My One and Only

Nicole examined herself in the mirror, twirling a couple times in order to see the back of her outfit. She’d bought a new dress especially for the night because none of her usual dresses fit anymore; she blamed it on the wontons. She liked her new dress a lot; it was a silvery-sequined skater dress with a deep ‘V’ back. She wore nude heels, her hair in a curly, loose side ponytail, and painted her lips a light shade of pink.

The lads were going out to dinner to celebrate finishing their second leg of tour, and Nicole was utterly nervous. She was probably more nervous than she’d been for the last dinner a few months ago. She hadn’t spent any time with Niall or Harry since finding out who the father was, and having to spend an entire night with them both made her sick to her stomach. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle things, especially because she was an emotional wreck lately.

“This pregnancy has done wonders for your curves.” Sage said leaning against the doorframe. Nicole turned sharply towards her mate and narrowed her olive eyes. She didn’t see curves, she saw weight gain, and that was the last thing she wanted.

“Shut up,” Nicole snapped before searching through her closet for her pink, studded clutch. She stuffed a few saltine crackers inside, knowing her stomach would be especially queasy with the added stress of the night.

“It’s a good thing, love.” she said, taking a step forward. She rested her hands on her nonexistent hips and scrutinized her best mate. Her breasts looked much larger than usual. Sage felt slightly envious, but decided she enjoyed being not pregnant more than she would having nice tits.

“Er, thanks.”

“Are you going to tell him tonight?” Sage cocked an eyebrow and Nicole felt her heart sink to her stomach. Sage didn’t need to clarify; Nicole knew very well who she was referring to—the baby’s father. She’d decided tonight wasn’t the right time; she didn’t want to ruin the lad’s celebration.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Sage pursed her lips and shook her head, but decided against pushing the topic further. “I hope you have a lovely night.”

“You should come. You were invited.”

“Fuck no. I’m in no mood to be some sort of 11th wheel.”

Nicole laughed and rolled her eyes. “If you’d shown any interest in Zayn while we were in New Zealand you would’ve been his date tonight, not whatever bimbo he’s bringing.”

“He’s not my type.” Sage replied shrugging her shoulders. Nicole raised her light brown eyebrows curiously.

“Since when is ‘attractive male’ not your type?”

Sage twiddled her thumbs nervously for the first time ever that Nicole could remember. “My standards have changed.”

Nicole really didn’t care about Sage’s type one way or the other, so she walked past her and out the door to the corridor. She was supposed to be at the lads’ flat complex in ten minutes where everyone was meeting to take a limo to the restaurant. She grabbed her keys and shoved them in her bag before opening the front door. She looked over her shoulder to tell Sage one last thing before leaving.

“Harry won’t have a date, ya know. You could spend the evening with him.”

Sage knitted her light eyebrows as her thin lips twisted into a sneer. “That sounds horrible.”

“Goodbye Sage.” Nicole said smiling before turning to leave. She slammed the door behind her and sauntered out to her car. She was determined to make the most of her evening even though she was growing more nervous with every passing second. There wasn’t much traffic, so it didn’t take nearly as long as she’d hoped to get to the lads’ flat complex. As she pulled into a parking spot, she noticed the lads and their dates standing around the parking lot talking amongst their selves as they waited for the limo. Slowly, she got out of her car and adjusted her dress before joining them.

Niall was the first one to greet her. He practically skipped over to her before bringing her into a tight embrace. He kissed her forehead, each of her cheeks, and then her plump lips before taking a step back to fully absorb her presence.

“You look bloody fit.”

She blushed and looked at the ground before peering up at him through her eyelashes. “Thanks, you look very handsome.”

Nicole reached to flatten the collar of his shirt, letting her gaze travel over his body. He was dressed in black trousers that made his bum look extra adorable, his plain, white dress-shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows. He looked amazing, and Nicole felt incredibly lucky to be his date.

“Eleanor and Danielle have been asking about you.”

“Is that so?” Nicole asked, looking over Niall’s shoulder to see the pair of girls giggling loudly. They were best mates, and she always felt lesser than them because they were the longest lasting girlfriends of the group, and even the fans adored them. Nicole had to delete all forms of social media because she was being harassed so much; girls of all ages were frequently threatening to kill her. She wasn’t sure how’d they react when they found out about the baby. She assumed not well, not well at all.

“Go say hello,” Niall insisted, and Nicole nodded before walking away from her boyfriend.

“Nicole!” Eleanor shrieked once noticing the brown-haired girl. She easily skipped towards her, even though she was wearing five-inch heels, and looped her arms around her neck before pulling Nicole into a hug. “You look beautiful, as always!”

Danielle appeared beside them seconds later and hugged Nicole once Eleanor was finished. The three girls stood in a small circle and began talking randomly about trivial things such as school and their plans for the weekend when Nicole spotted her; Harry’s date.

