Redemption [h.s]

fourteen

I came across the lonely tree on a Saturday morning. The bright sunlight of mid-spring was hitting down on it. It was one of those spring days, sunny and warm until the wind comes around bringing cold.
I got closer to it, amazed by its majesty. There were a few red spots in between its bright green leaves. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to understand what they were. I smiled when I realised. Cherries. I didn't take any though, since I didn't know if it was allowed to do that. I stepped under its shadow. The tree was big, even though it wasn't extremely tall.
I checked the time on my phone. I should've met Niall soon, at that coffee shop I had discovered just a few months before.
He had been living with Liam for a few weeks, and we were always trying to find ways to hang out as much as possible, since we no longer lived together. I had never realised how boring my life was, until he'd moved out. It wasn't that my neighbours weren't fun, of course. There was an old lady living in front of me with her husband, and she always tried to find reasons to give me homemade cookies. They had been quite lonely since their daughter had moved to the USA with her husband and her son, and they loved to try to find ways to socialise. The woman living next to me was moving out, but I didn't really mind, since I had only talked to her once or twice. She was always really busy with work, she hardly got out of her house for other reasons that weren't her work. I didn't know who lived in front of her, if anyone lived there at all. During my first days in my new flat, I had seen a girl, older than me probably, around that house, but now she was no longer around. Now, it was just completely silent.

"Are you with me at all?" A single voice brought me back.

I looked away from the sleeping tree, its branches pointing up to the sky, all its leaves on the ground, being slowly swept away by the wind, and I glanced at Niall, that was sitting on the bench next to me, freezing in his coat.

"How could I do something like this?" He asked himself, almost crying.

"You were completely drunk, Ni. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have left you alone with him, I knew he was up to no good."

He put his knees up to his chest, hiding his face in his arms. "I can't believe I did something like that. What do I do?"

"It was a mistake. I know you would've never done that if you were in your right mind" I assured him, trying to make him feel better.

"I love Liam so much, I ruined everything!" He cried.

"You need to tell him. I don't know, find a way or something" I suggested.

"Maybe I could not tell him?" He asked.

"That isn't a good idea, if he finds out on his own you two are over" I replied. "I know you love Liam. And I know you didn't mean to do that, and that it will never happen again. This could have the power to destroy your marriage. Ni, you're the happiest I've seen you in years, you can't let a mistake destroy your life."

"What gets mad at me anyway, though? He could also never know it if I don't tell him" he asked me, looking up.

"I can't help you make this decision. It's yours to take. Just know that I'm with you, no matter what."

"Gray... The thing is that I enjoyed it." He pulled at his hair. "I know how fucked up it is, but I felt that rush again, that mischievousness, that feeling of going against the rules... And it just felt so good. With Liam, everything is routine. And I love that, don't get me wrong! But with Zayn, well, it is something else. He made me feel like the young and careless boy I was when we first moved here. And I liked it. So much."

My eyes widened. "Oh" I said, "You have to stop being around him. This thing will lead to no good. He's probably just waiting for you to fall to make his move again."