NIALL’S P.O.V.


I didn’t sleep very well last night. Too many things were racing through my mind. I finally dozed off when I saw the sun coming up and now it’s one in the afternoon and I’m awake again. I hear noise in the kitchen and since I’ve been laying in bed so long, my back is starting to hurt. I stand up and pull some jeans on over my boxers before leaving my room.

“Morning, Lou.”

Louis’ head shoots up and he appears startled.

“S-sorry, Niall. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

Why is he acting like a skittish cat? He’s pouring himself a cup of coffee and I approach the cupboard, pulling out a mug for myself.

“No, I woke up on my own.”

Louis nods and calms down a little, but he rubs his temples with his fingers, groaning.

“Hungover?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

It seems like more than that, though. I’ve seen Louis hungover on multiple occasions and he’s much more down than usual.

“Is something wrong? You seem upset.”

“I’m fine.”

I don’t believe him for a second, but it isn’t my place to pry. He forces an awkward grin and carries his coffee to the couch. It’s odd that he’s drinking coffee and not smoking a bowl. That’s his typical hangover cure.

I shrug it off and pour myself a cup of coffee before retreating back to my room. I find my phone with no notifications, which is disappointing. I don’t expect Hannah to be sleeping still and she seemed out of it last night. I hope she isn’t upset with me for missing her visit last night. She’s understanding, though, and I know she wants me to fix things with my brother.

Talking to Greg went better than I expected. Then again, I didn’t have any expectations at all. I half-predicted for him to punch me again, which I deserved, but he was very calm considering the circumstances. We discussed how things happened and while I avoided all detail, I ensured him that there was no secret love between me and his wife. There was no pre-meditated plot to steal Allison away. He hesitated in saying it, but he admitted to not being the best husband. Despite the progress we made and the many hours we spent talking, we still parted with immense tension between us. It’s highly uncomfortable.

He hasn’t heard anything about dad, which is probably a good thing. I still want to call and check on him sometime today. Maybe Allison can go see him. She’s the only person who dad’s familiar enough with for a visit. I can’t impose on her, though. She’s been through enough and I know there’s more to come.

I haven’t heard from her either, which means she hasn’t heard back from her doctor yet. It’s nerve-wracking, but I’m more concerned with how we will take care of a child in the even that she is, indeed, pregnant.

I take a deep breath and hold my phone with Hannah’s contact information pulled up. I press call before I can convince myself otherwise. There’s no reason for her to be mad at me, so she must have just had a bad night. She probably needs someone to talk to.



HANNAH’S P.O.V.


Niall’s calling. Shit.

I thought that maybe he would give me some space after our awkward drive last night. That would be preferable. Even worse, though, Louis could have confessed to him about our wild night. I can’t bear the conversation that would ensue that unfortunate knowledge.

Before I can decide whether I plan on answering his phone call or not, my phone stops ringing.
I leave it on my bed in front of me and pull my covers back up, over my shoulders. Our wonderful housekeeper brought me coffee an hour ago when she expected me to be gone and came in my room to clean. When she saw me curled up in my sheets, wide awake, she quietly disappeared and returned with coffee, just how I like it, and told me I can talk to her if I want.

I can’t do that, though. How can I complain to a woman who makes a living by cleaning up after me? She’ll probably laugh at my stupid problems. My phone buzzes and I know it’s the impending voicemail from Niall. At least I can listen to that.


“Hey, Hannah. Maybe you’re still sleeping, but I figured you’d be up. Uh-Anyway, I hope you’re okay- you seemed pretty upset about something last night. I just hope I didn’t do anything to piss you off. I’m-uh-sorry again that I wasn’t here when you came by last night. But, I don’t know, maybe something happened with your parents- Just give me a call if you need someone to talk to; I really want to help. We can also hang out and discuss anything but whatever’s bothering you, if that’s what you’d prefer. Well, now I’m rambling, so just- text me or something.”


I giggle, but it quickly turns into tears. God, I wish he was there when I showed up last night. Nothing would have happened with Louis and I wouldn’t hate myself right now.

Louis has tried calling and texting me throughout the morning, but I haven’t answered anything. He’s mostly left messages saying how sorry he is and how stupid he was. He told me not to feel too bad and that it wasn’t just my fault, which I know, but I definitely didn’t stop any of it. I encouraged it and the worst part of all is that I enjoyed it. A lot.

Maybe I’m just too much like my parents. Apparently, they have no problem with being unfaithful. Maybe it’s just what I know.

