Our Place

“Luke, love, you need to wake up and eat breakfast.” The familiar soothing voice snaps me out of my dreaming.
I let out a moan and turn in bed. I feel exhausted, and my cheeks feel numb. When I open my eyes, the sun shines into them, causing me to wince and hold my hand up to block the sun. Niall sits on the bed beside me with a smile on his face.

“Good morning.” He laughs lightly. “My mum made pancakes and French toast.”

I groan sleepily. Niall laughs again and touches my arm. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a cow,” I groan and bury my face into the pillow.

“Come on Luke. My mum worked hard on breakfast, just for you.”

I smile weakly and sit up, leaning against the head board. “Is it any good?”

Niall snorts, rolling his eyes. “That’s not even a question, Luke. Her pancakes and French toast is the best thing you will ever consume.”

“Guess I’ll have to be the judge of that.” I force a smile to my lips. Like I mentioned many times earlier, it’s hard to smile these days. Niall pats my thigh and starts to stand up.

“Come down when you’re ready.” He says, leaving the room. I sigh and fall back in bed for a few more seconds before gaining some strength and pulling myself out of bed. After finishing my morning routine, I head downstairs, trying to navigate my way into the kitchen, following the addicting smell of French toast. I’m almost to the kitchen when I hear voices. I stop and even though it is wrong, I listen in.

“When are you going to tell her you’re done with her?” I hear Niall’s mum’s voice question.

“I don’t know.” Niall sighs. “She’s such a pain. Always so needy and clinging onto me.”

A lump forms in my throat.

“She seemed like such a nice girl for a first impression.” Niall’s mum says.

“Yeah, but then you hang out with her for a while and she gets annoying.” Niall retorts, sighing again.

“Are you sure you want to give her up? I thought you guys were well together.”

“Mum,” Niall groans. “It’s not like you think. She’s got her own world. I bet you she’s only talking to me still because of my career. She’s nothing special to me, anyways. She can live her life without me. I know I can live my life without her.”

“But-“

“Do you want to know how much I care?” Niall interrupts. I wince and lean back against the wall. My cheeks are slightly wet from the tears that have already fallen from the eyes. “For all I care, she can move all the way across the world and I wouldn’t give a crap. She could lose herself in the wilderness where there are lions and tigers roaming and I wouldn’t care. It’s not like she truly cares for me. Anyone can see it in those daunting green eyes of hers.”

I have green eyes.

“Niall! You honestly don’t-“

“I do mean it, mum.”

My feet tiptoe as fast as I can back up the stairs and to my room. Fine. If Niall thinks I’m needy and doesn’t care about me, then fine. I don’t care about him either.

I run into the room I had slept in and start grabbing my things. I stuff my clothes into my bag and swipe away tears as I pull my shoes on. I throw the bag over my shoulder and walk quietly downstairs. I still hear voices in the kitchen. I unlock the front door and step outside, then close the door as quietly as possible.

And then I run.

I run past the houses towards the woods. Time passes and the bag on my shoulder starts to feel heavier. Soon I find myself sliding down against a tree trunk, letting my tears out. This is why I don’t have friends. This is why I’m not good with people. Because I’m not likeable. I am clingy and needy, and I’m annoying. I’m an awkward human that the world doesn’t need. This is why Niall doesn’t want me to be his friend.

When people don’t want me, I shut them out.

It’s a habit that I’ve gotten into. My parents didn’t pay much attention to me, so I shut them out. Found my own place, out in the woods. People at my school didn’t like me either, thought I was too quiet. So I shut them out, too. I gained my place as a wallflower.

My ringtone starts blaring. I groan and search for my phone in my bag. I look at the caller I.D. and see that it’s Niall. I end the call and gulp down tears. My ringtone fills the air again. I roll my eyes and end Niall’s call again.

He just keeps calling and calling until I shut my phone off.

But no. He doesn’t end there. Then he starts messaging me. The sound of minions from Despicable Me begins cackling as Niall sends me countless messages.

From: Niall

Where are you Luke?

Luke are you okay?

Where did you go?!?!?! You were just in bed an hour ago!

Luke I’m worried about you. Please answer my calls.

Why do you keep ending the calls? Luke is everything okay?

LUCILIA ASEBURY ANSWER YOUR PHONE!

Luke I’m so sorry if I did anything. Please just tell me you’re okay. Please.


Fine. Let him be “worried”. What a faker. He truly is an amazing actor. I don’t know why he wanted to be my friend in the first place. He should have known I was used to having no one in my life. He should have known I wouldn’t care.

So why am I acting like I do care?

