In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

My phone rang again. “Not now, Lou.” I said aloud, rolling through a stop sign. “I will call you back.”

“All right, man.” He said, getting the hint that I wasn’t up for a chat.

I took the back stairs two at a time and gripped the door frame while catching my breath before leaving three hard knocks on the door. The security chain fell, the bolt clicked and she opened the door.

“Niall! Umm Roxy’s at work.” Penny said.

“Not here to see Roxy.” I said, stepping into the flat and turning to face her. “Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

She stuffed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “I don’t know what you mean.” She said.

I started at her, my jaw clenched. “What is wrong with you?” I said. “How could you even consider doing something like this?” She didn’t respond.  “I know you tried to sell a picture of me and Roxy to that rag.” I spat. “So open your mouth and explain yourself.”

She crossed her arms coolly. “What makes you think I did that? She said.

She was toying with me, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Come on, Penny. You’ve been acting like a flake for months now.” I said. “Roxy’s been trying everything to get through to you, and you just keep blowing her off. It’s ridiculous. So just admit it. You’re selling our picture to The Sun.”

“Fine.” She said. “I am selling your picture.” She stepped forward, a strange confidence in her eyes. “But it doesn’t have to be to The Sun. I’ll give you the picture right now for £10,000.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. This tiny blonde girl thought she could go toe-to-toe with me? I felt my spine straighten, and I took a few steps toward her. “You think I give two shits about some picture?” I said calmly. “We’re talking about your bestfriend here, and more importantly, we’re talking about the girl that I love, myfamily.” She cowered ever so slightly, only a half a meter of distance between us now. If I could, I would have set fire to her with my stare. I said slowly, “Sell it. See if I give a fuck. You’re not getting a single nicker off me.”

“You’d throw Roxy under the bus like that?” She said, thinking she had a card to play. It was true that this isn’t how I’d like our “coming-out” to go down, but the fact was that it is inevitable that it would happen, and soon. It was only by some miracle that we hadn’t ended up in the papers already. I didn’t give her the pleasure of an answer to her question.

“I want you to go in your room, and pack a bag.” I said. “Go to your boyfriend’s, to your parents’, the steps of a church, I don’t care.”

“You can’t force me to leave, Niall.” She said with a laugh. “I’m on the lease here. This is my home.”

“Not anymore.” I said, grabbing her key ring from the counter and prying loose the only one marked DO NOT DUPLICATE. “You can come back this weekend to get the rest of your shit. Roxy won’t be here, but I will make sure somebody is.”

“I’m not leaving!” She yelled, her fingernails clawing at her key in my hands.

“Maybe we should ask my attorney about that.” I said. “Did you or did you not just attempt to blackmail me?” I spat.

“You couldn’t prove that.” She said, a smile still on her lips.

I smiled wider. “Do you have any idea how much money I have? How many people I know?” A few more inches and we’d be touching noses. “I wouldn’t need to prove a fucking thing. Now pack your goddamned bag, I want you long gone by the time she gets home.”

She sucked a breath in loudly through her teeth. “Fine.” She said, and headed into her room. “I was trying to make this easy on Roxy, but I guess you just don’t care.” I didn’t even acknowledge the comment and sat down on the couch, my head in my hands once she was out of sight.

A few minutes later, she emerged, rolling a small suitcase along the hardwood. I stood. “I hope you know that this is going to break Roxy’s heart. She loves you, Penny, and you’ve betrayed her.”

She turned, her hand on the doorknob. “Then I suggest you keep this all to yourself, Niall. Otherwise, it will be you with the dirty hands, you’ll be the one breaking her heart.”

And with that the door closed behind her, and I sat back down on the couch. It would be an hour before Roxy returned to what was left of her home. I laid back and closed my eyes, trying to find the words to explain.

Roxy’s POV

I put my key into the lock but it didn’t turn over. The door to my apartment was unlocked, and my heart picked up pace as I turned the handle. Penny may be a bit of a slob, but she was definitely OCD about locking doors.

“Oh, Niall.” I said, relieved once I saw the Supras dangling of the edge of the couch. “I was afraid we’d been broken into or something. Penny never leaves…” I realized he’d been sleeping . He rubbed his eyes and glanced at his watch. I lowered my voice. “Sorry. Long day?” I set my bag down on the chair and kicked off my heels. “Hey Pen.” I said as I turned on the tap to fill the kettle. I glanced into Penny’s bedroom. “Where’d she go?” I said. I realized that Niall hadn’t yet said a single word. “Ni?”

He stayed seated on the couch and patted his thigh. “Sit with me.” he said.