"Niall!" The man's eyes water as he pulled Niall into a tight hug.
I stood back, I was so confused as to what was happening. Who was this man and who was he to Niall? I didn't know what to do, but just stand there and watch as the moment unraveled before me.
It was pretty cute, seeing Niall's face brighten like never before. His face had turned red, and he had also started to cry.
"Where have you been all this time? Mom and Dad have been searching for you and everything, even I started to go insane knowing you weren't safe, being the person you are in this big world." The man sniffled. He was trying hard not to shed a tear.
"Greg, I'm sure I'm old enough to take care of myself. And plus, I have Arianna who takes care of me. Really, I'm fine. I'm just glad that-" Niall got interrupted before he could finish.
"Arianna?" Greg looked at me in confusion. He glared at me like I had been dead meat he didn't want to see.
"So all this time you were out running with girls? Damn, Niall! I knew you would've done this. Do you know how sick Amy has been? She's been crying for nights and not eating well because of how worried she was for you. And then you're the one-" Greg snapped, pushing Niall away and taking his hand into a fist.
"A..Amy?" Niall almost choked out the name.
His face was taken aback and I was pretty sure he had remembered something. I myself, was heartbroken. Niall's expression had broke, and it made me feel unwanted. Amy was his girlfriend before me. She was the one he always remembered.
"What? What's going on? I don't understand this right now." Greg stepped forward and watched Niall, who was thinking deeply.
"Um, I don't want to interrupt, but Niall doesn't remember anything." I finally spoke.
Greg stares at me in disbelief. My words had struck him with confusion, and I didn't want to say any more at the moment. Greg was a big guy, and this scared me.
"What do you mean Niall doesn't remember anything?" Greg asked, raising his eyebrows.
Niall starts to cry again, this time they were tears of sadness. His hand was covering his face, not wanting to be seen. He shook his head as he cried, breaking me little by little. I wanted to comfort him, but the situation didn't make me eligible.
Greg took a big swallow and looked at Niall, and then me. He was obviously trying to figure out what was happening. Niall, his own brother was crying, and he didn't know why.
"Niall, what the heck is going on? Why don't you remember? Somebody explain to me what's wrong with you!" Greg shook Niall by his shoulders.
Niall didn't reply, he was crying too hard, not able to even open his mouth to speak. It was killing me seeing him like this. My own lover was standing before me, shedding tears and suffering.
"Greg, sir, can we sit somewhere and talk about this? Please?" I whispered to the man.
The man nodded but didn't look at me. I felt bad, he was so lost.
I walk up to Niall and snaked my arm to wrap around his back, helping him to walk.
Greg followed behind, as we made our way back to my apartment.
.-.-.-.-.-.
"So wait, you found Niall and took him in? Was he drunk? The night we lost him was the night of his engagement party. He had ran off and we thought he just needed a night to himself to calm down after getting intoxicated. But he never came back, so we had officers search the whole city for him." Greg said, shuffling himself on the sofa beside Niall.
I was sitting on a chair across them and listening. I already told Greg about finding Niall that one night, and how he never remembered anything from then.
He had seemed to be shocked at my words. He didn't think something like this would ever happen to Niall.
I wasn't sure if I had heard right, but Greg had mentioned Niall and his engagement party. I decided to shake it off, not sure if he actually meant it was Niall's.
Niall had also calmed down a bit, but he hasn't taken a glance at me or Greg. He just sat on the sofa staring at the ground, with a disappointed look upon his face.
"Niall. This is crazy. You drank so much that night. I hope this taught you a lesson." Greg shook his head.
"It's alright now, though. I've found you and that's all that matters right now." He smiled and patted Niall's back.
Niall didnt reply, still keeping his eyes glued to the floor. I kept staring at him, waiting for him to look at me, but he never did. It led me to thinking he had forgotten me already. It was breaking my heart.
This was the last thing I wanted to happen.
"Alright, Arianna." Greg sighed and stood up.
"Thanks for taking care of Niall all this time, but I'm here now and I'll take him back home. I'm sorry he's been a burden, I'll pay for all the costs you've spent on him." Greg's words completely killed me.
I could feel my hands sweating, and my whole body was also shaking. Did I just hear what I just heard?
Niall shot up and looked at me, his eyes full of shock.
My eyes were watering, I knew this was going to happen. I should've expected it sooner or later.
"No, no, no!" Niall shouted, almost knocking Greg over.
He pounded his fists into Greg's chest, but not hard enough to hurt him. Then he ran to me and wrapped his arms around me, like he was defending me. I couldn't speak.
