This.

Angela called me into her office the following day. She didn’t say what she wanted, but she had her mad voice on. I know that Niall had tried to get out of the contract, just like he said he would. There was a sick feeling that enveloped my body as I walked through the department to her door. I knocked on it gingerly and flinched when she opened the door. She was wearing her professionally pissed off face and it scared me to death.

“We’re meeting in the conference room. Come on.” She commanded with a flick of her wrist. I dared not say anything and just followed behind her.

Niall and one of his managers were sitting in chairs in one side of the table. There was another man with them, whom I didn’t recognize. He sat on the other side of Niall and I felt my face grow hot as they all looked me over. Across from them was one of the lawyers that worked with Angela. Angela and I took seats across from them. I kept my eyes trained on my hands. I don’t think I could look at Niall and keep it together.

“What seems to be the problem here?” The lawyer next to Angela asked. He was a fairly young guy, his name was Andrew if I remember correctly.

“Niall?” Niall’s lawyer asked him.

“This is wasting my time. I want out.” He said coldly. I could feel his glare on me, but I refused to look up.

“Okay. Well, if both of you agree on that, I don’t see why we can’t dissolve the contract.” Andrew said nicely, mostly addressing Niall’s lawyer who nodded in agreement. It felt like we were getting a divorce. This was freaking weird.

“I would advise against this, Niall.” His manager said. “You’ve still got three months of great publicity left. Just think about this for a minute. Think about your most recent interview… Do you really want to break up just days after you practically professed your love for her?”

“I was just acting. It means absolutely nothing. The fucking media can say whatever they want. I just want this nightmare to be over.” Niall said, disregarding his lawyer’s suggestion.

“Marjorie? Do you agree with dissolving the contract?” Andrew prodded. All of a sudden all eyes in the room were on me. Did I agree? Should just let this contract be taken care of right now and give Niall some space? If I did that, I would probably never get a chance to talk to him again. I peeked up at Angela, silently pleading for help. She just shrugged when we made eye contact.

“No.” I mumbled quietly into my hands once more.

“What was that?” Niall’s lawyer asked. I finally willed myself to look up at him. I still had to avoid meeting Niall’s eyes.

“I said no.” I repeated, sounding more confident this time. That came as a surprise to me. My hand were shaking so bad and my blood ran cold. It was a pretty ballsy thing I just did and I was suddenly nervous I’d said the wrong thing.

“No?” Niall bellowed. His outburst made me finally look at him. I regretted it instantly. He looked absolutely livid. Even after all the times we’d fought together, he’s never looked this mad. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He said to me.

“No. I’m not fucking kidding you. You signed the contract and you are going to fulfill the terms.” I told him. My confidence suddenly surged. This is what I had missed. A good, fair fight with Niall and me. Just like things used to be.

“I cannot believe you’re doing this right now. You are the most indecisive person I’ve ever met!” He frothed, pointing a finger at me.

“I am not! You are the one that said you wanted this. Not me. Don’t get mad at me because I’m not willing to bend over backwards to satisfy your every desire. That’s not the way the world works and definitely not the way contracts work. You can’t just get out of it because it’s too hard.” I retorted, making a point to roll my eyes at him.

“It’s only hard because I have to put up with your shit all the time. Do you like fucking with me? Do you get some kind of sick enjoyment from screwing with me?” He smacked his hands on the table and stood up, causing the chair to fall over.

“We’re going to give you two a moment.” Angela said, sending me a small smile. She ushered everyone out of the room and left Niall and me alone. Once the door closed behind them, I blew up at him.

“You think that I mess with your head? You are the one with all the mind games. I haven’t done anything to you.” I told him, standing up myself. He made his way around the table and was now standing in front of me.

“Did you forget the part where you were sucking Liam’s face?” He said through his teeth. I felt my face flush with anger and my fists clenched at my sides.

“Oh my god! I made a mistake! I’m sorry! I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry! But I hardly think that’s a reason to let you get out of this contract. So you should just get over it right now, princess.” I poked him in the chest roughly, hoping it hurt.

“Why the fuck do you yell at me all the time!?” He demanded. His loud voice so close to me made me flinch a little. He pushed my hand away, like he’d done countless times before.

“You start it! Do you expect me to just take your shit all the time? I never let people walk all over me, and I sure as hell won’t let you. If you don’t want me to fight back, stop provoking me all the time!” I told him, my voice borderline hysterical.

“Stop being such a bitch all the time!” He said in return. My vision blurred I was so mad.

“Stop calling me a bitch!” I shouted. This was the loudest my voice had ever been. It surprised me.

“Stop being a bitch!” He said after a startled pause.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” I yelled, lifting a hand to smack him. I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but he caught my wrist in his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. It didn’t hurt, but I was a little worried about how vulnerable I was.

“Don’t you dare try to slap me again. It hurt like hell the first time.” He admitted. His face was still the red color and his blue eyes were bright with the adrenaline of the argument. God, he looked so hot.

“Don’t call me a bitch ever again.” I commanded.

“Okay. How about tease, slag, whore, skank-“ He was cut off by my left hand coming into contact with his face. It wasn’t that powerful because it wasn’t from my strong hand, but it got the point across.

“I just don’t get it.” He told me once he’d trapped my left hand in his grip too. I was now being held captive by his strong hands and the nearness of him made my heart race. “I’ve been going crazy. Why the fuck would you would want Liam?”

“I don’t. I never did. I haven’t talked to Liam since it happened.” I shook my head quickly. I was trying to hard to make him understand that he was over reacting.

“Why?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Because it all went horribly wrong when I said your name while he was kissing me. I wanted it to be you. I don’t know what it is about you. You are the biggest asshole on the planet. But I can’t get you out of my head.” I said slowly, making sure we made eye contact. I saw a look of confusion pass across his face.

We stood in silence for a few moments. It felt like a million years. He was still holding my wrists so I couldn’t move away. He blinked slowly as he mulled over my words. I didn’t want to say anything. After the longest pause of my life, a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Next thing I knew, he pulled me to his chest, dropping my wrists so his hands could cup my face. “Thank, god.” He said breathily across my lips before he captured them in a kiss. The kiss wasn’t soft or hesitant at all. It was brash and abrupt, just like Niall. I smiled into his lips. Finally, after all this time, I was getting the kiss I had wished for.

And it was better than I could have imagined. Niall dropped his hand from my face to my waist and pulled me closer. He scooted me back and lifted me onto the conference table. I opened my knees so he could settle in between them. I wrapped my legs around his slim waist, trying desperately to close any distance between us.

“So, you still wanna break the contract?” I said into his mouth, not wanting to pull away from the kiss just yet. He chuckled and kissed me again.

“Yeah. Actually, I do.” He said after a few moments. I stopped and pulled away. He gave me a toothy grin and laughed at my confusion. “Break the contract and be mine because you want you be, not because the law says you have to.” He pleaded, tucking some stray hair behind my ear.

I nodded and rolled my eyes at him, relived for the clarification. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to me once more. From the time I had first met Niall Horan, I knew he would constantly drive me crazy. He got under my skin like no one else and I said things to him I could never imagine saying in any other circumstance. He made me lose my mind.

Obviously he was perfect for me.