Pretty Boy || Niall Horan

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ashley

I wake up to Nathaniel shaking me awake. I look up at him weakly and he frowned down at me. I rubbed my eyes and sighed, feeling really weak and fragile. I wanted to stay home and just sulk the whole day with ice-cream and Netflix but, I haven't been to school in ages and I'm damn sure I'll fail if I don't go.

Nathaniel left the room without even bothering to utter a word to me. We were both upset and we both knew it. We didn't feel like talking, we didn't feel like moving, we didn't feel like doing anything. But, we both knew there's no point in just sitting in bed all day, doing absolutely nothing. And that's life, it pushes us to go on even if we don't want to. And it'll get better; and if it doesn't, well.. we just learn to live with it.

I got up and stopped my music from playing. I took a quick shower and didn't even bother putting on make up. I slipped on a pair of ripped black skinny jeans, a white tank top, and a flannel. I grabbed my beanie and my backpack before running down the stairs, putting my beanie on whilst I was at it. I found Nathaniel on the couch, just doing something on his phone.

He looked up at me and looked back down at his phone. I got into the kitchen and made some coffee, which is very unusual of me because I don't even like coffee. I poured coffee into two bottles and grabbed two protein bars. I went into the living room, handing Nathaniel the coffee and a protein bar. He took and and nodded at me as a 'thank you' I nodded back as a 'you're welcome'.

As I slip my Converse on and he slips his Vans on, I got the time to observe him. Nathaniel's hair, that was usually styled up into a quiff, just lay flat on his head, swiped to the side. He was wearing black jeans and a sweatshirt. He didn't even bother putting on his contacts, he just had on his glasses. I haven't seen him wear his glasses in public ever since we were twelve-years-old.

We walked out into the car. We threw our backpacks in the backseat and I stopped Nathaniel from getting into the drivers seat. He got the message that I wanted to drive and nodded before strolling to the other side in the passenger seat. He got in and I plugged my phone into the speakers and played the Multiply (or x as some people know it as) album by Ed Sheeran. I started to drive to school and ate my protein bar. Nathaniel didn't complain about the music. I assumed it comforted him, too.

Ed Sheeran just has really comforting songs, for some reason. His lyrics are just great and his voice sounds like a thousand angels. I'm not sure how a thousand angels sound but, I'm guessing it sounds like Ed Sheeran.

We pull up into the school parking lot and we exited the car. I wanted peace and quiet, so I went to the library. I went to the far corner of it, where nobody really goes to. Even the lights at that spot wasn't turned on. I got my phone out and just surfed the internet whilst sipping my coffee.

I heard the sound of somebody sitting next to me and looked beside me, making eye contact with Zayn. I didn't bother uttering a word to him and handed my coffee towards him to see if he wanted some. He took it and took a couple of sips before handing it back to me. I think he sensed that I didn't want to talk so he just stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, letting me do my thing.

"Are you okay?" He asks after awhile. I looked at him and smiled but, shook my head.

"What's wrong?" He asks, putting a hand on my knee. I pushed it off and just shook my head. I really didn't want to speak. I just wanted to get through the day and go home. "Come on, Ashley. I'm really trying here." He sighs.

I open my mouth to say something but, I felt tears start to form in my eyes and my mouth fell to a frown. It was those type of frowns that you can't fight, that just keeps tugging down on the corners of your lips no matter how hard you tried to smile or even just let your lips lay flat. I didn't even start of by just soft tears, I went to straight into sobbing.