Take Me Home

I sat on the edge of Niall’s bed and told him all about the fight I had with Connor. I told him a lot more than I had originally planned on telling him. Once I started to talk I found myself having a hard time stopping. I told him all about my how my dad died and how I never wanted to use the money he left me. Niall was quiet, listening carefully to every word I had choked out between sobs. He didn’t say a word until I was done talking and at that point I was out of tears.

“So basically, Connor is annoyed with you because you have money and you’re annoyed with her for having Zayn give your demo to our record company?”

“Sounds silly when you say it that way.” I admitted with a sniffle and kept my eyes locked onto Niall’s white duvet cover. “And she was more than annoyed. She was so angry with me. I’d never seen her look so angry before in my life.”

“I’m not trying to make it sounds silly. I’m just a little confused is all?”

“I just-I came here with Connor and we barely had enough money to get ourselves through a week. I just wanted to do something for myself for once. You know, I wanted to make something of myself. I didn’t want to have it handed to me and up until today I thought Connor was on the same page.” I said sadly, playing with a loose thread on the duvet cover. “And then she went and threw it in face that I have all this fucking money and called me a stuck up bitch for not wanting Zayn’s help…and maybe I am.” I bit my lip and continued to twirl the loose thread around my finger.

“No. C’mon, don’t say that. You’re not.” Niall said and I gave him a skeptical look, he of all people had every right to say I was a bitch. “I think maybe this was all a big misunderstanding. She was trying to do something positive.”

“So what you’re saying is I’m a bitch?”

“No! What I’m saying is you both need time to think about what happened and then calmly talk about it. She’s your best friend, something so stupid shouldn’t be the end to your friendship.”

“She was really angry with me. She said some really hurtful things. I don’t think this can be resolved that easily.”

“It’ll all blow over. Trust me.” Niall said with a weak smile. “Everyone says things they don’t mean when they’re upset. Connor loves you. Everything is going to be okay.”

I shrugged my shoulders and kept my eyes cast downward. Although Niall’s words were comforting, part of me was convinced that they weren’t true. I was terrified that I had pushed Connor too far without even noticing. I was also terrified to go home and have to face her which led me to swallow my pride once again. “It’s late. I’m knackered, can I crash on your couch?” I asked, trying not to sound a desperate as I was.

“The lads probably beat you to it.” Niall said, reminding me that his friends were still present. “There’s an extra bedroom across the hall though. You’re more than welcome to sleep there.”

“Thanks.” I mumbled while made my way to the door. I didn’t give Niall a chance to say anything in return. I darted across the hall into the bedroom that was mine for the night. It was spacious, sparsely decorated, but comfortable just like the rest of his flat. I threw my bag carelessly onto the floor and kicked my shoes off and wondered into the adjoining bathroom.

I stared at my reflection with distaste. My face was blotchy and red from crying and eyes were bright red. I took a deep breath and splashed some water on my face, trying to erase the remnants of my emotional breakdown. However, the water did nothing but draw me out of my thoughts and make me realize the situation I had gotten myself into. I had unintentionally let Niall in, divulging personal thoughts and feelings rather than my usual sharp-tongued sass.

“Lincoln?” Niall called, and knocked on the door.

“Bathroom.” I yelled back, not tearing my eyes off my reflection. The only thing I could think of was how badly I fucked up by being there.

“Left some clothes for you to sleep in.”

“Thanks.”

“Night.”

“Night.” I echoed and waited until I heard him leave to resurface in the bedroom.

On the bed I found a pair of red sweat pants and a white t-shirt. I looked at the clothes and considered just throwing them off to the side and sleeping in my own clothes but I figured I’d take advantage of the change of clothes for the plain and simple fact that I’d have to wear my own clothes to work in the morning. I figured I’d feel at least a little better about repeating my outfit if I didn’t sleep in it.

I was practically drowning in Niall’s clothes they were so big on me, our height difference became very apparent when I had to roll the waist band on his sweats just to avoid tripping over them as I walked to the bed. I laid under the white blankets and inhaled the scent of fresh laundry. Obviously, Niall must have been expecting one of his friends to sleep in this bed. I think it’d be safe to say that he wasn’t expecting that friend to be me.

I still had no idea what I was going to do about the whole Connor situation. I tried not to think about it as I closed my eyes. I hoped that what Niall said help even the tiniest amount of truth. I wanted nothing more than to have everything blow over and go back to living in blissful poverty with my best friend but I doubted things would be that simple. I pushed those thoughts out of my head and focused on my breathing in hopes of lulling my restless mind to sleep.