all strings attached || n.h au

part three

A week had passed since Travis came over to Niall's house to look for Kyra and she had been ignoring him ever since. When her phone came back to life after she'd charged it, her notifications were instantly filled with his missed calls and text messages asking her of her whereabouts and demanding her to call him. She never did.

Maybe she's being childish, but she still couldn't get over the betrayal. It didn't hurt as much as it did because it seemed like Travis' words didn't get through to Niall as the night ended with them admitting that they loved each other for the first time. Alas, that didn't mean it didn't still sting.

If it were up to Kyra, she'd continue avoiding her brother, but she received a call from her mother earlier today and apparently they're having dinner together tonight so whether she wanted to or not, she had to face Travis and pretended as though she didn't hear everything he said to her boyfriend.

She dreaded the dinner and it didn't help that when she stepped out of the lift and into the garage, she found her brother waiting near her car. She almost turned around and walked back into the lift, but she reluctantly dragged her feet to her car and took a deep breath before she asked, "What's up?"

Travis raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

"Yeah, why're you here?"

"You haven't been replying my texts and you didn't call me back."

Kyra held up her hands. "Got me." Travis gave her a pointed look. "We're meeting up for dinner so what brings you here?"

"To warn you." He said. Kyra looked at him, laughter threatening to escape her throat, but upon seeing how serious he looked, she swallowed the sound. Travis rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat before he spoke again. "Ryan's joining us for dinner."

It took Kyra exactly five seconds to wrap her head around that name. "Ryan as in... Ryan Cook? Ryan Cook, my ex-boyfriend?" Travis nodded. "What-Why would he be there?"

"Dad bumped into him at the store and y'know how they are. One thing led to another and next thing you know dad invited him over for dinner."

So that explained the last minute dinner plan. "When... when did that happen?"

"Last week," Travis replied. "I've been trying to tell you that he's back so that you wouldn't be caught off guard if you bump into him somewhere but you..." he trailed off because he knew Kyra knew what he meant. She had been avoiding him. "Anyway, dad had been trying to get him to come over and he'd been turning down the offer. I guess dad wore him down and he agreed to have dinner with us tonight."

"Why would dad do that?" Kyra frowned. His parents knew they split up years ago. "I mean I know he treated Ryan like his son but that's... that's so long ago."

"I don't know if you know this, Ky, but mum and dad have been rooting for you and Ryan since day one."

"What?" Kyra shrieked. That's ridiculous. Sure, her parents seemed to love Ryan when she introduced him to them (Ryan Cook could charm just about anyone so it wasn't a surprise he could charm the pants off of her parents) but she didn't think they loved him to that extent. "But we broke up."

"You know they believe in second chances. And they think he's the one who got away for you," Travis told her. "I can cover for you if you want to bail. Tell them you're not feeling well or something. I'll figure it out."

Kyra gaped at her brother. "You'd do that?"

He shrugged. "Of course. I know what Ryan did to you and I don't blame you if you don't want to face him ever again."

Letting out a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose as the anger she felt for her brother slowly crumbled and she's left feeling... relieved. Happy. He did care about her, though sometimes he showed it in a weird way. In his way. By being protective as hell.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Her brother approached her cautiously and when she didn't step away, he placed a hand on her arm. He ducked his head to meet her sister's eyes and when he noticed her eyes glistening with tears, he pulled her into his arms. "You should skip dinner if you don't want to see Ryan."

"That's not-That's not why I'm- I was actually angry at you." Travis pulled back to look at her quizzically. He had his what do you mean? look on his face and she knew she had to come clean. The thought of having to tell her brother about her and Niall usually filled her with dread but not this time. Taking a few steps back, she took a deep breath and then leveled her gaze with Travis. "I was at Niall's when you came looking for me there and I heard what you said to him and that's so shitty of you, by the way, talking about me like that behind my back–"

Travis opened his mouth to defend himself but Kyra stopped him before he could.

"But for whatever reasons, I get it. You're trying to protect Niall and you don't want him to get his heart broken but trust me, I don't want that either. At least, I don't want to be the one to break his heart." Kyra said. She took another deep breath. "I guess what I'm saying is, Niall and I are dating. We've been dating for almost seven months now and I love him and–"

Her breath is knocked out of her lungs as Travis crushed her in his arms. She let out a confused what? before she returned the hug.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm angry that you two kept it a secret for seven months but I'm also impressed that you managed to keep it that long," Travis said before he pulled away. "So you're the reason Niall has been turning down my offer to set him up with someone."

Kyra punched his arm. "Annoy the hell out of me each time you do that. It's okay for you to set him up with your friends but not me."

"Just playing the role of a protective older brother," he shrugged.

"Bullshit," Kyra laughed. A few seconds of silence passed between them and she half-expected her brother to freak out on her but when it didn't come, she asked, "So you're not, like, freaking out?"

Travis cocked an eyebrow at her. "You want me to?"

"No, God, no," she shook her head, exhaling. "Just expected something much worse than a hug is all."

"Dunno, if you're to tell me you and Niall are dating a few years ago I might go crazy."

"And why's that? Why're you so against that?"

"I don't want you to get hurt." Kyra gave her a look that said come on, don't give me that bullshit now and he let out a chuckle. "No, for real. I don't want you to date any of my friends and have them break your heart–"

"I'm offended that you think I won't be the one to break their heart."

"And that too," he added. "I'd be left with zero friend if you date my friends and break their heart."

"I'd be doing you a favour."

"Anyway, I guess I just didn't like the idea of any of my friends and my little sister doing it. It's disgusting."

Kyra kinked an eyebrow at him. "But you're okay with that now?"

"No," he was quick to answer as he scrunched up his nose in disgust. "But it's whatever now. As long as you're," he pauses to swallow, "safe then that's great. I know Niall's a great guy and he's very careful about everything in his life so that's one less thing to worry about. Besides, you can take care of yourself."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you all these years."

"I know." Travis nodded. "Believe it or not, I love you and it's difficult to see you all grown up now."

"You're only four years older than me," Kyra scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And believe it or not, I know you love me. It's kinda obvious."

"Okay, smart-ass." Travis rolled his eyes. "We should go now. I need to pick Cassie and Eliana up and I'll meet you and Niall at our parents'."

"Wait," Kyra turned to her brother. "Niall will be there?"

Travis nodded. "Wait, I didn't tell you that?"

"No."

"Well. He'll be there. Mum invited him as well."

"Fuck."