I can’t put this blame on them, or anyone else, though. It’s my fault and it’s Louis’ fault.
The most disheartening realization that I’ve had is that I don’t know who I can talk to. My only close friends are Louis and Jessica, well now Niall, but those are the three people that I simply cannot talk to about this. They are the only three people that will be anything but helpful. I can only think of one person who isn’t going to judge me. One person who I’ve always been able to rely on.

I pick up my phone and the tears are still flowing, even harder now.

“Hello?”

“Joe.”

“Hannah?”

His voice is ridden with concern and I know it’s because I’m terrible at hiding my emotion, even over the phone.

“A-are you busy?”

“No, what’s wrong? Do I need to pick you up? I just dropped your mom off at the clubhouse.”

“No, no. I’m at home. Can you- Can we talk?”

“Of course. I’ll be there in five.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

I hang up and bury my face in my hands. My phone dings and I look down to see a new message
from Niall.


*FROM: Niall
I hate to bug you and I know I seem weird and clingy so I’m sorry. Just worried about you.*


I feel awful. For everything. I can’t leave him hanging like that when he’s done absolutely nothing wrong.


*TO: Niall
I’m sorry, I’m with my mom at the clubhouse so I can’t answer. I’ll call you later?*


He might see the question mark as me making a suggestion, but really I just don’t know if I’ll do it or not. I can’t see myself finding enough courage to face him after all of this.

A few minutes later, there is a soft knock at my door.

“Come in.”

My voice is raspy and weak. I feel like I could cry forever.

Joe walks in and as soon as he sees the state I’m in, he pulls the chair from my desk and sets it down next to my bed. He sits silently and I roll over on my pillow to face him.

“Talk to me, Hannie.”

I grin from the comfort that I feel just knowing that he’s here and it hurts to know that this is how I’m supposed to feel about my dad.

“I’ve really fucked up, Joe. Really really fucked up.”

He takes a deep breath and pushes strands of hair out of my eyes.

“Tell me what happened. I’m here to listen.”

I nod and sit up, pushing my pillow up so that my back rests on it.

“Okay, so last night, I was a bit drunk- and before you say anything, I don’t need a pep talk about drugs and alcohol; this is about something else-“ he nods and I know I can trust him not to overreact, “Anyway, I was with Harry,” and Liam, but I don’t say that, “and his driver dropped me off at the Tomlinson’s because I wanted to surprise Niall. He wasn’t there, though, so Louis suggested that I just stay until he got back.”

I watch Joe’s reaction to see if he’s catching on at all. I can’t tell, though. He just seems to be listening intently.

“Then, we drank some more and kind of, smoked weed, and then-“ he still wasn’t reacting badly,
which I anticipated, but this next part is already bringing the tears back, “then Louis kissed me and one thing led to another and-“

I can’t go on. I sink forward and Joe scoots over so that he can sit on my bed, catching me in his arms as I sob. He strokes my back soothingly and shushes me until my crying subsides a bit.

“Shh, Hannah. It’s alright-“

“No, it isn’t! Jess and Niall are going to hate me, Joe! Probably Louis, too!”

“You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say that it’s alright to be upset with yourself, but the fact that you’re so upset shows how much you care. If you didn’t care about Jessica or Niall so much, then you wouldn’t still be in bed at two in the afternoon crying your eyes out. I’m not going to try to sort all of this out for you, but I think that the first person you need to talk to is Louis. If I’m correct, and I’m pretty sure I know you well enough to be, you’ve been avoiding him all day.”

I just nod my head, waiting for further instruction. Joe always knows what to do when I let my emotions take over.

“Okay, talk to Louis. Tell him how badly you feel about everything and ask him how he feels. You guys have been friends for such a long time- you can’t let this make things awkward. That’s what is going to happen if you avoid the topic. Talk it out right away and then decide together how you should handle it with Niall and Jessica. None of this is going to be easy, Hannah, but you’re strong. You can take care of this like a mature, responsible adult.”

He has too much faith in me, but he is right. I need to talk to Louis.

“Thank you, Joe.”

“Anytime, kiddo.”

He ruffles my hair like he used to when I was a little girl and stands up, returning my chair to the desk.

“I’m going to let you be as long as you promise me you’re going to take action and not sink back
into the mattress.”

I answer him by pulling the covers off and standing up. I walk over to him and give him a grateful
hug.

“I promise.”

