Your heart was aching, like it physically hurt at the thought of two weeks without him. You hated this feeling, hated it. You were in love, properly head over heels in love. It scared the shit out of you. This feeling was new to you, at 28 you'd never felt like this.
You spent the first two days recovering from the jetlag being miserable, catching up on chores and trying to get your body to adjust to the time zone. When you called Niall to tell him you were home safely, you hadn't shown him how upset you were but you knew he could hear it in your voice as much as you'd tried to hide it. Bubbly sarcastic Charlotte was being a miserable twat.
You stood in the shower that Monday morning before work and gave yourself a pep talk. "Sort it out Char, this is ridiculous. It's only two weeks."
You knew you had shit loads to do when you got to work after being away two weeks and at least that would keep you busy. Willie was at his desk when you arrived and you leaned down and gave him a hug and a kiss hello. You'd missed him whilst you'd been away.
"You ok lovely?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Nah, you're not." He replied. "It's ok to be miserable cow sometimes you know."
"Nope it's not, I've pulled up my big girl knickers and I'm being a grown up about it!" You said smiling.
"Fancy letting me take you out on a dinner date tonight after work?" He asked.
"Mr Devine I would love that! Want to invite Lara to?"
"Um no, we kind of aren't seeing each other anymore" he whispered to you.
"Oh fuck, babe........... Fuck I'm so sorry...... what happened?" You whispered back.
"Just wasn't ready after her bad breakup. She thought she was, doesn't matter."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."
"Char, I'm fine honestly." He smiled back but you knew he was hurting.
The guilt that he'd gone through this without you by his side was awful. He was your best friend and he had needed you. You were determined to not wallow around getting upset about Niall being away, Willie needed you.
Pictures of you and Niall had appeared online and in the press whilst you'd been in L.A. Niall hadn't been asked to confirm anything so he hadn't, but considering a picture of him holding your hand and kissing you had been taken it was pretty obvious you were together. Fans were clever and found out who you were within the hour. An IG post of you and Willie with your name on gave the game away. Willie apologised for posting the picture of you but it wasn't his fault. He had innocently posted a picture with his best friend, and you didn't even know Niall at the time it was taken or posted. It was just an innocent picture of you and Willie in the pub.
You had closed your Facebook down a while ago as you had gotten pissed off at your mother stalking it and didn't have a Twitter account. Your only social media was your IG account and your follower count had gone through the roof. You checked all your posts and there was nothing on there to give the fans any reason to hate you.
Your last post had been from the wedding where you'd posted a picture of you, Evie, Sam and Jack. You'd used the hashtags cousins and siblings and there were a few comments about who the people were, obviously from fans until people pointed out you'd indicated they were your family. Niall funnily enough had taken the picture.
A picture of a sweaty post run Willie Devine and you had also gained interest. You'd tagged him and put about getting his arse in shape and used the hashtag best friend. Lots of random new likes and comments.
So far no one had really said anything bad about you on any of the posts. Not that it bothered you. If they didn't like you then they didn't like you it was as simple as that.
You and Willie had escaped the office at 6pm that day and made your way to the pub for some dinner. You'd found a quiet corner so you could talk without being heard. After ordering drinks and food you turned to Willie indicating he needed to start talking.
"Not much to say, she just said she wanted to be friends."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you" you said as you reached across and held his hand.
"Oh sweetheart it's ok, honestly I'm fine. I'm obviously gutted, I really liked her but it just wasn't meant to be."
"How did it end?"
"She came over a couple of nights ago and told me."
"Well at least she had the decency to tell you to your face instead of texting or something."
"Yeah, she said she was sorry she just wasn't as ready as she thought she was and that she wanted to be friends."
"As long as she doesn't think she can take the girl best friend spot that's fine" you replied laughing and squeezing his hand.
The waitress brought over your drinks and you released Willie's hand. You took a sip of your wine as Willie asked you about your trip. You'd text each other a bit while you were away but you filled him on on some bits.
"Well, he may have told me he loved me" you said a bashful smile appeared on your face.
"Thought that might happen." He said smiling. "So how did he say it? Did you say it back?"
"Well we were....in bed..........."
"Oh Char, you weren't in the middle of having sex were you?!" He whispered across the table smirking.
"No, we were laying there just cuddling, talking, kissing and he just said it...............I said it back."
"Am so pleased for you both. He's back on the 26th isn't he? 12 more days without him."
"Yeah, leaving him was seriously the worst thing I've had to do. But I know work will keep me busy."
You chatted throughout dinner catching up on the past two weeks. You normally spoke everyday, even if it was just for a few minutes at work or a hello text. Willie was and always will be one of your favourite people.
You crawled into bed that night slightly tipsy from the wine and aching from your long day, you drifted into an easy sleep.
You were first in the office the following Friday, with Niall on a flight home and him arriving that evening you wanted to be away from the office on time.
You were in the break room making coffee when Willie walked in.
"Morning babe, you want a coffee?"
He looked a bit lost. "You ok?" You asked slightly concerned about him.
"Um, yeah are you ok?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh........"
"Oh what? Willie what's wrong?" You quizzed him.