His arm was snaked around her waist and her small, pale fingers were gripping his shirt as she tilted her head back to laugh. She had long, dark hair cascading down her back, and her full lips were painted a dark red to match her dress. The girl’s dress was tight and highlighted her curves. She was tall like Sage, but had large breasts practically doubling the size of Nicole’s, and her bum was, needless to say, fantastic.

“Who is that?” Nicole demanded, sounding ruder than expected. Eleanor looked over her shoulder to see what Nicole was talking about before turning back around sharply and cocking an eyebrow. At that moment, she resembled Louis far too much, making Nicole cringe.

“Why do you care?” Eleanor began as Danielle rolled her dark eyes.

“That’s Harry’s new bird,” Danielle replied, and Eleanor shot her an irritated look.

“What’s her name,” Nicole asked eagerly, forcing Danielle and Eleanor to laugh.

“Alice.” Danielle answered while looking at Nicole questionably. “Are you curious about Zayn’s girlfriend too? Or is it just Harry you’re worried about?”

Nicole hadn’t even noticed the girl Zayn was standing with. Her eyes shot quickly to the Bradford lad as she examined the petite blonde hanging off his arm. She looked so small and sweet and innocent. Nicole liked her immediately, unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same about Alice.

“What’re her name?” Nicole asked finally.

“Emily, I believe.” Eleanor replied, a wide grin spreading across her lips.

“She seems lovely.” Nicole said.

“And Alice?”

Nicole turned sharply towards Eleanor, knowing quite well what she was getting at. “I bet she’s a twat.”

The rest of the night went awkwardly just as Nicole had suspected. The lads sat at one end of the table, leaving the girls to sit at the other and force conversation. Nicole played nice with Alice, but no matter how many witty things the dark-haired girl said, Nicole couldn’t bring herself to like her. There was something about her that irked Nicole, although she couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, there was something, and it annoyed her endlessly.

Maybe it was the way she laughed. Alice appeared to have one of those heart-felt laughs that were practically contagious. Every time she laughed at a joke, everyone else started to laugh as well, and even Nicole had to stop herself from joining in a few times and falling into her trap.

Or maybe, it was her smile. She had an utterly perfect smile that made Nicole want to hurl. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled, too, making her look practically flawless.

By the end of the night, Nicole was determined she was only interested in Harry for his money. She called Harry ‘Harold’ for goodness sake! That wasn’t even his real name, and even if it was some sort of nickname she had for him, it was stupid. Harry didn’t even look like a Harold.

Emily, on the other hand, was utterly sweet. Although she was particularly quiet, Nicole didn’t mind and found her a pleasure to be around. If Nicole had to choose between Emily and Alice, Emily would winany day. Alice had to go; simple as that.

The dinner couldn’t end fast enough for Nicole. She was quite relieved when the group finally packed back into the limo and started back to the flat complex. She remained quiet the whole way home, resting her head on Niall’s shoulder as he rubbed her thigh and whispered the lyrics to several John Mayer songs in her ear. When they arrived, all the couples separated to say their goodbyes or make plans for the night.

“Will you be staying the night?” Niall asked, taking Nicole’s hands in his and swinging them back and forth between them.

She thought it over, not quite sure what she wanted. She was awfully tired and was still too afraid to tell him about the baby, so she decided it would be best for her to just go home for the night. She needed to think things over and figure out exactly what she wanted to say when giving Niall the news. She wanted things to go perfectly; there was no longer room for error.

“I told Sage I’d watch Harry Potter films with her tonight,” Nicole lied, although the idea sounded particularly nice. Niall offered her a half-smile in order to say he understood, but was still disappointed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Nicole nodded before he wrapped her in his arms. He kissed her hard on the mouth and she smiled into the kiss. “Thanks for coming tonight, babe.”

“My pleasure,” she replied before quickly kissing him once more. “Goodnight Niall. See you tomorrow.”

“G’night, I love you.”

“Ditto,” she whispered before turning to walk away. She climbed into her car before leaning forward and resting her face in her palms. She sucked back the tears preparing to fall from her eyes as she cursed at herself for letting another day go by without telling the father of her child she was pregnant. She felt guilty; there was really no excuse for her actions. She was scared, simple as that. And he deserved to know. She’d want to know if the roles were reversed.

Suddenly, she decided not to keep the news to herself anymore. She was going to tell him tonight—right now. Quickly, she stumbled out of her car before removing her heels and jogging up the stairs to his flat. She was instantly greeted by Alice and Harry attached at the lips as he struggled to unlock the door to his flat. Nicole stood in the shadows scrutinizing the couple. Alice was unzipping his pants and one of Harry’s hands was crawling up her dress as he finally managed to unlock the door and the pair fell inside. Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, unable to believe what was happening. The father of her child was about to shag another woman. She just hoped he was smart enough to use a condom this time.