He smiles and kisses the top of my head before leaving my room. Once the door is closed, I find my phone in the mess of blankets on my bed and settle on the couch by my window. I find Louis’ number and when I hear the ringing in my ear, my heart starts to pound impossibly fast.

“Hannah? Thank god! Are you okay?”

He’s speaking quietly, which tells me that Niall is probably in the next room.

“Not really, no. We just need to talk about this, Lou. I don’t want one stupid decision from one
intoxicated night to ruin our friendship.”

“Yeah, me either, Hannie. I can’t let that happen.”

“Good, I’m glad we agree on that. So...”

I don’t know where to begin and I hope he does.

“I’m sorry, Hannah. I really am. I know I instigated it and it was a mistake. I was just miserable because of everything going on with Jess that I didn’t even think about it.”

“Speaking of Jess; have you spoken to her?”

I hear his exasperated sigh clearly.

“No, and I’m not going to. Hannah, when I told you last night that we weren’t speaking- I meant that we broke up. Like we aren’t ever going to speak again.”

This bit of information doesn’t make things better and it doesn’t make things worse. It just hurts that Jessica hasn’t tried talking to me at all and that Louis feels like he can’t really tell me either.
Now, things will never be the same, but I suppose it isn’t just because of me.

“What the hell happened? You know what, it doesn’t matter right now. What do we do?”

“Well, what do you want to do?”

“I want to go back in time and not make that mistake, but reasonably speaking, I don’t know. I really, really, really like Niall, Lou. I can’t believe I’ve already fucked it up. Besides, Jessica is going to kill me when she finds out.”

I sit back against the couch and push my hair out of my face because it’s a big mess.

“You haven’t fucked it up, Hannah. You and Niall aren’t in an exclusive relationship or anything and guess what, neither are me and Jess. So, why do we have to tell them anything?”

While it sounds ideal, I don’t see it working well. Even if in it’s basic form, we did nothing wrong, we both obviously feel guilty.

“So we just keep it a secret forever? I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“How isn’t it possible? We can obviously talk to each other normally since we are right now. We’re close enough to not let this come between us. So, who else needs to know. What they don’t know won’t hurt them. It’s pointless for Niall to know, because all it’s going to do is prolong you guys’ inevitable relationship. It’s also stupid to tell Jessica because it’s only going to create drama. We aren’t even together anymore, so she’ll just take it out on you and you don’t deserve that-“

“Yes, I do.”

“No, it was a mistake and we both know that. So, let’s just move on.”

Guys are so naive. Then again, maybe girls are just too dramatic. Maybe we can both bounce back from this without lifelong damage. Maybe.

“Alright, we’ll try it.”

Louis breathes a sigh of relief and I feel a bit of guilt leave my chest, but not to the point that I’ve forgiven myself. I probably never will.

“Great. You should probably give Niall a call or something, though, because I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re mad at him. He’s been sulking.”

I chuckle and stand up, making my way to the bathroom.

“Yeah, I’ll call him now. Thanks, Lou.”

“For what?”

“Being reasonable.”

“Back at ya, Hannie. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too, bye.”

I hang up and turn the shower on. As soon as I call Niall, he immediately answers.

“Hello?”

I can’t help but to smile at his eager tone.

“Hey, sorry I played golf with my mom today. I’m about to hop in the shower, but how would you like to go to dinner and a movie in the next town over?”

There’s silence for a moment, in which he is probably mulling over whether my excuse makes sense or not, but then he replies excitedly.

“I’d love that. First proper date out of the five, eh?”

“Yeah,” I chuckle before grimacing at our little agreement, “Joe and I will come get you in an hour.
S’that okay?”

“Perfect. See you soon, Hannah.”

I say a quick goodbye and hang up so that I can text Joe.


*TO: Joe
Did what you said. Can you pick me up in an hour. If you see my mom, just tell her I have plans with Harry.*


I really hope I don’t lose my cool when I see Niall. I don’t exactly feel good about me and Louis’ plan to keep our stupid decision under wraps, but I’ll grow to appreciate it. I just have to focus my thoughts and energy elsewhere and push it all aside.

I’ll just pretend it never happened.

Notes

YAY Niannah date chapter next <3

So, do you think Louis and Hannah will stick to their plan? Do you think it's really a good idea? What would Niall and/or Jessica do if they found out?

Thank you for you support! Please comment and rate/subscribe if you haven't yet! xx I'm sicky sick again, so maybe I'll update again in the next couple days since I plan on being a bit lazy when I can.

Also, comment if you have any questions about the story or just...anything haha <3 you can private message me too if you'd like :*