QUARANTINE - N.H.

fourteen

Olivia:

I grabbed my keys and Nialls sweater that he gave me some time ago. I washed it for him and wanted to give it back. I closed my door behind me and walked across the hallway, before I knocked two times and opened Nialls front door.

"Hey!", I yelled into his apartment. He didn't answer. I walked into his living room. "Niall?", I asked again. "Sorry, I was taking a shower. I'm almost done", I heard him softly from his bedroom. "You're all good", I answered him. I put down my phone and my keys on his desk in his living room and carefully put his sweater over one of his chairs. I walked around his living room and saw some awards in one of the big shelves out of glass. I carefully let my fingers run over one of them.

Wow, he must be more famous than I thought he was with all these awards.

"Hey, Liv", I heard a voice behind me and quickly turned around. I felt like I invaded his privacy with snooping around his living room. "I'm sorry. I was just looking at all your awards", I quickly apologized. "Oh don't be sorry. You can look at them. I don't mind." He walked around his couch and fell into the big cushions. I smiled, walked over to him and sat down next to him. "How are you?", he asked and I felt his gaze on me. I smiled. It feels good that people care about me. "I'm good, I guess. Today was great. Thank you Niall", I said and leaned on his side. He put his arm around me and answered: "You're so welcome. I'm glad I was able to cheer you up."

Half an hour later, I was snuggled up into a big blanket and still cuddling with Niall. We were watching Criminal Minds. After a long debate on what to watch, because he wanted to watch a scary movie, but I was too afraid, we decided to go with a show we both haven't watched yet.

"Do you know, that your accent sounds exactly like Spencer Reid's accent?", Niall laughed after we watched the first episode. I started laughing: "Well I think he's from Vegas, and that's not too far from LA, so you know... Our accents are similar", I explained.

"Do you want anything to drink?", Niall asked me a little bit later. "Sure", I answered. "Okay, let me see what I have", he said and got up. After he removed his arm from around me and got up, I felt cold. I heard him saying something out of his kitchen but I couldn't really understand him. "Did you ask me something?", I asked and turned down the volume of the TV. He didn't answer, so I stopped the show and got up to go look for him.

"You good?", I asked after I came into the kitchen. The fridge door was open and Niall was standing right behind it, the way I couldn't see his face. "Yeah I was just...", he started when he suddenly closed the fridge and turned his body towards me in a quick motion. While he did that, his arm looked like he was reaching out for me, so I flinched and took a few steps back. Nialls facial expressions went from smiling to completely shocked. I was embarrassed and turned away, trying to hide my face and the tears that were spilling out of my eyes. "Olivia...", he said softly and walked over to me. He wanted to touch me, I felt it, but he hesitated. "Did you think, I would hit you?", he whispered. "I'm sorry, Niall...", I sobbed. "Hey, hey, hey... don't apologize. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you", he cooed and finally touched my arm. His fingers brushed over it lightly. "Are you okay?", Niall asked. "Yea...I'm sorry. I didn't think you would hit me. I guess it's just an old habit...", I explained to him. His hand dropped from my arm. "An old habit? What does that mean? Did somebody hit you before?", he asked, slowly getting furious. I stayed silent for a few moments and Niall repeated his question. I nodded slowly. I heard him releasing a breath that he was holding. Niall took a few steps back before he starts walking around his kitchen, his hand in his hair, tugging on its roots. He seemed angry and furious but he still made me feel safe somehow. "I'm sorry, Liv", he said, "Can I hug you?", he asked . The moment I nodded, he came over to me and pulled me into his strong arms. I silently cried into his shirt, finally letting all my emotions out. "I want to talk about it and I feel like you would understand, but I am also scared to get judged", I whispered. He took a few steps back to get a good look of me. "I would never judge you. Always remember that", he said and caressed my cheek with his hand. He gave me a kiss on my forehead. "I never told anyone. Not even my best friend. Not even my mom. And I tell her everything", I said after he pulled away from giving me a kiss on my forehead. "I am here for you Liv. I always will. You are important to me. I don't want to loose you and whatever happened in the past, won't change this. Maybe it will help to talk about it. So you can finally get it off your chest", he said, his face looked serious and his eyebrows were furrowed together. "I want to tell you. Can we sit down?", I asked and Niall nodded quickly, before he guided me towards his coach again. I sat down. Niall offered my a blanket and I nodded. He grabbed my legs and put them over his lap before he wrapped a blanket around me and him. He put his hands on top of my legs. "Is this comfortable?", he asked and I smiled: "It is perfect Niall, thank you." I looked at my hands that were folded over the blanket. When I looked back up again, I directly looked into Niall's eyes.

"My last boyfriend...", I started: "He hit me. And I think... I- I think he raped me a couple of times..."