Rock the World

There were just a few days left until the vacation Brianna and Niall were planning, but my best friend didn't seem ready to go anywhere or do anything yet. Her breakup with Harry had left her in a deep depression. To add, I couldn't stop thinking about Niall’s hypothesis as to why they broke up. Could my best friend really be harboring something so serious she didn't tell her boyfriend, her cousin, or even me?

"Have you started packing yet?" Brianna asked as she walked into the room with a bag from the supermarket she had just gone to in order to buy food for Patches.

"Um yeah, I packed a few things. I'm almost done."

She nodded, fed Patches, and went to sit at her desk - the exact place she'd been spending most of her time.

"Sunshine," I began, "Can we talk?"

She wasn't expecting it. Her eyebrows wrinkled together a bit and she spun the chair around to look at me, a sparkle missing from her eyes. I gently laced my fingers with those on her cold hand and I brought her over to my bed in an attempt to have a better face to face conversation with her.

"Are you okay?" She asked me, worried about me even though she was the one worrying others.

"Well, I would be a lot better if I knew what was wrong with you."

"With me? Honestly Gabie, I'm fine. There's nothing for you to worry about."

"But you aren't fine! If you were fine, you'd be making stupid jokes, you'd be yelling at me to clean up my half of the room, or you'd be telling me that I shouldn't bring so many pairs of sweatpants to Hawaii."

"Maybe there are more important things than all of that, Gabriella."

"Since when are there things more important than a room being clean?" It took me a few seconds before I realized the second abnormality. "And since when do you call me Gabriella? My parents don't even call me Gabriella."

She sighed and snatched her hand out of my grip. I looked up at her in confusion and she walked away from me. Once my senses caught up with my brain, I shot out of bed and followed her.

"Brianna?!" I called as I tried to get her attention even though she was already walking down the hallway and making her way downstairs.

I kept following her and even though I lost sight of her in the crowd that was in the game rooms and the rest of the first floor, I still knew exactly where she'd be going. There was a small creek in the woods by the school. As long as you knew where you were going, you could find it in seconds. I followed the sound of small sniffles that I definitely knew belonged to Brianna. Her back was leaning against a tree and she looked out at the creek and the woods beyond it. I placed my hand on the tree. It was the exact place that Harry had carved their names into it and Brianna had recently crossed it out.

"I'm your best friend," I began as I slowly moved in to sit beside her, "And we made a promise to each other when we were little that no matter what happens, we'd tell each other everything. You have been keeping a lot from me..."

She sighed and when she moved her hand away from her face, I could see the multitude of tears streaking down her cheek. As I sat next to her, she slowly looked up at me.

"It's my entire fault."

"What's your entire fault?"

She groaned overdramatically. "Harry! I've ruined him as much as he's ruined me. I want him back so badly and I know he won't want me."

"But he loves you."

"I broke his heart, Gabie. I didn't even realize I was, but I broke his heart."

I bit my lip and I could tell it was true. Come to think of it, anyone could tell it was true. Brianna had managed to keep her emotions to a minimum. She stopped talking to some people, put more effort into her classwork, and sometimes reacted a bit more aggressive than she usually did. But she wasn't broken, not the way Harry was. Harry chose to completely shut everyone out, he barely showed up to his classes, and from what I had heard, he couldn't keep it in his pants anymore.

"What happened?" I asked her, pulling her closer and playing with her hair in an attempt to make her feel better

"I, um, I might have kept something from him. And it was kinda important." She mumbled.

"You kept something from him? But you and Harry used to tell each other everything."

"It was last year, I didn't even tell you or my parents."

"Well what could've been so serious? If you were pregnant or something there'd be a baby around by now."

She was silent and my eyes widened comically. She moved to get up and walk away from me but I held her there with my hand tightly around her slim wrist.

"Y-you were pregnant?" I asked, still not sure if I could believe the conversation that was taking place between the two of us right now.

She nodded slowly and I bit my lip.

"You had the baby?"

She shook her head.

"You got an abortion?"

She shook her head again and I got even more confused than I already was; something I didn’t think was possible. She sighed and chipped away her nail polish as she started to explain it to me.

