Imagine [UNEDITED, ON HOLD]

Chapter 2: Jade

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." My mum, Karl, and Niall sang to me. I grinned and blew out the colourful candles. I was six. It had been about four months since I'd met Niall, and one month since my parents' divorce.
"Remember, Daddy's coming at half six to pick you up, yeah?" Mum reminded me.
I nodded. "Okay."
"Is Niall going?" Mum asked.
I looked at Niall. "You wanna go? You don't have to."
Niall shrugged. "Do you want me there?"
"I don't care. It could be nice, I don't know," I told him.
"If you need me, I'll be watching, but I think you should be with your dad tonight. It's a special night," he decided.
"Okay." I turned to my mum. "No, he's not coming, he said I should be alone with dad because it's a special night."
Mum and Karl didn't believe in Niall I knew that. But I was okay with it, it didn't matter if they knew Niall was real or not.
At promptly half six, the doorbell rang. I ran to the door and opened it, immediately being grasped in a hug, my dad swinging my feet off the ground.
"Hiya, Jadey! You're six, a big girl now," he praised. I grinned.
"Remember, James. Back tomorrow by eleven," mum told him.
"Yes, Norma," he mocked, as if talking to a small child.
"I love you," I said to my mum.
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
She shook her head. "Not possible." She kissed my cheek.
My dad carried me off to his car, buckling me into the passenger seat. He went around and strapped himself into the driver's side and flicked on the ignition.
"I miss you," I admitted.
He smiled. "Really? I miss you, too, Pickle. I wish I could see you more often, though."
"Mammy says she doesn't want you being drunk around me," I told him. I could see him getting angry at what I'd said. "Daddy, don't be mad at her. She just loves me."
His expression relaxed a bit. "Oh, sweetie, I'm not mad. I just want you to know that I will never be drunk when I'm with you. You come before everything."
"I love you."
"I love you, too, Jadey. I wish Karl felt the same way," he murmured.
"He does," I said.
"What?"
"He does love you. He's just mad at you. But he loves you," I told him with a smile. "He said so."
"Really? Well...that's good. I hope he lets me see him," he said.
"Niall said he will soon. He just needs to remember the good memories, not the bad ones," I explained.
"Who's Niall?"
"My best friend."
"Oh, right. Your mother told me about him," he said, obviously not believing. That might be the one thing Mum and dad still agreed on; they thought Niall didn't exist. "What does he look like?"
"Brown hair and blue eyes. He's Irish," I told him.
"Yeah? What about his family? Gotta make sure he's good enough for my Jadey," he teased.
"Well, he has an older brother and a mum and a dad, but he doesn't see them anymore, he hasn't since he died."
"What?"
I began the process of explaining everything. He didn't look was convinced, but he shrugged it off and pretended.
That night, at dinner, he poured himself a glass of wine. He poured me a little, too. A teaspoon of it. "You wanna try it?"
I smiled and nodded, taking the spoon. I closed my lips over it and swallowed it. "Can I have more?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry, Pickle, but I can't be having you get drunk," he said. "Or addicted," he added. His eyes grew soft. "Promise me something; promise you won't touch a drop of alcohol until you're old enough, eighteen. Promise you won't drink unless you're supervised by your mother or I, okay? I don't want you to end up like me."
"I promise. And don't worry, daddy. You're the best dad I could have," I assured him. He smiled.

"Niall, do you have wings?" We were sitting in my tree house. Niall had helped me clean it out and it now had a big bean bag and a stack of books. Mum said she'd break her neck trying to climb up here, and Karl said he was too tall to fit, so it was all mine. Well, mine and Niall's.
"No. Well, sometimes. When I'm not with you. That's how I watch over you," he said. "I fly around and follow you and when you need help, I lose my wings and drop to the earth."
"Drop from where?"
"From where guardian angels come from," he said.
"Heaven?"
"No. This is different. This is...it's not just religion, you know?" He glanced over at me.
"Yeah, I guess." I didn't get it. I was six, I could barely add ten and ten together. "Do you want some crisps?" I offered.
He made a face. "I don't eat, Jade."
"Oops, I forgot. Do you wanna watch me eat some crisps?"
He laughed. "Go ahead."
I pried up the loose floorboard and fished out a small foil packet, munching on them. It was my secret stash. Nobody would find it. Karl and my mum promised they wouldn't come up here, and the Thirlwall/Badwi's don't lie.
Mum's last name wasn't Thirlwall anymore.
"I love you, Niall."
He grinned. "I love you too."
"Friends forever?"
He bit his lip. "Yeah. Friends forever." He smiled again.