Niall hugs me close, as I collapse on the stairs of their back door. My hands rub my eyes, as he sits down on the stairs behind me, his legs around my body, his front pressed to my back. I sob into my hands, as he tries to calm me down.
"Max, what's wrong?", he asks quite concerned.
"Michael-he-he hit me. Hesaid something about my father. I'm really sensitive when you talk about my father. I hate him so fucking much", I sob.
"Don't ever let anyone take you down like that. You're the strongest girl I know and I also know you can stand out those words but he's absolutely not allowed to hit you, also call you those names. I can't believe he hit you... You've been bleeding, Max, we need to get that cleaned before bacteria come in the wound", Niall explains.
I shake my head. He hugs me close, as I sob more.
"What did I do to make him hate me so much?", I ask.
"I don't know, Max. I don't believe you did something. Maybe he just cought something up wrong from someone. I really want you to be happy."
Niall gets some tissues from his backpocket and I wipe the blood away with it. My nose feels bad. He lays his chin on my head. I continue sobing into my hands, as he just sits there in complete silence. He suddenly gets up.
"I'll be right back", he whispers, as he leaves.
Soon I stop crying and wait for Niall to come back. I get my phone out, only to see several texts from my friends. I reply to them quickly, that I'm fine and just can't see Michael any longer. Just then a text pops up with Michael's name. I decide to open it.
You're a fucking whore. I never want to see you again.
I decide not to reply. Otherwise I open my mouth and scream out my anger. Tears form in my eyes, as I do so. Soon only sobs escape my mouth. I get up and sit on the gras in the yard. My lungs burn from the coldness of the air. The snow melted away about one week ago but it's still cold as fuck. Niall comes running out of the house with some tissues and rubbing alcohol.
"Are you okay? I heard you scream."
"I was just trying to lose my anger", I sniffle.
"It's okay. Let's get your wound cleaned. I've done this to Harry and Troy before, 'til now they both still live", he laughs slightly.
He sits down in front of me. He opens the bottle and puts some on the tissue. I hiss as he dabs it on the wound. It burns a lot. Tears run down my face by now again. He soon finishes and puts a bandaid on it.
"Better?", he asks smiling.
"Yes", I say.
Niall puts me back on my legs. He kisses my cheek, as we go into the house.
"Uhm, do you want to go to the Refugee-Help-Centre today with me? I want to go there today because one of the helpers got sick. You could help me give out food to the people", he asks, scratching the back of his neck.
"Sure, at least I'll do something good", I answer smiling.
*****
"Hey Joel! The Horanator is here", Niall shouts into the kitchen.
"Horan, my friend, go give out some soup to the people", Joel shouts back.
This Joel guy comes to me, as Niall gets his jacket off and stands behind the pot of soup.
"So are you Niall's new girl?", Joel asks.
"No, we're just friends. Did Niall already bring girls here?"
"No, you need to know Niall did some shit when he was younger and had to work here as a punishment. He never brought another girl here."
"Is he still here because of the shit he has done?", I ask.
"No, he's been coming here for the last three years to help the refugees. They love Niall. He's so caring", Joel smiles.
"That sounds nice."
"Yeag, he's a nice guy. Since you're here, could you sit with the kids and play with them? They need to think about something else than their escape", Joel asks.
"I'd love to play with them", I smile.
Joel shows me a table with 4 kids. They all straddle me with questions, when I sit down.
"What's your name?", one girls asks.
"Max, what's your name?", I smile.
"Najey, how old are you?", she smiles widely.
"I'm 18 and you?"
"I'm 10."
As soon as all of the kids tell me their names, we start to draw a picture. Najey holds a picture she drew in my face. I take it and exsamine it. Najey drew a house and a peace sign.
"What's that?", I ask interessted.
"I want peace and a house for everyone", she smiles.
"That's beautiful, Najey."
She giggles and continues a different picture. I draw together with a two year old boy. He scribbles red lines on the piece of paper, while I draw a butterfly, so he can color it with his red pencil. I watch the kids giggle and laugh, while I let the little boy color my butterfly. These children had to get through a lot of shit. They had to escape their country and come all the way here to America to live in peace.
"Max, do you like Niall?", Najey asks.
"Yes, I do. He's a good friend", I smile.
"No, I mean if you love him? He loves you", she giggles.
"Yes, I love him", I answer.
She smiles and continues drawing. The little boy on my lap gets off and walks off to his mother with his drawing in his hand. His mother takes him on her lap and looks at the picture. She smiles at me, as I smile.
"Niall, come here and play with us", Najey shouts through the room.
Najey runs over to Niall and pulls his T-shirt towards herself. I smile at them. I stand up from my chair and let Najey sit on it. She gets out a card game. Niall sits down next to me. We play a round of cards. Najey wins against Niall and me.
"Najey, would you like to take Lila and Nolo and go outside to play? We'll come in a few minutes", Niall asks.
Najey nods and takes the two children with her.
"They're so cute", I smile.
"I know. Najey lost her mother and father after their escape from syria. The Swiss didn't want them, so America took them. Najey lives with Joel now. Nolo and Lila are twins, they still have their aunt. The small one you drew with, was Tatme. he still has his parents but lost his sister while they ran away. We have a lot more children here but they mostly play outside with Abigale. She's from a college. The kids love Abi."
"It's so nice that you help these people", I smile.
"I know."
Niall takes my hand and leads me to a window. I see a woman playing soccer with a bunch of kids. They seem happy and careless.
"Are you hungry, we can eat something, Joel always lets me eat something."
"Yes, let's eat something."
After we both get something to eat, we sit down at a table with two young refugees, a girl and a boy. They smile at us, as we sit down.
"Hello Murahd, hello Bellela", Niall smiles.
"Hello Niall. Who is this?", the girl, I assume Bellela, asks.
"This is my friend Max."
"You are very pretty, Max", Murahd smiles.
"Thank you very much."
My cheeks blush a whole lot.
"Hey, Murahd, this is my girl", Niall laughs.
Murahd laughs along with Niall and Bellela. I laugh slightly. We eat up our soup and bread, talking to the two people. they are very friendly. I like them.
"It's time to go back home", Niall smiles to me, as we go to the kitchen.
I nod, say goodbye to Joel and leave with Niall by my side. We say our goodbyes to the children and go to his car. We soon arrive at my place. The concert already started and I really don't want to go. Niall and I get out. We stand in front of the door. Mom and Harold aren't home yet but will be sooner or later.
"Thank you for helping me with the refugees", Niall smiles, sticking his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looking at the ground.
"No problem. I'd love to go there again", I say, sticking my hands into my backpockets.
There is a short silence between us. I decide to go inside before it gets more awkward.
"See you on Monday, Horan", I smile and grab the doorknob.
"Wait", Niall says.
I stop in my tracks and turn to him. He takes my face into his hands. His face gets closer to my face. My arms snake around his neck. I smile, as he kisses my nose, then my cheek and finally my lips. I kiss him back immideatly. My mind feels like a switch was turned and now it's not working anymore. I feel the butterflies in my stomach, as he strokes my cheeks in his hands. My hands play with the hair in the nape of his neck. Never did I have this feeling with Michael when I kissed him. Actually I can say it now: I love Niall. It's not even "liking" anymore or "a crush", no, it's love I feel towards him. I smile into the kiss, as he does. We break apart and lay our foreheads against each other.
"Max, i-", Niall starts.
"Maxine-Felicia Maria Janice Manning!", Harold shouts.
Fuck.