Talk Is Cheap

Nicole smiled up at the waiter after he placed a cup of Ranch and a cup of Ketchup in front of her. Eagerly, she dipped a finger in the Ranch, bringing it to her mouth immediately so she could lick it off. Niall watched her amusingly; he’d never met anyone who ate condiments like they were real food.

He’s taken her to an expensive Italian restaurant in Sydney for her birthday. She preferred Chinese, but wasn’t the least bit upset with his choice; she’d never been to such an expensive restaurant in her entire life. She felt slightly under-dressed, wearing a light pink dress that fit tightly around her chest, but flared out past her waist. It landed just above her knees, and had a heart-shaped cut-out in the back. The women around her were wearing floor-length gowns, making Nicole feel quite young and naive. Niall wasn’t much better. While it seemed the standard attire for men was a tuxedo, he wore black slacks and a collared shirt, no tie.

“Thanks again, for today.” She replied, bringing her flute of champagne to her lips. Niall smiled toothily before leaning towards her and kissing her cheek.

“Anything for you, babe.”

A soft laugh escaped her lips as she fingered her earring, twirling it around in its place. She felt a built guilty, letting him buy endless amounts of gifts for her earlier. He’d surprised her with an all-day shopping spree, insisting she could get whatever she wanted and he would pay. He’d already paid for her to come to Australia and for her hotel room, she hated to let him buy her anything else, but no matter how many times she protested, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Nicole ended up with bags of hundreds of Euros of things.

“You’re too good to me.”

“I like spoiling me girlfriends.”

She almost choked on her champagne at the word ‘girlfriend’. He knew better than to call her that, she’d been very blunt the other night when he’d asked her to make things official.

He quickly noticed the strain in her face, and immediately started to correct himself. “Fuck, well you know what I mean—ugh my good girl mates that I fancy, a lot.”

Nicole bit the inside of her cheek. “Right.”

The dinner went well, Nicole ordered something she couldn’t pronounce and got a bit tipsy off the champagne. Niall started ordering beer half-way through his meal, causing him to be on the verge of pissed. He arranged for a slice of chocolate cake to be delivered at the end of dinner, the waiter lit a candle in the middle and had her make a wish as he sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in Italian.

“What’d you wish for?” Niall asked, digging into the cake before Nicole could even get a bite. She shook her head quickly, feeling a bit childish.

“I can’t tell you! If I do, it won’t come true.”

“Oh, come off it. You know that’s a load of bullshit.”

She shrugged her shoulders, his words not influencing her decision in the slightest. “You may be Irish, but you aren’t getting lucky tonight.”

He arched an eyebrow, his blue eyes studying her closely. “You don’t say?”

She chewed on her bottom lip, instantly regretting her choice of words. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Maybe. Amuse me,” he insisted, interlacing his fingers and resting them on the table as he leaned forward. She sucked in a sharp breath, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Will you be staying in me room tonight for a proper birthday celebration?”

Her eye grew wide, her mind racing as she thought about what she wanted to say. She was overthinking things, as usual. She enjoyed sex, and had missed it now for months. It wasn’t a big deal, so why was it causing so much trouble in her life?

“Erm, yeah, I mean-” she was interrupted by her phone buzzing in her lap. Quickly she averted her gaze downwards, happy for the sudden distraction. The text was from Harry, and despite her better judgment, she decided to read it.

I’ve got a present for you, when you finish with Niall.

Knowing Harry, it was probably a gag gift. Maybe a cock in a box.

Leave it at my door she responded quickly.

“What would we do?” she replied finally, causing a chuckle from Niall.

“Whatever you want; I aim to please you.”

The conversation had taken a turn for the sexual, and Nicole quickly started to feel uncomfortable. Sure, she loved being with Niall, and from what she’d seen, he was good with his hands, but sex was starting to scare her more than scary movies, and she could never get past the first 10 minutes of Saw without crying like a baby.

Her phone buzzed again, gaining her attention over Niall once more.

Has to be in person, I’ll wait until your back. No matter how long.

She didn’t bother replying. Harry could do whatever he wanted. She wasn’t going to rush back to her hotel room just to see what he’d gotten her. He’d never been much of a gift-giver anyway, so she couldn’t imagine what he’d gotten her. When they were dating, he’d gotten her two major gifts; black lingerie and her favorite chocolates for Christmas, and a bombshell bra and gift card to her favorite Chinese take-away place for her birthday. Both presents benefited him in some way, and both presents were now hidden away in the back of her closet where she wouldn’t have to see them.

“I’d fancy watching a movie.”

“Brilliant.”



Harry waited in Nicole’s room for hours. He’d borrowed a master key from Paul, and just sat there, on her bed, waiting.

