It was the day before the fight, and I hadn’t seen Niall for the past two days.
It was like he had completely disappeared and left me to figure out exactly where the fight was, what time it was, and actually pay the bogus price to get in. I only know it was bogus because Nicole called to tell me the price. So here I was, laying on my floor, debating calling him and cursing him out. I glared at my fan as if it were actually him, going over the scene in my head when I ripped him a new one. But when my phone started to blare the obscenely loud and obnoxious ring tone that made my heart flutter, all traces of anger left me. I rolled over faster than I ever have in my life, getting to my knees to swipe the phone off of the entertainment center. I answered the call, breathing out a ‘hello’.
“Hey, Bleu. I’m calling about my fight tomorrow.” There was some loud music in the background, and an awful lot of chatter.
“Um, yeah. You wanted me to come, right?”
“Of course.” His voice dropped, and I tried to ignore it. “But I need to talk to you about that. Can you leave tonight?”
“What, why?” Now I was confused.
“Because it’s in a city about three hours away from here.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Um, excuse me?”
“Yeah. I’m going to be heading down around seven, so we’ll get there about ten, eleven o’clock.”
“Niall, it didn’t occur to you to maybe tell me this a little sooner?”
“Well, no not really. I didn’t think it’d be much of a problem.” He sounded a bit annoyed, like I had interrupted him from something, which irritated me because he was the one to call.
“Okay, whatever. Just, pick me up. Call before you do, you jackass.” I said, clicking the end button before I realized what I had done.
I sighed, dropping my head into my hands. I was beginning to get frustrated with him, not understanding if I had done something wrong and just wanting to fix it in case I had. But when he pulled stunts like this, well, that just pissed me off. And so I rose to my feel, knowing that it was only two hours until seven o’clock and I was supposed to have everything ready to go before then. I grumbled to myself, jogging down the hall and toting an overnight bag out of the closet. I grabbed my tight skinny jeans and a sports t-shirt from the Irish football team-I loved football, really- and shoved them in my bag. I walked over to my drawers, and rifled through, a blush creeping onto my cheeks when I saw what I had stowed away in the back, buried underneath everything.
It was a set of two pairs of gaudy looking underwear that Nicole had bought me for my birthday when we went clubbing. I hadn’t even worn them, knowing I had no use for them then, but now…I didn’t want to think about that. I looked away, looking for other things, but the lace kept catching my eye, and in spite of myself, I grabbed both the white and red pairs, tucking the white ones away under my clothes for tomorrow. I left the red ones out and snatched a towel, blushing as I went into the bathroom to shower.
At fifteen minutes to seven, I was dressed, the red underwear hidden safely underneath the button up, black shirt and tight jeans I wore. I pulled on my boots, my semi-damp hair hanging in front of my face. My bag sat my the door, and I double-checked to make sure that I had everything I needed. I was doing a walk through to lock all of the windows and doors when a very loud knock reverberated through my house. My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him, and my feet quickly shuffled over to the foyer. When I pulled it open, he stood with his sunglasses on and one hand shoved in his jeans pocket. His mouth was set in a thin line, but the look on his face softened when he saw me standing there with a tentative half-smile touching my features.
“Hi, Ni.” I said, opening the door wider for him to step inside. His boots clonked on the hardwood, and he lifted his shades to reveal a set of hardened cerulean blue eyes.
“Bleu.” He caught my waist with his free hand, bringing me close enough to dip his head brush his lips over my own. He pulled away, and it was over before I could’ve even blinked. “Ready to go?” He asked, his voice deeper and more…menacing than before.
“Um, yeah.” I said, reaching up to push my bangs back before I bent over to retrieve my bag. I straightened up, and Niall had his sunglasses pulled down again, and I couldn’t tell if he was even looking at me. My smile faltered, and I brushed past him to step onto the porch.
When he’d followed me, I reached behind him to slam the door and check that it was locked, surprised at the fact that he’d jumped a little. I stomped down the porch steps, letting my anger become obvious and get the best of me. “Bleu.” He warned as I stormed down the pathway to where his Range was parked.
“What?” I spat, rounding on him.
“Don’t be angry at me.”
