Walking Through the Time Capsule

Chapter 14

Walking Through the Time Capsule

Chapter 14

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Niall...

"Shit, shit, shit." I muttered to myself as I paced back and forth.

"Niall, calm down. She didn't see you."

"No, but she almost did, Harry." I said loudly. The loud commotion of the people, the waves, and the seagulls were silent in my ears. All I could hear was my inner voice telling me how stupid and reckless I was. "This was a horrible idea. I-I should've stayed in Ireland. You guys could've just kept her safe. She's going to see me and then get scared and everything will be ruined and-"

"Niall!" Liam cut me off from my panicked rant. "Relax. Everything is going to be fine. It was just a minor accident."

I took a deep breath, trying to soothe myself. The cool water lapped at my ankles and made me feel calm again. "You're right. I'm sorry, I'm just anxious I guess."

I glanced up the beach to where I bumped into her. She was still sitting on the ground, and Eleanor was sitting across from her. From the position she was sitting, I could see her side profile, and from what I could see, her face looked pained as she hunched over and massaged her ribs.

"Fuck." I muttered as I ran my hands through my hair. "I hurt her. Shit, she's fucking hurt." My hands remained in my hair as my eyes averted to the ground and I started to pace again. "Her ribs are still broken and I just made it worse. Fuck, I'm such a fucking idiot. I don't even need to try to hurt her, I just do. She's right, I'm the one that hurt her. She remembers me correctly. All I do is hur-"

"Seriously, Niall, shut up." Harry stopped me this time. "It was an accident, okay? Anyone could've done it."

"But I did it, Harry." I snapped.

"Would you like me to go check on her and tell you if she's okay? Will that make you feel better?" He sighed.

"Yes..That would actually."

"Okay." He nodded before running up the beach, leaving me and Liam in the ankle deep water.

"Well." He clapped his hands together. "I'm gonna swim for a bit."

I gave him a swift nod as he pulled his shirt off and walked further into the big waves. Even though I had my swim shorts on as well, I didn't feel like swimming just yet. I kept my eyes up the beach to see if I could get a sense of what was being said through facial expressions.

Harry approached the two girls, and he tried to look like he just randomly came across them, rather than knowing exactly where they were. A few words were exchanged between them before he squatted down to their level. The smile shed off his face and he looked to be in deep concern. A few more things were said before he nodded and stood back up to walk away. As he started heading towards me, I could see that he was frowning.

"What's wrong?" I said lowly as he stopped in front of me. "Something's wrong."

"Her ribs look inflamed and they're bothering her." He explained in a deep voice.

I let my head roll back and my eyes closed. "Fuck."

"She texted Melanie already. Her and Zayn are gonna go back to the house with them so Annabelle can rest and ice it."

"Shit. See what I did? See what I do? I do nothing but cause damage." My eyes started to well up at the thought that I hurt Annabelle. Again.

"Niall, it's okay. She'll be fine. The crash just irritated them a bit. Nothing a little ice can't fix." He comforted.

I sighed heavily and rubbed my face. "What about the rest of us?"

"We all took two cars this morning so the rest of us can stay here if we want. We don't all need to go back. It's nothing serious."

I turned to face the ocean, and plopped down on the wet sand. Harry followed suit. "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought."

"Staying away or staying hidden?"

"Both." I mumbled, putting my chin on my folded arms that rested on my knees.

"You know, eventually you're gonna have to show yourself to her. You're gonna have to help her remember you."

"I know. I'm just...afraid I guess. It hurts so much every time I see her scared of me. I need recovery time before I have to go through that again." From the corner of my eye, I saw him nod in understanding. "Hey, have Lou and Melanie made up yet?"

"Haven't talked once since the blow out last Saturday."

"Really? Not once?"

"Not once."

"Wow." I breathed before facing the water again. Melanie and Louis had bonded so well over the past few months. Of course, Louis was closer with Annabelle, but Melanie was like a sister to him too. They bickered so much. It was funny to watch actually. It was funny to see my two separate groups of friends come together. Louis and Annabelle were the siblings that loved each other so much and were like best friends, whereas Melanie and Louis were the siblings that ripped each others throats out, but still loved each other in the end. And then of course there's Harry who was just the happy soul that loved everyone and avoided conflict.

"Louis' just really upset about the things she said about you, especially knowing the state you were in. He's always been protective and defensive over you, Niall. You know that. You're the baby of the group, remember?"

"Well I'm sure it's awkward with them living in the same house now." I hadn't seen any of them, except Harry, that whole week after that fight at Louis' till the flight yesterday. Harry was like my insider spy.

"They'll eventually get over it and make up." He shrugged. "What about you? Have you talked to Melanie yet?"

"I haven't had the chance. I was busy packing and moping all last week. I only talked to her that one time on the plane."

"Oh." He said before awkwardly pausing. "You know she didn't mean anything she said, right? None of it's true."

"I did at first. But I got over it and I know better now. Doesn't mean it still didn't hurt though." I answered.

"Good. I wanted to make sure you didn't believe any of that. She feels really awful about it."

"I know she does. Has Annabelle noticed or said anything?"

"About them not talking? No, she's completely oblivious to it. She's in her own world...or, trying to remember it at least."

I nodded, understanding what he meant. I turned around to where she was before. Her and Eleanor were still there, but Louis, Melanie and Zayn had joined them. Zayn was helping her stand, and Eleanor looked like she was explaining what happened. I turned forward again, letting out a deep sigh, knowing there was nothing I could do right now.

"Let's go for a swim." I suggested.

"Yeah, we shouldn't leave Liam hanging like a loser." Harry chuckled.

"But Liam is a loser." I joked.

"We're all losers."

"Ain't that the truth." I agreed. "We're screwed up losers."

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