"Don't go all Charlotte shit crazy on me but there's a picture of Niall in the news with a girl."
You instantly felt sick. "Ok." You replied realising you were shaking.
"He's just giving her a kiss on the cheek, just saying hello it's not that sort of picture. He was out to dinner with a big group of friends and the press have failed to show anyone else. They cropped the picture so that it looked just like the two of them."
"How do you know all this? Did you see it or has he called you?" You asked him getting slightly pissed off at the thought that Niall hadn't bothered to contact you.
"Niall called me early this morning before his flight..........wanted me to talk to you. The comments under some of the articles aren't very kind to you."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" You shouted. "He asked you to talk to me?"
Willie nodded. You knew he hadn't wanted to be the one to tell you, but you knew he didn't want you to be upset.
"Show me the article."
"What?"
"Show me it, I know you've seen it, I know he sent it to you to look at." You said angrily.
"Yeah he did." He said reluctantly getting his phone out of his pocket.
Willie tapped on his phone and brought up the article. It did in fact show Niall leaning in to embrace a blonde woman and he was kissing her cheek. It looked like an innocent kiss, he didn't look at her the way he looked at you. You could see that the photos had been cropped to cut people out. There was a random arm stretched out at the edge of one and at one point the girl wasn't even looking at Niall and looked to be talking to someone who wasn't there. 12 pictures in total and lots of comments.
"Where's that beautiful girl he was with last week, who's this blonde trash."
"Knew that Charlotte girl wasn't anything special. Not good enough for our Niall."
The comments just went on and on. Some nice some not so nice.
Willie broke the silence as I read. "You ok?"
"Willie, I'm not bothered by these photos. He's clearly with a group of friends and I don't give a shit about the comments what I'm fucking angry about is he's not called me himself."
"I know..........look he rang me this morning early and told me about it. He was worried you'd be upset and knew it would be better coming from me than you reading it. I told him he should call you but he was worried you'd freak out and end things with him."
"I'm so fucking angry with him right now." You said handing Willie his phone back. "I don't have the time or patience to deal with this today."
You grabbed your coffee and walked back to your desk leaving Willie standing there. You sat down at your desk and picked up your phone.
"Grow a fucking set of balls Horan and call me yourself. If you want to be in grown up relationship you need to talk to the person, don't get Willie to do your dirty work. Thought you said no more games."
You pressed send and opened up your computer. You ignored Willie as he sat down and carried on working. You honestly didn't have time for this shit, you'd got so much work to do. Willie cleared his throat as if he was going to say something but then thought better of it.
You knew Niall was unlikely to call you as he would probably be on his flight by now so you were surprised when your phone bleeped. But it was just Evie. "Have you seen Niall's IG?"
You hadn't checked IG this morning, hadn't been able to face it. But you opened up the app and you had loads of notifications. Literally hundreds. You searched his name and saw his post. It was of you both at Evies wedding, Kate had taken the picture of you as you stood out on the patio of the hotel. Niall looking hot as fuck wearing his navy suit whilst you were wearing your pink bridesmaids dress. The caption was simple.
"Missing this beautiful girl so much. Not long now until I'm home. X"
Shit, he'd openly admitted you were together.
He'd also posted a picture of the group he'd been out to dinner with the night before, the blonde he'd been pictured with was at the other end of the table from him.
"He's doing damage control as there was a picture printed of him giving a girl a kiss on the cheek and the press saying I was dumped." You replied to her.
"Fucking press!" She replied. "Cute pic of you both though. You mad with him?"
"Not mad about the picture in the press just that he didn't call me himself, got Willie to talk to me."
"Probably scared you'd bite his head off before he could explain."
"Hey, I would've listened."
"No you would've done your usual shit of over reacting, you would've ranted at him then hung up like you do when you're mad."
Fuck, she was right you would've.
"I hate that you're right."
"I love you to." She replied.
You couldn't concentrate that morning, you hated being mad at Willie. It wasn't his fault. You stood up and went to the break room and grabbed two coffees before heading back to your desk. You placed a cup on his desk before sitting down on your chair.
"Thanks" he said.
"You're welcome." You replied.
"We ok?"
"Yep, sorry."
"No I'm sorry."
"Its ok. Love you Mr Devine."
"Love you to Miss Spencer."
You continued your day trying not to think about the conversation you would have with Niall later when he was home. You'd planned a romantic dinner at yours and had even brought new underwear to tease him with. That was all ruined now you were upset with him.
The truth was you trusted him. You knew he wasn't up to anything with that girl but you couldn't believe he'd not called you himself. Evies words about you not letting him explain rang in your head all afternoon. She was right, you would've reacted badly. Niall getting Willie to explain to me had been the right thing to do. Fuck. They knew you far too well.
Your phone began to ring as you were gathering your things to leave the office. Niall's name flashing up on the screen. You stood up and walked towards the break room before answering.
"Hello."
"Hi" he said. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm ok."
"She's just a friend, there were 6 other people with us. I promise you."
"I'm not upset about that, I trust you. I just wished you'd spoken to me yourself. I know you only got Willie to tell me as you were worried I'd lose my shit, but it still hurt."
