This.

I hate him. It’s official. I don’t know what I did to him to make him act so cold towards me. He seems like such a happy and carefree guy to the media and his fans. But to me his is a proper wanker who spends all his time complaining.

Like now for example. We were out to lunch again. After the incident at the club we had been at each other’s throats. All we ever did was argue. We were about a month into our agreement and it had been the longest month of my life. He made me so mad. He always told me he hated my clothes, my hair, my perfume… anything really. It seemed that he hated everything about me.

I pick at my salad as he went on and on about how ridiculous it was that we had to be out together. “…you of all people. You never have any fun. The least they could have done is get me someone I could fool around with. Fucking management knew that setting me up with some uptight virgin would keep me under control. I step one inch out of line and I’m the bad guy for breaking Brittan’s golden girls heart. Sneaky fuckers. They manipulated me and I-“

“Oh my god, Niall! Shut up!” I finally demanded. I had been listening to him rant and insult me for five minutes and I was officially done. “If you didn’t want to be here you shouldn’t have signed the fucking contract. I was there-no one forced you.” I said, popping a cherry tomato into my mouth.

“You didn’t have to sign it either.” He grumbled, looking defeated. Now that I had a good look at him, he looked pretty miserable. I mean, he was really handsome, but he looked tired, and just plain sad.

“Are you-uh…are you okay?” I asked softly, trying to push the hostility out of my voice.

He glanced up, startled by my soft tone. “What do you care?” He snapped, grabbing his water glass and taking a big sip.

“I was just trying to be nice. God.” I scoffed, irritated again. If he was going through a hard time, he should just talk about it, not keep it all inside. Instead, he just took it out on me.

“Well stop.” He told me coldly.

“Fuck you. And by the way, I’m not a virgin. You are a presumptuous asshole.” I said casually, slipping another bite of salad into my mouth and chewing slowly. Niall’s jaw was clenched and his grip was tight around his fork. I smiled. He hated it when I called him an asshole. I loved doing, just because of his response.

“I feel sorry for the poor bloke.” He said finally, his cold eyes meeting mine. His stare was so full of hate, it made my skin crawl.

“Go to hell.” I said with a smile, seeing as how the waitress was approaching the table again. She was young, probably our age. She looked really excited.

“Alright you guys. Here’s your check. Can I get an autograph?” She asked Niall, holding out a notepad from her apron. Niall gave her a flirty smile and took it from her, scrawling his signature into the paper. “You two are so cute! You look really great together.” She told us, tucking the notebook back into the pocket.

“Thanks, love.” Niall told her. I noticed him watching her ass as she scurried away. Gag me.

“Keep it in your pants, Horan.” I snarled. I pulled some bills from by wallet and tossed them on the table, leaving Niall to pay for his own lunch. He rolled his eyes and placed his share on the table. He then stood and reached for my hand.

I shuddered when my fingers slipped between his. I wanted to pull away. Not because I hated holding hands with him (which I did). But because I couldn’t help but notice that our hands fit perfectly together. His hand was just big enough that it enveloped mine, but didn’t swallow it.

“She had a nice bum.” Niall commented once we were back on the street. He was walking me back to my office, which was one the same block as the diner we had just ate at.

I didn’t say anything in response until we were at the entrance to the building. “Well, this sucked.” I said, dropping his hand and reaching for the door. There was a photographer across the street that was watching us.

“Come here.” He commended, opening his arms.

“Ew, no. Why?” I refused; making sure a look of disgust crossed my face.

“Just come on.” He pulled me by the arm gently, tucking me into his chest. He was quite a bit taller than me so his body completely consumed mine. I placed my hands on his chest, trying to push away. His grip was too tight and he held me in that position for a few seconds.

When he finally released me, he smirked. “You look a little ill.” He said. “It was just a hug for the cameras.” I nodded and left him there on the street, trying to ignore how quickly my heart was beating. I made it to my office and shut the door, taking a deep breath.

Holy shit. I was attracted to him. I was attracted to the biggest twat on gods green earth. I couldn’t help it. He was so good looking, and he smelled like fresh laundry and musky aftershave. I was attracted to him and he was repulsed by my very existence.



“I don’t think I can do this for much longer, Ang. He is killing me.” I had called Angela once I had had some free time later that day. She was always a good person to vent to because she was one of the few people that knew about the contract.

“Marj, you still have five months to go. You don’t say that!” She said. Angela was really optimistic. She is positive no matter what. It was usually an endearing quality about her, but right now, I didn’t want to hear it.

“That’s so long! I can’t be in the same room as him for 30 seconds without him making some snide remark about the way I look or my personality. I’m sick of it!” Mostly I was sick of it because he was freaking hot and he thought the complete opposite of me.

“Hon, I know its tough, but cut him some slack. I’m sure this is really hard for him.” She tried to reason.

“Its hard for me too! Why should he get a special exception?”

“He’s the famous one. He is a household name. Everything he does is picked apart and analyzed by the media. Now he has to go so far as to have a fake girlfriend to make sure his reputation doesn’t go down the toilet. Don’t you think he feels a little trapped? He doesn’t even have the freedom to choose who he dates.” She was making sense. I had had the suspicion that his douche bagginess had something to do with that, but it still didn’t make it okay,

“Oaky, fine! I’m sure this is hard for him. I get that. But I wish he would talk to me about it instead of telling me I look fat in my jeans!”

