Party Of 1 (A Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 13: Nory

  [A/N I know I keep switching from third person limited to third person omniscant but I literally cannot decided which one okok. This update was late and I tried updating a few days ago but school's being a cock-block so :/ ]

Five weeks after Rory's father's death, Rory was starting to act like herself again. She still kept to herself and usually shrunk herself down in rooms, but she was doing better. She seldom smiled and the only reason for her to do so was because Sydney was being dick and made an inappropriate joke.

The weather ranged from human popsicle to Antarctica in the late November days. Christmas was less than a month away; it was Rory's favorite holiday. 

After Rory's father's death she had inherited a large sum of money, but she would not receive it until she reached the age of 21. Her father said it was to be used for college fees and car payments. Adam inherited his father's beloved 67 Mustang him and his father bonded over for years. Though he was only thirteen he had already driven it a few times.

By now the Harper household had gotten back to fairly normal. Adam was still yelling profanity into his Xbox mic, Alice Harper was still scolding her son for his words, and Rory Harper was still in her room, but now she was with Sydney. As much as she hated it, she went a month without hanging out with her best friend. In a way, it was sort of her father's last wish, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it. She felt that if she hadn't argued with her father that day he wouldn't have been so stressed, and would have left work earlier, therefore avoiding this entire event. As much as she wanted to go back to her old habits of self-harm, she didn't. At times she had to physically force herself not to, because her dad didn't like it and he would have been disappointed.

Alice Harper didn't argue when Rory had asked her if Sydney could stay over for a couple of days; she was just glad to see Rory doing better.

"Don't forget I have to go to that concert this Friday."

"Oh, right, who's playing again?" 

"Fall Out Boy. Come on, R, I've told you this like eight times."

Rory flipped her off, returning to her AP calculus homework.

"Sassy and smart. Two for one," Sydney said, wiggling her eyebrows. Rory laughed, tossing a balled-up piece of paper at Sydney. 

Though she was increasingly curious about Rory's relationship with Niall, she didn't want to upset her best friend. However, she knew if she didn't say anything, Nory (the ship name Sydney came up with) would never be imaginable at this point. 

Rory sighed, dropping her head onto her textbook. Her hair fanned around her face, displaying the brown highlights under her dirty blonde hair. 

"Hey. I have an idea. Come on," Rory said, slamming her text book shut and picking up her car keys from her nightstand. Sydney didn't ask questions, but merely followed Rory to her car. Rory waved to her mother on her way out.

After a few minutes in the car, Sydney asks where they're going.

"Sydney, if you ask me again, I will drop you off right here and you'll have to walk home. Be patient, dork." Sydney didn't say anything more.

Sydney's curiousness grew as Rory pulled into a hair salon parking lot. 

"Rory, I swear to god if you die your hair some ridiculous neon color I'm punching you in the face," Sydney warns.

"Don't worry, I'm not."

Once inside, a lady standing behind a desk points Rory towards an empty chair out of Sydney's view. She tried peering her head around the corner but with her meager height of five feet, two inches, it wasn't doing her much good.

Sydney sighs and picks up a People magazine on the table next to her, tapping her foot into anxiousness. She really hopped Rory wasn't doing anything stupid.

An hour and a half nap later on Sydney's part, Rory shakes her awake.

"Wake up, dude." 

Sydney lazily opens her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. She licks her lips, looking up at Rory. She laughs, her eyes creating crinkles in the corners of them.

"Hey, smurf," she says, still laughing.

"Well, that was not the reaction I was hoping for." Rory frowns, scolding her best friend.

She had dyed her natural dark hair color to a light shade of blonde. It wasn't platinum blonde, but in between that and a golden color. There was a streak of blue on the right side.

"Does it at least look good?" Rory whispers, lightly nudging Sydney towards the exit. She quickly pays with cash, heading towards her car. 

"The dye job is great, but what in the actual hell made you get that smurf streak?"

Rory shrugs, opening her car door and turning on the ignition. The car heats up instantly. Before Rory starts driving again, her phone's marimba ring tone goes off, signaling she received a text message. She quickly typed in her password, reading the message. Sydney figured it was her mother, but Rory usually didn't have a scowl on her face when reading her mother's messages.

"Let me see," Sydney says, already grabbing Rory's phone out of her hand before she could protest. 

Niall: i'm sorry. i didn't mean it like that. that came out wrong. 

Sydney raises her eyebrow at Rory, who shrugs again, trying to snag the phone back. Sydney scrolls through the messages, examining her findings. She sees that Niall and Rory were talking about Rory's father, and Niall had said something in an attempt to console her but made it look like he was, well, making fun of her, in a way.

Rory folded her hands in her lap, twidling her fingers. She starts the car again, driving towards the supermarket because she had remembered the grocery list that hung on the fridge at her home. 

Once there, she told Sydney to just wait in the car, she would only take a second. While waiting, Sydney decides to text Niall, on Rory's phone. 

Rory: No, it's ok. Really.

Niall: are u sure? i feel bad.

Rory: Really, it's ok (: What are you and the boys up to today?

Niall: we have 8 weeks off before we start doin promotional stuff again ! what about u and sydney?

Rory: Absolutely nothing, as always. :)

Niall: i have an idea >:)

Rory: Oh? And what's that?

Niall: go out with me. this saturday.