Collide, Ignite

"You could stay another day," Niall said, grabbing Reilly's hand and pulling her back down to the seat next to him. Boarding for her flight had just been announced and after spending three full days going through a wide array of emotions she was more than ready to get back to London and some semblance of normalcy.

She shook her head. "Lexie's coming back today," she said simply.

"So? She's got a key to the house, right?" he asked and Reilly nodded. "Then stay. Fly back with me tomorrow. We can do whatever you want. I'll take you anywhere."

He was on the verge of pleading, but Reilly stood firm in her decision. "And have a hundred different websites and magazines writing all about a reunion and/or torrid love affair that isn't happening? I'll pass," she told him.

The corners of his mouth pulled down and he stared straight ahead of him. "So, what're ya sayin', we can't be friends? Because I thought all that talkin' we did the last couple days was to clear things up between us," he said.

"I'm saying we can't be friends frolicking around Ireland three days after Christmas when we've hardly been in the same room together over the last five years. Think about how that's going to look. I'm still engaged, Niall. We can work this all out when we're both back in London. But until then," she let her thought trail off when Niall stood suddenly.

"Guess I should probably be gettin' out of here then. Wouldn't want anyone to see us together," he mumbled. There was a hint of bitterness present in his voice, and it made Reilly's stomach somersault.

She reached out and caught his arm before he got far. He stopped but didn't turn back to look at her. "Don't be like that. That's not what I meant. I'm not saying we can't be seen together ever-"

"No, just right now, in my home country," he interrupted.

She let out a heavy sigh as she stood up. "Owen still doesn't even know I'm here. I don't want him to read about it on the cover of some magazine when he's standing line at the supermarket. It's an awkward situation," she said, her voice quiet.

"Awkward, huh?" he said, huffing out a dry laugh. He still hadn't turned to look at her. "You make 'awkward' sound an awful lot like 'ashamed', ya know that?"

His words stung and tears collected behind her eyes. She dropped his arm and wrapped her arms around her middle. "I'm not ashamed of being your friend. I never have been. It's just," she paused and drew in a breath, trying to even out her shaky voice. "I'm going to tell Owen I was here, I just haven't yet." Boarding for her flight was announced again. She blew out a breath of air. "I don't want to leave here in a fight with you after we just fixed the last fight we were in. Please don't be mad at me, Niall. Not for this, not right now. I want to be your friend. I told you the other day, I've missed you. I missed you a lot more than I even realized. I don't want to keep missing you," she confessed.

He finally turned around and took in the broken expression on her face. His whole body sighed. "Okay, you're right," he said. "You're right. I won't be mad that you're not staying." A rogue tear slipped from her eye and she quickly reached up to wipe it away. "Can I hug you before you get on the plane?" he asked.

She nodded and practically launched herself toward him. His arms wrapped around her and he hugged her tightly for a moment. It was long enough to get Reilly's heart racing. Long enough for the familiar scent of his soap and cologne mixed together to fill her senses. Long enough to wonder how things might be different now if she'd said yes to him five years ago, instead of always saying no.

He was smiling when he took a step back from her, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. Something that stabbed at Reilly's insides. "Have a good flight home," he said.

She nodded and turned to walk toward the gate, but she stopped, and spun back around quickly. He had started walking in the opposite direction. "Hey," she called after him, and he looked over his shoulder at her. "You're still coming to Family Christmas, right?" she asked, referring to the dinner and gift exchange she and the boys had made tradition. Niall had missed the last two years in a row.

"Course I am, Darlin'. Said I'd be there, and I'm a man of my word," he assured her.

A smile twitched at her lips. "Good," she said. "I'll see you Saturday, then."

"See you Saturday," he repeated.

"Earth to Reilly?"

A hand waved in front of her face, wiping away the conversation from only a few hours before that was replaying in her head. It had been on repeat since she'd gotten to her seat on the plane. She had been sitting in an airport cafe for nearly an hour waiting for Lexie's plane to land.

"Oh my God, did you have sex with him?" Louis asked. He had agreed to pick up Reilly at the airport, but she'd been stuck inside her own mind for most of the time they'd been together.

She rolled her eyes and stared straight across the table, not so much at him, but more like through him. "You know what is so cute about you?" she asked. He quirked an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. "You know I'm not going to ever answer that question, because it's none of your business, yet you insist on asking it anyway," she said.

He let out a quiet chuckle. "Yes, but you do realize the last time I asked and you refused to answer you actually were sleeping with him. So, in this case, it might actually be in your best interest to answer the question, if, in fact, you haven't slept with him. Again."

