The Guardian

Chapter Thirty

Brian's POV

I paced back and forth outside of the small coffee shop I had asked Ali to meet me at. I really hoped she showed up. I mean, I wouldn't blame her if she didn't. I'm a monster in her eyes. But I just really, really needed to get this off my chest.

I stopped in my tracks at the sound of a car. Looking up with hopeful eyes, I sighed with relief at the sight of Niall's car pulling up into the parking lot, with Ali sat in the passenger seat. A load that I wasn't even aware of was immediately lifted off my shoulders as she shot me a soft smile through the windshield.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked down awkwardly at my shoes. Rocking back and forth on my heels, I waited patiently for Ali to get out of the car, knowing Niall would be giving her a speech about where he would be incase she needed to run and that we better get a table where he can see us from the parking lot etc. I could feel him staring at me and I began to feel self concious. I'm not sure why, but I quickly shook it off as I heard the door slam shut.

I looked up to see Ali waltzing over to me, dressed in faded blue jeans and an oversized sweater, her dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail.

I glanced towards Niall, who stared at me with glaring eyes and a clenched jaw. I gave him an awkward nod before returning my attention to Ali.

"Hey," I said, my voice sounding much quieter than I expected.

"Hi," she said sweetly. She looked over her shoulder and gave Niall a small wave before she led the way into the quaint coffee shop.

Ali's POV

We ordered our coffees and sat at a table for two near the window, that way Niall wouldn't have a panic attack in the car. After a couple minutes of awkward silence, I decided to initiate some small talk as we sipped our drinks.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Better, but I keep getting headaches. All my bruises are gone though."

"Well that's good," I said. "If you ever need me to get you some aspirin let me know," I giggled.

He shook his head and smiled at my stupid comment.

"When are they gonna let you drive again?"

"I dunno. I felt like an idiot having my mum drop me off here though," he chuckled.

We both laughed for a little, trying to make light of the not exactly cheery situation. But the laughter faded much too quickly, and we were left in silence yet again. I held my cup with both hands and stared down at the steam rising up from the drink.

Although it felt like ages, only a minute passed before I spoke up to break the silence.

"Brian, why are we here?" I blurted out.

He looked up, and his green eyes met mine. I didn't mean to rush things or sound rude, but his eyes looked sad. It only took me a second to realize that my words were not what was hurting him, it was what he was about to say.

I watched him intently as his gaze fell to his hands that rest on the edge of the table. I watched his chest expand and his shoulders rise as be breathed in deeply before letting out a rather large sigh.

"My dad is a lying, cheating piece of shit father."

I was taken aback by his words, not expecting him to say anything like that. Especially so abruptly.

"I've lived with his lies my whole life. He brings girls over while my mum's at work and when I was younger he would bribe me with candy and video games to keep quiet about 'the nice ladies daddy brought home.' As I got older, I began to realize what he was doing, and whether they were prostitutes or girlfriends on the side, I knew they weren't 'daddy's nice ladies.' When I was 14 I confronted my dad about it and he threatened to beat me if I said a word to my mother. He continued to brag about it with me, going on and on about how hot these women were and how satisfying he found them. It repulsed me, the fact that he felt comfortable discussing this with his 14 year old son. I was so disgusted with him, so I told my mum that dad was with another woman. He told her it was a colleague from work and that they were working on a project together, and she pretended to believe him. He proceeded to punch me and leave cigarette burns on my back the next morning." He paused, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.