hoodie || nh au

Thirty-nine

Kevin holds my eyes closed. Niall wants to hide the tattoo from me. It's supposed to be a surprise. Shuffling is heard. Kevin takes his hands from my eyes, so I can look at the tattoo. Niall stands in front of me, shirtless. I look at his old tattoos, the crown and the owl with the chickadee. Then I see it. He turns around. A tree is placed between his shoulder blades. The branches reach up to his neck. A few dates and names are added in the branches. Lilly, his sister and her birth date, just as his mother and father and his. I smile at the tattoo. It's so beautiful.

"That's amazing", I speak.

"Thank you, Alex. The small writing behind your ear is really cute as well", Kevin speaks, pulling my ear back a little to see the tattoo.

Niall walks around me, looking at the tattoo behind my ear.

"Birdy", he mumbles.

A wide smile spreads across my lips, as he kisses my cheek. Niall and I leave soon. He puts his stuff on, just like I do and drives me home. As soon as we are at the front porch, Luke opens the door. He's probably going to his and Josh's date.

"Hey you guys", he greets, giving me a hug and Niall a high five.

"Lookin' good, brother", I smile.

His legs are covered in black skinny jeans. He paired them with a red flannel and black converse.

"Thanks, Alex. Mom and Dad are waiting for you", Luke tells me.

"Oh, okay."

Luke gets into his car and drives off. Niall smiles at me quickly.

"Thanks for the tattoo, Niall. I better get going now. Mom and Dad are probably asking where I'm at", I say.

"No problem. I guess I'll see you tomorrow", he smiles.

I nod. He takes a step down from our porch. I take a step into the house.

"Bye", I say quietly and close the door.

It gets stopped by a foot. I open it again and see Niall standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Is everything okay?", I ask.

Niall nods.

"Can I do something crazy soon?", he questions, smiling a little.

He looks nervous. I shrug. My eyes stay trained on his chest. Eye contact isn't my most favourite thing.

"So, can I?", he asks, worry in his voice.

"Yes", I answer, looking up at his face.

A true smile is on his face. Niall takes a step towards me, wraping his arms around my shoulders. I hug him back. He kisses my cheek quickly.

"See you tomorrow, birdy", he whispers in my ear.

I smile and close the door behind him. This guy is really ripping my heart apart. I'll probably die with him in my heart someday.

*****

I open my locker to see a small piece of paper falling out. My hands reach for it. I read it quietly, hiding it from other people.

He wants to say 'I love you'
but keeps it to 'goodnight'
because love will mean some falling
and she's afraid of heights.

I put it into my bag. Someone really left that note in my locker? It was probably just an accident. It's cliché as fuck, so I don't believe it was for me. The poor guy must've messed up the locker number and threw it into mine. Josh soon comes to me, with a huge smile across his face. A purple mark is left on his neck. Luke and him were on a date yesterday. Ew.

"Why are you all smiley? Have a good date with my brother?", I ask smirking and pointing out to his hickey.

"Yeah, it was great. Didn't know your brother had such a good-"

"Keep it!", I screech.

Josh laughs. His laugh is so friendly. It's so nice to have a true friend like him.

"How was the student body meeting? Did they approve to your idea?", Josh asks interessted.

"Yeah, they approved. Sammantha was such a bitch. She actually liked the idea but when we told them that it was my idea she hated it. Why do people hate me like that?"

"She doesn't hate you. We all know that she wants Niall and she's just jealous of you. Don't listen to her."

I nod. Just then I see Liam walking towards us. He has a glare on his face directed towards me. I tell Josh to go to his class and that I can walk there on my own. As soon as he's gone, Liam comes to me. I need to tell him that he can't do anything to me. He motions me to follow him and I do. I'm so stupid. We leave school and go behind the building. Liam takes me by my neck, pressing me against the wall. I try to get some air in my lungs.

"You told him, didn't you?", he hisses.

I try to press his hand off of my neck to get some air. The world around me gets blurry. Just as I'm about to pass out, he lets go. I tumble to the ground, ringing for air.

"You told him!", he shouts at me.

"No", I say, catching my breath slowly.

He picks me up by my arm. I push him off of me.

"Then why did he break up with Christina, huh?", he growls.

"He doesn't love her!", I tell him.

"Then why did they have sex the day before he left her? Christina told me everything! You told him!"

"No! Fuck! No! I didn't tell him! He probably just saw you two when you weren't being careful enough", I mumble.

Liam grabs my shoulder, pressing it tightly. He presses his thumb into my skin deeply underneath my collar bone. I wince in pain.

"Stop fucking lying, Alexandra! You will tell me the truth now", he demands.

I just have to tell him. It's better when he knows the truth. Liam can't hurt me, even if he knows the truth. I have enough friends to protect me and I can protect myself.

"You called me one time when Niall and I were together. I put it on loud because you called with an anonymous number, so I got scared. You just blabbered about it. Niall heard it, too. I'm sorry. Just please don't do anything to me. I'll move away, just let me finish school and then I'm away", I explain.

"You're so lucky I'm older and at college now, so I don't have to see your ugly ass face every day. Just tell me one more thing. Why did you stay with me, even though I abused you? And why didn't you sue me?", he asks, surprising me.

I push Liam's hand off of me. He steps closer to me.

"I loved you. You always told me that you would stop and I believed you. I was so stupid. My sorry ass didn't sue you because I was a nice person and didn't think that I needed more drama in my life", I explain.

Liam leans forward, laying his lips on my forehead. I push him away. He doesn't need to do this.

"Thank you for not suing me. Thanks to you I can study now. I really loved you back then", with those words, he steps out of my life.