Niall and I sat outside looking at the midnight sky, enjoying how the stars were shining and winking down at us. 

I sat a few inches away from him, a cold somewhat chilly wind blew across my shoulders.

I tried not to rub my arms where Mike had grabbed me. It still hurt, but I was trying not to make it obvious.

I kept my eyes on the night sky; the music was blaring inside, making it possible for everyone to hear it.

Niall looked out into the distance, and I could see the moonlight hitting every feature on his face perfectly.

His blue eyes shone with complete happiness. He whispered softly, and I had to move closer just to hear him, as the music was too loud.

"Princess, may I... could I ask you something?"

"Sure, my love."

"You don't have to answer... if you don't want to."

"I promise, to be honest with you, no matter what."

He looked away again, making me wonder about the question that he was about to ask.

"It... I looked at your family photos and, you know, I noticed something, there is someone in the photographs that I haven't met before, and nobody spoke of him or even mentioned him."

Niall started fiddling with his hair.I knew exactly who Niall was talking about, and I was glad that he finally asked about Nick.

"It's my brother, Nick."

"Why have I never met him before?"

"He... passed away a few years ago."

I tried not to cry and looked back up at the night sky pushing back all my tears and feelings.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I wanted to tell him everything and not keep it from him anymore. He wrapped his arms around me. I placed my hand on his leg, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I want to tell you Niall but bear with me if I cry."

He gave me a sincere and encouraging smile. He waited for me to tell him the story of my brother.

"Nick passed away when he was 24 and in the army. It happened a week before he had to come home. He just got an engineering job, he was so happy. He finally had the chance to settle down with his family. He also decided that he wanted more children when he came back, making jokes about when he was back that they were going to plan their second brood of twins."

I swallowed back my tears and Niall's grip tightened around my waist. I could see tears forming in his eyes. I looked away and started talking again.

"The night before the accident, he called me and I could hear the excitement in his voice. He told me how he would surprise Megan as his departure time was at five. I remember telling him that I loved him before he said goodbye."

Tears were rolling down my cheeks, and I wiped them away. Talking about Nick was hard, almost painful.

"I was at Megan's, helping her with the twins when a police officer arrived at about two in the afternoon, telling us that Nick has... has passed away. He inhaled too much smoke. If I knew that was the last time I was going to talk to him, I would have never ended the call."

"I am sorry Princess, I didn't know." He softly kissed me on my cheek.

I gulped in some of the fresh air and wiped away my tears, making it obvious that I wasn't crying.

The wind was still chilly, making my bruised arms ache again. I rubbed my arms, trying to make the pain go away when Niall noticed the bruises that were forming on my arms.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" He took my hands in his.

"It's nothing Niall."

"It isn't nothing. I want you to tell me now." He got angrier with each passing second, I have never seen him like this.

"It was Mike... please? Just let it go."

He stood up, and I quickly got up with him, holding onto his hand. I just had to hold him back as I didn't want to cause a scene.

Luckily Jess and Lucan came out, and I quickly told them the whole story. Lucan took Niall by the arm and dragged him to the car.

As we got in, I could see the anger fading from his face. I moved closer towards him, I was so tired, and all I wanted to do was sleep.

Before I faded into a deep sleep, Niall looked at me and whispered something to me that made me feel safe and protected.

"I will never hurt you, Princess, I would rather die than hurt you. I love you too much. I will love you for the rest of my life."

"I love you too Niall," I mumbled before I fell asleep.

*Stay sweet Xoxo ✌.