Talk Is Cheap

On a chilly night in mid-February, Sage and Nicole made their way through a flat complex in Northern London. The flats looked much nicer and a great deal larger than their own on the other side of town, making them feel a bit out of place. Nicole felt like she should be wearing something a lot more elegant than denim ripped skinny jeans, a white knitted jumper, and flowery TOMs but Niall had insisted the dinner was strictly casual. He even mentioned it was possible a few of the lads wouldn’t be fully clothed.

Nicole had reluctantly accepted his invitation to join him and the rest of ‘One Direction’ for dinner. Once he said she could bring Sage, she really couldn’t say no, and she also wanted to give her relationship with Niall an honest effort, especially now that she was on better terms with Harry.

“Thanks for coming with me.” Nicole said as they approached the flat she’d been told belonged to Louis and Harry. Niall had texted her the address earlier, insisting all the boys lived in the same general area, but Louis’ and Harry’s flat was where they all commonly met for dinners, parties, and film nights.

“Mmm-hmm.” Sage hummed, shifting her weight between the balls and heels of her feet. She forced her hands in the pockets of her extremely tight, white skinny jeans before blowing a piece of over-straightened, silvery-purple hair out of her face. Her grey eyes were focused on the ground; she’d been avoiding eye-contact with Nicole for days.

“Please pretend you’re not mad at me.” Nicole insisted, her index finger hovering over the doorbell. She and Sage had still not properly made-up after their row a few days ago. Nicole had apologized several times, but Sage really didn’t buy it, especially because she had yet to tell her the details about her mother. Nicole really did want to tell her best mate everything, but she hadn’t found the right time or mustered up enough courage to do so.

“I’m not mad. Promise.”

“I’m going to tell you everything, I swear-”

“Not mad, Nick. Now ring the bell so Simon Cowell’s puppets can feed me some food.”

“I think you’ll like them.” Nicole said before adding pressure to the doorbell. Within seconds, the door opened and Louis appeared smiling brightly, and she immediately cursed herself for the many evil thoughts going off in her head involving her fist colliding with his face.

“Nicole,” he greeted her, pulling her into a forced hug. She tensed beneath his touch. “Lovely to see you again.”

“Ditto.”

“Nice to meet you, love. I’m Louis.” He released Nicole and moved to try and hug Sage, but she ducked under his arms and hurried past him.

“I’m Sage.” She replied quickly before patting him on the shoulder and making her way further into the flat.

“Niall is in the kitchen.” Louis said before Nicole had the opportunity to ask.

“Thanks-”

“Harry’s in there too, so take your pick.”

Nicole decided against replying as she narrowed her olive eyes before stomping off after Sage to find the kitchen. A smug expression appeared on Louis’ face as he shut the front door, eager for the night to begin.

Niall was leaning against the counter chewing on a tortilla shell, and Harry was huddled over the stove, mixing something in a frying pan. The kitchen was full of delicious smells, immediately making Nicole’s mouth water and her stomach year for food.

“Good evening, Sir.” Nicole greeted the blonde, and a smile tugged at his lips. He quickly tossed the tortilla to the side and chomped away at the remaining pieces in his mouth before swallowing hard. He opened his arms wide, giving Nicole the signal to come closer. She took a step forward, and he wrapped his pale arms around her tiny waist before pulling her against his chest. She lifted her head to look into his bright, blue eyes before he placed a quick kiss on her lips.

“Hi.” He said quietly, making her giggle.

“What’s for dinner?”

“Tacos,” Harry replied before Niall had the chance. He looked over his shoulder quickly, forcing his brown curls to bounce around his face. “I cooked extra hamburger without taco seasoning, just for you.”

“You remembered. Thanks.” For as long as she could remember, Nicole hated taco seasoning. It made the meat too gooey or something, and took away from the ground beef’s natural taste in her opinion.

“Of course,” he smiled, his dimples clearly visible, before returning to his cooking.

“I missed you, ya know.” Niall whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear. She turned her attention away from Harry and back to the lad with his arms around her. She smiled up at him before standing on her tip toes to place a kiss against his chin.

“Really?” she chewed on her bottom lip, and he gazed down at her, his fingers tapping absently against her hip bones.

“Yes,” he replied easily, making her laugh nervously as her eyes shifted to the floor. His rough fingers caressed her cheek before he placed two fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head upwards to meet his lips with hers. He glided his tongue over her bottom lip before slipping it inside her mouth for a moment.

