Chapter 10
I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. I got up to see it was Niall, and I answered it.
"Hello?" I said groggily.
"Hey babe. So things didn't go well?" He said.
"My mom left before we even got our food," I said.
"Oh," he began. "Do you think she'll come around?"
"Of course she will, she's my mom. It's really big news and it was a total suprise. She said she just needs some time, and I'm hopeful that she will come to me when she's ready."
"Do you think it was because I couldn't go?" he asked.
"I don't think so. I don't think she even believed me when I said you were the father."
"Next weekend, I can fly up and see you. I was wondering if that's okay. We can see your mom and talk to her. I was thinking that we could see my parents sometime too."
"I start classes later this week, and I want to get as much in as possible before I can't go. You can stay as long as you want, but I just wanted to make you aware."
"Woo!" Niall yelled into the phone. "I miss you so much and we're finally going to see eachother!" I laughed at his excitment even though I could barely contain my own excitement.
I lost track of time and we talked until he needed to travel for his next show. We said our goodbyes but I was just glad I had something to look forward to.
I hung up my phone with a smile on my face and felt overwhelmingly happy. I was going to be reunited with my boyfriend finally. He did mention seeing my mom, and I just hoped that she would come around by then.
I decided that I needed to get out today, so I put on a sweatshirt and walked to the campus to get some fresh air. It was mid September, and there were classes going on for some people, but my classes didn't start until next week.
The leaves on the trees were starting to change color slightly, although the air was still warm. The sun was hot on my skin. I walked through the campus, and started to see a few familliar faces.
"Hey, are you Alyssa? The girl who threw that awesome party last month?" A guy came up to me with his friends asked. I nodded.
"Sweet! See you around," he said, and they left. So far nobody was talking about seeing Niall and I hook up, and I was starting to feel content. I was worrying over nothing.
"Alyssa?" A girl pointed to me and asked. "Were you the girl with Niall at the party?"
I forced a laughed. "I wish," I said and walked away. Okay maybe it was too good to be true. I felt my stomach, and although I was barley showing, I felt like it was broadcasting me to the entire world. Rumors would be flying around when people saw me in a few months from now. Even now I could feel the whispers of people talking about me.
My plan was just to deny anything that had to do with Niall. I knew that even if I defended myself, people would still make up rumors. And they would be true.
"No way! It's the girl who gave Niall Horan a lap dance!" A group of guys shouted. I laughed as loud as I could.
"That would be so funny! I wish I could do that!" As much as I tried to hide the truth, the truth was screaming in my heartbeat. Maybe this would blow over in a week, maybe it would only grow bigger. It was college after all, not high school.
The days where I switched schools at least twice a year were gone. I could no longer run away from my problems. I was looking forward to being able to comit myself to the school and know that I had a permanent place to go for the year, and I didn't want to throw all of that away because people were talking shit.
But at the same time, I couldn't risk putting Niall's carreer or the baby in danger.
I held my head high while I continued my walk, but the stares and the gossip was really getting to me.
I pulled out my phone and pretended to look busy. "She's probably texting Niall about the abortion!" I heard a girl say. I ignored her.
Overall, most people only recognized me by my party, not by my hook-up. Most were too drunk to remember. But I had a feeling that the few people who did recognize me would make it pretty well known to everybody else.
I decided to leave then while I was still emotionally stable. By the time I got home, I remembered what Katie said the other night about my mental health being important, and so I decided to watch my favorite movie and order take-out.
I missed Niall more than anything. As much as I loved Niall, I also missed my life. I was looking forward to going to college and meeting people and having the experience that all college kids had. And now I couldn't walk through the campus without being stared at.
Niall would be by my side soon enough and all my worries would be gone.
-
A week had gone by and I went to my classes, and the pressure was overwhelming.
Niall had left early that morning and would be here any minute. He left in the middle of the night to avoid crowds. I didn't know how he was going to get all the way to my front door without being noticed, but hopefully he had an idea.
All morning I kept looking out my window in hopes to see a car pull up with Niall in it. I had gotten the text that he was at the airport at 3 am.
Part of me thought maybe he wouldn't show up. Things got complicated and he couldn't make it.
I wanted to believe that he would come, but things were just so complicated.
At noon, I saw a black car pull up to the curb. Out of the backseat came a hooded figure. I jumped from my seat and ran to the door. It was so tempting to run outside and jump into his arms, but if there were any cameras around, we would all be as good as dead. When I saw the person coming closer, I knew it was him. I would recognize that nose and the freckles on his neck anywhere.
I opened the door, pulled him in, and shut the door again. Niall dropped his bag and welcomed me with spread arms. I smiled as big as the world, and finally got my wish. We kissed and he held me in his arms again. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like an eternity. "I love you," I breathed.
He pulled away and looked at my stomach, and then back into my eyes. There was almost a sadness in his eyes. "Oh my god, you're stomach's grown," he reached for my stomach and then sat on a chair with his head in his hands.
I hadn't even noticed that my stomach had gotten bigger, but it had.
"What's wrong?" I asked, going to sit by him. I put a hand on his leg.
"That's my baby. I haven't seen you in a few weeks and I've already missed that much," Niall said. My hand moved to his back.
"It's totally understandable. You're here now," I said in an attempt to comfort him.
"Yes, but I'm going to miss so much," he said, his eyes filling with tears. "That's my baby." It shattered my heart to see him like this. I wanted to cry too. He wasn't here for me and he was going to miss a lot, but we had to make it work. We loved eachother and everything would turn out the way it would, there was nothing we could do about it.
