Hey L.A.

Chapter Thirteen

The music pounded in my ears as I entered the club. I couldn't believe I let Kendall and Kim talk me into going to a nightclub; I had never drank, grinded, etc., in my entire life, so I was nervous about literally everything.

"C'mon, babes!" Kendall begged. I crossed my arms stubbornly. "No, Kendall. You know I hate clubs. I find everything associated with them distasteful and wrong." Kim sat on the other side of me. "Leanna, come on. You need to get your mind off Niall. It's not good to be mopey." I glared at her. "Leanna, just sit at the bar and drink a bottle of water if you want. My point is you need to get out and have fun. You don't necessarily have to grind; show off some cheesy moves. We'll even dance with you some." I rolled my eyes. "Fine," I gave in after a moment, "But that means I'm driving."

"Dang Kendall," I mumbled, taking in the minor flashback while making my way to a stool. The bartender looked at me expectantly, but I gave him a "don't mess with me" look. "Friends drag you here, too?" The man asked while drying a glass. I nodded and stared absentmindedly to the dance floor. "Me and my fiancé had an argument. It involved his mother." I said blatantly after a couple minutes of silence. The stranger grimaced. "Yeah. We haven't spoke in a couple of days; his mom tweeted on his account that he and I were over. I called him to ask about it, which is when he found out about it and I found out it was her. We haven't spoke since, although his friends tried to talk to me." I scoffed. "She obviously wasn't fond of me." The bartender stopped what he was doing and looked to be deep in thought.

"Maybe it's because she didn't wanna lose her baby boy and tried to find anything wrong with you she could," he suggested. I looked at him in bewilderment. "How did you--" He laughed. "I believe both your fiancé and his mother are down on the other end," he pointed, "drowning there sorrows a whole lot different than you." I looked to where he pointed, and, sure enough, Maura and Niall were both at the end of the bar, and they both appeared to be fuming. Whether they were mad at each other or me, I couldn't tell, but I decided to find out. I cautiously walked to them. "Maura? Ni?" I asked cautiously. Maura swivelled around, but Niall just glanced at me and took yet another shot. "Leanna! Oh dear, I'm so sorry," she slurred, very obviously drunk out of her mind. "Mum," Niall warned over his shoulder.

"It's okay, Maura. I know why you did what you did. I understand. But right now, let's get you home. I'll drive," I added pointedly to Niall. "Wait. How did you get here?" I asked. Niall shrugged. "The guys made me come and I ran into Mum." I sighed. "Okay let's go. I'll take you two to my house. Niall shook his head and stood, but he stood too quickly and stumbled, only proving my point. I glared at him and repeated, "I'll drive." Niall opened his mouth to protest, but apparently either thought better of it or he was about to puke, and just nodded. I sighed as I ended up having to support them both as they leaned on me and walked to the car.

Maura lay down in the back, almost already passed out, and Niall shakily got in the passenger seat. I sent Kendall a quick text that said where I was and explained I would be back around midnight to get her and Kim. She read it, but didn't reply. The ride to my house was silent and became somewhat tense as the alcohol wore off and Niall became less lucid and more ticked off. "Why?" He mumbled angrily. "Why what?" I asked. "Why did you help me and Mum even though she wrecked everything and I let her push me around?" I sighed. "I honestly don't know, Ni. Honestly, I've always felt this strange connection to you. Your blue eyes always tempted me like a warm lake, to just jump right in. It sounds dumb, but whatever." I shrugged. He said nothing, so I continued.

"Whether you two like it or not, I do really love you Niall. If you don't love me fine. But I wasn't gonna let my as-far-as-I-know current fiancé and his mum get wasted and you end up getting a stripper prego or something." Niall laughed softly. "I love you, too. I just let Mum influence my thoughts too much. I always have," he said after a bit. I breathed I sigh of relief. Niall grinned. "I kinda wanna draw all over her face." I chuckled and shook my head.

"Are we there yet?" Maura mumbled from the back as I turned on to Sunset Boulevard. "Yes, Maura. We--" I was cut off by the sound of her wretching all over the back of my car.