Collide, Ignite

"Hi Little One!" Reilly exclaimed happily as her younger sister appeared on the screen of her laptop. She settled back into the chair and smiled at the little girl. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Hi Reilly!" Maisie said just as excitedly.

As promised, Reilly had spoken to Maisie every day since she'd left London. Their Skype calls were not as frequent, so it was sometimes difficult for Reilly to put an exact emotion to Maisie's words. But this day seemed like it was a good one. The smile on her sister's face stretched ear to ear.

"Where are you?" Maisie asked, obviously trying to get a better look at the room behind her sister.

It had been five weeks since she and Owen broke up. Four and a half weeks since Maisie left. Two weeks since she'd shown up unannounced at Niall's house at two in the morning. And a week and a half since Niall had gone to Ireland. She had spent most of that time either at work or alone at home. Lexie had convinced her to go out once, but the result of that night hadn't been great, and Reilly had been keeping to herself ever since. It didn't take long for Liam to start showing concern, and when he began to urge her to visit their parents for a weekend, she took his suggestion to heart.

"I'm at Nan and Poppy's house. Remember, I told you I was going to come here?" she replied. A look of recollection crossed Maisie's face and she nodded. "You're at Zachary's again," Reilly observed.

"He said I could stay as long as I want. It's better than Mommy and Daddy's house. But not as fun as when I'm with you," she said. Reilly's heart simultaneously melted at her sister's sweet words and hurt that the little girl would rather be anywhere other than with her parents. "Are you having fun with Nan and Poppy?" Maisie asked

"Yeah," Reilly replied, her eyebrows raising high. "Little One, are you saying you haven't gone home?" she asked and Maisie shook her head.

They spent the next forty five minutes chatting about whatever came to Maisie's little brain. She showed Reilly pictures she drew of them with Niall, of them with Harry and Lexie, of herself and Zayn painting on walls. She made a point of demonstrating how good she was getting at writing letters when Reilly asked who wrote the names on the pictures she had drawn.

And then her sweet face turned inquisitive. "Are you still sad about Owen?" Maisie asked her.

A soft smile pulled at the corners of Reilly's mouth. "I'm a little bit sad. But just a very little bit. Almost not at all," she told her sister.

"Owen was nice," Maisie said. Reilly agreed, echoing the sentiment back to her sister. "But he didn't love you right," the little girl went on. "He didn't make you smile lots and he didn't see you lots and he didn't like to be really close to you and he didn't give you nice names and he didn't say nice things just to be nice." Reilly raised her eyebrows. "And he never made you pancakes with chocolate chips and blueberries, did he?" she asked.

Reilly couldn't help the laugh that escaped at that. "No, Little One, you're right. He never made me pancakes with chocolate chips and blueberries," she confirmed.

"I hope you can stop being sad soon," Maisie told her. And then before Reilly could respond, Maisie's face brightened quickly. "When are you gonna see Niall?" she asked.

Reilly could only shrug. She and Niall had texted back and forth a few times since he'd been gone but mostly she was trying to give him the space he seemed to need and the chance to clear his head. She hadn't asked him when he was coming back or when she would see him once he was back.

"I'm not sure, Baby," she said. "Why?"

"Because he said he would talk to me soon when I was leaving but I've been here for a long time and we never talk," Maisie explained.

At that moment Reilly wanted to reach into the screen and pull her sister through it so she could give her a big hug. It was impossible, though. "Do you want me to tell him you miss him?" Reilly asked instead. Maisie nodded at her and Reilly nodded right back. "Okay. I can do that for you. And then we can try to set up a time for you guys to talk. How does that sound?" she asked.

Maisie gave an enthusiastic nod and then before the girls could continue on to another subject, Zachary came into the frame and announced that it was time for him and Maisie to get going. Reilly didn't ask questions, only bid her sister and stepbrother goodbye and ended the call. Her spirits had lifted drastically. Something about Maisie's energy made her feel better than she'd felt in weeks. Without giving it much thought, she reached for her phone.

Maisie wants me to tell you that she misses you. She stared at it briefly and then pressed send. The response came more quickly than she expected.

Miss her too . Is she good ?