“I’m not angry.” I said, turning and continuing on down to the car. Seconds later, Niall was beside me, opening the door before I could put a hand on it. I grumbled my thanks, throwing my bag into the only open space in the backseat that wasn’t occupied by Niall’s gear. He climbed into the drivers seat and we clicked out seat belts into place, pulling away from the curb. When he opened his mouth to speak, I reached out and turned up music that neither one of us knew, but he clenched in jaw and complied to the not-so-silent treatment I was giving him.
*********
We pulled into a giant parking lot of an even bigger stadium at around ten-fifteen, and my eyes grew wide. “This is where you’ll be fighting?” It was the first thing I’d said to him the whole trip, and he nodded, sunglasses concealing his eyes even though it was nearly pitch black outside. I shrugged, unbuckling my seatbelt before I opened the door. I immediately shut it, the chill blast enough to make the hairs stand up on my arms. Niall sat in his seat with the door open, and I turned to look at him. He finally turned to stare at me, giving me an incredulous look.
“Are you getting out?” He asked, his door wide open and anther chill blast making me shiver.
“Um, it’s cold. Do you-do you have a jacket I can borrow?” I asked, and I thought I saw a hint of a smile on his lips for the first time that night.
He climbed out, and a second later the backdoor was open and he’d pulled the zipper down on his gym bag. He rifled through it, dragging out a red sweatshirt before he shut the door and came around to my side. When he opened my door, he had the shirt ready to be slipped over my head. I wiggled my arms in the holes, breathing in the smell of him without all the cologne and wares of the day.
“Sorry if it smells like sweat. It was in my gym bag with my gloves and stuff.” He said, offering me his hand. I intertwined our fingers, which I don’t think he expected, and slid from the seat and onto the pavement beside him. He let our hands fall between us, and it just felt right.
“No, it’s okay. It smells like you.” I said sheepishly, pulling my long hair out to fall around my shoulders. He tried to hold back the smirk that made his lips twitch, staring straight ahead as a blast of chilly wind hit us. While he didn’t flinch, I shrunk into his side, cowering away.
Before we walked into the doors of the arena, he spoke, “You’re going to meet a lot of people. I won’t be too far away, if I even leave you at all, but they’re going to say…things. Just ignore them, okay, Baby.” His voice was husky, lazy, almost like he hadn’t slept in a long, long time.
“O-okay.” I replied, and then he pulled the door open and a blast of warm air hit me. It felt like heaven, and so I eagerly slipped inside, pulling Niall with me. He took the lead, which I was grateful for, navigating a few hallways until the distant sound of chatter could be heard. As we got closer the noise got louder, and I was beginning to think ‘a lot of people’ was an understatement.
I was right. There were tons. I was quite surprised that they were all here to just prepare for the fight between two men, because surely there need not be this many people. But as soon as Niall walked in, everyone turned to us and began to talk louder, some beginning to crowd us. I clutched Niall’s hand tighter as he fought to get us through, and when I heard a familiar voice, I was so relieved I could have jumped up and down, but I was just focused on getting away from everyone. And so when Nixon led us through to a clearing where there were tables and the guys from the gym that I recognized, I sighed in relief. Niall let my hand go as soon as we got over there, and I stepped around him to hug Nixon. “Hey, Love.”
“Hey.”
“How was the drive?” He asked the two of us as I stepped back to stand beside Niall.
“It was…uneventful.” Niall said, and I rolled my eyes at his choice of word.
“Yeah. Pretty quiet.” Nixon was looking between the two of us with what looked to be bemusement, and I wanted to punch Niall. I just didn’t understand how he could do this; how he could push me away like that only to bring me close, all before he did it again!
“Well, Niall, I need you to come over here with me. You’ll be alright, yeah, Bleu?” He asked, and I nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll go talk to Vic or someone-” Right as I said that, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turned, finding a tall blonde with pretty green eyes and quite a bust. “Hi, Tammy Burk. You’re Bleu Rochester, correct?” She asked, sticking out her hand. I shook it, baffled at how much she was smiling and wondering how that didn’t hurt her.
“Um, yes. I am.”
“Good to meet you. I’m here to ask a few questions about Niall. Do you think you could answer those for me?” She asked, giving me a crooked smirk with something that I could almost say was mockery.
“Yeah, I might be able to.”
“Good. So, Niall. He did win his last fight, correct?” She asked, pen poised on her pad to write.
