Taken

Chapter 20: A Promise I'll Keep

I stood on that roof, in front of my best friend, as the moon shone down on us, and my hair danced in the night breeze. I reached up and tucked a strand behind my ear.

"What about Louis and I?" I asked quietly, not looking away from his bright blue eyes. He sighed, turning his head. "Niall."

"What?"

"Does our friendship mean anything to you?" I asked. Niall's head snapped up, and he looked at me. Surprise and anger was all over his face.

"Did you really just ask me that?" He asked. I didn't say anything. Instead I just stared at him with my eyebrows raised, waiting for him to answer. After just standing there staring at each other in silence, he finally sighed, and ran his hand through his hair.

"Of course our friendship means something to me." He said. "It means everything to me, Amberlynn. You have no idea. Since I was six years old, you have been my best friend. It's always been me and you, and no one else. I kept that promise that I made to you three years ago, and I came and got you. Do you want to know why?" He looked at me, waiting for me to answer. I nodded.

"Sure." I said, my voice barely audible.

"Because you're my best friend, Amber. You mean everything to me, and I couldn't stand losing you. That's why I'm ticked off about you and Louis. I'm losing you. He's taking you away from me."

"You're not losing me, Niall. I'm losing you. Louis isn't taking me away from you. Tess is taking you away from me. Do you honestly think I'd let anyone come between us? I wouldn't. Louis knows that you're my best friend, and he knows that no one can replace you. You chose Tess over me several times before Lou and I even started dating. He was just there when you weren't, ya know?" Niall looked down at his Supras.

"Yeah." He said quietly.

"You know that you're my best friend, and you know I would choose you over anyone else if it came down to it, but if you're trying to make me choose between you and Lou, I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I won't. It's not fair. To me or to Lou. You got mad because I'm dating Louis, and I don't think that's fair. I didn't-" I was about to say 'I didn't get mad when you started dating Tess' but I stopped myself. That was a lie. "I didn't act this way when you started dating Tess."

"I know you didn't." He said.

"So, do you think it's right for you to get mad because I'm dating Louis?" I asked him.

"No." He said, and sat down. He put his knees up, and crossed his arms over them. I sat down next to him, cross legged, my hands twined together and my forearms resting against my thighs. The two of us just stared out at the lights of the city down below us.

"So, what now?" I asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence. "Where does this leave us?"

"Where do you want it to leave us?" He asked, turning his head to look at me. I played with the frayed hem of my shorts as I thought about what to say.

"I want it to leave us the way we were before." I said as I played with the loose strings. "The way we were before Tess came into the picture. Before I started dating Louis. When it was just me and you. No awkwardness. No people sitting between us. No rain checks. We make plans, we stick to 'em."

"What about Lou and Tess?"

"Of course we still spend time with them, too, but we need best friend time. Just the two of us. No Lou. No Tess. Just us." I looked up at Niall then. "Where do you want it to leave us?"

"The same place you do."

"Okay. So, as of right now, we go back to the way we were. We need to set aside days for just the two of us. Absolutely no rainchecks. Promise?" I held out my pinkie.