No. I don’t care. I do not care what Niall thinks. I don’t need anyone in my life. I pull myself up and begin walking further, deeper into the woods. It’s confusing, because I’m approaching the woods from the opposite side of the woods near my house. I have no clue where I am, but at this point, it doesn’t matter. I’m already too deep into the trees to turn back. After a long while of walking, I reach a very familiar stream. This is the stream that Niall and I had followed to the waterfall.

I follow the stream for a good five or six minutes until indeed, I hear the sounds of water rushing fast. The waterfall comes into view and I smile. It’s still just as beautiful. The water looks deeper than it did before. Before I’m really thinking, I’m slipping my pants off, just keeping my shirt on. I stick a toe in the water and wince. It’s a bit chilly. I step inside the water and watch as is ripples around my ankle. Soon, I’ve moved far enough into the water so that it reached my hips, and then sink in so the water hits my chin. It is only a few seconds before I dive into the cold water. I swim around the area until I make my way towards the waterfall. I remember how Niall and I had stood under this very waterfall and talked about our lives.

Sucks that he was only pretending to be interested.

My tears mix in with the water as I continue to swim.



Niall’s P.O.V.

My heart is beating incredibly fast. I don’t know where Luke is. She couldn’t have walked home. It’s too far. I had just taken my tenth round around the neighborhood and not a sight of her. I don’t know why she had left. It’s hard for anyone to pass up my mum’s French toast.

I try calling Luke again but she doesn’t pick up. Where could she be? Not her house, it’s too far. And she isn’t around the neighborhood. There absolutely no other place I could possibly think of her being-

The woods.

I’m so stupid. I have wasted two hours looking for Luke when it’s clear where she is. I rush home and park my caring the driveway before stumbling out of the car. I begin running west, in the direction of the woods. I’m out of breath right when I reach the stream. I begin following it when I see a pair of black sweats lying in the fallen leaves. I know it’s Luke’s when I pick it up. It smells like citrus and chocolate. I’m headed in the right direction.

When I reach the clearing to the waterfall, I stay behind a tree and peek out. Sure enough, there is Luke, swimming around in the water. She’s crazy. It’s cold outside, so the water must be freezing. Her bag is placed on the fallen tree trunk we had sat on when we had come here together. I don’t understand. She was so happy then, and now suddenly she won’t answer my calls. I sigh and decide just standing her won’t do me any good.

“Luke!” I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice. Her body stops moving in the water and her head pops up.

“What are you doing here?” she spits in disgust.

“Are you serious?” I scoff, throwing her sweats onto her bag. “I called you at least thirty times and you didn’t answer. I texted you every other minute and you didn’t reply saying you were at least okay? Could you not be a little considerate of others?”

“Considerate?” she barks, pushing her way through the water. She steps out of the water. Oh my lord. She is so beautiful. When I realize she doesn’t have pants on, I feel my cheeks redden. Her light shirt doesn’t do much good for her undergarments either. “I mean, I guess I should be a bit nicer, since I’m so needy and clingy.”

“What?” I question. Luke rolls her eyes and walks towards me. She stands a foot away from me, arms crossed over her chest.

“You know exactly what. You think I’m fragile. You think that you can take a girl, make her feel like she’s finally got someone, and then crush her. It’s just what celebrities like you do, isn’t it? You just crush and end.”

“Luke, what are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she snarls, staring at me with cold eyes. “And to think I thought you were my friend.”

“What?” My eyebrows cease together. “Of course I’m your friend, Luke. Why would you think I’m not?”

“Oh,” she laughs bitterly. “You’re good. You’re really good. Be an actor or something when you lose your job as a singer. You would make some good money off of acting.”

“I seriously don’t know-“

“What?” she cuts me off. I bite my lip and try to get rid of the thought that she looks hot when she’s mad.“Because according to someone, I’m annoying to hang out with. According to someone, I only hang out with them for the popularity. I’m clingy and rude and snooty, and according to that someone, they could live their life without me.”

Her words connect so quickly to the conversation with my mother.

“That someone thinks that it’s perfectly okay if I move all the way across the world and get eaten by lions and tigers.” Luke is crying so hard now, and I finally understand. She thinks the person I was talking to my mum about was her.

“Luke-“

“I get it. I understand that you don’t want to be my friend, so you don’t have to come after me. You don’t have to keep pretending. Just leave and we can pretend we never met each other.”

“Luke, listen-“

“No one likes me. I can’t believe I ever thought someone as great as you would want to be friends with such a loser like me. Just-“

“Luke!” I exclaim, holding each of her wrists in either of my hands. She looks down at her wrists and then back up at me.

“Luke, my mum and I weren’t talking about you. We were talking about my girlfriend. I’ve been meaning to break up with her for a while now but I just haven’t had the guts to do it. I don’t know why though. She’s extremely annoying and very clingy and I don’t care if she moves across the world and gets eaten by a lion. However, I would probably cry my heart out if that were you.”

