The Guardian

Chapter Eighteen

The short seven second run from my house to her's felt as if I was running a marathon- I just couldn't get to her quick enough. I fumbled with my spare key in the lock, my nervous hands making this simple maneuver much more difficult.

"Come on," I mumbled before trying the key again, and thankfully the lock clicked open. I pushed the door open, not even bothering to shut it behind me, and sprinted up to her room as fast as I could. Her door was left ajar, and cautiously, I stepped inside. She was sitting at her desk, her back to me. She was writing.

"Oh thank god," I blurted out, beyond thankful to find her still breathing.

I must have startled her because she jumped, turning around to face me. Her hair was a mess and tears rolled down her cheeks, her left over mascara dripping down with them.

"Niall?" she choked out, trying to hide the evidence behind her.

"I know you too well, Ali."

She hung her head down and cried into her palms, her entire body shaking.

"I'm so sorry Niall," she sobbed, and I felt myself begin to choke up.

I knelt down beside her, resting a hand on her back.

"Al, look at me."

Slowly, she looked up. I winced as I saw the hurt behind her eyes. I wish I knew how to take it all away...

The worst feeling a person can have is helplessness. The person I love is sitting right before me, broken beyond repair. I'm not a magician, and I'm most definitely not a god, and I know I couldn't fix her. She's been through far too much. But I know that I can try. I will be the best I can possibly be to help her, to protect her, to save her. I'll be her guardian.

"Do you know what you were about to do?" I asked, making sure she was aware of what was going on and not in some trance that she needed to be snapped out of.

She nodded.

"I was going to take the pills."

Hearing the words come out of her mouth stung beyond belief; my heart was an open would, and her words were salt.

I reached onto her desk, gathered the bottles containing the multiple drugs that had the sickening capacity to end my best friend's life, and put them in my pockets. I wouldn't let them out of my sight- I wasn't going to take this chance.

"Do you understand the pain you were about to put me through? And Ella? And my mother? Alison what on Earth made you reach this point again?" I asked, unconsciously raising my voice as my frustration and disbelief took the best of me.

"Too much pain... I'm pathetic, Ni. I'm not worth it."

I hung my head trying to process what she just said.

"Alison Marie O'Connor, you are so worth it. Brian and your dad are just assholes who don't realize what an amazing girl they have in front of them, and I will personally beat their faces in. Well, maybe not your dad because I'd prefer not to be killed, but I can handle Brian." I grinned, finally getting a smile out of her. "You are beautiful, Al. And caring and funny and sweet. You're my best friend, and... I'm in love with you."

Her eyes went wide as if she just witnessed Jesus descending from the clouds, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"This wasn't exactly the moment I had planned to tell you that, but I guess it works," I said with a smile.

I got up and walked over to the other side of her room and grabbed the guitar I had given her for her birthday a few years back when I was determined to teach her how to play.