The Guardian

Chapter Eight

Niall’s POV

I fumbled with the spare key Ali had given me a while back, knowing that if she’s calling me at almost 4 AM it was probably best to go find her on my own rather than make her come downstairs to open the door.

“Al?” I yelled, walking up the stairs.

“In here,” she called back.

I quickly ran to her room, preparing myself for the worst. I never know what to expect when she calls… sometimes it’s really bad, and other times she just wants to cuddle. But something tells me since we were fighting, she didn’t call me to cuddle tonight. She was sitting up on her bed, covers clutched tightly around her as tears rolled down her cheeks, her body shaking with fear. Tonight was a bad night.

“Shh, shh, I’m here,” I said as I sat next to her, opening my arms for her as she leaned into my embrace. I held her closer as she let it all out. Her body shook as she cried, and there was nothing I hated more. I rubbed soft circles on the small of her back, knowing that it helped calm her down. “What happened Al?”

“I-it was  th-the second half o-of the n-nightmare,” she sobbed. “The one when she left.”

She looked up at me, the hurt evident in her eyes. Her tear-stained cheeks were still shiny in the darkened room, the only source of light coming from the moon. I shut my eyes tight as I almost felt the pain these flashbacks brought her.

“But Al, you know it was only to protect you,” I said, trying to comfort her.

“I know but it still hurts,” she choked out, burying her face in my chest once again. “Sometimes it really sucks not having a mom around, Ni.”

“I kno—“

“No you don’t, Ni. Sometimes a girl just needs her mom around… and I know I can go to your mom for anything but it’s just… it’s just not the same.”

I sighed, resting my head on hers, breathing her in as I tangled my hand in her long hair that hung straight down her back.

“Why did I get stuck with this life, Ni? What did I do wrong?” she mumbled into my chest.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Ali, I promise. I’m here, Al, I’m here....” I trailed off as I continued to rub her back, feeling her panicked breathing slow down.

We both jumped as we heard the front door crash open.

“Alison I’m home!”

Her eyes went wide as her father’s voice boomed through the house.

“What the…” she said as she slowly crawled out from under the covers to peek her head out her bedroom door. “Shit,” she said under her breath. “Hi Daddy, how was Vegas?” she asked sweetly.