I collapsed onto my bed, exhausted out of my mind. I felt so disoriented by everything. I could see why the last nanny left for mental health issues. . . .

I checked my phone and saw a few messages from my dad."Hey, did you get the job? Are you okay? How come you still haven't come back home?"

I didn't know how to respond. I was too terrified to tell him the real reason I left. The stress was becoming unbearable. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, threatening to spill over.

I let them fall and began to sob. What was I supposed to do without Reeja? What was I supposed to do without my dad? I didn't know what to do anymore. Maybe I was just overreacting. Maybe it was just a bad first day.

My tears started to fall uncontrollably. I buried my face into my hands in hopes it would muffle my cries; I wouldn't want to wake anyone up.

I guess that didn't help; I heard a soft knock on my door.

Niall's POV

I collapsed onto the floor and leaned my head against the door as I let out a big sigh. Being a prince was way more difficult than it looked: there were a trillion papers to sign, too many meetings, laws to pass, issues to look over. Way too many duties for an 18-year-old.

I longed for the times when I was in Ireland with my 4 best friends. We would spend all our time writing music and performing for our neighbors. Those were the days. I do miss them, I haven't talked to them in months.

I had so many things on my mind; I couldn't sleep. I got up on my feet and reached for my guitar, but that's when I heard something.

I could hear the sound of — crying?

It was a soft cry, too young to be Melody and Kaitlyn, but too old to be Christian or Adrian. . . .

Gracey?

I swiftly tiptoed down the corridor, her cries growing louder with each step. I could feel the pain in each gasp for breath. I didn't know if I should leave her be, or if I should comfort her.

I went with my heart as I gently knocked on her door.

Her sobs quieted down a little bit as she managed to squeak, "Wh—who is—is it?"

"It's Niall, love," I whispered, "May I come in?"

There were a few moments of silence as she debated whether to let me in or not.

"I guess,"

I gently opened the door to find her leaning against the side of her bed, her face buried in her arms.

I plopped down next to her and put my arms around her.

"Hey, hey. It's going to be okay. Do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly as if speaking even a little louder would shatter her.

"Everything's going wrong," she shook her head as a sob escaped her mouth, her shaking hands reaching to cover her face.

"Just breathe."

"I can't—" She spoke in broken words.

"Do you hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that,"

I just sat there, holding her in my arms.

"Th—thank you, Niall,"

I nodded and took her shaking hands. She gasped for breath and yelped in pain. I instantly dropped her hand, but that was when I noticed the blacking bruise on her delicate hand.

What happened to her? Was that the doing of Christian and Adrian?

"What happened. . . .?" I implored, but she shook her head and continued to cry. I figured it would be best not to bug her about it any longer, and silenced myself.

Her sobs quieted down the longer we sat there. Minutes had passed and we were still in silence, nothing heard but her quiet sobs. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a soothing silence. She eventually fell asleep in my arms and I gently lifted her to set her back into her bed. I gave her one last look of sympathy before turning back to my room.

I was going to teach those little boys a lesson. They'll never mess with her again once I'm through with them.

________________________________________________________________________________

I just want to say, thank you so much for 500 reads! It means the world to me! I never thought I'd get so much :D Thanks for all the support, you guys are so amazing. I love you all to infinity and beyond <3

P.S I was kinda unsure about posting this chapter or not because I feel it's a little too soon for that interaction but I have the impatience of a 2-year-old and I need some #Graciall interaction so sorry about that 💀sooooo yeah this chapter isn't amazing but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. <3