“Niall,” Harry said loudly before coughing a bit. Nicole inwardly sighed as Niall pulled his lips away from hers to give his attention to Harry. “Can you go and tell everyone the food is ready?”

“Certainly,” Niall kissed Nicole’s forehead before skipping out of the room. Nicole’s eyes soon focused on Harry as she watched him empty the ground beef from its pan to a plate. He was wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tight black trousers, and an apron tied around his waist and looped around his neck.

“Do you need help with anything?” she asked, tucking her wavy, brown hair behind her ears. He looked up from what he was doing and peered at her through his eyelashes.

“Grab those, will ya?” he nodded towards a stack of paper plates and plastic silverware.

“Alright.”

“Would you like Ranch dressing or Ketchup?” his question caught her by surprise. Besides him, no one ever asked her that because besides him, no one knew about her quirky condiment habits. No matter what she was eating, she always had to have Ranch dressing or Ketchup. She’s been known to eat the sauces by the spoonful completely plain. Usually, she was secrete about it and people rarely noticed, even Sage hadn’t questioned her for buying the condiments in bulk, but Harry knew. He’d always known, and used to laugh at her about it, but he never forgot to order her a couple extra containers of each when he used to take her out to dinner.

“I don’t do that anymore.”

“You’re lying.”

“No,” she muttered, and he arched an eyebrow. He saw right through her, even though she continued to stare at him blankly while pretending to have no clue what he was talking about.

“I always know when you’re lying.”

“How?”

“After you tell a lie, you blink three times.”

“I do not.”

“You just did.”

“Ranch is fine,” she muttered, frustratingly blowing strands of hair out of her face. Harshly, she snatched up the plates and silverware before storming out of the room. She muttered profanities under her breath the entire way to the dining room, every four-letter word aimed at Harry. She hated that he knew so much about her. From her strange dislike of taco seasoning, to her obsession with condiments.

Moments later, everyone was sitting around a long, glass table, ready to devour the food in front of them. Nicole was sitting between Niall and Sage; Zayn was across from Sage and next to Liam, while Louis and Harry sat at the heads of the table.

“Where are your lovely girlfriends tonight?” Nicole asked, eyeing Liam, Louis, and Zayn. She began making herself a taco as she waited for their responses, reluctantly scooping her meat from the bowl of plain hamburger. She didn’t want to give Harry any bit of satisfaction, but she didn’t want to starve either.

“Eleanor is back in Manchester for school.”

“Danielle is shooting a music video with Jessie J.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Zayn said loudly, looking directly at Sage. She raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say a word. She’d obviously had some sort of effect on the Bradford lad.

“What about the blonde at the club?” Nicole asked, finding this news quite surprising. They’d been all over each other last time she saw them, but she supposed he was that way with lots of girls. Girls are obsessed with lads in boy bands.

“Just mates.”

“Right.”

“Sage, what do you do career or school wise?” Liam asked, taking a sip of his water. Sage took a bite of her taco before whipping the crumbs away with the back of her hand. She fiddled around with the napkin in front of her, folding the corners slowly before deciding to reply.

“Right now, I’m currently unemployed.” Her grey eyes shifted to Nicole, but when her mate pretended not to be bothered by the news, she continued speaking. “My one and only passion is art, though. I spend a lot of time working on my pieces.”

“Zayn’s an artist too!” Louis exclaimed, causing his mate’s cheeks to flush from embarrassment.

“Really?” Sage asked, eyeing the boy across from her curiously.

“I dabble.” He replied, moving his food around with his fork. “I mainly draw cartoons.”

“My main focus is sculptures, but I would love to see some of your work.”

“I’ll show you some stuff after dinner.” He replied, bringing a large smile to Sage’s lips. Nicole was surprised to see the sincerity behind her mate’s features. Sage wasn’t known to warm up to people quickly, but she seemed to like the lads a lot, especially Zayn, so far.

Nicole watched everyone enjoy their meals, quite happy she’d decided to come tonight. Despite her hatred for the band a couple weeks ago, she was really starting to enjoy their company. Even Louis didn’t get on her nerves as much anymore once she discovered he was quite funny, annoying, but amusing nonetheless. After Niall, Liam was her favorite. He was an absolute sweetheart and more mature than the others. She could easily picture herself spending an afternoon with him talking deeply about the meaning of life or something.

