Overnight Sensation

The fact of it was, Bryan needed to make a decision. She had to chose between having one or the other. She had just gotten started on planning her wedding (as per her mother and mother in laws request) and she knew she couldn't keep her secret buried forever. It didn’t sit right - it felt more like an uncomfortable, small lump at the base of her throat, and every time she took a breath or swallowed, she felt the pain of it.

Of course, there was the chance that William wouldn’t be able to move passed it once she had told him. If he had, she knew she could never talk to Niall again and she also knew how much of a feat that would be for her to follow through on. Not to mention, she had been texting him for a week and a half straight, farther adding to the things she needed to fess up to at some point that week. In her defense, they hadn’t even spoken about the kiss and the texts were purely friendly - save for some of Nialls swooning comments of ‘miss you’ or, ‘have a great day, love’.

At one point, he had even typed out that he wanted to see her, could almost feel her skin in his hands. He typed that he wished she were there with him and they could start again, maybe. He typed how he wished they wouldn’t have been drunk when they met.

The text was never sent, of course. And the thoughts he had typed out were sent to linger in the back of his mind. It would have completely inappropriate to send her such a message anyways. Not to mention, Harry had give him a small talking to about Nialls rendezvous with Bryan. Harry, always a gentleman, told Niall that nothing more could happen between the pair of them. He said that Niall should be leaving her alone - and he was lucky Harry wasn’t sending her a nasty text pretending to be Niall. Harry said Niall couldn’t get in between love (though, Niall thought she must not have loved William as she thought she had). It wasn’t fair and it was right. Harry said that Niall shouldn’t have even texted her. They should’ve left well enough alone.

Although Harry was right, Niall didn’t seem to take his words to heart - not fully, anyways. He just wanted to know more about her. There wasn’t any harm in making a new friend.

Harry was the only one of the boys who knew Bryan was engaged, so the rest of his friends pushed Niall to talk to her and he would be lying if he said Harrys warnings came before the others’ words of encouragement.

Liam, for one, seemed to be a firm believer of Niall needing to find a lady to settle with, though Niall could never figure out why (but Liam would joke that it was so Niall could stop being so obsessed with his own girlfriend). However, Niall admitted it would be nice to have a partner with intent for it to go somewhere, since he couldn’t really remember the last time he had a steady girlfriend, and he was starting to ache for one.

For the passed few years, he’s been settling for flings or month long ‘relationships’ that he hadn’t expected to run any longer. He wished that he could understand what seemed to different about Bryan. Really, he was surrounded by models and singers alike and realistically speaking, he could probably find a girl with a job similar to his. One that could understand what it was like to be in the spot light. And one he could be sure wasn’t using him for his money. It would be easier, surely. But maybe it was Bryan’s not being in that light that had made her that much more attractive and intriguing to him.

Maybe he had enjoyed the sense of normalcy that accompanied her persona. On the other hand, there was a small fear that whatever he (they) were feeling was just a fleeing thing. Maybe they were too caught up in the thrill of it all - too caught up in the memories of their night and the secret they had shared. Maybe that was what had made them so fond of each other.

Still, it hasn’t stopped Niall from texting her whenever he could.

Today was no exception

how are you today

freaking out. i’m telling william today.

So, Nialls stomach plummeted to god knows where, and a breath got lost somewhere in his lungs. But isn’t this what he had been wanting to hear? If she did that, they stood a chance, no matter how small.

no. don’t do that. you’ll regret it.

He hadn’t received a text back. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her, but he didn’t want to be the reason for a called off wedding. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready for a relationship (no matter how much he thought he wanted one), and if they had entered one together, what if the entire thing was a dud? What if their spark was just a one night firework celebration as opposed to the fire he had wanted?

That would be awful wouldn't it? Calling off a wedding because of a one night stand turned friendship?

They could very well just be in a moment.

Bryan never answered because her shaking hands didn’t allow it. She was also slightly offended by Nialls remark, as he had absolutely killed the thought of her giving them a try. It seemed he didn’t want her that way, after all. But she could have almost been sure that the things between them seemed to run a lot more than just a one time thing. She could’ve bet her life on it less than a few minutes ago.

She couldn’t blame him, but it stung to see those words written out, so bold and permanent. Clearly, he didn’t want to be part of this entire thing; he didn’t want to be part of her life in that way. He was washing his hands clean of their drunk night and sober kiss.