“G-Girlfriend?”

As soon as she says that, there are so many questions running through my mind. Why would she stutter? Does she like me? Is she jealous? Does she wish she was my girlfriend? Why am I thinking these thoughts?

Get it together, Niall. She doesn’t like you.

When I snap out of my ridiculous thoughts, Luke is gone. Shes so far by now. I figure she must be cold, running with a wet body. She’s forgotten her bag as well. It’s weird, but I can’t help thinking that me having a girlfriend might bother her. That me having a girlfriend makes her jealous. And what I can’t believe even more is that I want her to be jealous.

I don’t know what is happening to me.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Run after her, or go back home. I’ve run after her too many times, and shes going through such a rough time at the moment, so this only made things worse. Luke probably hates my face as of now, so I decide on heading home.

Halfway back, my phone starts ringing. I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone, knowing how upset Luke is with me.I’m a bit angry that she didn’t give me the chance to fully explain things, but I can’t take it out on a phone call. I retrieve my phone from my pocket and decide otherwise. Because it’s Fiona.

I don’t want to talk to Fiona. I don’t want to her that bitchy voice of hers that has slowly crept into my mind. I don’t want to talk to her. But I do anyways.

“Hey Fi.” I try to smile as I answer the phone. I put on a sweet little voice, trying to sound in love, even though I’m not.

“Ni!” she squeals, making kissy noises into the phone. “Babe, I miss you so, so much!”

Sure you do. I roll my eyes. “Miss you too, babe.”

“Which is why I’m waiting for you at your door!” she sings, and I nearly drop my phone. No, she can’t be here. She can’t. She’s supposed to be in London. She’s supposed to be flirting with her boss, not as my house. My heart is racing and it’s not for a good reason at all.

“O-oh,” I stutter. “S-seriously? I didn’t know.”

“Course you didn’t silly,” she giggles, her laugh slightly menacing. “Now hurry up and get home! We have so much to catch up on, cutie!”

I hate it when she doesn’t call me Niall.

“Alright. I’ll see you in a bit, babe,” I try to laugh, though even a deaf person would know it was fake. Fiona just cackles and makes another kissy sound.

“Love you, cupcake,” she squeals. I roll my eyes and end the call. I think she knows that I’m not really into her, but she also knows that I don’t want to break someone’s heart. Fiona knows I hate it when girls cry, but for some reason, when Luke cries it’s so much worse.

Fiona is a stuck up bitch. She always criticizes what I wear and compares me to other celebrities. Shes says my eyes aren’t blue enough, and that I could always use some exercise. She literally tells me to shut up when I sing out loud, and when I play guitar she tries to distract me with her rough, chapped lips. She wants my attention because I am Niall Horan, and because she knows that the world knows about her because of me. Luke however, she’s so different. So broken, so carefree, yet so serious. Shes such an interesting person and I still can’t believe she’s wasting her life on me.

And she doesn’t give a shit that I’m famous.

I get a bit lost when I’m heading back because I’m so caught up in my thoughts, but when I reach the sidewalk near my house, I spot a flash of red orange hair. Fiona is literally at my doorstep like she said, sitting on her, one, two, three, three suitcases. I let out the tiniest groan and walk up to her.

“Niall!” she squeals, throwing her arms around my neck. She pressed her lips to mine so quick that I can barely respond. And I don’t. I pull away and she’s still completely oblivious to my obvious actions. I don’t want her. I don’t miss her. I wish she stayed in London with her flirtatious boss.

“Hi, Fiona,” I manage, pulling out the house key and unlocking the door. I grab two of her bags and instantly know why they are so heavy. They’re probably loaded with her makeup and million dollar wardrobe. She follows me inside the house with the other bag and my mum’s eyes widen when she sees Fiona.

The smile on my mum’s face is very fake compared to the one she gave me when I brought Luke in.

“Fiona,” my mom exclaims, her teeth slightly gritted as she tries to laugh.

“Maura!” Fiona drops her suitcase, missing my poor foot by a mere centimeter and lunges at my mother. She almost chokes my mum as she hugs her. My mum mouths “help”, over Fiona’s shoulder. I snort quietly and grab Fiona’s attention.

“Hey babe, let’s go upstairs,” I say, setting her bags down and looking at Fiona suggestively. I swear my mum’s face falls, but I hope she also knows that I’m helping her by getting Fiona off her.

Fiona puts on a dirty grin and licks her lips, grabbing her bag with one hand, and my hand in her other. She pulls me up the stairs and into my room. Right when she pushes me against the door to try and kiss me, an image of Luke crying passes through my mind.

I push Fiona away.

Notes

chapter nine guisss