She dipped a finger in the pile of Ranch dressing on her plate before bringing the creamy sauce to her lips and licking it off. She completed this motion several times, before Niall nudged her with his elbow. Quickly she looked away from her plate to meet his gaze; his blue eyes sparkled beneath the chandelier above. She offered him a sheepish grin before he reached to grab her hand in order to brush several kisses along her knuckles. She tapped her foot against his, eagerly yearning to spend a few minutes alone with him.

“You do good work, Styles.” Niall said, leaning back in his chair to admire his satisfied and bloated stomach. He laced his fingers with Nicole’s as he rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand. She smiled in his direction, trying her best to ignore the pieces of food stuck in his braces.

“You made this?” Sage asked sharply, her brows knitted and eyes narrowed in Harry’s direction.

“Yes,” he replied proudly, puffing out his chest a bit. “Good, huh?”

“I’ve had better.”

“If you have any suggestions-”

“I’m just not a fan of food made by cock-sucking pussies, that’s all.”

The table quickly erupted with laughter, and a satisfied smirk appeared on Sage’s lips. Nicole wondered how long her mate had wanted to say that, it was no secret she’d hated Harry. But how could she not? Since Sage met Nicole the only words she heard about him her awful and usually only four-letters long.

Harry’s green eyes focused on his plate before he looked up through his eyelashes at Nicole. She’d been watching him, and wasn’t surprised when they made eye-contact. He looked sad and hurt by Sage’s words, and it seemed he wanted Nicole to do something about it. For a moment, she considered scolding her mate for her rude words, but then she realized that wasn’t her job anymore. Nicole no longer needed to stand up for Harry or make excuses for him.

“I told Louis to wait until after dinner for his blow job, but he was so persistent!” Harry replied finally, earning a few laughs himself. He slowly pushed himself away from the table before gathering up people’s trash; Liam soon offered to help him.

“Can I talk to you, alone?” Niall asked Nicole, and she quickly nodded before standing up and following him out of the room. He led her to an empty corridor so they could have some privacy. He’d had a few things on his mind all day, and had been waiting for the right time to discuss them with her.

“I thought you should know, we’re going back on tour in about a week.”

Nicole nodded her head; she was already aware of this. Niall hadn’t mentioned it before, but she was embarrassed to admit ‘One Direction’ had become a frequently searched topic on her Google lately, followed closely by ‘Niall Horan’. She was, after all, only human and curiosity often got the best of her. She was sad to know the Irish lad would be leaving her soon, but she understood touring was part of his job. Nicole possibly understood too well, and that seemed to always get her into trouble.

“And where will you be going?” America, she thought, answering her own question. With ‘Big Time Rush’; she’d done her research.

“America for a couple weeks, and then we’re headed straight to Australia and New Zealand.”

“How exciting, you’re going to have a brilliant time.”

“Nick?”

“Yes?”

She looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping to God he wasn’t about to tell her the fun was over. Now that he was going on tour, he wouldn’t have time for her anymore. There would be so many American girls wearing hardly any clothes throwing themselves at him in the next month, he would forget all about the girl he’d met at the coffee shop. No more club invites or casual dinners. Their time together was ending.

“I fancy you a lot,” he began, and Nicole waited nervously for the ‘but’. But, I can’t do this anymore. But, you just aren’t worth ruining my ‘bachelor’ reputation. “I really hope you won’t forget me while I’m away.”

She hadn’t been expecting that.

“Forget you? I could never.”

“Good, because I know I won’t forget you. I mean, you’re all I think about as it is.”

Nicole smiled, happy to know she wasn’t completely ridiculous for having such strong feelings for Niall so quickly into their relationship. He felt the same way about her, and he wasn’t trying to hide it. It was nice to have a guy tell her exactly what he was feeling over playing mind games.

“You’ll text me while you’re away?”

“Yes, and Skype as much as possible.”

“Yes,” Nicole squealed, jumping up and throwing her arms around his neck. He gripped her waist quickly, holding her up easily as her feet dangled behind her in the air. Her lips crashed against his and she tasted him lustfully, her tongue danced behind her lips for more. “How many days exactly until you leave?”

“10”

“No time to waste.” She replied, wrapping her legs around his torso as she snogged him passionately. He was absolutely all she could ask for.