Before she told William, she had to deal with the fact that the entire thing could very well leave her alone. She had thought about it before, of course, but she was certain Niall and her had something. Not that she had needed to be in a relationship, but she had thought that she would give up William in order to see where things would go with Niall. She would have given everything she had up for a second taste of their amazing night. Because it was the right thing to do by William (by the way of not lying to him, at least), and herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt the way she had felt with Niall.

She was now convincing herself that it was stupid of her to think that - to think that Niall would have actually wanted to give them a go. He had models and gorgeous woman around him that he probably would much rather be with (and be seen with, for that matter).

Byan could almost laugh at herself, and found herself thinking that she didn’t really deserve it anyways.

She couldn’t find the proper words to describe the utter dread she was feeling as she stared at William from her spot on the sofa. Even more, he had shown up with their favourite take out as a surprise, a gesture that - coming from him - meant a lot. She was briefly reminded of the little things he had done to show her he had really cared, and she had to blink back her tears.

She started their conversation with, “I have an interview tomorrow afternoon.”

Bryan was just freshly out of school, and it had proved a lot harder for her to find a job than she originally thought. Her mother had always warned her about entering any kind of art program as a profession, but Bryan was stubborn. She had always wanted to be a wedding photographer and as much as she had absolutely adored the thought of capturing that moment for other couples, she couldn’t wrap her head around a wedding of her own just yet.

Bryans mother nearly begged her to return to school to do something more practical, but William had always been on Bryans side, something she appreciated more than she had ever let on. It made the entire thing that much harder - he had supported her.

Williams eyebrows shot up and he placed his food container down to wrap her up in a congratulatory hug. “I knew you could do it! Thats amazing!”

“Yeah,” Bryan said as she awkwardly embraced him and bit on her lip. When he pulled away, William put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. She tried to remember a time when his eye contact felt like magic, but she couldn’t.

“You know you’re going to get the job, right?” Of course he would say that - this was so much harder than she could have ever dreamed of. She looked to the floor and gave her shoulders a small shrug.

William sighed, “give yourself credit, Bryan. You’re great at what you do.” She could only nod, as she grabbed her food and shovelled a forkful of noodles into her mouth. Although William found her a bit off, he brushed it off as nerves and took his own noodles back and began to eat.

After five long minutes of an inner battle, Bryan finally stopped eating and cleared her throat.

“William, I” - she paused- “I…I slept with someone else.” She hadn’t known how to come into that smoothly, so she blurted it out. Her face turned red and the tears that were previously held down sprung back to life and she stared at him.


She couldn’t tell if she was hoping for forgiveness or if she had just wanted the whole wedding called off. If not to try with Niall, then to do some soul searching or something on her own. She was simply not ready for a wedding - and maybe that's what had made the real difference in her decision that night. Maybe she wanted an excuse to back out. Although she knew she wasn’t ready for marriage, she still had the feeling of not wanting to give it up.

She watched as William swallowed his food in one, hard gulp. He had only stared at her, a poker face on the entire time. He was always so hard to read.

“With who?”

Shocked at that calm of his voice, Bryan sputtered out, “N-Niall. His name’s Niall.” William scratched his head, and nodded, knowing exactly who she had meant if only because he had seen those photos of her and Niall when they had met. He had never thought anything of it.

“Oh,” he said after a moment, “Okay.” William didn’t know what else to say. He was caught off guard. He had only expected a nice night in with his soon to be wife. He knew something was wrong but he didn’t expect it to be that.

He took an inaudible breath to calm himself, though he was sure he hadn’t looked as nervous as he felt. He had always been good at hiding his feelings.

“The night those pictures were taken?” He asked, setting his food on the table before them. His appetite was completely lost in the grief he was feeling. He had been so sure about her. The Bryan he knew would have never done this.

Bryan gulped, not knowing what to make of his calm demeanor.

She said, “yes.” She gave her head a small nod, breaking eye contact to stare at her lap.

“Well, alright,” William sighed, rubbing his hands on his thighs before standing up, “I’m going to sleep at my Mums tonight. We can talk about all this tomorrow, okay? I- I love you, Bryan.”

It was the only falter his voice ever made, and her heart broke at the sound of his slight stutter. She had never heard him sound that way, even if it was only for a millisecond. She stood up quickly, tears forming in her eyes and shook her head.

“No, I can go” -she wiped her eyes-“It’s okay.” She made a move in his direction but he slowly stepped back, a hand out in front of him.

“No, stay here. You don’t drive well when you’re upset, Bryan. I need to know you’ll be safe. I’ll go.”

She had thought it enough times, so what was once more?

She was awful.