corporate affairs [Niall Horan AU]

T W E N T Y T W O

***

"Does he always pass out like this?" Niall's eyes open to a pair of scuffed brown Chelsea boots with a pair of black skinnies tucked into them. The voice is deep and Cheshire filled, and Niall immediately knows who it is.

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" Niall asks, his eyes closed and the vein above his left temple throbbing.

"Told you he's pleasant in the mornings," a softer voice says. His heart leaps for a minute and his eyes open, but it's Calinda who stands above him. For a minute her voice had sounded exactly like... Elouise's.

"How did you two get in?" Niall asks between gritted teeth, his head pounding. Calinda hands him a cup of hot tea and a bottle of aspirin. He realizes he's laying in the middle of his kitchen, his shirt torn and unbuttoned and his pants somewhere beside him.

"Phyllis gave us her key. El-I know this is your hangover remedy, so here."

He takes a long sip from the cup. The tea is sweet and minty, the perfect way to get rid of the stale taste of vodka from his mouth. This remedy, simple yet successful, had been his way of curing hangovers since he'd discovered vodka with Greg at age twelve in their father's basement. He remembers a morning a few months ago, in which he'd held Elouise's hair back while she puked after he'd kissed her in the club, and he'd made her a cup of peppermint tea and made her take two aspirin for her headache. The memory isn't anything spectacular or important, but it reminds him of a time when he actually helped Elouise-not hurt her.

"How is she?" Niall asks after a long moment of silence and awkward glances between the three.

Calinda's eyes have a fierce protectiveness to them that scares him a little. "Her uncle's in the hospital and getting worse. She's heartbroken, stressed, thinks you never gave a flying fu-"

"Calinda," Harry murmurs, placing his hand on the small girl's shoulder.

Calinda takes a deep breath to contain herself before turning back to Niall. "We came here because El is falling apart and as much as I can cuddle her and give her wine and tell her she's beautiful and will fall in love many times, she doesn't believe me-because she-" Calinda shuts her mouth and Niall wonders what Calinda knows about the girl he doesn't.

"What Calinda is trying to say is we're going to help you win Elouise back." Harry clarifies, coughing into his elbow.

"Why would you want me to win Elouise back? I would've thought you would've taken advantage of this opportunity. And who says I want her back?" He can't help but ask.

Calinda's glare could kill him. She turn to Harry with her shoulders rigid. "I have to go help El with some paperwork. Could you take care of this?" She asks angrily, jerking her thumb at Niall.

Harry chuckles and reassures her, looking over Niall like he's some pathetic child they have to babysit. "Where's a good place to get breakfast in this city?"

Niall sighs. "I don't want her back, you know. You should just go back to her and marry her and be the man she deserves."

Harry laughs loudly, causing Niall's eyes to narrow. "You know so little about it don't you?"

"About what?" Niall asks, grinding his teeth.

"Love," Harry replies, his eyes on Niall's.

Niall winces. "I thought you wanted breakfast?"

"Oh, I do. Let's go." Niall watches the energetic lad bound towards the elevator, his chelsea boots clicking against the wood. He pulls his pants up and buttons up his shirt, before heading into the elevator, vaguely able to tell from the fuzzy reflection in the elevator that his hair is sticking up on one half of his head.

He directs Harry down the busy city streets. Both boys are surprised to find that they have a lot in common and that finding stuff to talk about isn't that hard. It's a little bit awkward, considering one of them is desperately in love with the girl the other has, but they make it work. Niall still wants to be left alone, but Harry is very good at getting just about anyone to talk. Harry's warmth is a little annoying to Niall because it fills up the places in him where he likes being callous and cold, and it reminds him of how easily Harry could love Elouise the way she loves everyone and everything.

As they're eating, a quiet moment of silence befalls the pair and Niall feels Harry's intense eyes on him. "You know I don't believe that you don't love her?"

Niall's chewing slows as he meets Harry's eyes. "Why do you think that?" He asks, swallowing slowly.

Harry removes something from his jacket. It's a slender manilla envelope with a packet of papers inside. "I know you knew about this."

"How did you even get this?" Niall asks, his eyes scanning over the papers as his hands shake.

"It was the reason all along, wasn't it? Calinda found them in Paris."

Niall sighs heavily. The papers before him hold the power to collapse everything around him and Elouise too. "I don't know how to protect her from this. She's good and kind and loves openly, even when I don't deserve it. And so I-" Niall's throat clenches, choking his sentence off in the middle.

"You're going to get her back. But you've got to deal with this first."

"How? You've seen everything, it all points to me."

Harry smiles slowly, leaning back in the booth seat. "Have you ever played a fair game, Niall? Because we're about to play a really unfair game with your little friend Mr. Jones. Calinda's finance, Liam, is a lawyer and is prepared to help you. Calinda has a lot more evidence and a hell of a plan. Do you want in or not?"

Niall bites his tongue and examines Harry's earnest face. "On one condition," he negotiates, his chest heavy. "I want to be the one to tell Elouise when it's all over."

Harry grins and chuckles. "Deal."

***

#mystery

lol i'm not sure i like this chapter's ending but i needed to post a chapter so yeah!

i want to warn you all that chapters are going to be really slow for the next month or so because i have exams coming up and they are literally going to kill me! but then it's summer and i will be able to write EVERYDAY ALL DAY

yesssss.

okie. question: what do you think niall did? what do harry and calinda know?????!!!!!! what did mr. jones do?!?????!!??!??!??!?!?!?!?!?

special shout out to my friend for@BritishIrish for always commenting, voting, and posting onto my wall. so sweet and such a great emerging writer, please go follow & read!!! and s/o to those of you who have been so diligent about reading and commenting y'all are too kind and it makes my day to read your comments (i try to reply to all of them!!!)

love you all-

mads xoxo

ps.- this song is my favorite (;