Redemption [h.s]

one

It all started with a knock on my door at 3am of a Saturday night.

I still wasn't sleeping, so I put the book I was reading on the nightstand and got out of bed. I put a sweatshirt on, since the slight cold of September was starting to become noticeable, and I walked towards my front door, considering the pros and cons of doing so. Since I lived in a flat, I resolved that nothing too bad could be on the other side, and opened it.

To find nobody. Because nobody was standing in front of my door.

I frowned and I went to close it, but as I was doing so, I noticed something on the ground. I looked down carefully. There were some sugar packets on my door mat. I furrowed by eyebrows and bent down to pick them up, noticing that there was a piece of paper as well, with something written on. I picked it up as well, and I read: "thank you for the sugar yesterday afternoon". I stared at it confusedly for a few seconds. I didn't remember giving sugar to anyone, and I lived alone. Unless it had been Niall. He'd recently moved out, but sometimes he still let himself inside while waiting for me to come home. I would've had to ask him about it.

I closed the door, wondering why someone would go out of their way to give sugar back in the middle of the night, and put the sugar packets in their rightful place.

After that, I went back to bed. I picked the book up and I attempted to keep reading, but I was too weirded out to concentrate. Suddenly I was done with that day, and decided to sleep.

•  •  •

The following morning I woke up to find out that my alarm clock hadn't rang, and that I was really late for work. More like, I had almost completely skipped half of the work day. It was 2pm, and I had the 10am-6pm shift.

I retrieved my phone and called my boss, hoping that he wouldn't be too upset and that I wouldn't have risked to lose my job. Thankfully, he was quite understanding, since apparently someone - who I was quite sure went by the name of Niall - had called him that morning to tell him I wouldn't have come to work, since that someone had been trying to call me since 7am and I hadn't picked up. For the first time, I was glad my employer and my best friend were friends.

I suddenly found myself with nothing to do for that day, which was weird since it didn't happen often. I got up, had a quick shower and, after having roughly dried my hair with a towel to make sure water would've not dripped down my clothes, I decided to call Niall.

He replied soon after, and a cluttering of unknown objects was heard on the other side.

"What did I tell you about answering my door when I'm not at home?" I asked him.

"Eh... Not to?" He replied, not really getting what I was talking about.

I sighed and explained to him what had happened the past night.

"Oh" he exclaimed, "he asked if we had any since that he had finished his, I guess he just decided to return the favour."

"Who is he?" I asked him.

"I don't really know, but he was pretty. Like, really pretty. Dark hair and green eyes, have you never seen him? I think he lives on your same floor" Niall replied.

I frowned. "No... I've never seen him."

"Oh okay! I guess he likes to keep to himself then, he seemed the secretive kind" he said. "Don't worry that much about him! It's quite late anyway, wanna join me and Liam for a late lunch at ours? Getting there now."

"Why not?" I replied, "I'll be there in 10."

After exactly ten minutes, that I could've held as my new record, I knocked at their door.

Liam came to open it, seeming quite happy to see me as he let me inside. We used to be really close, spending almost every day together, but since the wedding he'd found himself with so many new responsibilities, and we didn't see each other as often anymore.

Liam and Niall had been married for nine months, and had been living together for about a year. Liam was sweet and reserved, I really couldn't understand how he could keep up with living with someone like Niall, who was loud and sometimes even childish. But he was also easy to be around and liked to have a good laugh, which made everyone like him.

As I hung my coat on the clothes hanger near the door, a little white kitten came into the room, rubbing himself against my legs. Niall and Liam had got him just a few months prior, and he was possibly the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

"Berry loves to see you" Liam said from behind me, as I bent down to cuddle him.

The poor animal had fallen victim of Niall's childishness, because the boy had insisted on calling him Strawberry Smoothie, claiming that it could be shortened to Berry.

"And I love to see him as well! Now, where's Niall?" I replied.

"He went to get pizza, probably won't be here for a while. Want to watch something?" Liam answered.

We sat on the couch, with Berry between us, and turned on the TV.

That's how Niall found us when he walked in.

"You started a movie without me?" He said shocked, putting the pizza on some plates and coming to sit next to us.

"Chill, it's a rerun of Friends" I informed him, and he gasped.

"That's even worse! How dare you?"

I shook my head absentmindedly and kept watching, and Niall soon silenced himself and joined in.

When the sky turned dark, I went back home after saying goodbye to the both of them.

I took the long way home, as I'd always loved London during the night. Sometimes when I was at work I liked to spend some time on the balcony of my restaurant, watching the city immersed in the darkness shine of multiple little lights. Just like a midsummer night sky.

When I got to my building I took the stairs, because I literally couldn't find in me the patience to wait for the lift. While I was opening my door I heard some rustling on the door next to the one opposite to mine. I turned my head, curious, trying not to make it too noticeable.

I failed, though, because my eyes met the ones of the person that was closing it soon after. It was a boy - or a man. I couldn't really tell his age. His dark hair fell over his eyes a little as he looked up at me. Even if in the slight light of the moon coming from the window on that floor I couldn't understand what colour his eyes were, I was quite sure he was the boy Niall had talked about.

He gave me a brief smile and went away, as my door opened with a click.