Reilly thought carefully for a moment and then typed out her reply. Yeah, she's good. She's been at Zachary's a lot. She pressed send and then quickly began to type another message. She wants to set up a video chat with you when you have some free time. But only if you want to, of course. No pressure.

This time it took a few minutes before her phone vibrated on the desk. HAHA course I would love to ! Should be back probably thursday or maybe friday . Or wednesday dont know for sure yet

Okay well just let me know when you want to call her. I talk to her every day so it won't be hard at all to work out a day and time. She pressed send. Whenever's good for you.

She waited several minutes but figured that was the end of it when she didn't get a response. Her stomach grumbled so she pushed herself off the chair and headed out of her room and down the stairs. Mrs. Payne was in the kitchen scooping fresh cookie dough onto a baking sheet.

"Hi Mum," Reilly said as she stopped next to the older woman, sticking her finger in the bowl of dough and bringing some of the dough to her mouth.

Mrs. Payne gave her a look. "I wish you wouldn't do that," she said, shaking her head. Reilly only laughed and reached for the bowl again. Mrs. Payne gently swatted her hand away before she could eat more. "How was your call with Maisie? Is she doing alright?"

Reilly nodded. "She misses you and Dad and wishes she could be here, but she seems like she's doing okay. Zachary has been taking pretty good care of her, it seems," she said.

"Well that's good then. When do you think you'll see her again?" she asked Reilly.

"I usually try to go out for her birthday," Reilly explained. "Which is in May. I should probably start planning that. It's almost March already. I didn't even realize how close it was getting. Things have been," but she trailed off, not sure how to finish her thought.

Mrs. Payne smiled at her. "You've had a lot going on, my dear, but you seem to be handling it all rather well." Reilly raised an eyebrow and the older woman chuckled. "I know it was hard at first, but you've been here for almost a full day and you look like you're feeling better. Honestly I was quite worried about you for a little while there. You sounded so dreadful on the phone. Seems like seeing that psychologist has been a big help, yeah?" she asked.

A smile pulled across Reilly's lips and she gave a nod. "It is definitely making a difference. I," she paused, "Liam had a point when he said that I've been through a lot but never talked about it properly." She shrugged. "I'm nowhere near being over all of it, if I can ever really be over it, but I'm feeling more hopeful," she said told her mother. "And everyone has been so supportive, which is really great. I'm not sure what I'd do without you guys," she said honestly.

Mrs. Payne's smile only grew. "That's the thing about family," she said. "You'll never have to find out." She leaned over and kissed the side of Reilly's forehead and then turned to put the baking sheet into the oven and remove another, full of freshly baked cookies. She carefully transferred the cookies onto a wire rack to cool.

Reilly pulled a stool up to the counter and sat on it, carefully eyeing the cookies. She knew they were too hot to touch but she really wanted to eat one. Or maybe two. "Thanks for letting me come up this weekend," she said.

"You are welcome to come home any time you want. That's what we're here for," Mrs. Payne assured her, as she pulled another stool over and sat down. "We love having you."

"I love being here," Reilly told her honestly.

They sat in the kitchen chatting for awhile and when Reilly was nearly positive they cookies were cool enough to eat, she reached over and grabbed two. They were warm in her hand and tasted like sweet heaven when she bit into one. She smiled at Mrs. Payne and slid off the stool.

"I'm going to go back upstairs for a bit, but I'll be back down in a bit to help you with dinner," she said, placing a kiss on Mrs. Payne's cheek.

"Thank you for the offer, Sweetheart, but that won't be necessary. I'll send Dad up for you when it's time to eat," she replied.

It was silly to argue, so Reilly shrugged again and slipped out of the kitchen. She stopped in the living room where Mr. Payne was seated on the couch with the television on and a newspaper in front of his face. A soft giggle escaped Reilly and he lowered the paper enough to peer over the top at her.

"Are you," he paused, quirking an eyebrow at her, "laughing at me?" he questioned. A guilty smile stretched across Reilly's face and she shook her head, innocently looking up and away from the man across the room. He chuckled and lowered the paper. "Come sit with your old dad," he said, folding the paper and setting it on the table next to the sofa.

