Talk Is Cheap

It’d been over ten days since Nicole had returned to England, leaving the lads to finish their second leg on the Up All Night tour without her. She’d spent the time alone thinking about what she wanted—who she wanted to be with. Being away from both lads really set things into perspective for her. She found herself missing one more than the other, and before long, she knew who she wanted to be with. It was something she’d kind-of always known, but was too afraid of losing the other completely to let herself accept the truth.

The lads had gotten home two days ago, and Nicole had finally mustered up enough courage to tell each of them her decision. She just hoped she hadn’t ruined things entirely between them on tour, or that she was making her decision too late. She knew both had definite possibilities of coming true because she’d been selfish and tried to enjoy both boys when really she’d only ever needed one.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” Sage asked as Nicole fidgeted in front of the mirror, wanting to make sure she looked close to perfect before leaving.

“I dunno, an hour or maybe longer? It’ll depend how things go.” Nicole replied as she pulled on a jumper; it was still pretty chilly outside even through it was late into spring.

“Call me immediately after, yeah? I want to hear how things go.”

“I can tell you when I get home, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Just call me when you’re done.” Sage insisted, a hint of urgency in her voice. Nicole eyed her mate suspiciously, but eventually decided to shrug her peculiar behavior off.

“Fine, talk to you soon. Bye.”

“Good luck!” Sage called as Nicole disappeared through the front door.

Nicole made the familiar drive to the flat complex all the lads shared. The entire drive she was rehearsing everything she wanted to say in order to get her point across. She didn’t have room for mistakes. She had one shot to make things work, and she was determined to get everything perfect.

She pulled into the parking lot, and slowly turned the key to kill the engine. After taking a deep breath, and sucking back the tears that had already began to form in her eyes, she stepped out of the car and let her feet carry her to the right flat. She knocked three times, and before long the door was opening, a pair of green eyes meeting hers.

“Coley?” he asked, almost as if to make sure it was really her.

“Hello, can I come in?” he nodded and stepped to the side, allowing her to enter his flat so they could talk.

He was wearing dark jeans, but didn’t have a shirt on. His brown curls were tucked away in a green beanie, and his face was more broke out than usual, probably because of the excessive make-up he’d been wearing on tour. He shoved his hands in his pockets nervously, and shifted his weight between the balls and heels of his feet, waiting for her to say whatever she’d come there to say.

“Harry,” she took a deep breath, and forced herself to meet his gaze. His eyes seemed to be staring through her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. “I will always love you, but-”

She couldn’t keep the tears from falling anymore; it was too hard to tell him the truth. She heard him release a little whimper, he could easily predict what she was going to say, and it was physically paining him to hear it.

“-I need to be with Niall.” She finished, her head immediately drooping to the floor. She felt ashamed, but knew she was making the right decision. Harry was her past, and Niall was her future. Simple as that.

“I understand.” He finally muttered, and she peered up at him through her eyelashes. Sadness etched his features, and she felt her heart fall to the pit of her stomach; she’d never wanted this to happen. “I had my chance, and fucked it up.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her vision blurry from the tears. She hadn’t planned on being so emotional, it was quite shocking really all the emotions she was feeling. She felt her heart breaking, sick to her stomach, and dizzy all at the same time. She was excited to start the next chapter of her life with Niall, but it was hard putting an end to the current one. She didn’t want to lose Harry completely from her life; he’d impacted it so much. Without him, she didn’t know where she’d be. He’d gotten her through her mother’s death and the drama with her father. He’d been her rock, and she owed him a lot.

He reached towards her and tried to wipe the tears away. “Please don’t cry, Nicole. You deserve to be happy, and I know Niall makes you happy. Don’t be sad. Please.”

She offered him a sheepish grin, and tried drying her eyes with the fabric of her shirt. “Thanks. I hope we can be mates?”

Before he could answer, Nicole’s phone began to buzz against her thigh. She quickly pulled it from her pocket to see who was calling, once reading Niall’s name, she slid her finger across the bottom, ending her bad habit of putting Harry over everyone else.

“Hello?”

“Nicole,” he said loudly, he voice sounded shaky.

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“Sage is being rushed to the hospital.”

