Heartbreak Weather | Niall Horan

11

As promised, once Niall got back from visiting his family, we spent more time together. The past few weeks consisted of lunch dates, movie nights, going to pubs, and spending the night at each other's apartments. Niall started teaching me how to play one of his guitars and I've been teaching him to speak french. But, he's much better at learning french than I am with learning how to play the guitar. We've been trying to spend as much time together as possible because soon we'll have to be apart for three months.

I don't know what word I would use to describe what we were. We weren't just friends, but we weren't together. We're in some sort of limbo between the two. There wasn't any rush to label things between us, though.

Not only were Niall and I growing closer, I've also become better friends with Lewis. Niall also introduced me to Shawn Mendes. If someone would've told me a year ago that I'd be going out for drinks with Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi, and Shawn Mendes, I would've laughed in their face. Lewis is hands down one of the funniest people I have ever met. His laughter was almost as contagious as Niall's. His goofy personality reminds me of both Niall and Celina. And Shawn seems to have a big heart. Next to my mother, he is probably one of the kindest people I've met. Not to mention they're both insanely talented.

My phone rings in my hand, interrupting my Twitter scrolling. I jolt up from my lying position, the second I read the name on the Caller ID.

"Hello?" I answer, sitting up against my headboard.

"Béatrice, hi!" Cindy says, "Do you have a few minutes?"

My stomach drops, "Yeah, why? Is everything alright?"

Cindy avoids my question, verifying that something's wrong. "I'm sorry for calling so late, but I've just gotten word from Melinda Knight's team."

"Okay..." I barely mutter out. "What did they say?"

"There's nothing we can do to stop the article from coming out, and I can assume that when it comes out, Jonathan will have his own take on it all." Cindy says and I can feel the world shattering around me. Everything's going to come crumbling down the second the press releases that article. Of course he's going to have something to say about it all.

The only thing I can manage to ask is "When?"

"I don't know." She answers, "I contacted her team, but they wouldn't give me a definite time frame. We're pretty much going to have to work around them."

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. Breathe, Béa.

"Okay, so... what do we do?" I ask, "Should I just sit and wait? Do I need to hire a lawyer? What do I do, Cindy?"

"Béa, try not to work yourself up." Cindy says, calmingly, "All we can do is wait. You're not by yourself in this, okay? You've got me by your side, and Celina and your mum. It'll be okay. I've already got a lawyer, who's up to date on everything. We'll get this taken care of."

"I still haven't told my mum." I frown, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"That's something you might want to consider." Cindy suggests, "I know your mum is lovely, you shouldn't let her find out from the media."

"Okay." I say, "Um... I don't- I don't know how I'm going to tell her.

"Béatrice, please don't panic." Cindy tells me, but it doesn't change the internal panic already taking place, "Things will work out. Don't let this knock you down. You can't give up and freak out, okay?"

"Okay." I tell her, "This is gonna be bad, isn't it?"

"It doesn't look good." Cindy says, not sugar-coating it, "But, for all we know Melinda and her team could decide not to go through with publishing the article. Or we could get it taken out of the media before it blows up. There's a lot that can happen that can lead to this not having a bad outcome. Try and stay positive." Cindy pauses. "I'm gonna let you go, okay?" She says and I nod, even though she can't see me. "If you need me for anything, call me. I don't care what time it is, call."

"Thank you, Cindy." I say.

We say our goodbyes and she hangs up, and I'm left in my empty apartment with just my thoughts.

Melinda Knight was going to take me down, and I'm sure her soon to be ex-husband is already planning to kick me while I'm down. The worst part is I'm taking some of the people I care about down with me. Celina is linked to me, which means she'll get dragged into this. And Niall, he's probably going to get pulled into all of this too.

I'm selfish.

I'm was selfish for taking that role. I'm selfish for leaving my home to live in London. I'm selfish for letting myself get close to Niall. And I'm selfish for dragging all the people I care about down with me.

I hadn't even noticed that I was crying until I felt the tears seep through my shirt. This is a mess! I wish I could fix all of this.

So many people are going to hate me. He's going to hate me.

Without thinking, I jump out of my bed and I make my way out of my room, grabbing a few things on my way past the kitchen. On my way down my stairs, I get myself and Uber and luckily there was one that could pick me up in a few minutes. I grab my keys from the hook next to my door, and with that practically burst out of my apartment.

Not me hating every chapter I write. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I pinky promise the next chapter is gonna be a good one. Until then, mwah!