Complicity [h.s]

50

PART 2 OF THE DOUBLE UPDATE

"You know I can't help, Niall." I clear my throat.

He looks sleep deprived, a glow in his aura missing. Not to mention, the side of his face is all cut up like he got in a fight or some sort of accident. The wounds weren't fresh, but still recent. I want to ask what happened, but I I'm also scared to hear the answer.

"Aven—"

"You shouldn't be here."

"I didn't know what else to do." He quietly admits.

I exhale, gazing for a moment with words on my tongue.

"Is he okay?" I whisper in a beat of weakness.

He shakes his head.

"He's not doing well."

"Are you okay?" I look at his wounds again.

"I'll be fine."

I haven't talked to Niall in a very long time; he barely looks in my direction anymore. I know he hates what I've become—he hates every part of it. I haven't wanted to know what he thinks of me now; it's not that it matters anyway. I've done everything I could to sever the relationships I've had with this group, and he seemed to respect that. It becomes hard to remember a time when Niall and I were close. So, him standing in my house, staring at me in desperation, is a new concept.

"He doesn't want to see me, Niall."

"You know that isn't true..."

"He asked you to come here?"

"No, the opposite. He would kill me if he knew I was here telling you this."

My chest tightens.

"But like I said, I don't know what else to do." He adds.

"Seeing him will only make things worse. When he saw me, he was angry. I am the reason he's feeling this pain. I'm Mariana to him—the spitting image of his misery. I'm sorry, but I can't."

I turn around and start pacing away. I can't be in this room with him. If I go, he'll hopefully leave.

"He was ten months sober, Aven."

I freeze, keeping my back to him.

"He didn't tell you that part, did he?" Niall adds.

I feel a clutch in my lungs—every nerve in my body blasting with heat.

"He said it was only a few weeks."

"He hasn't touched anything since that night he overdosed in Vegas."

I shut my eyes, folding my lips between my teeth.

"Why did he lie?"

"Because the guy is an idiot," he murmurs. "Aven, you're in no way responsible for him. I just...I've never let these things stress me out, but I have this feeling that something horrible is going to happen. I'm desperate, and you're the only person who knows him in the ways we don't. Liam has completely turned his back, Louis and Nova can't get through to him, and I've tried every tactic."

I keep my eyes shut, biting the inside of my cheek with tension.

"He lost me before. I'm sure he'll handle it again."