“He’s really insecure and vulnerable right now, Marjorie. Just sympathize with him. Stop egging him on and fighting back. Just stay level headed and I’m sure he’ll come around.” I really wish I could tell her she was wrong.

I really wanted to come to a truce with Niall. Maybe we could even become friends. But I secretly loved to fight with him. I always felt so accomplished because more often than not, I was able to push all the right buttons that got him fired up. It was usually pretty fun. And as long as he insulted me, I didn’t want to be nice to him!

“Alright-” my assistant sticking her head in the door and asking for my attention interrupted me before I could continue. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

The rest of my day was boring and long. This whole week was stressful and I just wanted to be at home and take a warm bath. Unfortunately, it was Friday night. Friday night was mine and Niall’s designated date night.

I had already seen enough of him today. I don’t know why I had to go out with him again. But it had to happen, and I was not looking forward to it. I exited the building and saw Niall’s car idling on the street, waiting for me. I opened the door and got inside.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I asked him, pulling out my phone to check my emails again. He pulled back into traffic and didn’t answer. It didn’t bother me; he usually ignored me when I asked him questions.

“Shit. I forgot my wallet.” He smacked the steering wheel in a fit of frustration. Instead of going to out destination, he turned the car around to go back to his complex to retrieve the wallet. During the drive, I mustered up the courage to ask Niall about what Angela and I had discussed on the phone.

“Are you happy?” I asked him. I was getting prepared for a vulgar remark to my question, but was surprised when he gave me an answer.

“No.” He said simply. This was progress from earlier. At least he answered the question. We pulled up to the building and Niall climbed out, telling me to wait. I ignored the command and followed him in. When we were in the lift, I asked him again.

“Why aren’t you happy? Is it me?” I asked shyly, kicking at the floor with my shoe.

“No.”

“Oh well, do you want to talk about it? Because I think that if you-“ I was cut off my a harsh reply from him.

“I don’t want to talk to you! Don’t you get it? I don’t want you!” He snapped. The doors slid open and Niall left the elevator, leaving me behind. I had to admit, it hurt when he said those words.

“Niall! Don’t walk away from me!” I shouted after his retreating frame. I followed him down the hallway to the front door of his flat. I could tell he was trying to ditch me, but it wasn’t going to happen. “Niall. You are acting like a child!” I cried once we both entered the flat. I slammed the door behind me and he spun around, finally facing me.

“What! What the fuck do you want from me? Because I don’t have much else to give you, Marjorie!” I shouted in my face, making me flinch.

“I have never asked you for anything! You just need to get your head out of your ass and stop taking out your drama complex on everyone around you. It is getting pretty old, princess!” I yelled back, giving him a shove.

“Me! I’m the princess? Don’t fucking talk to me about a drama complex! Because according to you, everything I do is insulting to you! I can’t walk on eggshells around you for much longer, sweetheart!” He grabbed the hands that had pushed him and threw them back to my sides.

“That’s because everything you do is insulting! Everything about me is a problem to you! My hair, my life, my clothes, honestly, I cant stand you expecting perfection from me, Niall.”

“I never asked you to be perfect. I just want you to stop being a bitch and keep your nose out of my business! We aren’t friends! That’s not the purpose of the whole nightmare!” His tone became quieter and I could tell that he was loosing steam. He was still shouting though.

“Oh my god! You cannot be serious! There is something wrong, Niall! I can see that. Why are you hiding from it? I don’t understand why you won’t let me in! Let me be your friend! Why is that so hard?” I cautiously extended a hand to touch him, but he pulled away.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you. Leave me alone. Stop trying to understand me.” He was still shouting, but his tone became pleading, almost desperate.

“You are the most suborn, melodramatic, stuck-up, ignorant asshole I have ever met in my life, Niall. You are mean and the ugliest person I have ever had to associate with. You may not like my hair color, but I fucking hate who you are.” I poked his chest, directly over his heart. “So you better get over whatever your problem with me is, because I do not deserve to be treated the way you treat me.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, his face contorting into that of hate and hurt. “Call a cab home. This night is done.” He said slowly and retreated to his room. I knew he had gotten there because the door slammed quite loudly.

I jumped when I saw someone peek his head out of the kitchen with a scared expression oh his face. It was Liam, Niall’s flat mate. We hadn’t really considered the fact that he might be home since we were so blinded by rage.

“Oh, Liam.” I laughed half-heartedly. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. That was one of your worst fights with him. It was short, but very emotional.” The small smile on his lips indicated that he was joking a little.

“Sorry. I’m sure it gets irritating to hear us argue all the time.”

Liam shrugged. “Its good for Niall. You don’t accept his defense mechanism. He acts like he’s happy and carefree, but he is really closed off. He hides behind his outrageous personality and charm. He doesn’t make emotional connections-you know? He never lets people close enough. I’ve know him for years, and I don’t feel like I know him at all.”

“What did I do that made him so horrible?” I asked. At least Niall had the decency to be nice to other people by distancing himself. He was so hostile to me, and only me and I didn’t understand why.

“You didn’t fall for the personality, maybe? So he had to do something to keep you away.” Liam shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“Thanks, Liam.”

“You and Niall will be just fine. Just give it some time.”