Avery Holmes
"I believe that it's my turn!" Harry said over the commotion in the room. It had to be past midnight by now, and boxes of pizza sat around the room. We'd been playing truth or dare for at least an hour and we were still at it, despite our drowsy, tired eyes.
"Fine, go." Zayn grumbled, laying down on the love seat beside Louis. "But I'm out man, I need to sleep." He closed his eyes and Louis patted his head, smirking to himself.
"Alright... Niall. Truth or dare?" Harry asked.
"I've done too many dares tonight, truth." Niall said, leaning back beside me on the couch, making the couch sink in, bringing me with him.
"Okay, truth... what do you think is my best feature?" Harry asked. I heard a snort from one of the boys, but I couldn't pinpoint which one, so I dismissed it.
"Your hair." Niall said. "Okay, Avery. Truth or dare?"
"Truth." I said. "I just saw Liam eat soap, so I'm not doing dare again." The boys laughed at Liam pulled a face, which earned some more laughter. Niall kept reminded them to be quiet because he put Aimee to bed a while ago and didn't want her to wake up.
"What is your biggest secret?" Niall asked bluntly. He was a very blunt person, so I should have expected this from him, but for some reason I didn't. Nervously, I looked around the room and nibbled on my bottom lip.
"Can I pass?" I tried to make it sound like a joke, but it ended up coming out weird.
"C'mon, it's just me and four strangers that you've never met before!" Niall said sarcastically. I shot him a look and Liam punched him in the shoulder, which earned a smile from me.
"What happens if I don't answer it?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Then you have to do a really gross dare." Niall said, crossing his arms over his chest, a smile still on his face. I couldn't get mad at him- he didn't know and he thought this was all just a joke. But if I would have told him about Jake, this wouldn't have happened.
"I'm a vegetarian." I blurted. After a few seconds I couldn't help it- I busted out laughing, which cued in their laughter as well. Maybe if I turned this into a joke, they'd just drop it and leave it be. Because I couldn't tell them, not the four new boys. I knew that they weren't buying it, though.
"We won't tell anyone." Louis said. "As long as you don't tell anyone I sleep with that picture of my girlfriend." I bit my lip, my pulse racing, and I leaned back on the couch.
"I'm actually really tired." I tried to change the subject. "Can we just go to bed? If I don't get my sleep, you won't want to deal with me in the morning." I warned. Zayn and Liam nodded in agreement, standing up. I watched as four of the boys filed out of the living room, and waited for Harry to stalk off, but he didn't.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked abruptly. I looked to the door, the boys were all gone and we were alone. It would be rude to reject him, so I nodded, standing up. He walked beside me and we went out to the balcony that was just outside the living room.
Walking out into the night air, which was cool and refreshing, Harry left the screen door cracked. I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked out at the view before he spoke.
"I'm gonna keep this quick, but.." He sighed, running his fingers through his tousled hair. "Something about the way you looked just now reminded me of my girlfriend, Darcy. She's my fiance now." He explained. I nodded.
"So..." I trailed off.
"Since you live in America you probably wouldn't have heard of Darcy Monroe, but she was kidnapped for two years. I used to always see this... fear in her eyes, and I couldn't help but notice how I saw that same fear in your eyes when you had to answer that question." I gulped, and then prayed it didn't sound too loud.
"I think you're just looking too far into it." I whispered, but my voice cracked and he smiled at me.
"Niall can be oblivious to things sometimes. A lot of times, actually. But I know that there's something wrong, and you don't have to tell me. But please, tell him. You can trust him." He whispered to me. I nodded, looking into his eyes. I finally returned the smile he gave to me.
"Thank you, Harry." I said. "And thank you for being so great with Aimee, too. This girlfriend- sorry, fiance of yours, where is she?"
"At our flat in London, doing some wedding preperation stuff." He grinned at that. "I'll introduce the two of you sometime, I think you'd really like her. I'll tell her you said hey." He said, turning for the door. "And Avery, please tell him. Whatever it is."