My mind flashed back to the night, and I almost cringed. “Yeah, he did. It was a KO.” I twisted my fingers as she jotted something down.
“Hm. His trainer is Nixon Greens, at the gym called Troid, correct?”
“That sounds about right.”
“And you’re both from Mullingar, Ireland?”
“No, only Niall. I’m from Scotland, but Irish descendant.” Niall and I had never really discussed this, he only knew that I was in fact Irish. It was weird being Irish and living in Scotland-I never did understand that.
“Oh, so you haven’t known each other for long?” She asked, that mocking edge back to her voice. I crossed my arms over my chest, becoming agitated.
“No, we haven’t. Only for about…a month and a half.” That was strange to think.
“And you’re not…together.” There was a twinkle in her eye that I didn’t appreciate.
“No, we’re not.” I was skeptical in my words, not wanting to say anything too revealing.
“So, you don’t live together.” Okay, where is this coming from?
“Don’t you think that’s kind of personal?” I snapped, and she glared.
“I’m just a reporter.”
“Yeah, and you don’t need to know about our personal lives. If you can’t appreciate the fight, and only want to find out if they have a girlfriend, then you don’t need to be in this profession.” I honestly didn’t care who heard me now, and judging my how many people had turned to look, it was a good thing.
Her face immediately flushed and she clenched her jaw. I was fuming, not willing to put up with a strangers attitude if I already had to deal with Niall’s all weekend. “I think it’s out of line for you to tell me how to do my job.” She retorted, and I unfolded my arms.
“And I think it’s out of line for you to ask obnoxious question like that.” She glared even more, a scowl on her pretty face.
“I think you need to toughen up and not get your feeling hurt.” She was now looking at me as if she had come up with the greatest response in the world, as if she’d won.
“Excuse me? You’re the one meddling in people’s lives and getting away with it. Regardless of the fact that you asked about his girlfriend, and my personal life with him, if it had been anything else I would have said the exact same thing to you. I’m not getting my feelings hurt, you just need some tact.” I could hear Vic and Ethan calling for me, but I was ignoring them.
“I’m a reporter. I don’t have tact.”
“Want me to show you some?” I asked, and she squeaked when I rushed her, but before I knew it I was being hauled away by two very strong guys.
Vic and Ethan sat me down on the table with a thump, immediately stepping in front of me and blocking my view of the blonde. Vic crossed his arms over his chest, glaring slightly at me, for which I had no clue. Ethan plopped down beside me, shaking his head. “What?” I snapped, offended at the fact that they thought I had done something wrong.
“Bleu…” Ethan started, then hung his head and ran a hand over his face. “You can’t just go off on people like that.” My mouth dropped open and I stared at him.
“Um, yes, I can! She was being a-”
“Reporter. Bleu, that’s just what she does. She’s probably one of the top in this system, and while you may not like what she does, she was only asking you those things to get under your skin. She and Niall have a…history.” I knew the pain had flashed across my face before I could stop it, and I wrapped my arms around myself. “But Bleu, you need to understand that he never, ever pursued her. Quite frankly, if she wasn’t so powerful, he would have done the same exact thing you did a long time ago.”
A smile crept it’s way on Ethan’s face, but I hung my head. “But she was really annoying. And…” I didn’t want to spill the fact that Niall was acting like an arse to me to his friends, so I just shook my head. “She could have asked me anything else and I would have been fine. But that was out of line.” Ethan shrugged. “Maybe, but you have to let it slide.”
I huffed. “Fine.”
As people came and went, it got later and later, and I got more and more tired. I hadn’t seen Niall at all, unlike what he promised, but I suspected he could see me. But like he said, I did meet a lot of people, some more pleasant than others. It wasn’t necessarily what they said to me, but more of the fact that they were giving me certain looks, as if they couldn’t believe Niall picked me. I never actually got to hear their opinions on me, because as they opened their mouths to say something, Vic, Ethan, or one of the other guys would capture their attention and haul them away from me. I was beginning to become very, very bored, but that’s when Charlie-I was surprised to see him-came over bearing gifts.
“Food!” I said, gratefully accepting the sandwich he offered me. I took the soda as well, tearing into and ignoring the stares the guys were giving me. Charlie had a disgusted look on his face that I would have laughed at any other time, but at this point I didn’t care.
