

"What the fuck?"

He quickly rinsed his hair out and turned off the shower. He dried off as fast as he could before tossing the clothes on, which fit him surprisingly well.  He grabbed a hold of the razors and walked out of the bathroom.

He stood behind the closed bedroom door, rubbing his thumb along the blade, unsure if he really wanted to confront her. She was talking to him. She was allowing him near her. He wasn't sure he wanted to risk her freaking out on him again, but he also knew he had to.

"Might as well be tonight, Niall," he said to himself, "Get everything out now so that you....and her, can move forward, no more secrets."

He took a deep breath and opened the door.