Assault With a Deadly Weapon || N.H / 1D

61.

Song recommendation: Bloodline by Luke Hemmings
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Two syllables.

Two syllables ruined my fucking life.

At first I didn't notice it. Felicity scolded Brielle, and I thought nothing more of it. My brain was currently focused on Niall, and what I could've done to help him, because before approximately thirty seconds ago, I believed he was the only one I had. Now, it was as if someone had pulled the emergency brakes on my train of thought, and rerouted it in the opposite direction.

I had a choice to make.

Do I dig deeper into my family's case? Or go back to help Niall, acting like nothing happened? I was so close to finding my family. This wasn't something I could just leave alone. It was my entire identity. It was who I was. My past. But Niall was my future. It would be selfish of me to leave him stranded.

But he didn't want me around anyway.

My choice had been made for me.

"Arabella, are you okay?" Felicity gave me a worried look. I had been sucked into my thoughts for longer than I realized.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I swallowed my worries and nodded stiffly.

"You can come in if you'd like." She laughed nervously. "It's a bit of a mess, but it's the best I can do with a crazy monkey jumping everywhere!" She shouted to Brielle, who was still practically bouncing off the walls.

"I'd love to." I smiled at the little girl waving to me while jumping on the couch cushions.

"Come on in." Felicity invited me into their wing.

I walked into the area that was similar to mine and Niall's. The only difference was the decorations. There were framed photos of Brielle and Felicity propped up on every free space available. Pictures of them in front of the eiffel tower, the leaning tower of Piza, the London eye, essentially everywhere. This five year old girl was more travelled than I was. I'd never left the continent of North America. I'd love to leave one day though. If everything worked out for us, I'd be dragging Niall on a plane to Vienna in a few months. That idea seemed foreign and slightly unlikely right now, but hopefully if I could talk to Niall, he'd forgive me.

The guilt and regret sat in my stomach like a bad dinner. I liked to push my past away from me. I was a changed person, but my actions followed me like a stray dog. It hurt the deepest parts of my body to think about how I treated Niall when I first met him. I had to carry it around with me for the rest of my life. I swore to myself that I would never intentionally hurt that man again, and I haven't ever since. What I said to him was an accident. It slipped out of my mouth because I was frustrated, and scared. People say really dumb things when they're scared. I just hoped that he would believe me when I told him that. I thought I knew him, but I couldn't even remotely predict what his reaction would be.

"Bella! Bella! Bella!" Brielle bounced up and down as I walked up to her.

"Hey kiddo!" An immediate smile emerged on my face, even if my true emotions were quite the opposite.

"I missed you!" She stood on the arm of the couch, stretching out her arms, rising up on her tippy toes, and falling into me.

"What do you mean? I've seen you lots!" I laughed, catching onto her little body, letting her cling to me like a small, golden-haired koala.

"You didn't say hi to me though!" She looked at me with a faulty, overdramatic frown.

"Oh!" I nodded in realization. "I'm sorry Bri, I've been so busy lately!"