With that, he was gone, and I felt a bit better. But I knew that I needed to tell Niall soon, I just had to pick the right time. Sometime when we were alone, for sure.
I crawled in bed beside Niall that night, and he was scrolling through twitter. I smiled at him and changed into my pj's, making him close his eyes. He laughed at me, but still obeyed. Then I got on my phone and finally made a twitter account, following Niall.
"I just followed you on twitter." I said, scrolling through my timeline, completely confused, not really knowing what I was doing. He beamed and grabbed my phone from my hands, put it back, and then I had a notification that Niall and about a billion twelve year old girls had followed me.
"You should follow some fans so they don't get suspicious." I shrugged. "Wouldn't want them thinking that you're right next to me in bed or anything." He chortled and nodded, holding his arm out for me to cuddle into. On the floor in her blow up bed, Aimee snored.
"What do you think of the boys?" He asked.
"They're really nice. A lot different from what I expected, for sure." That made him happy, and I could tell.
"I saw you on the balcony with Harry. What were you talking about?" He asked, genuinely curious. There was no way that I could tell him.
"Oh, nothing." I tried playing it off casually, but it wasn't working. He sat up, looking at me. "What?"
"Is he flirting with you?" He asked, frowning. "He's got a fiance, he can't do stuff like that! What? Was he talking to you about ditching Darcy and taking you with him to Paris?" His voice got louder and I could tell that he was seriously angry.
"Niall, stop." I shook my head. "It wasn't anything like that, he talked to me about Aimee some." That wasn't a lie, he had talked to me about Aimee, but only a little bit.
"Did he seem like he was flirting with you?" Niall asked, not completely won over. "Because if he even tries anything with you, he's really cheeky and-"
"Niall." I tried to glare, but I was smiling too much. It was adorable to see him get mad over me, so adorable that I started laughing at him. He finally sighed and sank back into bed.
"And if you're that concerned about me and Harry, shouldn't you think about Barbara? I mean, I know we're just friends, but here we are sharing a bed and Barbara is just-"
"Just nothing." He huffed. "Here, take a look." He went to his recent text messages and clicked on a name, then handing me his phone.
"Jeez, your brightness on this thing is, like, blinding." I complained, squinting until I adjusted to the light. There were four texts from Barbara, lengthly paragraphs that read:
Niall, sorry to cancel on our dinner date. I had this really long photo shoot and I'm just way to tired to hop on a plane, but I hope that you understand. But I sent you this really cool muffin basket instead! xoxo
I snorted.
heard about the Kate Winters thing! That sucks. I've been thinking a lot and I don't know if we should keep seeing each other. I know we aren't even dating or anything but I think it's kind of pointless to be trying to fly out and see each other, especially when you're in 'hiding.'
You wouldn't mind if I went out with Zac Efron, right? Since we were never a thing? He asked me out a few nights ago and I told him that he'd have to wait for an answer but I really want to and I wanted to run it by you. I'd feel super bad if I just did that without talking to you.
I turned to Niall, pity in my eyes.
So the date with Zac went really well and I'm really interested in him and I think he is in me too. I just wanted to apologize for leading you on but I think you're more of a boy and what I need right now is a man. I just don't think you're ready to date someone like me, you know?
"Oh, Niall..." I sighed, shaking my head. "She seems like a jerk. And she doesn't know what she missed, okay? Because she missed being with a great guy whose definitely manly enough. Any girl would be lucky to be with you, remember that." I said, smiling sympathetically.
"Not her." He said. He had a point.
"She would, but she just can't see that. It's her fault, really." I said.
"This isn't the first time. Like if this was Harry, she might as well jump into his lap. I don't know why he's so good at getting all of these women and I have them running." He sighed.
"Niall Horan." I said sternly. "You're a famous pop star, you have billions of fans that want to marry you, if you have anyone running it's towards you." I pointed out. He sighed again.
"I know," He admitted, slumping his shoulders. "I'm sorry that I'm dumping all of this on you at like, one in the morning." He laughed, scratching his head. I shrugged.
