Overnight Sensation

There was a silence that blanketed the room once Harry had stopped his yelling and Bryans brain was at a loss. She tried to grip onto a singular thought to pull out of her mouth, but the one she came out with was not exactly what she had wanted to say.

“So,” Bryan whistled, “Harry’s a looker, isn’t he?”

She swore, she hadn’t intended to break the awkward silence with that, but she found it before any other thought. Of course, Nialls face drained of colour, though he tried to hide it. He was more than displeased with her comment, left to wonder why it had to be all girls who inevitably fell toward his band-mate, even if they hadn’t had an affinity to him beforehand.

Niall rolled his eyes, “I suppose he is. Would you like me to pass you on to him so you can cheat on your fiance again?” He hadn’t meant to be so bitter, but he was jealous. He hadn’t intended to make her sound like a proper harlot. He regretted the sentence as soon as it had left his lips. It’s just that it was annoying that any girl he seemed to be interested in always had some kind of thing for Harry - a few girls had even used him to get to Harry, in fact, so he had learned to be careful. Bryan had never seemed like the type, though, so he was surprised by the way she had acted around him and maybe a little disappointed.

Bryans face immediately set into a snarl, “Niall Horan, never and I mean never speak to me - or any woman for that matter - like that again. It was unwarranted and extremely rude. You twat.”

She was angry, but she was only angry because it had actually hurt to hear the malicious intent behind the words (and if she was honest, she had began to think of herself in that sort of displeasing way). Bryan was smart - of course she had known Niall was jealous, she could tell from the moment Harry had entered the room. But holy hell, it was not a crime to find him attractive or charming, was it?

She wanted to inform him of who exactly had been taking up her mind. She wanted to tell him she remembered more of that night as the week went on. She wanted to beg him to touch her again because she just couldn’t live on the half-memories she had anymore. It wasn’t enough to sustain her. She felt like a blood-hungry vampire, and Niall surely had the sweetest blood she had ever tasted.

“You’re right,” he sighed, “I’m sorry.”

Bryan had to swallow back tears and sat on the sofa as she nodded. Not only because of Nialls harsh words, but because she felt the way that they had made her sound: cheap. She had William, and while he wasn’t exciting or nearly as funny as Niall, he was stable. She was in a relationship - engaged, at that, and she had no business thinking about other men the way she had been. The way she thought about Niall.

“You know, I’m not this kind of girl, Niall. It’s important to me that you know that. I have never done anything like this to any of my partners. I just - I- we -”

“We were drunk. I know,” Niall sighed, sitting the the chair across from her. It was everything he didn’t want to hear from her. It was an excuse used to diminish whatever he knew the both of them were feeling. As if to say that them being drunk was the only reason they had felt so drawn to each other - but he wondered what was her excuse now? What was her excuse the morning they woke up to each other and it took her hours to leave?

“Yeah”- she licked her lips -“Yeah. We were drunk. and I was - I am so scared.”

That was the honest to god truth. She was absolutely terrified that she had signed away her life - and maybe that was an awful way to see it, but she just couldn’t picture her life with William to be exciting. When she thought of it, it consisted of her being a stay at home mother with three children. It consisted of dinners at six thirty on the dot, William making it home in time for the warm meal. Maybe it had been what she wanted when she started the relationship, but now she wasn’t so sure.

She had never been the type to settle. She always wanted to explore the world - she wanted to travel. And she wasn’t even sure she wanted children!

At least not three.

Niall remained quiet for a minute, looking at Bryan and noticing the world running behind those eyes of hers. He was looking straight at them, but it was as if he wasn’t even there to her. He knew she had gotten lost in the workings of her brain, and he could see it flashing in her pupils. He felt her overwhelming sense of guilt, of fear and he gulped. He had been selfish. He should have sent the ring back and left for Ireland the next instant and never looked back.

Instead, he was here, watching her hazel orbs fill to the brim with water and he couldn’t help to think it had been his fault. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t gone out that night, if he had just noticed that ring on her finger.

But then, maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference.

When a few tears slid down her cheek, he was on his knees in front of her, placing his hands on her face to absorb them.

“Hey,” he said softly, “you’re going to be okay, Bryan.” She nodded into his hands, closing her eyes as if trying to reassure herself that the words he spoke were true. But she could only see flashes of a boring, stable life and she was never a boring person.

“I-I don’t know…” She muttered, opening her eyes to look at him.

She was confused, beyond confused because she wasn't even sure if she regretted the night she spent with Niall. She should have - she felt guilty of course but as she stared into his blue eyes, she found the guilt forgotten for a moment. His eyes were calming, reassuring almost as if he was telling her she wasn’t a bad person through them.

