Night Changes

24

It was quiet by the lake, the hustle and bustle of the city seemingly far away. The only sounds that registered with me were that of the reeds shifting in the breeze, the gentle quack of ducks, and the voices of the two men to my left. I watched with only mild interest as Niall and Louis bickered.

“For fuck sake, Niall,” Louis groaned for the third time. “You need to break off smaller bits. Giving them bit chunks like that will make them explode.”

Niall frowned, glancing at Louis. “Mate, how the fuck is a piece of bread going to blow up a duck? If that was the case there would be lots more videos of that shit on YouTube, so sod off. Im feeding my little friends.”

Niall continued to ignore Louis’ glare as he broke off pieces of the hot dog bun in his hands, tossing it into the water.  The ducks quacked happily, flapping around and splashing at each other to fight over the pieces floating on the surface. 

We had been sitting here for a while, although I couldn’t tell you how long. This wasn’t exactly how I had been hoping for my day with Louis, and now Niall, to go. But it is what it is.

After the blow out with Harry, I stood in Louis’ embrace for a while, the tears falling in silence. I had seemed to become good at crying quietly since moving back to New York, I noticed. Louis said nothing, and for once, neither did Niall. Finally I pulled myself together, wiping my eyes, and turned to them.

The moment I locked eyes on Niall, he spoke up.

“Aubrey, Im so sorry,” he said, standing from the couch. “Im such a wank.”

I shook my head, bringing my hands up to stop him. “Its not your fault, Niall.”

“But…”

“Niall stop,” I said, sternly. “Harry and I haven’t been getting along for a while. Its not your fault he freaked out. I should have told him. I just didn’t want things to get any worse than they are.”

My eyes fell to Louis’, whos face was a stern mask. It was a similar expressed as he used to hold any time I spoke of Harry, before they had started getting along again.

“Are you ok?” he asked, reaching out to rub my arm.

I shrugged. “This isn’t our first fight,” I pointed out. Thinking for a moment, a smirked. “Although, it is the first time it is me who fucked up, and not him.”

Louis smiled, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “Not fun being on this end, is it?”

“Not at all,” I agreed, huffing loudly and rubbing my hands over my face. Sighing, I looked between the two boys. “You guys ready to go?”

“You still wanna go out?” Niall asked, his brow furrowing.

“Why not?” I said. “Staying locked up in here isn’t going to change anything. Harry is pissed whether I stay here fretting or go out with you guys. And to be honest Im tired of sitting around here while he locks himself away in his own world.”