Without argument, she crossed the room and took a seat next to him. The second her butt hit the cushion, Mr. Payne put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. She curled her legs on the couch next to her and settled against him. "How's my little girl doing?" he asked, gently rubbing her arm.

"She's," she began, but then paused, unsure how to answer his question. "She's figuring it out one day at a time, with the help of a lot of really good people," she said quietly.

"That's my girl," he replied. She tried to force a laugh but it came out as more of snort from her nose, but otherwise remained quiet. Mr. Payne gave her a little squeeze. "Would it make you feel better if I said I never liked that bloke anyway?" he asked.

This time her laugh was not forced. In fact, it was quite the opposite. "I liked him. He's a good guy," she told him.

He laughed also. "I know. I did like him," he agreed. "But I asked if it would make you feel better if I said I didn't," he said.

Reilly burrowed a little deeper into her father's side. "I would feel better if you said you love me no matter what," she said. Her voice was so quiet that she wasn't sure he would even hear her. But he did.

"I love you no matter what," he said. She looked up at him and smiled. "And I'm not just saying that 'cause you asked me to. I mean it. You are my daughter and even if you one day come to hate me, I will still love you. Even if you do something horrible, not that I believe for a second you are capable of purposely doing so, I will still love you. And I'm always on your side. No matter what. That's a promise, and I'm taking it to my grave," he told her. Her smile widened and he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, reaching her arm around him and giving him a tight squeeze. "I love you."

"I know it," he replied, picking her arm up from around him and giving her a little push. "Now get out of here so I can finish reading my paper. You're probably sick of me already anyway," he said.

She chuckled as she stood, but then leaned down and kissed Mr. Payne on the cheek. "Never ever," she said, and then turned on her heel and made her to way to the stairs, thinking the whole way up that this was the family she had always wanted growing up.

When she got to her room, the light on her phone was blinking, indicating she had a text message. She grabbed it and unlocked the screen. Niall had replied to her. Alright I'll let you know . How have you been ? And then he had sent another. Are you good ?

Between having not only talked to Maisie but gotten to see her, and her parents' reassurance, her spirits were higher than they had been in not just weeks, but months. She was calm even though she could feel her pulse picking up just from looking at Niall's text messages. She was feeling hopeful, just like she'd told Mrs. Payne downstairs. She was feeling pretty good.

Yeah, I'm good. She pressed send. Hey, can I call you? She pressed send and then quickly started typing another message. I mean, only if you aren't busy and you don't mind. She hit send and immediately started typing again. It's not important or anything.

Moments after sending the last message her phone was ringing and Niall's name along with a picture of him and Maisie popped up on the screen. She slid her finger across the screen to answer and brought the phone to her ear. He was laughing. "Hi," she said brightly.

Her greeting didn't stop his laughing. "You're so funny. You don't have to ask before you call. If you want to talk, just call me," he told her.

A small smile pulled across her face. "I just didn't know if you wanted to talk right now, or if you were with your family or your friends or somehow otherwise engaged. You said you were going home to clear your head. I didn't want to cloud it up again," she said.

"Appreciate that, but you can still call whenever, long's you've not been drinkin' 'cause that's when things start to get confusin'," he said.

His words stung a little but the sting didn't make them any less true, and he hadn't meant anything by them other than the facts they stated. "Okay, good to know," she said. "How's home?" she inquired.

They talked for over an hour until there was a knock on her bedroom door. She looked over and saw Mr. Payne standing there, indicating it was time to eat. She let out a low groan, not yet ready to get off the phone. They were talking more freely than they had in years. The weight of so many things seemed to have fallen away and getting lost in conversation with was easy again. She wasn't ready to hang up. He wasn't either, his voice dropping with disappointment when he said goodbye.

She was barely down the stairs when her phone buzzed with a text message. It was Niall again, and he was saying that he hadn't realized they'd been talking for so long. She sent a quick reply and then headed for the kitchen, where Mrs. Payne promptly handed her a plate of food.

They continued texting throughout dinner, which didn't bother anyone as they were eating in front of the TV. At one point, however, Mrs. Payne did inquire about who she was talking to. When she told them it was Niall, she thought she saw her parents exchange a look, but neither said anything else on the subject.

