Motel 6 // n.h

[53] Surprise

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Avery Holmes

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"Aimee, you need to listen to me." I said, trying again to hold her on my lap as we laid on the couch. "Daddy's going to be awake soon and I need you to listen to me."

"I scared, mom." Aimee pouted.

"There's no reason to be scared, baby." I cooed. "Niall isn't like Jake. He won't ever do anything to hurt us, alright? He will never hurt you." Aimee looked up at me, still unsure by the look she was giving me.

"Listen," I sighed. "I know that you're young and some things are hard for you to understand. But trust me, Aims, Niall would never hurt us. When you saw him last night it probably reminded you of Jake but I promise that Niall would never be like him- ever. Do you understand me?"

Aimee only nodded once. I wasn't sure if she really understood any of what I was saying.

"Is he sleeping?" She asked.

"Yeah, he doesn't feel too good." I said. "He'll wake up soon, okay? And I promise that nobody will ever hurt you again as long as Niall and I are around." I kissed her forehead before wrapping a blanket around us.

"What if I trip and get a boo boo?" She asked.

"Well, I'm not going to wrap you up in bubble wrap." I giggled, tickling her and making her laugh as she squirmed around. "Hey, where are your Cheerios I just gave you?"

"I eated them up, mommy!" Aimee laughed. For a kid of her size, she really knew how to eat. I wrapped my arms around her and teased her a bit about how quickly she could down her breakfast before I heard someone clear their throat on the other side of the room.

I looked over to see Niall. I was a bit surprised that he didn't look like an absolute wreck, but he did look like he was in bad shape. There were bags under his eyes and he only wore the sweatpants he had on last night. I shouldn't even get started on the hair- it was a complete mess.

"Hi, girls." He said quietly. "Ave, can I talk to you?"

I glanced over at Aimee, who was now completely silent as she cuddled under the covers. I nodded quickly before whispering to Aimee that I'd be right back, following Niall into the bedroom and closing the door.

"How're you feeling?" I asked the hungover Irishman.

"Not too bad. I'm sure it's because you made me take that medicine last night, thank you for that." He smiled weakly. Even though he hadn't said anything, I knew that something was bothering him. I could just tell.

"I'm not mad at you." I said in a small voice. "There's nothing wrong with going out with friends, I understand that. Okay?" He bit his lip and glanced over at the window, like he was trying to come up with something to say.

"I'm helping you parent now, Ave." Niall sighed. "Even though I'm not Aimee's real dad, I'm the shoe-in. I'm supposed to be responsible and all I could think about was myself and I shouldn't have done that last night-"

"Niall." I smiled. "It's okay, really. Nothing bad happened." I touched his arms, looking into his eyes and waiting until they met mine.

"That's the thing, Avery." He gave me a pained smile. "Something bad did happen."

I froze. What was he talking about?

"I heard you talkin' to Aimee about her being afraid." His eyes softened. "Is that because of me?" The way his voice broke off in the end made it sound like he was about to cry. "Is she afraid... of me?"