Niall's POV

    I was particularly excited to get to know Gracey; she was mysterious and usually kept to herself. Although, from what I could tell, she seemed like quite the fun person to be around — that is, once you get to know her. My thoughts drifted back to the incident in yesterday's palace stroll.

    "I understand, that would be hard leaving behind the people you love," She spoke as if she was trying her hardest not to cry. She seemed to blackout for a moment, stopping in her tracks and standing as still as a statue. The next moment she was gasping for breath and fell to the ground beneath her.

    I was a very curious person — no doubt about that — and I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to the poor girl. Not only that, but I still couldn't help but remember the bruise on her hand from days before. She didn't seem to want to talk about either at the moment, and I didn't want to push her, so I'll just have to wait until she warms up to me. And I was determined to get her to do so.

    I sat on the bench next to my bedroom window and stared outside at the pouring rain. I closed my eyes and listened to the rhythm of the droplets splattering on my window.

I took it as the perfect opportunity to take out my guitar.

    Gracey

    Yesterday's walk — though my fall was embarrassing — seemed to leave a permanent smile on my face. The small interaction Niall and I shared was enough to fuel me for the rest of the week. I had a skip in my step as I walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, itching to call Reeja and recount every single detail.

    Once I got to the fourth floor, I heard a faint strumming of a guitar. It seemed to be coming from Niall's room. I tiptoed there in fear that if I walked just a little louder, the music would suddenly disappear into thin air. The sweet strumming became louder and louder the closer I got to his room.

    I stood at the door frame to see Niall sitting by his window. He was looking out at the pouring rain, lost in his own world, as he strummed his guitar.

    "Like the rain on a sunny day, there's a shadow behind your face, tell me what you're running from,"

He plucked the strings, giving them a twinkling sound.

He had a sweet, silvery voice. It wasn't anything I expected at all, nor like anything I'd ever heard before. It was the equivalent of a fluffy blanket — enough to keep you warm and safe.

    "I don't know what made you so afraid, don't you know you got the best of me? Yeah, you're everything I want,

    "Anyone can see, Anyone can see your heartache, heartache (heartache, heartache)

"You can talk to me, it's more than skin deep, but I'm trying, yeah (trying)"

I closed my eyes and let the music take over me.

"Since we're alone, yeah you can show me your heart,

"If you put it all in my hand, no I swear, no I won't break it apart,

"Yeah, since we're alone, show me all that you are,

"And if you get lost in the light, it's okay, I can see in the dark,"

My smile grew wider as I listened to his singing. The song was nothing I had ever heard before — did he write it?

The music stopped suddenly and Niall quickly looked toward me. He let go of the tight grip on his guitar and stared at his feet.

"I—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," I promptly responded.

"No no, it's fine, I just don't really like playing in front of people anymore," He answered quietly. "You can come in if you'd like," He signaled for me to sit down next to him on his window bench.

I slowly walked over, staring at my feet. "I'm really, really sorry I —"

"You don't need to feel guilty about it!" He swiftly cut me off. "Tell me though, did I at least sound good?" He laughed.

I nodded enthusiastically. It was truly very pretty. "Did you write that?"

He nodded. "Just something I came up with last minute, it's not that great —"

I shook my head as I cut him off. "Shut up. You wrote that all on the fly? That was amazing! And don't talk bad about your music, you have a talent!"

"See, this is why I don't sing in front of people. I don't know what to say when people compliment me!" He laughed.

"Did you write it about someone? You don't have to tell me, I know music can be quite personal,"

"I wrote it about a girl with silky brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a smile that could brighten the world. She's someone I'd like to get to know better,"

"She sounds beautiful,"

"She is."

~ ~ ~

Niall POV

We sat there for a few hours, staring at the rain, talking about anything you could put your mind to: music, food — a topic on which we spent most of our time on — debates about which season was the best, and more. I could tell she was warming up to me.

The way she talked about the things she was passionate about (like journaling, caring for people, books, music), made me admire her even more. She had a light in her eyes as she spoke about everything.

The rain eventually cleared and stars slowly started to appear from their hiding in the sunlight.

"Come with me." I grabbed her soft hand as we tiptoed through the hall.

It was around midnight and we were hungry out of our minds. I swear I heard Gracey's stomach grumble quite a few times. I snuck into the kitchen and grabbed every food item my eyes landed on. Slices of pizza, biscuits, a few chocolate bars, and a bag of potato chips.

"You better not get me in trouble or I swear I will —"

I put a hand over her mouth to silence her as I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. "Is anyone there?" The voice asked. It was Melody; the last person we needed right now.

We held our breath as she got nearer and nearer.

I craned my head and peeked in the hallway. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw her finally passing the kitchen and moving nearly out of sight.

I felt something wet on my hand and I let out a yelp. "Ah, what'd you do that for!"

"Maybe you'll learn your lesson and not slap your stupid hand onto my mouth," Gracey smirked.

But before I could let out a sassy remark, Melody came back into view.

"Niall James Horan, what are you doing out in the hallway at this time of night?" Gracey and I both shared a look of fear as we dashed up the stairs, making it to the 5th floor of the palace.

"Get back here!" Melody ran towards us, getting nearer and nearer.

"This way," I led Gracey through a small hallway, up a few more stairs, and stopped at a doorway. "I think we lost her. . . . Ladies first." I kicked the door open and let her through.

The doorway led us to the top of the roof of the palace, giving us the most beautiful view of the stars. There were rolling hills and forests as far as the eye could see.

"It's beautiful." She let out a gasp. Her dark brown eyes sparkled and reflected the stars.

That's what I wanted to see. The look of wonder and excitement in her eyes.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as we watched the stars — or should I say, she watched the stars, and I watched her. Her smile and look of contentment were all I needed.

It was just me, her, and the moon.

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A/N

is it ok to simp over your own book? 🤔 bc that's what i'm doing rn 😂

uGhhHhhhhGhHhGhhgSHugj THEY'RE SO CUTE I CAN'T : ALJSFHLKDJFH

As you probably noticed, I renamed Kat to Sreeja (But Gracey calls her Reeja for short lol) When I was writing this at first, I was reading a fanfic called Little White Lies (which was pretty good btw you should check it out) and the best friend's name was Kat, so I named Kat in mY book without even thinking lmaooo so yeah it's been bugging me bahahaha

SoOoo ALSO as you might've noticed, Gracey in the book is named after our dear Gracey, Queen Kaitlyn is named after the wonderful 24larskai , and now Sreeja is named after the angelic sm13loveslou !! I've been wanting to name a character after each of my dear friends/loyal readers, so if you'd like a character named after you, comment your name or the name you would like to go by!

There are no guarantees you will be named in this book, but I have a couple of other book ideas that I want to start on after this book finishes. you will likely be in one of those!

think of that as my paying back to you for all your wonderful support ❤️

speaking of your wonderful support, HOW DID THIS BOOK GET TO ALMOST 900 READS FROM JUST 750 READS FROM LAST WEEK I- THANK YOU ALL SO SO MUCH! IT'S UNREAL! I literally love you all so freaking much and aehgkjarhuglahafl just THANK YOU lkJHFLKJSHFLAKUEFGILIUGH