For a moment, Nicole couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t think straight. She didn’t care how Niall had gotten his information or what had happened; all she cared about was being with her best mate.

“I’ll meet you there.” She hung up quickly, all the color rushing from her face. Harry’s eyes widened with alarm; the last time he’d seen Nicole so shaken was that day in the corridor, when she’d first found out about her mother.

“What happened?”

“I’ve got to go. Sage is at the hospital.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“Harry,” she said impatiently, not in the mood for whatever he was trying to do. “Just stay here, I have my car, there’s no reason for you to come.”

“Coley, you’re in no position to drive, and we’re mates, right? This is what mates do.”

Nicole sighed in defeat, and nodded her head as he skipped across the room to pull on a jacket and slide into a pair of trainers. He grabbed his keys, and before long the pair was rushing to the hospital.



Niall was pacing in the hospital waiting room when Nicole and Harry arrived. Immediately, he rushed to Nicole, taking her in his arms for a tight hug. The second his blue eyes landed on Harry, he released her and tucked his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

“What happened,” Nicole asked, not caring that Niall and Harry were having an intense staring contest.

“I was uh going to your flat to uh talk to you because I hated how we left things in New Zealand; I never wanted you to leave-” he noticed Nicole quickly growing impatient, so he decided to give her the condensed version. “Almost as soon as Sage let me inside, she collapsed and started seizing. I called for an ambulance straight away.”

“Do they know the cause?” Nicole choked, fearing the worst.

“The docs think she overdosed on cocaine.”

A lump formed in Nicole’s throat, making it hard for her to breathe. She couldn’t believe Sage was still using cocaine after everything that had happened. They’d gotten in a horrible fight over it just a month ago, and since then Nicole had explained the details of her mother’s death— the very reason she hated drugs.

“She’s fine. The doctor said she’ll live.” Niall reassured her, easily noticing the pain etched across her face.

“Can I go and see her?”

“Not yet. Only family for now.” Niall watched as Harry reached to wrap an arm around Nicole’s shoulders. His eyes drooped to the floor, unable to believe she’d been with him when all this had happened. She’d obviously made her decision. He just wished she would’ve told him; a text or something telling him it was over and she was getting back with Harry would have been better that this—seeing the pair all lovey dovey made him want to hurl.

“I can go now. I only came because I didn’t want you to be alone…”

It didn’t take long for Nicole to realize what Niall was probably thinking. She brushed Harry’s hand away and walked towards him, extending her hand to him and lacing their fingers together. “Can I talk to you, in private?”

Niall nodded in agreement and followed Nicole down a random corridor. Harry watched them walk away, only feeling angry at his self for ever letting her go. He loved her, she was his only one. He wished things were different. He wished she’d given him another chance—let him show her just how perfect they were together. Sadly, she hadn’t come back to him. She wouldn’t be his forever, and that realization was enough to make him sick. He would never stop hoping she’d eventually change her mind, but he was finally ready to start moving on. After all, if he truly loved her he’d only want her to be happy, and for now, she found pure happiness with Niall. So, really, Harry couldn’t be too upset.

Nicole chewed on her lip as her stomach became uneasy, she was nervous if she told Niall her true feelings he would deny her. She sucked in a sharp breath, fixing her eyes on the center of his forehead, deciding that was easier than meeting his judgmental eyes.

“Look, you don’t have to explain your decision to me. It’s obvious you never stopped loving Harry, I really hope you two will be happy together-”

“Niall,” she exclaimed, her eyes growing wider with every word he said. He had it all wrong, and she intended on telling him so. “I’m not with Harry.”

“What?” he was completely confused and Nicole couldn’t help but giggle despite the seriousness of the situation. He was too adorable.

“I chose you, Niall. I was telling Harry that when you called, he didn’t think I was in the right state-of-mind to drive here alone.”

Niall couldn’t stop his self from eagerly cupping Nicole’s face and kissing her like a mad-man. There was endless passion behind the kiss. She was finally his, all his, she’d picked him.

“I love you,” he said breathlessly, pulling away and smiling down at her. Her head was spinning and her knees seemed unable to hold her weight, everything was happening so fast.

“I love-” before she could finish, she collapsed to the floor, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her world turned black.