She was busy with Niall, and he understood that, but he wanted his turn with her too. The present he’d bought for her was special. He’d had it for years, ordering it right before they broke up; he’d planned to give it to her for Christmas. He brought it with him everywhere, on every tour to every country; it was always in the bottom of his suitcase. No one knew about it, not even Louis. He kept it wrapped in newspaper, camouflaged in case anyone saw it. On the rare nights when he let himself think about her, felt the pains of missing her like a shot to the chest, he opened it and held it tightly until pulling himself together, forcing his self to lock the memories away in the back of his head until he couldn’t stand it anymore, and her face haunted him again.

He’d seriously fucked things up between them. He lost the best thing in his life for fame. He let other people influences get to him, and he ended up losing her, maybe even forever. She seemed happy with Niall, now. But he could have sworn he’d seen her happier, when they were together and in love. No doubt, Niall was good for her. He made her laugh, and reminded her she was special. But that didn’t mean he was right for her. Nicole needed someone to challenge her. Argue with her. Make her lose her temper. Perfect was too easy. She liked obstacles in life, they made her stronger. Imperfections were what made perfection in her eyes. Most people wouldn’t know that about her, because she rarely let others see past the flawless façade she’d created years ago to protect herself from getting hurt. Nicole was far from perfect, but that’s what made her beautiful. All her quirks she often hid from the world were what made Harry fall in love with her. She was different, and he loved that.

Four hours later, and she never showed up. It was past mid-night, and Harry couldn’t imagine she was still out to dinner with Niall. It was obvious she’d denied his request to meet so he could give her his gift. She was probably tangled in the sheets with Niall, doing God knows what. He suddenly felt jealous and sick to his stomach. He’d told her to try harder at making him jealous, and she took his advice. To imagine her fucking another bloke was enough to make him puke. In his mind, she still belonged to him, and no one else should be allowed to touch her. But in reality, that shipped had sailed long ago, and any lad in their right mind would try to get her in bed. He couldn’t help but wonder how many had succeeded.

He tossed the wadded up newspaper across the bed, hoping when she finally returned she’d think it was rubbish and toss it out. He needed to get rid of it. It wasn’t healthy for him to keep it with him anymore. His feelings for her weren’t healthy anymore. She was with another lad. Reality had finally sunk in. She’d moved on. It was time for him to give up and move on his self. She wasn’t coming back to him now; she’d never be his forever.



Nicole tip-toed out of Niall’s room and back to her own. It was early in the morning, the sun had just risen, and she wanted ever so desperately to be back in her own room so she could finally get some sleep.

She’d been tossing and turning all night. Usually, Niall’s arm around her would have soothed her, but last night it only made her uncomfortable to a point where sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

They didn’t have sex. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t convince herself into it, leaving Niall horny and cranky. She’d opted for a game of ‘would you rather’ starting off with the classic ‘would you rather die burning to death or drowning?’ He thought the game was stupid, not understanding the concept. Apparently it wasn’t fun to discuss death and its endless possibilities. She wasn’t very upset, though. Most people found her version of the game to be quite crude; she’d only hoped a proper Irish man would have been able to handle it.

After that, she lied and told Niall she was knackered, turning over on her side and pretending to sleep. He didn’t protest, and quickly slung an arm over her waist, pulling her back against his chest before singing a few lines of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Wake Me Up’ until drifting off to sleep his self. She laid there for several hours, forcing her eyes shut as she attempted to sleep. Every 20 minutes she admitted defeat and opened her eyes, straining her neck to see over Niall to get a glimpse of the alarm clock; time seemed to be moving slower than usual.

Once a bit of sunlight started to seep in through the curtains, she considered that a good enough excuse to climb out of bed and make her way back to her own room. After kissing Niall on the cheek, she started towards the corridor, her eyelids becoming heavy as she stumbled into her room before throwing herself on the bed. As the mattress sunk in the middle, a wadded up piece of newspaper rolled onto her face, surprising her a bit. She hadn’t remembered that being there before, and assumed one of the maids had left it there by accident.

Her fingers closed around it as she started to chuck it across the room, but something stopped her from doing so; it felt heavier than just a piece of paper, something was obviously inside. She started to unravel it slowly, her fingers barely moving as exhaustion took over her body.

The second she spotted the gold locket, it was like she had a sudden rush of energy. She sat up quickly, dangling the necklace in front of her face, letting the chain hang from her fingertips. It was a heart-shaped pendent made of real gold with the words ‘sarai benedetto’ etched across it. Harry or Niall could have been bought it for her, both lads knew about her tattoo.

After opening it, she knew exactly who it was from. There was a picture inside, a small version of the original photo she cherished more than any other keep-sake from her mum. It was the picture of them together on holiday, Nicole’s last memory of her mum sober. Only one other person had seen the picture before, and that was Harry.

Tears started to well in her eyes, memories of her mum reaching the surface. The locket was absolutely perfect, just what she needed to make sure her mum stayed close to her heart for forever. It was easily the best present she’d ever gotten, and it’d been completely unexpected.

She needed to see Harry. She needed to tell him thank you or something. She needed so many things, but mainly, she just needed to be with him.