♥ I Never Thought I'd Love You ♥

~Chapter 40: It's Too Late

~Chapter 40: It’s Too Late

            I sobbed, running to the forest where Niall had shown me the magnificent sight of the butterflies. It looked so beautiful in the sunset. I stood at the edge of the clearing, and I could almost see us sitting under the tree… I could almost hear all the words Niall had said to me. Everything. I remembered how I had felt about him those few moments… what I had thought about him and what he had told me. It was all just a lie. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him.

            “You told me you’d wait,” I cried. “You told me you loved me. You said you liked me and you taught me so much. It was all for naught.” I collapsed on the ground, weeping. “I just want you back, Niall. I just want you by my side. But it’s too late to realize that,” I sobbed. “I made you wait this long you had to go find somebody else. I should’ve just opened up in the beginning… You were the only one who ever made me truly happy. The only one who ever tried to touch my heart. And now you’re gone. You’re gone and I can’t get you back.” I cried and cried and cried. I finally felt the confidence to call out, “I… I love you, Niall… I love you so much…”

~~~~

            “She made him. He didn’t want to,” Liam told me. We were sitting on Adriana’s couch, the boys having finished preparing their stuff and luggage for the start of their tour tomorrow. Niall wasn’t present, and neither was Ari.

            “That’s what everyone says,” I sobbed. “But it’s always a lie.”

            “No, really. Niall wouldn’t do something like that,” Harry replied. “I know him.”

            I shook my head. I couldn’t believe them. I wanted to, but it just all seemed so unreal. “No,” I cried. “Stop.”

            “He was forced to. Niall was trying to push her away, but he didn’t want to seem rude. He’s just that big of a gentleman.” Harry looked away. “You want to know what he said to me before he left to go meet you?” I shook my head, crying, but he continued anyway. “He said to me, ‘It’s finally time. She’ll finally be mine. I have never wished for anybody else besides her, and never again. Cordelia really is the only one I love and I really want to take this chance to show it to her.’ That’s what Niall told us. All of us.” Harry gestured to the other boys.

            “He really said that, Cordelia. We’re not kidding at all,” Zayn replied.

            “Yeah, Niall would never joke about something like that. He’s not that kind of guy,” Liam added.

            I sniffed, my heart racing faster and faster. What if I DID misunderstand him? I asked myself. He even seemed to be enjoying the kiss. I sat, rock still, unwilling to move at all.

            “Cordelia, please. Don’t do this. We’re leaving for tour tomorrow.”

            I HAD misunderstood Niall. All that time I was shouting at him, I never gave him a chance to explain. I let my temper get the best of me again. I buried my face in my hands, crying. I excused myself out of Adriana’s room and went to the original room I stayed in. Even though all my stuff was in Niall’s room, I didn’t leave it for the rest of the day.

.:The Next Morning:.

            “He’s leaving for tour, Cordelia,” I heard Adriana say quietly. I was sitting in her room. The boys had left already.

            I blinked, trying to hold back tears. I didn’t want to go back on my word. After all that I said, how could he forgive me? All the words I had hurt him with, after I’d seen him cry, after all our uncomfortable and unsure kisses, after everything we’d been through, every fight, every argument… How could he ever manage to forgive me? You’re a bad liar, Cordelia… I actually listen to what you say… Please don’t do it anymore, Cordelia… I just want one chance, Cordelia… I’ll prove to you the world was wrong… Why can’t you just accept me? I care about you… I just worry, that’s all… But it’s a burden I’m willing to bear… And you, Cordelia, are one of the most important people to me… That’s how you make my stomach feel… Hey, it’s going to be alright… You’ll always be in my heart… I won’t leave you, Cordelia. I promise… Think of it as a blessing… I will never leave you… I love you, Cordelia…  All the words Niall said to me echoed in my head over and over again. Everything had been my fault. Every time we fought, I just pushed him away farther and farther when he was only caring for me, trying to touch my heart. And I had realized that, but I felt that it was too late. “I can’t, Adriana… I can’t… He’d never accept me now…,” I choked out. “It’s too late… It’s too late to apologize.”

            Then, Adriana said something that made my heart jump. “True love is never too late.”

            A tear worked its way down my face, and I stood up and ran out of her room. I sprinted down to my car and jumped into it. I looked at the time. It was 2 PM and Niall’s flight was at 2:30. I raced through every traffic light, sped through the highways, and got the airport as fast as I could.