Talk Is Cheap

A smile tugged at Nicole’s lips as she read her new text message. She was becoming quite accustomed to the standard ‘good morning text’ arriving to her around mid-afternoon every day. Niall always texted her first thing once waking up, instantly making her day that much better. He usually said something funny or utterly sweet, and sometimes he sent her pictures of weird, American, touristy things he thought she might enjoy.

They didn’t get to talk much since he’d arrived in America. Texting and talking on the phone cost a fortune, and the internet was rubbish on the lads’ tour bus, so Skyping wasn’t as convenient as she’d hoped. They’d had one semi-successful Skype date over the week and a half he’d been gone, but it ended within 12 minutes because their interviewer showed up nearly an hour earlier than expected.

She missed him a lot more than expected. She didn’t have the slightest clue how she was going to survive the next couple months without him.

Nicole quickly typed a response to him after deciding what to say. She didn’t want to seem desperate or needy, but she wanted him to know how much he meant to her, and how much she truly did fancy him.



Nicole tossed her phone to the side, picking up the book from her lap and turning to the page with the freshly folded corner. She’d been obsessed with the ‘Harry Potter’ books her whole life, and had read each book at least a dozen times. She usually found herself re-reading the magical novels whenever she was sad or feeling a bit down. She’d just begun book three earlier that morning, having started the seven book series the day after the anniversary of her mum’s death.

“Can’t we watch the films instead?” Harry begged, rolling over to face Nicole. The pair was in his bed, spending the rainy, summer day locked away inside to stay dry and warm. She rolled her olive eyes, mentally begging him to return his attention to the T.V. so she could finish the last chapter of her book. She’d started to read the ‘Harry Potter’ series for the millionth time right before school ended, and she was now five pages short of finishing the sixth book.

“It’s not the same.”

“Please,” he groaned, whimpering like an injured puppy dog.

“In a bit, just let me finish this—Hey!” Nicole exclaimed, grasping the air as Harry pulled the book from her fingers before tossing it on his nearby nightstand. “What is your problem?”

“That stupid book,” he muttered, continuing to pout. She turned towards him, propping herself with her arm as she stared down at him, his mess of curls covering majority of his blue pillow case.

“How exactly is it bothering you?”

“You’re giving all your attention to the wrong Harry.”

“Excuse me?” Nicole asked with a raise of her eyebrows. She eyed the boy suspiciously, knowing very well he couldn’t actually be jealous of a fictional character.

“Harry Potter is a wanker.”

“Riiiight.”

“It’s true!” he said loudly, his posh accent clearly audible.

“Whatever, you’re being ridiculous. I hope you know.”

“No,” he mumbled, covering his face with a nearby pillow. “Pay attention to Harry Styles.”

“I dunno who that is.” Harry peaked over the top of the pillow, his green eyes narrowed irritably at Nicole.

“Your amazing, charming, incredibly fit boyfriend.”

Nicole’s full, red lips formed an ‘O’ before Harry tossed the pillow at her face, forcing her to fall backwards. He climbed on top of her and straddled her hips before forcing both her hands above her head and holding them there, so she couldn’t move.

“Get off me before my ‘amazing, charming, incredibly fit boyfriend’ sees.”

“Trust me, he already sees you.” Harry’s eyes wandered over Nicole’s body, taking in every curve as his lips began to crave her. He wanted to taste her lips, skin, everything she’d allow him to.

“You’re full of-” his lips crashed against hers eagerly and she didn’t protest. She absorbed the kiss easily, knotting her fingers in his hair as his hands roamed her body. He began to lick her bottom lip until she allowed him to enter and explore every centimeter of her mouth. She let out a quick moan as his hips buckled against hers. He began to kiss her neck, sucking on the soft spots he knew sent her over the edge, before she forcefully pushed him away and rolled onto her stomach.

“Your mum is right down the hall,” she exclaimed as he eyed her curiously, wanting to know the reason she’d stopped so suddenly, leaving his pants tight and his thoughts overwhelmed with what could have happened.

“You’re trying to kill me.”

“Hardly.” She crawled towards him, snuggling up to his body before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and placed several kisses in her hair. The paired remained quiet, listening closely to the sound of each other’s heart beats and the rain pitter-pattering outside his window. Nicole placed her lips to his neck as he ran his hand under her shirt before tracing circles around her navel. She loved days like today; her whole summer had been full of them. Just being with Harry, looking, smelling, feelings his skin against hers was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

“Would you rather die a long, painful death by a poisonous snake bite or die quickly, but get eaten by a shark?” he asked randomly, and she pulled away from him slightly in order to meet his gaze.

“That’s why you’ve been so quiet—you’ve been thinking of a ‘would you rather’?”

“Just answer the question.”

Nicole bit her lip, taking in all aspects of his question. Most people found their favorite game to be extremely crude, but she and Harry enjoyed it. They took every question seriously, and thought over the answer as if the situation was real.

“Snake bite.”

“Explain.”

“If I got to die a slow death, I know you’d be by my side the whole time. If I was in pain, I know you’d kiss me until I couldn’t feel anything else but bliss. If I was eaten by a shark, I’d never get to say goodbye.”

Harry smirked and looked down at Nicole, completely satisfied with her answer. “I’d pick snake bite, too.”