Blush tinted her cheeks. He wasn't wrong in what he was saying, but that didn't stop her from wanting to kick him hard in the shin underneath the table. "I can't believe you're even asking me that, honestly. I'm engaged, in case you forgot," she told him, looking down at the table and fiddling with her ring.

"It's hard to with that thing. Might as well be wearing a bloody ice rink on your finger. But that still doesn't mean you didn't sleep with Niall. And by the way you're avoiding the question," he looked across the table at her, and let his thought trail off.

She continued staring down at the table. Irritation bubbled inside of her, and finally she looked up, locking her eyes on his. "I have had sex with Niall on exactly three occasions," she informed him before she could stop herself. "The first was when you and I went to Ireland with him. The second was about a week after that. And the third, and final occasion Niall and I had sex was the morning before he left to go home for Christmas five years ago. So, no, I didn't have sex with Niall again, and no, I'm not going to. Okay? Are you satisfied with that answer?" she asked.

Louis looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but only for a brief moment. "I wasn't trying to upset you, Love," he said.

"Well what did you think badgering me about Niall was going to do? Make rainbows arc out of my ass?"

He didn't even try to stop the roar of laughter that come from deep inside his stomach. Reilly stared at him, confused as to what was so funny. "Did you just," he managed through his hysteria, but couldn't go on. He sucked in a long breath and the laughter slowly died into a chuckle, and then a giggle. He tried again. "Did you just make a leprechaun joke?" he asked, giggles lacing his words.

It hit her the second he said it and she chuckled. "Oh my God," she said. The giggles that followed quickly grew into full on laughter. "I think I did." As she continued laughing, her irritation with Louis and his questions subsided. The laughter slowly tapered off after that, but the amusement of her unintentional joke stayed with her.

She looked down at the table and fiddled with her ring again. Though she didn't tend to wear much, jewelry had never bothered her before. She'd been wearing a pearl ring for ten years that had once belonged to her mother and almost never played with it. Something about the way this one sat on her finger felt weird, but she told herself she just needed some time to get used to it.

After a few minutes, or maybe longer, Louis' hand came across the table and nudged her arm. When she looked up, he pointed over her shoulder. Quickly, she spun around in her seat and saw Lexie coming toward them. Walking hand in hand next to the blonde was a little girl with dark brown hair and freckles across her nose. Reilly's heart jumped in excitement and she stood, holding her arms out. The little girl's eyes lit up and she pulled her hand from Lexie's and broke into a run.

"Reilly!" she shouted when she was a mere foot from her.

Reilly knelt down to catch her as she did a running jump straight into her arms. "Maisie baby," she said happily. Her voice was soft and she hugged the little girl tightly. "I missed you, Little One," she said, and kissed the side of the girl's head.

"Missed you more," Maisie sing-songed, and Reilly grinned. When she let go, Maisie looked up and her eyes lit up again. "Uncle Louis!" she said excitedly and reached her arms up high in the air.

He bent down and swiftly took her from Reilly. Her arms immediately wrapped around his neck and she held onto him tightly. "How's my best girl?" he asked her.

She let go for a brief moment and looked at him, a huge smile stretched across her small face. "Good," she responded simply, and then wrapped her arms around his neck again.

Once Lexie finally made her way over to them, they all headed toward baggage claim. "Was she good on the plane?" Reilly asked.

Lexie nodded. "She was the perfect angel," she said, reaching over to ruffle Maisie's hair. "Slept for most of the flight, actually. But she was really good when she was awake. She kept saying that she couldn't wait to see you, and that she missed you so much, and this is going to be the best trip ever."

Reilly smiled widely, but she had to wonder if everything was okay. By the end of her last visit, which had been only a few months prior, Maisie had been more than ready to go back home. This visit was even longer, and she was raving about it? But instead of dwelling on it, Reilly decided to push those thoughts from her mind for the moment, and made a mental note to try to discuss what had been going on since her previous visit.

By the time they collected Lexie and Maisie's luggage and got to the car, Maisie had fallen asleep on Louis' shoulder. He carefully set her in the car seat Reilly reminded him to bring while Reilly climbed in the other side and carefully buckled the sleeping girl in securely. Lexie hopped in the front seat and Louis started up the car.

Outside of the airport, Reilly took in the city she'd come to call home. But something immediately struck her as odd. "It doesn't look like there was just a huge storm," she commented after a few minutes of trying to make sense of it.

"What are you talking about?" Louis asked, looking at Reilly in the rearview mirror.