"I didn't know I was pregnant until I was like four or five months. I didn't get sick. I still got my period, even though I later learned that it was spotting and not really my period. I didn't have any weird cravings. I only gained like ten pounds. Nothing really changed." She explained.

I nodded slowly and she looked at me to make Sure she could continue.

"I went to the doctor because I had a physical scheduled. That's when they told me I was pregnant. I wanted to get the sonogram pictures and all that before I told Harry. I got the pictures and a few days later I had a miscarriage."

My eyes widened more at the end of her story. But some things made more sense now. Before, I never knew why my best friend had always spent so much time looking at baby clothes whenever we went shopping, and I always assumed that she was just a bit clingy with Harry. I realized now that she wanted him to know how much she loved him before he found out what she'd need keeping from him.

"Do you know how?" I asked her.

"No, actually. My doctor said something about my body not being ready to have a baby. Plus apparently I was under too much stress and I wasn't healthy enough. I didn’t really ask too many questions about it."

When the words left her mouth, I pulled her towards me for a hug that she desperately needed.

"It actually feels really good to tell you all of that. I hate keeping things from you." She admitted, making me smile.

"Well I'm glad you told me. How did Harry find out about it though?"

"You know I talk in my sleep. Apparently I was mumbling something about it when I was asleep one night. The next morning I was in the shower and he searched through my desk until he found the sonogram picture. He confronted me about it that night."

"I'm so sorry, sunshine."

"You don't have to say that you’re sorry. I know you wish this didn't happen to me, but it did. I just have to find a way to deal with it now."

"What if you and Harry get back together?" I asked, knowing that they both still loved each other.

"He'd never want me back." She mumbled.

Hours and hours later, I was fully packed, Brianna was in bed, patches fell asleep on the desk, and I couldn't stop thinking about the love Brianna and Harry shared. I never realized how jealous I was of their relationship until that moment. I wanted someone to love me with so much passion that a break up or an untold truth would break them the way that Brianna broke Harry.

The knock on my dorm door disturbed my thoughts and.as I walked towards the door to open it, I hoped it was Harry so that I could continue to live my romantic life through my best friend. I opened the door and he smiled at me.

"Do you have time? I wanna talk to you about something." Niall said, biting his lip nervously as if he assumed I would say no.

I nodded and slipped my uggs on then pulled on one of Brianna’s hoodies. I closed the door behind me but didn't bother to lock it as I followed Niall downstairs to the common room. We sat on the couch next to each other and he sighed.

"How is she doing?" He asked me.

"Well, she told me what happened so I guess that's a good thing." I answered, watching him nod.

"Harry finally opened up to the four of us and told us what happened too."

"They're a mess without each other." I said with a sigh.

"They definitely are." He began with a chuckle, "it's a bit romantic though, isn't it? Just the knowledge that a break up tore them down this much? It kinda makes me wish I could have experienced a love that strong."

"Niall Horan... that was actually a very intelligent and meaningful statement. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks I'm trying to impress you." He said sarcastically.

We both laughed and I nudged him lightly.

"You know what?"

"What?" He asked me.

"You aren't that bad when you're not trying to get into my pants."

"Who said I'm not trying to get into your pants?"

I groaned and shoved him again, making him erupt in laughter. I looked at the time and bit my lip.

"Maybe we should get back to our rooms. I don't want Brianna to be alone right now."

"Isn't she sleeping?"

"She hasn't been sleeping much. She wakes up every like two hours."

Niall nodded and we both stood up. He walked me back to my room and gave me an unexpected hug before I walked in. My mind was swirling so strongly with the smell of his cologne that I almost didn't notice the second figure on Brianna’s bed. I knew neither one of them had noticed me yet, they were too caught up in the matching little sniffles and sobs that left their bodies. I walked back out of the room and saw Nialls blonde head down the hallway.

"Niall!" I called, easily grabbing his attention.

He turned and looked at me with a crooked smile on his face.

"What's wrong? You didn't get enough of me?" He teased.

"There's an extra resident in my bedroom tonight. I don't wanna interrupt them. Can I stay with you tonight?"

For a brief second, there was a blush on his cheeks and he nodded.

"Oh darling. I thought you'd never ask." He held his hand out to me and I laced my fingers together with his.