“My turn. Would you rather be petrified for eternity by a Basilisk or killed from a Killing Curse?” She giggled when he narrowed his eyes, not finding her joke even slightly humorous.

“This is a Harry Potter reference, yeah?”

“Just answer the question.” She mocked, watching his eyes roll.

“What’re you doing,” Sage demanded, pulling Nicole away from her thoughts. Memories seemed to be a pain in the arse recently. She hated thinking about him, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. No matter how much she tried or physically willed herself to forget him, she couldn’t get him off her mind.

“Reading,” Nicole lifted her book in the air and flashed the cover in her mate’s direction. Sage nodded, understanding her book of choice perfectly.

“You miss him that much, yeah?” Sage asked, but her question sounded more like a statement. She crossed the room to the couch before plopping her lean body next to Nicole, letting her long legs dangle over the armrest.

“Mmm-hmm.” It was true, Nicole did miss Niall, and it really did make her sad, but she was dealing with so much more on top of that including the anniversary of her mother’s death and Harry.

“Will you bite my head off if I watch T.V.? All my reality shows start in 10 minutes.”

“Go for it,” she sighed, closing her book and deciding to give up for the day. Her brain hurt anyway. She’d been overthinking everything too much lately.

Sage shrugged and flipped on the T.V.. Before she had the opportunity to change the channel, a familiar song sounded around the room, making both her and Nicole cringe. ’Shot me out of the sky, you’re my kryptonite. You keep making me weak, yeah frozen and can’t breathe’.

“Can’t even watch the tele without your bloody boy band-”

“Don’t change it,” Nicole demanded, her eyes glued to the screen. They were watching an entertainment news show, and the host was discussing ‘One Direction’. A picture of the lads’ had appeared next to her as their hit song slowly started to quiet in the background.

“One Direction is taking America by storm. Although this is a new country for the lads, they don’t seem out of their element. American fans seem to be very accepting of our favorite boy band, and the lads aren’t shying away from the lovely American girls either. Harry Styles has been spotted with several ladies since their arrival almost two weeks ago. We quoted him saying he’s ‘happily single and only trying to enjoy his self’. We assume that means snogging as many American girls as possible before the band’s return home in a couple months.”

Nicole’s stomach contrasted into knots as she watched the perky, blonde television host through the screen. She hadn’t talked to Harry since he’d kissed her assumingly because he knew what he did was wrong and didn’t want to complicate things further by trying to talk it through. Obviously, Nicole assumed wrong. He was too busy fucking as many ugly-arse American girls he could get his grubby hands on to talk to her. She didn’t necessarily want to talk to him, but still, his actions were completely unnecessary.

“Change it now,” Nicole demanded as pictures of Harry with a blonde twat attached to his lips appeared on the screen.

“What’s your problem?” Sage asked, eyeing her best mate suspiciously. “You’re not fucking jealous, right?”

“No,” Nicole exclaimed, not entirely sure if she was telling the truth or not. She didn’t want to be jealous, but the anger building inside her said otherwise. “I just didn’t know American girls were such whores, that’s all. Did you see the way they were dressed? It’s the middle of winter!”

“Are you worried Niall will cheat on you?”

“No, he would never. Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway. We aren’t official-”

“Just because he hasn’t asked you to be his girlfriend, doesn’t mean he doesn’t think of you that way.”

“I guess,” Nicole muttered, tucking her hair behind her ears. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously as her eyes shifted between the floor and Sage.

“Do you even want him to be your boyfriend?” Sage’s grey eyes stared directly at Nicole, not willing to budge until she admitted her insecurities. Sage knew better than anyone, Nicole was afraid of commitment. She hadn’t always been that way, but dating an asshole will do that to a girl. Nicole wanted to have a boyfriend, and she wanted to be in love again, but everything came with risks, and she wasn’t ready to risk her heart again, not yet.

“I dunno.”

“If I could, I would beat that fucking curly-haired prick until he can no longer scream for mummy.”

Nicole’s eye grew wide, and she finally turned to meet Sage’s gaze. “W-what?”

“He screwed you damn good, and not in an enjoyable yell dirty words, make you cum over and over kind of way. You deserve better than him, you deserve to be happy with Niall. Stop letting him control your fucking life.”

“O-okay.” Nicole mumbled, no other responses coming to mind. She knew Sage was right. She knew she should forget about Harry and move on. She knew Niall was perfect and she shouldn’t be holding back any of her feelings. Nicole knew a lot of things, but for some fucked-up reason her brain didn’t make her decisions, it was her broken, smashed, and stepped-on heart that always got its way.

“Do what I say, and you’ll be a happy mother fucker.” Sage said, her attention now focused on the reality show in front of her. Nicole tried to watch the show as well, but quickly grew bored of its stupidity.

This is definitely scripted, Nicole thought as her phone buzzed next to her. She grabbed it quickly, hoping to see a text from Niall, but her lips turned in a frown when she saw 10 numbers across the screen. For a second, she pretended not to know the number, but there was no denying who was texting her. Although his name was no longer in her contacts, she’d memorized the number long ago and it would be forever etched in her mind.

”Finally stole your number from Niall. I can’t stop thinking about you. -Harry”

Fucking bullshit, Nicole thought before erasing the message. This was why she couldn’t forget him, because he wouldn’t go away.