“Anyways, here are the jersey’s boys. You can thank Nixon.” He said, handing the bag to Ethan, who grinned at Vic.
“Thanks, Charlie.” I mumbled before sipping on the Dr. Pepper. Niall must have told them that I was addicted to it. He waved my thanks away, accepting my hug when I extended my arms.
“Have fun doing nothing.” He said, winking at the rest of the guys that had been around me all night.
“We’ve actually been pretty occupied, you know, making sure she doesn’t kill anyone.” Vic said, and I slapped his arm, making the rest laugh. He chuckled, pulling out different shirts and his eyes glittering. They were all black, orange, red, and yellow, the pattern arranged into…well, something that looked like fire, but so much better. It was like a football jersey, only it had the name ‘Horan’ printed on the back, and on the front was the gym name and logo, and a few sponsors. There was one that was considerably smaller than the others, and Vic picked it up, holding it out to me. “This one’s yours.” I grabbed it, holding it out in front of me.
“Hot damn.” I mumbled under my breath, and they all laughed.
A short time later, Niall came storming out of the crowd, eyes narrowed and fixated on me. “Hey, Niall-” The guys greeted, but he shook his head, coming to a halt in front of me.
“Niall!” I heard Nixon’s voice sternly call, and when I looked over Niall’s shoulder, he was fighting the crowd.
“Let’s go.” He said, and I asked no questions, only reached down to retrieve the sweatshirt I’d taken off early. I heard a sharp intake of breath above me, and Niall snatched me up as soon as I’d grabbed it.
“What-” I began to protest, but all of the guys were staring at me, flushed faces. He began to haul me away before anyone could stop us, trucking it until we arrived at his Range.
I was a shivering mess as he clicked his keys, unlocking the car. “Ouch! Niall!” I reprimanded, yanking my arm out of his grasp.
He rounded on me, nostrils flaring and eyes wide. “Are you trying to piss me off?” He nearly shouted, and I froze on the spot, shocked that he was so…angry.
“N-no. What did I do?” I asked, cursing the stutter in my voice. He expelled a breath, thumping his forehead on the glass of the bar.
“I heard about your little…fiasco, with Tammy. That was out of line.” I looked away from him, clenching my jaw and biting back the words I wanted to yell at him. My eyes started to heat up with all the frustration, a lump in my throat. “And when you bent over-why in the hell did you do that?” He was mad because I was bending over?
“I got the sweatshirt!” Remembering the thing that was not currently keeping me warm, a shiver racked my body.
“Well, you could see everything!” He fired back, his fists clenching.
“See what?” I screamed. That’s when he took my breath away.
He reached out, grabbing my hips and spinning so I was forced against the cool metal of the car by his body, his hands lifting my legs up so that I was obligated to wrap them around his waist so I wouldn’t fall. I gasped, his body putting so much pressure on mine that it was hard to breathe correctly. He pulled away a bit, enough to let his hand slip up in between us. My breath hitched and I refused to look in his eyes as they darted down, his long index pushing aside the material of my shirt to expose my cleavage-and the red lace bra that I wore. When I shivered, I couldn’t tell if it was from the fact that it was cold, that Niall was actually paying attention to me, or the fact that the tip of his finger was moving lightly over my breast. My hands were placed on his shoulders, keeping me more steady than anything else.
“While I love this on you, I don’t appreciate the fact that everyone else got to see it.” His voice was deep and dark and husky, still not looking at me. “Did you do that on purpose?” His tone was accusatory, humiliating and mean.
“No!” I cried, frustrated at the fact that he actually thought I did it on purpose. “I did it for you!” I admitted, shoving him with all the strength I could gather up, Either it was unexpected, or I had pushed him harder than I thought, because he stumbled back, allowing me to drop onto my feet. Without a second thought about what I was doing, I shoved his chest again.
“You’re being ridiculous.” He growled, and I stared at him incredulously.
“Excuse me? You’re the one that’s accusing me of flaunting my body when you know how I feel about that!” His mouth snapped shut and his eyes cleared with realization that he should lay off.
“Bleu-” His voice was softer, almost apologetic, but Id had enough.
“Save it, Niall. I don’t have time to listen to you accuse me of being a whore.” His eyes blazed, and I almost regretted saying that.
