The Bodyguard » Niall Horan

09 » He would've killed me, too

It was dark out when I walked into his street. I was knackered by the heavy emotions and all the running I had done. I had even gone so far that I realized I had run twenty kilometers when I was only three kilometers away from Kensington Park. I jogged the way back home, and it was surprisingly quick.

I had the keys to his gate and the front door and walked straight back to the guest room where I grabbed my stuff and took a shower. I stripped the vile, sweaty clothes off of me and took a long, hot shower.

I had gone too far. I could have killed him. No, I had wanted to kill him. At that moment I wanted to rip his head off of his body and it honestly scared me a little.

I wasn't like hìm. I would never become like him. That's why I had become an agent, to protect the good from the bad. 

I put on a pair of sweatpants and a black t-shirt and lay down on the bed. Knock knock, it sounded soft and hesitant.

" Come in." My voice was weak, almost like it didn't belong to me. The door opened, and Mark appeared in the door. He still wore his sports gear and looked at me with a worried expression on his face. I sat up.

" How are you?" He asked cautiously. I rubbed my eyes and nodded. " Better," I responded and swallowed. " How's Niall?" I asked, a little nervous.

" Fine. A little mortified and a bit of a sore throat, but other than that he's fine. Good for him. His mouth is starting to get a little too big for that kid," Mark said and shrugged. " Anyway, I've got to go. Can I take your word that you'll not murder him or kill yourself tonight?" He asked.

" I'm too tired for either after all this running." I looked at him. " Thanks, Mark." He nodded. " It's fine, Mer." He turned around and closed the door behind him. I sighed and fell back down on the bed.

I woke up by more knocking on my door. I hadn't even bothered to get under the duvet. Dawn was setting in, and my watch told me it was extremely early.

I sat up. " Come in," I said. The door opened slowly, and Niall put his head around the door. His face was a mix of cautiousness, worry, and regret. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and sat up a little straighter.

" I won't kill you, Niall. Even the MI6 has a reputation to uphold." Niall slowly came into the room and sat down on the bed. We both kept silence. I swallowed and decided I'd go first.

" Niall, I'm sorry for my behavior. It wasn't professional, and I should have been more in control of my self-control. I wasn't, so I'm sorry." Niall nodded slowly and kept quiet for a second.

" You were gone for a  very long time," He managed to say. " I was afraid you'd done something to yourself." I looked at him, trying to hide my surprise. He was dead serious. His face was honest and showed no sign of mockery.

" If I had wanted to, I would've done it years ago," I answered in full honesty. " But thank you for your concern." Niall looked past me, his gaze far away. He had some definite bags underneath his eyes. He also didn't look as dressed up as he normally would. I guessed he hadn't slept much, which also surprised me.

" I didn't really mean it," Niall said after a long silence. " About your parents, I mean. I was mad at you and just started talking some crap."

I started grinning and shook my head in disbelief. " You've got no idea how close you were, though," I said and looked at him

" I was six when I saw how my father murdered my mother in our living room. It was at night and I couldn't sleep, probably had a bad dream or something like that. When I came down the stairs, he pushed a butchering knife through her ribs. Multiple times. Even that often, that the pathologist anatomist couldn't tell how many stabbing wounds he had. It was nothing but a gaping hole in her chest. Some ribs were visible and demolished, and her left lung was hanging out of her chest." 

Niall had gone visibly white. " He hadn't seen me, because if he had, he would've killed me too. He left the house shortly after and drove off. I tried to save my mother, but at that age, I couldn't understand she was already dead." I said and swallowed.

" I was all alone, with a dead body belonging to my mother in the living room. I've got an older brother, but he was having a sleepover with his football team." I closed my eyes thinking back of my mother's lifeless body. The image was etched in my brain, and I doubted it would ever go away.

" He had locked all doors, except for the dog flap. I managed to push myself through it. I managed to unlock the garden door and ran down the street. A neighbor spotted me, he was walking his dog before going to bed. He knew something was terribly wrong when he saw my bloodied hands and pajamas." I stopped talking for a bit.

"  They caught my father three days later in Luton, a few miles from the town where we lived. He's still in jail and will never get out until his body is nothing but an empty casing." 

We both sat in silence. Niall probably was at a loss for words.

" So, yes, my father drank every night, but my mother was a saint. A church-goer, you know. She believed in the good of people, and she believed my father also had some good in him. Her credulity is what got her killed."  I swallowed.

" I joined the army to put down people like him. People who beat up their wives and kids and dealing drugs and all that stuff. Now, I work for the MI6 because I want to find those men. Men like my father. I work for the MI6 because I want to do a job I find rewarding. A job that can justify my mother's death. A job where I can protect innocent citizens like yourself from evil." I looked at him. "

" I didn't mean that I don't believe you. I meant that I was wondering if it's not smaller than we think it is. That it might be an obsessive fan. Not that you can go ahead and fetch bullets yourself. No, that's my job. I catch the bullets, and you remain safe." 

" I hope you're right about this obsessive fan theory," Niall said and looked at me.  " I'm sorry you had to go through all that," he said. " I can't believe how awful it must've been." 

" Believe me, you don't want to."