"I think this is the least I can do." I said, laying down beside him. He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead.
"You know what I think," He whispered. "I think that I should take you out." Those words had my heart fluttering, what was he implying?
"Like I don't think I've ever been out somewhere without Aimee. And you do so much for that little girl.."
"Well, she is my daughter." I reminded him. He nodded.
"I just think ya deserve a night out. We could... oh, there's this awesome diner on the rooftop of this skyscraper, and I know you're scared of heights, but there's bars everywhere. And they have these really good wings." He bribed. I giggled and nodded.
"Alright, I'll let you take me out. If that's what it is, I mean." I said awkwardly.
"We'll just go out as friends." He said, trying to reassure me, but that's not what I wanted. "We both just got out of a relationship, and I don't think either one of us are looking for one. It's nice being friends with someone, y'know?"
"Yeah." I said, hoping my voice didn't sound disappointed.
"Sounds good," He turned off the lamp that was perched on his nightstand, and I closed my eyes, despite my heart thumping the way it was in my chest. I was happy, excited.
But I couldn't help but think of what Harry told me earlier. He was right, of course, I needed to tell Niall. Because if I ever wanted a chance with him, I had to build everything up on trust. And that means trusting Niall with my big, dark secret.
I just wished that I could accurately predict how he would react. Would he want nothing to do with me? Would he think it was no big deal? Would he stick with me? Would he call the police?
One thing that I've learned since staying with Niall was that he was unpredictable. So I decided to sleep on it and let what happens happen. Because that's what I've been doing this whole time, really.
For about fifteen minutes, everything was quiet. I knew that Niall was still awake because his breathing didn't slow down, but I still didn't say anything to him.
"Mommy," A little voice croaked. "Mommy I'm scared." It was Aimee, awake on the blow up bed beside me. I sat up, sighing, but felt Niall push me back down. He patted my leg and got out of bed, bringing Aimee to us. I smiled.
"What happened, baby?" I asked her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She sniffed and cuddled into not my chest, but Niall's. A few weeks ago she wouldn't have dared to go that close to him.
"I had a bad dream." She sniffed as Niall rubbed her back. He locked eyes with me for a moment, and I smiled in appreciation. He had taken us in and cared for us like we were an actual family. He completely changed my life within a month.
"What was it about?" Niall asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Daddy." She started to cry and crawled over to me. I held her tightly to my chest, rocking her, trying to get her to calm down. Niall turned on his lamp and sat up, not looking at anything else but me. I glanced up at him an he quickly looked away.
"Let's try and go back to sleep, okay? You'll sleep with Niall and me." I promised her. "And in the morning, you can play with Harry and Louis. You like them a lot, don't you?" She nodded, her nose starting to run. I grabbed a tissue and cleaned it up.
"Do you have to potty?" I asked her. She shook her hair and laid down between Niall and I, and Niall turned the lamp off, leaving us in darkness, cuddled together.
"I love you to the moon," Aimee whispered.
"I love you to the moon and back, Aimee." I kissed her goodnight.
The next few moments were silent, and then Aimee quickly broke it.
"I love you Niall." She whispered. I looked over and could barely see the expression on Niall's face, but I could tell that he was smiling.
"I love you too, Aimee." Niall whispered, kissing her forehead the same way he had done mine, and we quickly feel into a deep slumber together, like a real family.
a/n:
aww, yay for cute endings!
And what do you think about Harry knowing she's hiding something?
quick question:
Do you think that I should have had Avery tell Niall by now?
Do you think that this story is going too slow as far as romance goes?
I know how I'm taking this story, but I just wanted your input c:
PLEASE VOTE, FAN, AND ESPECIALLY COMMENT BECAUSE YOU KNOW I DO THAT THING WHERE I GIVE A DEDICATION TO SOMEONE WHOSE COMMENT I REALLY LIKE.
hugs, kisses, and niall horan,
- x Delilah