Chapter 31: Runaway (by Pink)

                                    

                                          


                          


                          
        Niall
                          
When I open my eyes, I roll over and look out the window.  It's dark and gloomy due to the rain but it matches exactly how I feel right now.
                          
Looking over at Harry, I ask, "What time is it?"
                          
He smiles, sipping his tea.  "It's 8 a.m.  How are you doing?"
                          
I get up to sit next to him and run my hands through my hair. "Not too good." 
                          
"What happened last night?  You didn't say much when you came over."
                          
"Mate, I don't even know where to start.  Everything is so messed up right now.  Olivia and I had a huge row last night."
                          
"You both look so happy when we were all hanging out.  What happen after we left?"
                          
"It was really a weird day all around.  It started in the morning.  Olivia and I talked about what happened in Houston.  She told me all the details that happened with Jake.  I mean everything."
                          
"That must have been difficult for her."
                          
"It was and I feel bad because I pushed her to talk about it.  I thought it would help her to talk. My plan backfired because it really messed me up.  It made me realize that if I would have just gone to the club and not been stubborn the whole situation would have been avoided."
                          
"Niall you know that none of what happened that night was your fault.  We could all put ourselves in your place and say it was our fault because we drank with her or didn't watch out for her better.  Don't beat yourself up over it."
                          
"But I also realized I will never be able to protect her from the memory of that night and it scares me.  Imagine being stuck with a horrible memory and you are forced to relive it over and over in your head.  Personally, I couldn't even handle what she told me. I hate that she has to go through this.  Harry, I won't always be able to protect her; that upsets me.  I want to protect her from everything in this screwed up world.  When I realized I couldn't, I pulled away from her.  It was too much for me to handle at the moment.  When we went to Boulder, I was being stand offish with her and she called me out on it.  She said that she doesn't want me to take on her pain; being present and by her side is all that she needs."
                          
"That sounds like a good plan.  So I know you made up from that because you seemed to really be enjoying yourselves playing football or soccer as she would call it," he says with an over dramatic eye roll.
                          
"Things were going great.  We talked and finally were on the same page about our relationship.  She was ready to open up to me and move forward.  We started to...." my cheeks started to turn red.  I am a little shy to talk to Harry about this. "We started to take our relationship the next step, uhhh, physically."
                          
"You had sex with her?  Good job, mate!  But if things were going good, I still don't understand how you ended up in my room?"
                          
"No.  We didn't have sex. We were working our way up to it and got really close."
                          
"Ok.  So what happened?"
                          
"As we were making out, I found this tattoo..."
                          
"Ok, what's the big deal?  All of us with the exception of you have a million tattoos."
                          
"Well if you would have let me finish. I was going to say, she had been hiding it from me. She didn't want me to see it."
                          
"Why would she do that?"
                          
"It was lyrics from Truly, Madly, Deeply."
                          
Harry puts his hand up shaking it at me.  "Wait. Wait. Wait.  Are you serious?"