"Char, I'm sorry I panicked. I didn't mean to upset you." You could hear the hurt in his voice.
You stayed silent while you tried to compose yourself. You could feel yourself welling up and you didn't want to break down on the phone to him.
"Char?" he said and you could hear his voice trembling. "Are you still there?"
"I'm here." You said your voice wobbling. "I've missed you."
A few tears escaped and slid down your cheeks. You had tried hard to hold them back but just hearing his voice had set you off.
"I've missed you to. I'm in a car on the way back to mine. I'll get some clean clothes and come over to yours straight away."
"Ok." you said wiping away your tears.
"I love you."
"I love you to."
You were just finishing getting dressed after your shower when you heard him knock on the door. He hadn't been joking when he said he'd come over straight away. You hadn't even started dinner yet.
You took a deep breath and opened the door. Niall was wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and a grey zip up hoodie, his face looked pained like he didn't know what to expect from you. He looked tired and worried. You knew straight away you weren't mad at him anymore. The whole situation suddenly seemed ridiculous.
He stepped into your flat, closing the door and placing his bag on the floor by the coat hooks, before turning to face you.
"Char I'm" he started to say before you cut him off.
"Please don't say sorry again you don't need to." You replied pulling him towards you by his hoodie. A small smile appeared on his face as he got closer to you. It had been a long two weeks without him and you didn't want to discuss this whole stupid thing with him anymore. You needed him, wanted him. He sensed what you were thinking straight away reaching one of his hands up to cup your face. His thumb stroked across your cheek as you smiled at him. Your grip on his hoodie tightened and you squeezed at his hips.
He leaned down and kissed you softly at first, before you led the way and grazed your tongue across his lips. You'd missed his taste, missed the feel of him against you. His hand had reached into your hair and you moved your hands to unzip his hoodie and pull it off his shoulders. He moved his arms down to take off his hoodie and you lifted up his t-shirt which he quickly removed as well.
You both rushed to remove each others clothes, never breaking the kiss for more than a second. That hunger and need for each other completely overwhelming you both. His hand gripped onto your bum and he bent his knees and lifted you up so you could wrap your legs around him. He rested his forehead against yours catching his breath before he slid himself inside you. Your back hit the hallway wall and he thrusted up burying himself deep inside you. You gasped against his mouth as he started to move your bum and hips to grind against his thrusts.
"Missed you so much." he whispered as he rested his head in the crook of your neck. Your bodies were flush against each other and with every thrust your nipples rubbed against his coarse chest hair sending you wild.
The feeling of his breath against your neck as he told you how much he needed you and how good you felt overwhelmed you. Your grip in his hair tightened and your other hand scratched at his back as he pounded into you, both of you desperate for your own release. You'd missed the feeling of him filling you up, the feel of his cock sliding in and out.
His grip on your hips tightened even more and he fucked you harder and harder making you grind against him, your clit throbbing. "Oh fuck" you cried out as he hit your g spot over and over again. His thrusts were becoming sloppy, his breathing rapid. You pulled on his hair forcing him to look at you, your sweaty foreheads resting against each other as you both came together, relishing in feeling him release himself inside you. He continued pumping into you, making sure your orgasms went on and on until neither of you could take it anymore.
He fell still inside you, his eyes still on yours. He leaned across and kissed you softly before releasing your legs and you put your feet down to the floor.
Your hands were still wrapped around him, not ready to let him go just yet. He wrapped his arms around you to and kissed you across your neck and jaw before finding your lips again.
"Wasn't expecting that when I walked in the door." He said breathlessly.
"Sorry, just needed you." You whispered back.
"I'm not leaving your side until you have to go back to work Monday morning."
"Good." you replied smiling.
You both got in the shower and cleaned up, spending more time kissing than actual washing before putting on your comfy clothes and heading to the kitchen.
"What we having then?" He asked as you took some bits out of the fridge.
"Was going to do steak, homemade chips and salad. That ok?" You replied handing him a beer.
"Perfect I'm starving, airplane food isn't any good." He said taking the beer from you.
You both moved around your kitchen with ease. Niall once again not wanting to leave your side. When you guys had been apart or knew you were going to be away from each other for a while you behaved like this. Like a magnetic force pulling you together. His hand was always on you somewhere, the small of your back, your hair or your hand. You loved the connection you had.
"So Evie text me today and told me to look at your IG post."
"It ok that I did that? I probably should've checked with you before I outed us."
"It was definitely ok, is it ok that you did it though?"
"Yeah, I talked to management after that stupid article came out and they said it would be better to be honest about you and stop all the shitty made up stories. I don't normally talk about stuff like this but since this isn't just dating I don't want to have to hide it."
You blushed and looked down at the chopping board where you were prepping dinner. "You blushing?" He smirked as he came up behind you and snuggled into your neck. "No." you replied.
"Yeah you are." He laughed.
You just shrugged your shoulders smiling.
"You're incredibly important to me Char. I want everyone to know how much I love you and how happy I am."
You turned around and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you to Niall." you whispered against his lips.
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Hope you enjoyed it!
Em x