I didn't know what to say. I couldn't say that it's okay, because it wasn't. I couldn't tell him that everything would turn out fine, because it wouldn't. I can't tell him what to feel, and I knew that if I was in his position I would be broken.
"I'm okay," I decided on telling him. If I couldn't tell him what he should feel, I could lie about how I felt. I took his hand and put it on my stomach. "We've still got seven months."
Niall finally made eye contact with me and I smoothed his hair. I could tell that he wanted to kiss me again, and so we kissed again.
"I love you," he told me.
"I love you too," I replied.
"So this was where the magic happened. Right here in this apartment," Niall said, changing the subject.
"Yep. Right upstairs. Do you want me to take your bags?" I asked.
"I've got them. Don't worry about a thing," he said, and picked up his bag. I led him upstairs to my room, which I had just tidied up.
"Make yourself feel at home," I said, and sat on my bed.
"So how are your classes?" He asked while unpacking. I was reluctant to tell him despite how sad he was already feeling, but just when I was about to explain everything, my phone rang.
"Oh my god, it's my mom," I said. I wouldn't normally answer a call now, but this had the potential to be very important.
"Answer it!" Niall said.
"Hello," I said into the phone.
"Hi Alyssa. I'm really sorry about the way I handled things at dinner that night. I've had enough time to think things over, and I really think we should talk," she said.
"Okay. Niall is actually here right now, why don't you come by now to meet him and we can all talk," I said casually.
"Wow," my mom said. There would never be enough time to let it sink in that the father of my baby was Niall Horan. "Yeah! I'll be over as soon as I can," she said before hanging up. She sounded like she was still trying to hide how suprised she was.
"My mom said she'll be here as soon as she can. I hope you're okay with this, it would be good for her to meet you while you're here," I said to Niall.
"No, that's great!" he said. Niall got up to come lay with me in bed. Some girls had a weak spot for guys in suits or button downs, but Niall was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and something about it made me weak. I guess I had a thing for boys in comfy clothes. Especially when they cuddled with me.
Niall put his arm around me and it was like when we were in the hotel room a few weeks ago. I knew I missed being with him, but I didn't realize how much I missed just this moment, being together. It was so perfect.
About twenty minutes later, my doorbell rang. I told Niall to come downstairs and wait in the sitting area in case there were cameras or other people outside.
I opened the door and saw my mother standing.
"Come in," I said, opening the door. I guess my stomach was the first thing that she noticed about me too, because her eyes were drawn to it. I was only six weeks, and I thought I was just fat, but apparently everybody else saw the slight bump more than me.
I closed the door and my mom gave me a big hug. "I'm so sorry," she said.
"It's okay. I should've known that you would need some time to let it all sink in."
"I know," she said, pulling away to look me in the eyes. "But I'm your mother, and I just left you there when you needed me." I half-smiled.
"So, I'm assuming you would like to meet Niall. He just flew in this morning. I expect that you haven't told anybody, it's still a secret," I said, and pulled her past the chairs and into the kitchen. Niall rose from his seat and waved to my mom.
"Nice to meet you," he said, reaching out to shake my mom's hand. My mom was in shock. She froze as soon as she saw him. I had to move her hand for her to slowly shake his hand. Her eyes remained huge in suprise.
"Nice to meet you too," she said slowly, and we all sat in the sitting area.
"I told you I wasn't lying," I said.
Niall and I sat close together and my mom sat across from us. "There's a lot of things I need to tell you. First, I don't know if I can go to college. People are talking, and they're talking about me. I just don't know if I can take any more chances."
My mom didn't say anything at first, she was thinking. She took a deep breath. "We can see. Good thing I'm paying by semester. I can look into it, but you wouldn't have the apartment anymore, because it's property of the school."
"We should get an apartment, anywhere you like. We are going to need to settle down somewhat after you have the baby," Niall said.
"That's very generous, but what are you going to do for work? Even if you're not going to work now, you're going to need to someday," my mom added.
"Money shouldn't be a problem. Also, I forgot to tell you! Lou's been asking about you ever since you did my hair for that one show. I'll bet you have a good chance of getting a job with her as an assistant stylist or something. And the song that we wrote made the album! If you can write more songs like that, you can make a lot of money."
"Why didn't you tell me it made the album?!" I exclaimed. "This is great!"
"It slipped my mind!" He turned to my mom. "She's got a talent for songwriting too. She could easily be part of the crew! And we can get her maternity leave." I laughed.
"Are you sure?" my mom asked.
"Absolutely. Anything for my girlfriend and my baby," Niall said, looking into my eyes. I flinched at the word 'baby' while we were in front of my mom. It felt weird saying it in front of somebody else beside eachother.
"Wow, that's really generous," my mom said.
"Thank you so much," I said.
"What about you, Miss Torres, do you need anything I can help with?" I told Niall to refer to my mom as her maiden name since my dad was out of the picture, but it was different hearing him say it now.
"I am perfectly fine, thank you. Also, thanks for dinner that night. I've been meaning to apologize to you too, for not believing Alyssa when she said that you were the father. I though that you were a bad person, but you're not. You're a really good person. I look forward to being a grandmother," she said.
"Well if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know, and I'll be happy," Niall said.
I was glad that she was fond of Niall now, and I could be more relaxed about it.
We talked more about other plans with the baby and with Niall, and I started to feel confident with how things were going to work out.
Maybe this whole thing would end up going smoother than I thought.
A/N
here we are!
thank you for all of the reads and the votes, there's still so much more to come, and I hope you stick around :)
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