-- Niall's Point of View --
I had to find him. I had to. Knowing Liam's terrible past and knowing the secrets he'd told me, I couldn't help but be worried that he'd snap and do something stupid. The way that note was written, it sounded like he was going to do something I was terribly afraid of. Liam had told me that in the past, when he still lived with his parents and he had to deal with his abusive father, he'd frequently contemplated suicide, and I was terrified that that was what he meant when he said that he wasn't going to bother us anymore.
So, I ignored everybody's words, got in my car, and I just left. I had to find him. I didn't know where to look, but I had to find him. My first thought of where to look was at the bar. After all, some people liked to drink away their problems. Liam had never been a big drinker considering the fact that he used to have kidney problems, but still, it was his first idea of where to check.
He arrived at the local bar, the only one in town since the other few had closed down a while back, and I entered and began asking around, asking if anybody had seen him. Then finally, I asked the bartender, who seemed to have something to tell me.
"Liam Payne?" the bartender questioned, and I nodded. "Are you Niall Horan?" he asked, and I nodded once more. "He wanted me to give you this."
He handed me a small envelope, and just in case this was something rather personal, I took the envelope, thanked the bartender, and slipped back into my car. I tore the envelope open, looking at the contents - three photographs, both of me and him. All three of them were torn between the two of us, as if tearing us apart, and the edges of them were burnt, as if he lit them on fire but put them out before they could burn entirely. There was one more thing in the envelope, and that was the lighter he must have used, along with a small note. It was obviously his handwriting, though it was written very jaggedly and darkly, as if he was digging the pen into the paper while writing it.
'Loved you then, love you still, always have, always will'.
Bullshit.
That was the quote I'd liked to say to him... Okay, so he knew I'd come looking for him. And he knew my first stop would be at the bar. Where to look next? Hmm... Oh, I knew! I put the car in gear and quickly began driving, arriving at my next stop rather soon - the hotel where we'd lived together when we both ran away from home. I entered the hotel and went up to the front counter, asking the manager if she'd seen him. Like the bartender did, she asked if I was Niall Horan and said that Liam wanted her to give me this. She handed me a keycard, and as she told me which room it was for, I realized it was for the same room we'd stayed in. So, I quickly headed up to the room, opening the door and hoping he was here. Not all that surprisingly, the room was empty, except for a medium-sized cardboard box in the center. I ripped it open and inside was the torn pieces of the teddy bear he'd bought me on Valentine's Day, the limbs ripped off of the stuffed animal and the button eyes ripped out also. Wow, that was... Rough.
Now where to look? I didn't know where to possibly look, so I figured I'd call him and see if maybe he'd answer. Luckily, to my absolute surprise, he did.
"Where the hell are you?!" I blew up, and he replied in the most overly casual tone, like we were the best of friends and this was all normal.
"A place. You?"
"Looking for you!"
"Oh, why?"
"Why the hell are you being so fucking casual?!"
"Why not?" he questioned, and I could imagine him shrugging. I could then hear crackling noises, like the sound of a fire, and that confused me further.
