My Best Friend

Ch. 29

I head to our room and change out of my swimming trunks. I grab a pair of my shorts and just put one of his shirts on. I can hear the music playing downstairs and see Niall has already started making the sauce. Nonna taught us both how to cook. I don't have enough time to make the crust so pre-made ones will have to do. I think four should be enough. I help him cut up the ingredients for the sauce and smash the tomatoes. Nonna makes everything homemade, literally. Even the cheese. She sent some back with me the last time we were there.

After we finish the sauce, I put it on the crust and put the cheese and some basil leaves, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and some mozzarella. I get him to put it in the oven while I go get dressed.

"Babe! They're here!" Niall calls out. I quickly slip my ring on before running downstairs.

"Ciao, Hadley!" I hug and kiss her.

"Hi John." I kiss and hug him before bending down to grab Aoife.

"And how's my favorite niece?" I kiss her nose, making her giggle. She's only two but I love that age.

"Di!" She shouts and wraps her tiny arms around my neck. Then starts squirming.

"Mm! Na!" That's what she calls Niall because she can't pronounce his name. He takes her out of my arms and hugs her.

"So? Show me the ring?" Hadley says. I lift my hand and she grabs it.

"And Nonna just gave this to him? What did he do?" She chuckles.

"Nothing, she just gave it to him." I don't want to bring up what happened that week. We've moved past it and I know it still hurts Niall.

"It's gorgeous! When's the wedding?" We walk into the kitchen so I can take the pizzas out.

"We haven't gotten that far but I'll need a Matron of Honor." I ask her.

"Well of course. Who else would do it?" She laughs. I set the pizzas on the stove top then grab the wine. We spend the next few hours catching up and drinking wine. Aoife is glued to Niall. He's always been her favorite. I love seeing him with children. It makes me smile.

We walk into the living room after cleaning the kitchen. I really have missed them. After I moved to New York, I barely got to see them. Now that I've moved in with Niall, hopefully we'll get to see each other more.

"Alright, sis, we're going to head home. I left her bag by the door. You know everything. Just call us if you need anything!" She kisses me goodbye.

"You sure you're ok to drive?" I ask John.

"Oh yea, I'll be good." We hug and kiss them goodbye. I take Aoife from Niall, who's asleep as well. Wine usually makes him sleepy so I'm not surprised he fell asleep. I take Aoife into her room and lay her down then go back downstairs to get Niall.

"Babe, wake up. Babe." I shake him and he slowly wakes up.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Nothing, Hadley and John left, Aoife is asleep upstairs. Let's go to sleep." He sighs but stands up and we head upstairs. I decide to shower before getting in bed. I've always hated sleeping without showering. It's nasty.

After I get out, I slip on one of his shirts and my underwear then climb into bed. He's already asleep but knows when I lay down because he pulls me closer to him. I kiss his chest before falling asleep.

—12am—

I wake up to my phone ringing, loudly. I quickly roll over and shut the ringer off but answer it.

'Hello?' I whisper. I get out of the bed and walk out, so I don't wake him.

'Is this Andrea Vallanzasca?' A man asks.

'Yes, who is this?' I ask. I'm so confused.

'This is Garda Calvin. Is your sister Hadley Vallanzasca Thomas?' Why is he asking me this?

'Yes. Is she ok? What happened?' I feel a hand on my back and turn to see Niall.

'I need you to come down to the police station. There's been an accident.'

'Tell me what happened.' I demand.

'Miss, please come to the station.' He says.

'Tell. Me. What. Happened.' I snap. I hear him sigh.

'Your sister and her husband were involved in a car accident. I'm sorry, but they didn't make it.' I feel my knees give out but Niall catches me.

'Ok...' I hang up and throw my phone to the ground.

-Niall's POV-

I wake up to Rea's phone going off. She quickly turns it off then walks out to answer. I hear her talking to someone and she sounds worried, so I get up and walk behind her.

'Tell me what happened.' She demands. The person on the other side says something but I can't tell.

'Tell. Me. What. Happened.' She demands. You don't want her to be angry at you. That's never good. All of a sudden she falls to the ground but I catch her before she hits the floor.

'Ok...' She hangs up and throws the phone to the ground.

"Baby? What happened?" She's not crying, she just looks like she's in shock. She doesn't say anything.

"Rea... what happened?" I ask again.

"Hadley... John... dead..." She mumbles. Shit... I try not to tear up in front of her but it doesn't work.

"I- she's gone Ni..." She finally cracks when she sees me crying. I know she hates when I cry. I hold her tight against me as we cry. Crap... Aoife. How do we even tell her this?

"Did they say what happened?" I ask and wipe my eyes.

"Car wreck. We need to go." I help her stand up but she breaks again and starts crying more. I also hate seeing her cry, so it makes me cry.

"We'll get through this." I whisper to her. She sighs and pulls away from me, wiping her eyes.

"Let's change, then I'll grab Aoife and we'll leave. They said we need to come down to the police station. Ugh my mum is calling." I know she's deflecting but she always does this. Every time someone has died in her family, she breaks down then shuts off her emotions. She's always been like this so I'm used to it, even though it worries me.

She goes into our room and changes into regular clothes. I slip on some sweats and a shirt.

"Can you out her seat in the car?" She asks as she walks out of the room.

"Yea I will." I say.