Damaged - N.H.

11

Niall's P.O.V.

I don't know what the hell happened. At this point, I don't even know if I have a fiancée anymore. All we did was get into an argument. All couples argue! Even the ones with lives a lot less complicated than ours.

I'll admit, I said some things out of spite, but she did too. We both messed up and let our anger get the best of us. I just fucking miss her. Being away from her for so long is much harder than I anticipated.

I called her a couple more times and sent her multiple text messages. Nothing. I knew it was getting late back at home and that she probably just needed to cool off for a bit. I decided to just let her sleep it off and we would talk when she woke up in the morning, I'm sure. I had a sound check to do anyway, as well as a few other things to get ready for another show tonight. Something tells me this one wouldn't be quite as exciting as the last few, though.

I tried to keep myself occupied and not constantly check my phone most of the day. I went about my work as usual knowing Julie was probably back home asleep since it was still the middle of the night there. Later on that day after the sound check was done, I checked my phone again. No calls or messages from Julie, but I did have a notification from the camera system I had installed around the house.

My heart rate picked up as I opened the app, going to the recordings. Honestly, I was expecting to see footage of Liam showing up again. It wasn't that I necessarily thought Julie would actually cheat on me, but I was worried that she might invite him over again just to get back at me and make me worry. That wasn't what I saw, though.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I watched the camera catch footage of Julie's car pulling out of the garage and taking a left out of our driveway onto the main road. The only thing that brought me a little bit of comfort was that she went the opposite direction of Liam's house. She probably needed to blow off some steam. Maybe she just went for a drive or over to Stacy or Liz's place.

It was filmed only half an hour ago, which would've been about 9 am California time. It was a Saturday too, so I assumed she was probably going to meet up with her friends and did my best to let it go so I could focus on my show tonight.

I faked a smile the first half hour of the show, but eventually I became focused enough on what I was doing to take my mind off of her for a while. By the end of the show, I was in a great mood and confident that we would get through whatever this was, just like we had before. When I checked my phone again after I got back to my dressing room, still nothing. I decided to call her. No answer, so I sent her a text message.

Please call me so we can talk. I want to fix this. I love you.

My heart sank as I reluctantly slipped my phone back into my pocket and headed out with the rest of the guys for drinks.

~*~

I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and a nasty hangover. The longer I waited to hear from Julie last night, the more I drank. It's taking its toll right now. I dragged myself out of bed long enough to take a shower and order room service. I felt like absolute shit, but thankfully today was my off day. I had a flight later on this evening but nothing until then.

I laid in bed for hours watching TV. Eventually, I fumbled around for my phone, finally finding it between the sheets and unlocking the screen. Nothing. Now I was worried. Whether it was over her leaving me or something bad happening to her, I wasn't sure, but I couldn't wait any longer to hear something. I knew it was early back home, just barely 7 AM on a Sunday, but I had to reach out to someone.I texted Liz and Stacy first. Neither had talked to her since Friday afternoon. Stacy called me just as I was starting to text Liz back.