She continued watching TV with her parents and texting Niall until her phone battery was so low it was in danger of shutting off. At that point she excused herself and went upstairs to plug her phone in since she still wasn't ready to stop talking to Niall. But after sending another handful of texts, her phone was so hot that it burned her fingers to barely touch and she finally conceded.

My phone's burning up. She pressed send immediately after typing out the message and then turned her phone upside down on the desk.

After thinking about it for a moment, he probably wasn't going to be too upset that she couldn't talk anymore. It was, after all, Saturday night, and he was, after all, home in Mullingar with his friends. They probably had plans to go out.

She briefly considered rejoining her parents downstairs but instead grabbed her laptop and moved onto her bed. Once she was settled comfortably against the headboard she pulled up Netflix and began to browse through movies. The cursor was hovered over Happy Gilmore when a Skype call popped up on the screen.

She tried to hide the smile the was written over her entire face but couldn't, so she settled for covering her mouth with one hand as she answered the call with the other. Niall appeared in front of her and she let out an audible giggle at the excitement on his face as he waved at her. She waved back but didn't move her hand from her face.

"I can't believe you," she told him.

"What's that? Can't understand you when you got your mouth covered, Darlin'," he told her.

She moved her hand and repeated, "I can't believe you."

He let out a hearty laugh. "What? Can't believe that I've been enjoying our conversation tonight? You said your phone was burnin' up so I found a solution so we could keep at it. Unless you don't want to. Then I can go," he suggested, using his thumbs to point over his shoulder.

Reilly quickly shook her head. "That's not necessary. We can keep talking," she said.

He laughed again and then squinted at the headboard and wall behind her. "Where are ya?" he asked. "That's not your house, is it?"

"Oh," she said, pushing her hair out of her face. Though it didn't work as well as it once did now that she had bangs. "I'm visiting my parents. Trying to decompress a little," she told him.

Suddenly he looked a bit uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly snapped it shut again after a moment. He did this two more times before he finally sighed. "I don't know if I should say this but it looks like it's working. You look," he paused, "relaxed, like you're feeling good," he finished after a moment.

Doing them both a favor, she ignored the first part of what he said. "I am feeling good," she confirmed. "Remember that I told you I started seeing a psychologist?" she asked and he nodded, his mouth pressed into a thin line. "Well, I started having two sessions a week, just talking about things. You know, like, my father and sister, my mom, things that have been going on more recently. Just, everything, I guess, and the doctor listens and asks questions and has me doing these kind of homework assignments. It's just been going really well. I feel so much better in general. And then I got to video chat with Maisie today and I had nice talks with my parents." She shrugged. "And now I've been talking to you for hours which, I feel is a nice development. Things are just good."

His smile had grown to cover his entire face as she spoke and when she finished it broke into a grin. "That's good." He laughed, and so did Reilly, at how much the word 'good' was being used. "I mean," he said through a chuckle and she nodded, indicating that she understood what he meant. It took a moment for both of them to calm down but when they did he let out what sounded like a happy sigh. "Did I tell you I like your hair like that?" he asked

Reilly quickly shook her head, hoping that the lighting in the room and the quality of the webcam were such that he couldn't see how pink her cheeks were quickly tinting. "I needed a change, you know? But not a big one," she clarified. He gave a slight nod. "I did the same thing about three and a half years ago, I think. Got bangs, I mean. But after a while I didn't feel like trimming them anymore so I let them grow out again," she told him.

"They're nice. They look nice. I mean, not that you need any validation from me. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents anyway," he said.

She smiled at him, her cheeks burning red and her heart racing. "So no big plans to go out on Saturday night?" she asked him and he just shrugged. "Well, I was just about to watch Happy Gilmore when you called," she said.

His face lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Oh! Share screen!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Reilly asked.

"Do the share screen so we can watch it together," he said excitedly. "Love that movie," he told her.

Reilly, for a reason she couldn't quite grasp, was slightly confused. His suggestion was clear. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You want to sit here and watch a movie with me over Skype?"

"Sure, why not?" he replied. "You say it like watchin' a movie with you is the worst thing ever, but actually I quite like it. So what do you say? Are ya gonna share your screen or not?" he asked.