Reilly looked at him between the seats. "Wasn't there just a storm that shut down the airport for a few days?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know where you're getting your information from, but there's not been a storm of any sort in London this week," he told her.

She hummed and went back to looking out the window. Why would Niall have told her there was storm when there wasn't. He had been so mad at her when she'd gotten there and it seemed like all he wanted was for her to be far, far away from him. Yet, he had told her there wasn't any possible way for her to get back to London, meaning she had to stay near him.

After battling post-holiday traffic for entirely too long, Louis finally pulled up in front of Reilly's house. He helped Lexie get the girls' bags while Reilly carefully carried the sleeping child inside and straight upstairs to her room. Maisie stirred a little when Reilly laid her on the bed, but settled down immediately when Reilly tucked the blanket around her.

Louis had already left when Reilly got downstairs. Lexie had settled onto the couch and kicked off her shoes in the middle of the room. Reilly carefully kicked them out of the way and sat on the love seat. "So, how bad is it?" Reilly asked after a few moments of silence.

"Hmm?" Lexie hummed.

"You know, the internet," Reilly replied, kicking her own shoes off and nudging them toward the side of the room. "I know you still read all those gossip sites," she said. Lexie only barely looked over at her for a second and then shrugged. She didn't seem overly tired from the flight, so her standoffish behavior bewildered Reilly. "You okay?" she asked.

The blonde stayed quiet for a long moment before exploding. "Are you out of your damn mind?" she asked. She kept her voice low enough that it wouldn't wake the sleeping child upstairs, but was loud enough to make Reilly jump a little. "How could go there? What on earth were you thinking?"

Despite being startled, Reilly felt the need to defend herself. "Liam-"

"Don't you dare," Lexie said. "I don't care if Liam gave you the plane ticket. You could have said no."

"I did!" Reilly interrupted. "I told him I couldn't just fly off to Ireland. But he wouldn't accept that answer," she argued.

Lexie rolled her eyes. "So, what, he held a gun to your head? Forced you onto the plane?" she asked.

Reilly rolled her eyes and shook her head as she stood up. "I absolutely cannot talk to you when you're like this. Nothing happened. Niall and I just talked. A lot. And we are in a place of mutual understanding right now. I'm sorry if that somehow offends you," she said and headed toward the stairs.

Lexie jumped up from the couch. "I'm not offended by what you did. I'm just being logical. How do you think it looks, Reilly?" she questioned.

Reilly turned to look at her friend. "You don't even like Owen!" she exclaimed.

"I never said I didn't like him," she argued. "He's a nice person, I just want you to be happy, and I don't think that being with him makes you happy," she said, finally voicing the words everyone else had been dancing around. "But," she continued, her tone firm, "that doesn't make it okay for you to do what you did."

"But I didn't do anything," Reilly reiterated, even though she knew exactly what Lexie meant. She also didn't feel that Lexie was totally wrong, considering she'd said the same thing Niall in the airport just hours before.

Lexie opened her mouth to say something, but Reilly quickly climbed the stairs and went to her room. She didn't let her frustration get the better of her, and closed the door carefully, making sure she didn't wake up the little girl in the room across the hall. The second she hit the bed, her head started spinning from the events of the past three days.

After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling and trying to calm her thoughts, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened a new text message. 'Strange.' she typed, 'Doesn't look like a massive storm hit London at all.' She sent the message and dropped the phone on the bed next to her. It was less than a minute later when it vibrated.

'Strange, indeed.' his message said. 'I take it that means you made it home safely.'

'Made it in one piece. Lexie just ripped me a new one though.' she replied.

Niall's response came so quickly she didn't even have time to put her phone down before it vibrated. 'I'll be sure to let Harry know his girlfriend is feeling a bit uptight. Sure he can take care of that.' Reilly clapped her hand over her mouth to smother the giggle that followed. Before she could think of a way to reply, her phone buzzed again. 'And tell her I say hi!'

She grinned at the message and assured him that she would. When he didn't say anything back, she dropped the phone on the bed again and stared at the ceiling, wondering if she should call Owen. They hadn't actually spoken in over a week. She'd responded to his voice mail with a text saying she was sorry she'd missed his call and would try him later, but never did.

She picked up her phone again and started to dial Owen's number, but stopped halfway through and went back to her messages. She opened up the short conversation she'd just had with Niall and read it again. And then she read it again. And again. And several more times after that. Each time the smile on her face grew a little bit bigger and the butterflies in stomach fluttered around a little more. She read it one more time before she deleted the conversation and dropped her phone with a soft sigh. Nothing inside of her felt like it made sense.