Lucky Strike (Niall Horan)

19.<3

“I’m gonna ask one more time. Lucy, will you please stay?” He asked in a quiet, pleading voice.

Lucy’s hazel eyes looked up at Niall’s blue ones in the twilight of the setting sun. She knew he was hurting and part of her liked that he was, but another part, the part that loved him deeply hated it. She despised it.

“No,” She said weakly as she gently moved his hand off her arm and gave it a quick squeeze. “You need help, Niall. You need it and I need to be away from you until you see that.”

Niall couldn’t help but swallow back the last bit of hope he had for Lucy staying and nodded slowly to her words. He let his hand drop away from her and he quickly dipped into his back pocket to produce an envelope.

Lucy looked at the small bit of wrapped paper in Niall’s hands, her face confused. Niall extended it out to her and looked up at her with big puppy dog eyes.

“Please take this.” He whispered.

“What is it?” Lucy asked as her hand reached out to grab onto the envelope and quickly turned it over, opening it with her rough fingers. Lucy reached inside and pulled out a single piece of paper, a check.

“Niall…” Lucy breathed. Her eyes scanned over the staggering amount which certainly was worth far more in American dollars than it was in Euros.

“That’s how much I made off of you, off the bets that is.” He looked down at her and watched as her hands immediately jutted out, trying to get him to take back the check.

“I don’t want it,” Lucy said quickly. “I don’t want any part of it. You won it.”

“But you fought for it,” Niall said back as he pushed Lucy’s hands back at her. “If you don’t take it now I will send it to you somehow. Whether it be gifts or small amounts here and there. I don’t need that money. I never needed the money.”

Lucy looked down at the check. There were lots of things she could’ve done with that money. She could’ve bought a house or finally attend college. She could tour the world, she could do anything. She felt guilty taking such a large amount of money from Niall but his words were true, she had fought for it. She looked at it as additional prize money.

“Thank you,” Lucy said quietly as she tucked the check into her jacket pocket. “I don’t know when I’ll cash it, just… thank you.” She looked up at him again and realized that the taxi cab driver was getting impatient.

“Goodbye, Niall.” Lucy whispered as she reached out to touch his cheek sadly.

“Goodbye, Lucky.” Niall whispered back, his hand nuzzling her hand softly before he reached out and pulled her close. He knew he was risking getting punched in the face again but the risk was worth it. It would be the last risk he would take until Lucy forgave him.

Lucy let him pull her close to his body and she wrapped her arms tightly around him, hugging him with all her might. She knew this was the last time she would hug him and didn’t know if she’d ever see him again.

“I hate you so much,” Lucy told him as they embraced, her lips pressed against his neck.

“I love you too, Lucy.” Niall breathed as he squeezed Lucy tightly one last time before he placed a chaste kiss to her forehead.

Niall reluctantly let Lucy go, his callused fingers brushing over her bare arm as she climbed into the taxi. She looked up at Niall as he stepped away from the door as it slammed, her face framed in the window. She gave him a small, sad smile. She raised one hand to the window and pressed her palm against it before the car immediately took off. Niall managed to stagger a few steps behind the car before he finally let himself let go of Lucy, watching as the taillights disappeared into the distance of his driveway and into the night sky.

Saying goodbye is not an easy thing to do. It’s even worse when two people love each other as much as they do, but there comes a time when love is not enough to keep someone together. Niall had come to the realization that his love for Lucy was not enough to outweigh the bad he had done. He had let his need to gamble trump her wellbeing and happiness. Lucy was also at fault for letting Niall get away from all of it. There were times that she ignored the inconsistencies in his stories, the late nights, or tight shoulders. She didn’t press into him because she thought she could trust him.

As Niall trudged back into the house, he made his way up the staircase and instead of going to his room he managed his way into Lucy’s. The room looked so bare now that her life was packed up and removed from their home… his home. He had to get used to the fact that she wouldn’t be coming into his bathroom anymore to steal toothpaste or that she wouldn’t be there at 6:30 p.m. to rub out his shoulders. He was alone in the house again.

As he entered the room he walked around, hoping that maybe she left something behind that would give him enough reason to fly to Boston to give it to her in person. Unfortunately the bathroom and bedroom were picked clean, void of any memory of her. He had given up hope before he saw a small piece of paper on the bed. Walking over to it, he quickly snatched the paper up and unfolded it. The paper was blank except for a few names of places that specialized in gambling addiction and two words at the bottom of the page. Get help.

Niall plopped down onto the bed, the paper gripped tightly into his hands. There he admitted it. He had taken the biggest risk in the world and had lost. There wasn’t a bet in the world that could turn it around. The adrenaline had left his body and he was left with the chilling product of his wrongdoing. Lucy was gone. She wasn’t gone from his house, but from the country, and until he figured out his problem she was out of his life.

—

Lucy was glad there was such a thing as Dramamine and alcohol. They were quite the combination and gave her the one-two knock out she needed for the flight. The last thing she wanted to do was sit on the flight for 8 hours and think about Niall and Ireland. She knew that she had made the choice to go home and after a few months nothing sounded better. She wasn’t thrilled to move back in with her parents but she knew that her family would have no problem with that idea.

As the plane’s wheels touched down on the tarmac she vowed to not think or talk about Niall. She was going to cash the check and put it away and that would be the last of him. She didn’t know what would happen between the two of them but she was determined to put him back at arms’ length. She also vowed never to let anyone that close to her again.

As she walked off the plane and down the familiar hallways of the airport she smiled to herself. She liked how all the airports looked the same and for a moment she let her mind travel back to Ireland and how it looked on that first day she visited. She stopped herself and realized she was already thinking about Niall and realized how hard this was all going to be.

Her mind was quickly wiped clean as she heard her screaming mother waiting for her at the baggage claim. Lucy was quick to run into her mother’s arms and broke down immediately. There was always something about seeing your mother that made you a little emotional. After everything that had happened she didn’t realize how much she needed her mother, even at 23. She was a boxer and a fighter, she had just put a girl into a hospital, but the moment her mother wrapped her arms around her she was 5 again and nothing could hurt her.

Lucy was glad to be home. Glad to be back in the place that felt right. She was with people who had never hurt her or double crossed her. She never told her parents about Niall and the lies he made. They were under the impression that her return home was simply based off the fight that put Molly Piper in physical therapy for the next year. Her father was the only one who truly understood what Lucy was going through. His retirement from boxing was from one too many punches to the head and he too had some difficulties with his own motor skills. It was hard to know that Lucy had done something so terrible to a person, but it was the risk you took with boxing.

Anything can happen in 3 minutes. You can change someone’s life for better or for worse. Lucy’s life was lived in these 3 minute successions and she did her best never to look back. She would never say that she regretted putting her boxing career on pause, or that she regretted leaving Niall and Ireland. She never let her regrets get her down. She had to live with the choices and change herself because of them. It was hard but all it took was one lucky strike to change everyone’s lives. Funny how things can be a blessing and a curse.