Pregnant Pause [H.S]

Chapter 28

Black 

Niall was watching me.

He'd been out of the flat all Saturday, but he arrived home close to dinnertime. After exclaiming a greeting – which I hadn't bothered to return – he'd approached me in the common area where I was sprawled out on the couch clad in my plaid pajama bottoms and a V-neck, video game controller in hand and eyes fixated on the screen. Unfortunately, the blare of the music from my laptop did nothing to drown out his presence in my periphery.

But he was staring, not saying a word.

After several uncomfortable seconds on my part, I eventually paused the game and rolled my head to meet his stare with exasperation.

"What?" I asked.

His response was muffled by Rob Halford's heavy metal screech.

"What?" I repeated, scrunching up my face in confusion.

Plopping down on the armchair, he reached forward to mute my music.

"I said: busy day?"

I shrugged, mussing up my hair. "Made it to level fourteen in this bloody game."

"S'nothing. Jamer and I made it to twenty-nine," Niall said with a scoff.

"Well, maybe Jamer has no life and you're a right tosser," I grumbled.

"Yeah. Maybe." He raised an eyebrow, suspicious of my mood.

Just then, my mobile began to ring.

"Where were you?" I asked Niall, not moving an inch.

He scanned the table and the couch for my mobile, finding nothing. "Uh... first I had to finish up this segment I was working on at the news station," – he lifted himself off the chair, looking underneath his legs – "then I met with some lady who has connections to this travelling crew making short films," – he dropped to the floor, looking underneath the table, the couch, and both arm chairs – "and then I stopped by The Fox and The Fiddle to let the manager know Finley's got a permanent weekend slot in McNally's lineup and he'd better make a move if he's interested in – where the fuck is your mobile?!"

Confused beyond belief, Niall raised his disheveled head over the edge of the couch, his eyes boring into mine with insistence.

I shrugged, pointing over his shoulder. His head followed my finger, eventually spotting the device on the floor next to the wall.

"You gonna answer it?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"How did it get there?"

I shrugged again. "Threw it."

Niall looked at me like I was insane. "Why?"

Another shrug. "Muff—Misty keeps calling," I corrected myself.

Sitting back on the couch, Niall replied with a blunt, "So?"

"So I don't want to talk to her."

I leaned forward and turned up my music. A little bit of screamo, a little bit of death metal. It was nice.

"How come?"

"Ever since Fitz told her we broke up, she's been all over me. Offering condolences and trying to arrange meetups, like suddenly I'm all alone in the world and in desperate need of company."

Despite my bitter tone, Niall still looked me up and down with a cynical expression. Suddenly, I wished that I'd showered. Or changed into real clothes. Or opened my curtains to catch a glimpse of natural light.