Tongue-Tied

"Penny! I brought food!"

I groaned, finally getting out of bed for the first time that day, and walking towards the front door. Niall had already let himself in, however, as he always did. He knew where the spare key was hidden and he took advantage of that whenever he could.

"Hey, Nialler." I said as I approached him. He was standing there with a bag of Nando's take-away, and a small, but satisfied smile on his face.

"How are you doing?"

Terrible. Horrible. I've never been worse. "Alright, I guess.. I've been better."

Niall saw right through me. He always did. I had no idea how he did it, but he always knew what was on my mind, and he always knew when I was upset. He smiled sympathetically, before wrapping his arms around me. "Awe, Penny... It'll be okay. Don't worry."

"I hope so..." I sighed, tearing away from his hug. Though I loved Niall, it felt a bit wrong. All I could think of was Harry's arms around me, not his, and it sent a sick feeling all through my body.

"Don't worry about it love. Things will be okay... Now let's just eat. That'll help."

"I dunno, Niall. I'm not really hungry."

He looked up at me, as he was already tearing into his food. "When was the last time you've eaten, Penny?"

God, I hated how he knew me. "Uhmmm, this morning."

"Penny, don't even lie. You probably haven't eaten since the break up, and that's not healthy. Seriously, eat. You'll feel worse if you don't." He said seriously, holding a forkful of food in my face. "Plus, I bought this for you and I to share. I can't eat it all on my own."

I rolled my eyes, but took the fork from him and popped it in my mouth. "Niall, you're full of shit. You could eat this, and about two more by yourself. And another, after you waited an hour."

"That's not the point, Penny. Now, eat."

I raised my hands in defeat, before we started eating in silence. He watched me as I took small bites. He wasn't just scarfing down the food like he often did. His eyes were on me the entire time.

"I'm done," I said, pushing the food towards him.

"You sure?" He asked, but took in another mouthful of food before I answered.

"Positive." I wasn't hungry at all, but Niall wouldn't have that. My stomach was twisted from the memories of Harry walking off. I felt like if I'd had another bite, I would have thrown up from pure anxiety.

I expected Niall to simply shrug and keep eating, but he didn't. He hesitated slightly, before wrapping up our dinner, and clasping his hands in front of him. "You know it hurts to see you like this."

"It hurts to feel like this, Nialler..." I laughed, but Niall's lips were set in a hard line. He wouldn't keep his eyes off mine.

"I mean it, you know. I'm worried about you."

"I know, Niall. Thank you, really. I'd probably be in bed crying right now if you weren't here." I chuckled, but he didn't seem to think it was funny. He was completely silent for a minute.

"Let's watch a movie, yeah?"

I nodded, and got up, following him to the couch. I had a pretty extensive DVD collection that Harry and I had all gone through countless times. Niall went straight to it, filing through films before grabbing one. He immediately slid it into the DVD player, and I only prayed it wasn't something that had to do with love. At all. Even mentioning it. He seated myself beside me on the couch, and the title screen popped up. I internally thanked him when I saw it was "Saw". If I had to watch any movie, that was a good one. Not a lot to focus on but blood and gore.

"C'mere."

I looked over, and Niall was pretty much sprawled out already, one arm behind his head and the other beckoning me. I tilted my head. "Why?"

"Just... come here."

I gave him a curious looked as I obliged, crawling over towards him. His arms quickly engulfed me, and we were laying together. He gripped my waist tightly, and kissed my forehead.

It was strange. I'd never really been that close to Niall. Harry would have absolutely freaked out, to say the least. Our friendship was more of a digital one, talking more via text than anything... this was strange, but for some reason, I didn't say anything. I didn't move. I rested my head on his chest, and simply watched the movie.



I slammed my third shot back, grimacing as the liquor warmed my throat. I pushed the small glass back onto the bar, and stood up, my eyes scanning the club.

Zayn, Liam and Louis were a few feet away from me, talking in hushed voices that I didn't care to listen to. I had a feeling they were talking about Penny and me, but I didn't care at that point. All I wanted was to get piss drunk and forget everything. Normally that wasn't something I'd do, but I had already gone past the point of caring about myself. Penny was gone, it was my fault, and if I wanted to get wasted, I would.

The lads stopped discussing me and came over just as I'd ordered another shot. I could see the concern written all over their faces, but I tried my best to ignore it.

"I knew she was no good for you Harry. Since she made us make her bed, she was all wrong for you." Lou said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off.

"Where's Niall, anyways?"

Liam and Zayn exchanged looks, while Lou shrugged. "None of us have heard from him. We called, no answer."

"He's probably with Penny," I scoffed, staring at the ground. I could tell the boys were surprised by my attitude. Usually I wasn't so bitter, or cold. I don't think I'd smiled once that entire night, and it was obvious.

"Why do you say that?" Liam asked, and I almost laughed.

"He's madly in love with her, always has been. Can't you tell?" I snapped, looking up at the others. They all just stared up at me, clearly unsure of what to say.

"I've never noticed, mate..." Zayn mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

"I have. He looks at her like she fucking put the stars in the sky."

They were at a loss for words. I would be too. We all just sort of looked each other for a bit, before Liam spoke. "Want to go explore this place with us? Maybe meet some people?" He had a desperation in his eyes I couldn't exactly place. I knew how hard they were trying, and I felt bad.

"Yeah, uh... I'll be there in a sec. Go ahead." I waved them off quickly. They were hesitant as they walked away, looking at me as if I was fragile, about to just break at any moment. I might have, really, if I hadn't taken a deep breath, and ordered three more shots from the bar tender.

As soon as he placed them in front of me, the glass was at my lips. My head spun, and my throat burned. When I closed my eyes, I saw Penny grinning at me "You're such an idiot when you're drunk, Harry," she'd say, wrapping her arms around me before planting a soft kiss on lips.

She'd take me home, driving as I sat in the passengers seat. I'd be spewing out sentiments, and she'd just laugh and say them back until we got to the house. We'd go inside, and I'd immediately strip off and crawl into bed. She'd follow me, and curl up beside me. We'd fall asleep together, like we did every night, and I'd wake up with a raging hang over. She'd take care of me, she always did...

I couldn't believe I'd fucked up something so amazing. This was all my fault.

Maybe I could apologize, though. My head was fuzzy, but I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, scrolling through my contacts before I reached Penny.

I totally forgot I was supposed to be out having fun with the lads. I staggered out of the club, the cool air immediately sobering me up just slightly. I looked down at my phone, and pressed 'call'.

My heart beat quickened with every dial tone. I didn't expect her to answer, but at least maybe I could leave her a message... telling her I was sorry, I needed her... This was all my fault, I was the only one who could make it right.

Just before it would have gone to voice mail, someone answered. However, it wasn't Penny's soft voice on the line, it wasn't a female voice at all...

"Hello?"

The familiar male voice on the other end of the line had an Irish accent.

I hung up the phone.