"I... yeah." She pressed the button on Skype to share her screen and then pulled Netflix up again and chose Happy Gilmore from the menu. Without another word, she adjusted the pillow behind her back and settled back against the the headboard again.

For the next hour and a half, the only sound that passed between them was laughter. And when it finished, Niall quickly suggested another movie. After fifteen minutes of browsing through their options, they finally chose School of Rock.

"This would totally be you if One Direction ever ended," Reilly said about halfway through the movie.

Niall chuckled. "I think it's comin' sooner than later, if I'm honest," he replied.

"You really think?" she asked. "I can't imagine you doing anything besides being in One Direction."

"Can't really imagine it either, but we all knew the day would come eventually. Probably the most we have left is two more years. Get out this album we're workin' on, then go on tour, do another album and one last tour and be done," he said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, but also something that sounded a little bit like hope. But what the hope was for, Reilly didn't know.

She wasn't sure what to say, so instead she said nothing and went back to watching the movie. It was kind of a strange experience to watch a movie with someone who wasn't even in the same country, let alone the same room. There was no looking over at him to see the expression on his face, no hearing his breathing during the really quiet parts. There was no one there with her, but at the same time he was right there with her.

It was nearly half past eleven when the movie ended and Reilly let out a yawn as she clicked to unshare the screen. Niall appeared in front of her again, eyes looking slightly red as she was sure hers did too.

"You look tired," she commented.

He shrugged. "You too," he told her. A sleepy smile stretched across her face. "Tell you what. Let's get off Skype." Her face fell at the suggestion but he quickly continued. "Your phone's probably all charged up by now and not on fire, so you can go get changed and ready for bed, and I'll call you in ten minutes. We can talk some more before you sleep," he said.

Reilly hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed. She closed her computer and put it back on the desk and then quickly changed into a pair of pajama pants and a tshirt. Then she slipped out of her room and into the hall bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Back in her room she disconnected her phone from the charger and climbed into bed.

She was positive it hadn't been ten minutes when her phone rang but that didn't stop her from answering on the first ring. "Hi," she said quietly, tucking the phone between the pillow and her ear.

"Hey," he said back. "Did I give you enough time?" His voice was low, like he was trying not to disturb someone. His tone made the butterflies in Reilly's stomach jump to life and flutter all around.

"You what's really cool?" she asked him without answering his question. "When you're in Ireland, or when you've been in Ireland but just come back, you sound so much more Irish," she said

He let out a soft chuckle. "You like that, huh?" he asked.

"I do. It's very," she paused for a moment, looking for the right word to describe it, "appealing," she finished after a long moment.

"Is that so?" he asked and she hummed in response. She could feeling herself growing sleepier and sleepier as she lay in bed and considered sitting up but it seemed like more effort than she could manage at the time.

They continued to chat softly. Reilly reached up and turned off the light so she was enveloped in darkness. With each passing minute she felt herself being pulled into sleep, though she fought hard against it.

"Niall," she said after nearly a full minute of silence. If they were quiet she was only going to fall asleep. She had to keep talking order to stay awake. He hummed to let her know he was listening. "Maybe we could get lunch or something when you get back to London," she suggested. "It doesn't have to be right away. Just sometime," she added in a slight hurry.

"Sure," he replied. "Lunch would be good."

"Niall," she said again before the silence could settle completely.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I've been talking to my psychologist about you," she admitted. She recalled having left that tidbit out when she had talked about it earlier but wasn't sure why she hadn't told him.

"Oh," he said. "Is that a good thing? Or bad?" he inquired, obviously unsure how to take this information.

She shrugged even though he couldn't see her. "I don't know," she answered. "Good, I think."

"Oh," he said again. "Well, good, then."

If she hadn't been so close to sleep, she probably would have laughed at how much they were using the word 'good' again. But she was drifting, and maybe Niall was too. Or maybe he knew she was and was trying to keep his answers short and simple so she could finally succumb to the sleep she needed.

"Hey, Niall," she mumbled. She was so close to sleep yet determined to say the one last thing that was on her mind. The thing that was always on her mind, especially late at night.

"Yes, Reilly?" he asked softly.

"I think I'm in love with you."