“Well,” he said after a moment, “if you don’t love him, why are you marrying him?” It wasn’t as if she didn’t love him, its that she wasn't consumed with that love like she thought she should have been. But the conversation was turning far too serious, so she took it upon herself to turn it around.

“There were so many people watching and…”


“You’re kidding?” He couldn’t help but chuckle, giving his head a slight shake. He knew was she was doing, and while it could have been seen as a flaw, Niall understood - and he liked that about her.

“No!” She gasped, “There really was a lot of people. He even asked my parents. My mom loves him. She wants - she loves him.”

What Bryan wanted to say was ‘she wants me to have a better life that she did’. And what that meant was, she wanted Bryan to have a nice, supportive husband who actually had a job that he went to and could provide. She wanted Bryan to marry a man with manors and respect for her daughter - and William embodied each thing her mother wanted for her.

William was great, really. He surprised Bryan with flowers every now and then, he always made sure to kiss her before he left for work, even when she was sleeping. He had always ended their night with ‘I love you’, because he always said you never know whats going to happen tomorrow - you can’t ever go to bed angry. He was thoughtful, and sweet, and tried to never raise his voice in an argument, but instead calmed Bryan down enough so that they could actually talk through it.

He had even stayed up all night one day talking through an argument.

Honestly, Bryan couldn’t complain. He was amazing to her and she loved him. She really had at some point and she didn’t know when it turned into whatever she was feeling now. She couldn’t love him anymore, not if she was this scared to spend her life with him - not if she was sitting her staring at Nialls eyes like they held the galaxy.

She was horrible.

“Ugh,” she muttered, putting her head on Nialls shoulder. And they stayed like that for a long time before Niall shifted.

“Sorry, darlin’, but my knees are hurting,” he gave her a small grin as he took the seat beside her, but she stood up quickly, shaking her head.

“I should get going, anyways,” she sighed, “I’ll just get my ring and be on my way, then.”

Fiddling with her fingers, she walked to the bathroom and found her ring not even moved an inch from where she had left it. She wondered if Niall had even noticed she had left it there, but decided he probably hadn’t been around here enough. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she slipped her engagement ring back onto her finger. She did so in hesitant, slow movements, knowing full well that she had broken the promise the ring held. It was as if the ring used to glow with some sort of power and the moment she had engaged with Niall, it became lackluster.

She could hardly bare looking at it, so she shoved her hand down to her side and swirled the ring so that the diamond was facing her palm.

When she walked back to the main room, she didn’t bother stopping to say bye to Niall, because she didn’t want to have to say good bye. Not again. The first time was so much easier but this time around felt like snapping a nerve and she would much rather it happen quickly.

Niall somehow understood all that without so much as a word and hadn’t even turned to say bye to her either. But he was praying she would linger a bit more, say something he could hold onto.

Her hand on the doorknob, she spoke through the lump gathered in her throat.

“Niall?” God, she should have just left, and she might have if he hadn’t stood up and faced her, waiting for the rest of her sentence.

“Yeah?” Niall pressed, fearing that she would leave him with the bittersweet sound of his name on her tongue.

“We were drunk, but -” she couldn’t find the words. There was so much going through her mind. She shouldn’t have opened her mouth, she should have just left without a word like she planned to. She looked to the ground, bringing her hands together in front of her. There was a slight tremble to them as she twiddled them.

“But?” He took a few steps closer to her, hands stuffed into his pockets as he waited for an answer.

She smiled at the ground before directing her gaze to him, “we were - we were sensational, don’t you think?”

“Doesn't matter now, does it?” He let out a halfhearted chuckle, rocking back on the heels of his feet before standing still again. But her words had made his heart race and the hope he had felt earlier rose again because she felt the same. He wanted to do some kind of victory dance, but it wouldn’t have been appropriate. She was engaged, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

The truth was it had mattered to him, but he couldn’t make this harder than it needed to be.

She shrugged, smile fading, “it…” it could, “no..I guess it doesn’t.” Her voice wavered as she spoke because she didn’t quite believe it herself. She wasn’t as ready as she should have been to give whatever this was up and she felt horrible about it. However, Niall felt the same and his heart leaped at her hesitance.

“You don’t sound very sure,” he almost whispered as he took a few steps closer. He was looking down at her, and she shivered at the close proximity. Swallowing down another lump in her throat, she shook her head lightly, looking him directly in the eye.

“I’m not,” she admitted.

Niall pried his hands from his pockets to gently pull her face toward his and he couldn’t help the smile on his lips as he kissed her for real for the first time.