First You Fall

Chapter 13

Niall was awakened by the sound of loud laughter coming from some part of the house. It took him a good five minutes to pull himself out of his sleep-filled haze to realize the sounds were coming from Clarice's room. He checked his watch, pushing himself up onto his elbows to look around and regain his bearings.

The last few days came flooding back into his brain. Rehab, Maisie's dad, Clarice's hospital stay, the studio...Niall hadn't had this much happen in his life at once since he'd been in the band.

He wiped his hand over his eyes, took in a deep breath through his nose and stood up just in time to see Maisie walk down the hallway in the direction of Clarice's room. They both stopped and for a moment seemed to contemplate covering themselves up. Maisie was wearing a pair of tiny shorts and a loose fitting tank top while Niall was clad only in a pair of boxers. They gave each other the once-over and then seemed to wave it away as they finished the walk towards Clarice's room.

Maisie's heart fluttered in her chest when she saw Clarice sitting up in front of the table where she put together puzzles. Brenda was seated on the other side and both ladies were loudly laughing.

Clarice glanced in their direction, her smile widening when she saw both Niall and Maisie staring at her with open mouths,

"Good morning, My Loves. How did you sleep?"

Maisie glanced at Niall and then back at Clarice,

"We-We're fine Gram."

It occurred to Niall in that moment that he probably should have left before Clarice saw him. Were they still keeping up the facade that nothing was happening with Maisie's dad? Because it seemed like Maisie had completely forgotten about it.

Clarice quirked her eyebrows,

"Didn't know you spent the night, Niall. What a gentlemen you are." She said, giving Maisie a pointed glare.

Niall folded his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling very exposed,

"Uh..."

"I asked him to stay." Maisie cut in, "I wasn't sure if we might need his help for anything."

Clarice nodded, eyeing them over her bifocals and then reaching forward to snap a piece of her puzzle into place,

"Can't imagine what we might need his help for but it was sweet for him to stay."

Niall awkwardly cleared his throat,

"How ya feelin' Clare?"
"Feelin' just fine, Precious." She looked over at them pointedly, "In fact I'm so fine that I think the two of you need to get out of here for the day and do something fun."

Maisie shook her head,

"I can't leave you. What if-"

"What?" Clarice interrupted, "What if you go out and have a good time and stop worrying about your grandmother for a few hours? Honestly, you both look exhausted."
Niall raised his eyebrows. Had Clarice just told him he looked like shit? He couldn't argue, he probably did.

Maisie looked over at Niall who shrugged,

"Might as well do what the lady says. Not like either of us have anythin' goin' on today anyway." Niall answered.

Maisie looked back at Clarice,

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

Clarice waved her hand,

"What I need is for the two of you to get out of here and go have some fun. The two of you hovering like this is doing nothing for my recovery. I feel like a gorilla in a zoo."