Through the Dark (Sequel to Taking Chances)

Chapter Twelve: "Sweeties & Sweethearts"

Brielle

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It was only after I had made these discoveries of Uriah and the police reports, only after my life had come to a bit of a stand still, did I realize I had to return to the life of College papers and my best friend who currently sat back with her fiancée doing God knows what, feeling God knows what.

Niall claimed that she'd felt terrible for her actions, and part of me wanted to believe that, but the rest of me didn't. I refused to think that she felt bad for setting me up for a broken heart. And to let me continue after she acknowledged what she thought was wrong.

Although on the same token, I realized that maybe she had doubts, and that's why she let it go on. Maybe she'd changed her mind throughout the whole thing, and decided he wasn't so bad.

But then I'd be brought back to the night she took me clubbing, the night I first had my association with Zayn, where she tried to get me set up with Niall, how she suggested that Niall was the good thing out of that wretched night.

I didn't get it. It didn't add up...

A phone was placed in my lap, which snapped me from my thoughts and brought me back to the car. Niall and I had left about half an hour ago, me taking time to say goodbye to everyone until I'd see them again. Niall even got just about the biggest hug from Carly before he left, which boosted his ego ten-fold.

I glanced over at him, frowning in confusion at his phone. Mine was in my pocket, first off, so why did he hand me his when I had my own?

"Call her."

"Who?" I asked, until I thought about it. "Claire? No."

"Brielle," he said, exasperated. "Come on. It's been days since you two have spoken. How long are you going to go without talking to her?"

"As long as it takes for me to forget," I answered simply.

He was silent for a moment, before he finally spoke again. But he wasn't trying to change the subject like I'd hoped. He was bringing Claire up again, just more determined.

"Why don't you want to talk to her?"

"Niall."

"I'm serious," he replied, staring at me for however long he could while driving (which, thankfully, wasn't very long).

I sighed, frustrated.

"She lied to me, and set me up for something that someone I don't particularly like would do, not a friend. I'm my eyes, she wasn't being one when she was doing all that."

"Okay," he said, although he looked more like he was thinking than anything else. "So when you claimed you couldn't trust her when she knew about Liam, how did you forgive her?"

"Niall, I really don't want to talk about Liam," I told him through my gritted teeth. "And besides, that has nothing to do with what happened this time."

"Actually, it does. She broke your trust twice now, and yet, in a much more serious, life and death time, you managed to forgive her."

"Because her intentions were real, and they were pure. She wanted to protect me. What was she doing this time? Why did she think she was convinced you were the wrong guy for all the wrong reasons and just let me walk off with you?"

"Maybe she realized that things are better learned and discovered through experience."

I stared at him, displeased entirely. "So you're agreeing with her? I shouldn't have ever come to live with you? We shouldn't have been together?"