Taking Chances (Niall Horan Punk Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Confessions"

~Brielle~

Claire handed me another beer, her movements almost too careless as she nearly dropped it. She'd down every beer she was given, and she was now onto her sixth. She was falling off the cliff slowly, and soon she'd be completely out of control of her body. I knew how much she'd hate the world tomorrow.

Despite her sixth beer sitting in her hands, her pronunciation was not that of slurs. She actually made quite a bit of sense, which I found hardly possible. But I couldn't argue with the evidence. Unless she was trying extremely hard to not seem drunk.

Knowing her, that was a possibility.

"Okay, confession time!"

Every head turned to Peter, who had a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

I hadn't spoken to him but once since the talk we'd had outside, and part of me was grateful. But again, the other part of me felt guilty.

I hated feeling guilty for whatever he was going through, though every bone in my body was telling me I was right for feeling guilty, whether I hated him or not.

Niall's hand wrapped around mine as Penelope spoke up. Once you had a few beers in her, she wasn't as quiet as many would describe her as. And as for Niall and I, well, we didn't feel like getting major headaches in the morning.

"I pretended to be a complete bitch my freshman year of high school to impress the 'King Jock' of the school. I figured if I was like the cheerleaders, he'd like me more. Turns out it just made me hated among everyone else."

She took a sip of beer, turning to look at Peter. He held his up, his eyes roaming over the room with a great smile on his face.

"I made a mistake by hurting Brielle."

I tensed, as did Niall - the tightening of his hand made sure I knew of that - and our eyes locked onto him. The room turned dead silent, almost a tensely awkward silence. Claire glanced toward me, her eyes filled with confusion, worry, and a bit of frustration. Harry was stiff, gritting his teeth toward Peter. Chad and Greg didn't know the past between Peter and I, hence the reason for their silence and complete bewilderment.

Zayn sat with the beer in his hands, examining it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world to study. Penelope glanced from Peter to me, her eyes soft - though glossy from being drunk.

No one dared to move, besides glancing around the room, but no one got up or shifted.

"But that was the past. It's time for me to make up for what I've done and prove I can still be an amazing friend."

I watched as he chugged down the rest of his beer and set the bottle down on the coffee table. Slowly, the air eased. Niall kept his tight grip, and Claire continued to look toward me.

Finally, I managed a smile and held my bottle up, jumping from the couch - despite Niall's whimper of protest.

"I'm going to toast to that. To putting the past behind us and starting all over."

Claire hid a smile as she stood up and held her bottle in the air. She nodded to me, finally showing her smile.

"To putting the past behind us."

Harry stood up next, his smile present as well.

He repeated Claire, his eyes on both Peter and I. Then Zayn was next.

Although Zayn wasn't a part of these previous events as much as Niall, Claire, and Harry had been, he was still a part. He still mattered. He still knew about Liam returning and what was at stake. He protected me just as much as everyone else had.