Tears started to flow out my eyes, and my face was turning completely red.
"Niall, why don't you want to go home? I found you. Aren't you glad that I did? Don't you want to come back to your life before?" Greg asked.
"I don't want to go back! I like the way I am now! I love Arianna, and I want to stay with her and be with her only. I don't want anyone else!" Niall cried.
"Niall," I stuttered.
"I think you should go, too Niall. This doesn't mean we'll never see each other again. You're finally found, and this is what we were reaching for, wasn't it?" I said, while still crying.
His eyes widened at me. Tears still fell from his beautiful, blue eyes.
"Your family needs you, they want to see you again. I can't even imagine how worried they were about you." I said.
"Don't you want to see them again?" I asked for the last time.
The words were hard enough to spit out from my mouth. It wasn't what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him to stay, to beg Greg to let him be with me, but I knew it would be wrong, so I couldn't. I couldn't do this to Niall.
"I'll get some of your stuff ready, Niall." I took my eyes off of him and left the room.
I went into my bedroom, not wanting to let them see me cry. This was hard enough for me. I couldn't bear seeing Niall leave, but it was for the best. I knew that, but I didn't want to.
After a few minutes, the door slowly opened and Niall walked in. I didn't look up, tears were blurring my eyesight.
"Arianna." He barely choked out.
I managed to pull my head up to look at him. His face was still red from all the crying. His expression full of sorrow.
"Niall!" I bursted out in tears. I jumped up and let his strong arms engulf me tightly.
"I don't want to leave, Arianna. I don't want to." Niall said.
"I don't want you to either, but you have to go back. I want you to remember your past. Please, do it for me." I trembled, the words controlling my mouth.
"But-" He started to speak, but I interrupted him.
"Please." I begged.
He looked at me with startled eyes. Almost another tear making its way down his cheek.
"Don't cry, or I'll cry too." I said.
He sniffled, burying his head into my neck as he pulled me closer.
"I love you." He said.
The words warmed me, but then they also made me feel guilty. I was holding him back from leaving, and it wasn't my right.
"I..I love you too, Niall." I stuttered.
His arms held me tighter as I spoke the words.
"I love you so much, Arianna. I don't ever want to let you go. But I'll do what you say because I love you. I promise I'll come back, I promise."
He pulled back from the hug and leant in and I felt his smooth lips on mine for the last time.
It was a long kiss, giving me every part of him. I was letting him take mine too, with every bit of my love taken away.
"I'll get my stuff." He said after we pulled back.
"Yeah, okay. I'll help you." I replied, getting up from the bed and walking him out of my room.
.-.-.-.-.-.
We gathered the small amount of clothes he had, including the snapback that Hailey had given him.
I helped him take his things out into the man's car.
Niall would look at me every now and then when he had the chance, trying to observe every last look of me he could get.
"Well, that's all of it." Greg said, pulling himself into the car.
"I'll let you say your final goodbyes. I'll be waiting." Greg said, sticking his head out of the window.
Niall shut the trunk, and took his hands and pushed them into his front pockets. He looked at me and smiled.
"This won't be the last you see of me. I'll be coming back for you, Arianna. Wait for me, please. I'll meet my family and everything, and after I'm done, I'm coming back. I promise." He said.
I smiled and nodded my head, letting him know I would wait for him. I controlled my tears that almost pushed themselves out of my eyes, trying so hard not to let my emotions take over me.
"I love you, Arianna. I love you so much." Niall pulled me into another tight hug.
I let him hold me, for what seemed like only one second. Every minute now felt like it was being rushed, and I didn't like it. I wanted to be with him more before he left, but now it was the time.
The hug lasted for about a couple of minutes, but it had felt only like 2 seconds.
2 seconds I would cherish for all my life.
Niall pulled himself from me, gave me a last goodbye, and turned around to jump into the car. I watched as the car roared to life, and I could see Niall's face full of sadness in the rearview mirror.
I kept myself staring, as the car drove down the long winding road.
My eyes started to water again, and tears made their way out of them. My hands wrapped themselves over my face, trying to stop myself from crying.
I could feel my heart shatter and fall in my chest. I couldn't swallow, and I found breathing hard to do. My body weakened, and I fell on my knees, with my hands still over my face.
Niall was gone.
He left.
I let him go.
I could've stopped him,
But I didn't.
If you truly loved someone, you would let them go.
And that's exactly what I did.
.-.-.-.-.-.
A/N: Sorry if this chapter made you emotional. Thanks for reading (: x (the book isn't over btw, lol) Xx