“I would never do that, Bleu. I was just upset because this is way too stressful right now. We have to go find a decent place to stay because they messed up the rooms, and I don’t need to be watching out for your every move. I can’t watch you the whole time to make sure you’re fine.”
“Then stop trying to baby-sit me!”
“It’s not that easy!” He raised his voice, and my heartbeat quickened. The red in his cheeks deepened, and I knew I was already flushed.
“I’m not a child!”
“You’re acting like one.” He spat, and I almost screamed in frustration. His words hurt, and I was done trying to fight with him. I hung my head, reaching for the door handle.
“Can we just go?” I asked my voice betraying me and shaking. He sighed as I climbed in, rounding the front before climbing in. I stared out my window, ignoring anything he could possible say to me.
************
To say where we’re staying is sleazy would be an understatement. I half-expected a prostitute to come with the room, but we were both agitated, it was cheap, and it was late. We wanted to stop, mainly because there was almost another argument in the car before we got here. And then to top it all off, it had begun to rain. Niall swung into a parking spot, close enough to the door but I knew we’d be soaked before we stepped foot into the motel. Niall grabbed his bag, and I grabbed mine, then we made a break for it.
Sopping wet, we made our way into a motel that was dimly lit and smelled like what I suspected a strip joint would. Neither one of us looked at each other as we approached the counter, the lady at the front looking up because of the squeak of my shoes. Niall’s sweatshirt hung damp off of my shoulders, my hair soaking the fabric in the back. We stopped and she stared at us, me shivering from the rain.
“We need your best room.” He said, and she rolled her heavily lined eyes.
“That’s what they all say, hon.” Her voice was like honey, sweet and golden. Niall said nothing, only pulled out his wallet and chose a few bills before throwing them on the counter. I didn’t want to know how much he had just given that lady for a room that probably was a crime scene. But she cleared her throat, looking through a computer at the bookings. “One bed or two?”
“Two.” I spat before thinking, and Niall shoved me behind him, clenching his jaw.
“Is one cheaper?” She nodded, and he blinked. “Then one, please.” I scoffed, glaring at his back.
“Okay. Here you go. Enjoy your stay.” She said, handing him a room key. He nodded, leading the way down a dim hallway.
He slid the key in the door, kicking it open when the light flashed green. I looked around, seeing a big bed in the center of the room, a TV, and a few tables and chairs. I sighed, following him in and tossing my bed down on the bed. He shut the door, setting his bag down on the table and turning his back to me. I unzipped mine angrily, searching for the pair of pajamas I’d packed, pulling them out and regretting that I’d chosen shorts and a tank top. I sighed, grabbing them and heading to the bathroom. When I looked out of the corner of my eye, Niall was turning in the same direction, his eyes locking with mine. I didn’t even stop, only continued, flipping the light on. I left him to change in the room. I heard a thump, and figured he was getting as frustrated as I felt.
Minutes later I was in the bed, clad in my shorts and Niall’s sweatshirt, shivering. He plugged his phone up right beside the bed, sitting on the edge. “Nixon will probably call in a couple hours. He said he was working out the sleeping arrangements, so we’ll leave in a while. Sleep until then.”
I didn’t reply, only turned on my side, curling up in a ball and trying to stop shuddering. He sighed, reaching over and clicking off the lamp. He climbed under the covers, reaching for me. As he began to haul me into his body, I fought him off.
“Don’t touch me.” I spat quietly, and he stilled, retracting his arm. When I felt how warm he was, I was beginning to regret telling him to get away from me. So I laid there, shivering more and more as the time went on. Niall had turned away from me, but when my teeth started chattering,
I felt him flip over. “Bleu, come here.” He said, and when I didn’t budge, he dragged me into him unwillingly. But as soon as I felt the temperature difference, I shrunk into his embrace. “Christ, Bleu, you’re freezing.” He said, intertwining my bare legs with his jogger-clad ones. His big arms wrapped around me, tucking my head into his searing neck.
“H-how are y-you so warm?” I asked, feeling the warmth begin to creep over me.
“I dunno. How are you so cold.”
“I dunno.” I retorted, and I felt him smile.
“Niall?” I asked after a minute, and he lazily replied with a ‘yeah’.
“This doesn’t change things.” He sighed, his chest pushing against me.
“I feared that.”