Drama
Chapter 34: Full Circle
Niall’s P.O.V.
On my way back to the apartment, I couldn’t stop thinking about Leila’s texts. Spencer is the only one who I can think of that would lead her on like this, but Leila told me it was an extra who came up to her. My thoughts are still jumbled as I insert the key into the door of her apartment and enter inside. I feel bad for Lei though because I didn’t have a surprise, but I wasn’t planning one to begin with.
I settle down on the couch and watch some TV while waiting for her to come home. Madison arrives earlier than Lei does and prepares a dinner that her friends wanted her to try out and asks me for my opinion. Maybe this can be a small surprise for Lei.
Sure enough, a few minutes after Madison’s dish is ready, Leila walks in, looking completely stressed. The bags under her eyes don’t help much as she sloops to her room to put everything away.
“Lei, come here,” I say as I follow her into her room, opening my arms. She drops her stuff on the bed and succumbs to my embrace, burying her face in my chest as she does so. My heart sinks as I can just hear the faintest sob mumble out of her mouth and I hug her tighter. Something is clearly wrong.
“Babe, can you tell me what’s wrong?” I question when I let go of her. Leila immediately goes back to unpacking, but after a few moments, she answers.
“That whole thing that happened at lunch today? Yeah, Spencer set me up,” Leila speaks.
“I fucking knew it,” I mutter, leaning my head back and rubbing my face with my hands. “I had a feeling it was probably her.”
“It was, and I can’t believe I fell for it. Again,” she responds, sitting down on the bed. Feeling like I need to, I decide to join her.
“It’s not your fault,” I deliver.
“I know it’s not my fault but I feel like it is because I keep hurting those around me!” she shouts, filling the room with sound.
“You’re not hurting anyone! Spencer has that ability to do that to people. Don’t let it get to you.”
“I’m trying but I just can’t! I don’t even want to go back to the studio for another day of torture, even if it’s my dream! I keep falling in her ugly traps and I’m sick of it! And it’s really hard when Max isn’t around to help defend me and the only person who can is Alexa because she’s my only friend but since she’s in casts and everything…” Leila chokes on the last few words and breaks down. I pull her in and she cries into my white T-shirt, but I don’t care.
I need to take action. This is getting serious and I’m not standing for it anymore. But what can I do? Spencer has always had more power over me; I can never win against her. But you’re stronger and you have the public vote on you,” my unconscious adds.
“Ssshh,” I shush, trying to calm Leila. Eventually she does and her head raises, her beautiful eyes looking into mine. “I promise you everything will be okay. We will get through this together because I am not leaving your side now. I will be with you every day you go to the studio and I will stay at the studio until you’re done.”
“Really?” She gives me a weak smile and one last tear trails down her cheek.
“Really,” I confirm, wiping away the tear. I press a kiss to her forehead and hear her stomach growl loudly. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I’m starving,” she replies.
“Good, because Madison just made some excellent dinner and I want you to try it,” I reveal, leading her into the kitchen.
For the rest of the night, I help Leila learn her lines and keep her off of the subject of Spencer, which is hard considering Spencer’s character interacts with her a lot. We get through the first couple of scenes before Leila calls it quits and decides it’s time to sleep. It’s still pretty early, but I guess she had a rough day so I don’t question it. I just be the best boyfriend I can be.
Leila’s P.O.V.
Tuesday actually goes pretty smoothly and I’m glad Niall has choosen to stay with me. He’s like my bodyguard, you could say. It’s really nice, though, because now I don’t have to face my battles alone. Spencer kept smirking at me the entire day and I tried to ignore it, but it’s Spencer.
Wednesday is here and it’s a pretty good day today. Niall and Madison make me a cute breakfast in the morning and Niall escorts me to the studio like usual. The day drags on and I’m glad when we break for lunch because Spencer couldn’t keep her eyes off of me.
Niall, Alexa, and I head out to lunch at the same park that we usually go to. I’m not letting the memory of what happened on Monday keep me from visiting the park which ends up being a good thing because I like this park.
“So how are you feeling, Alexa?” Niall starts.
“Better, the pain is going away and I can maybe get these casts off in a week, if all is going well,” Alexa answers.
“Have you visited Max recently?” I ask, biting into my sandwich. Alexa’s face turns expressionless and I can tell she’s avoiding the question.
“Alexa?” Niall delivers, glancing at me.
Alexa shakes her head and continues, “But yeah, I’m doing all right.”
“Did you hear me? I asked about Max…” I try again.
She stays still for a moment, but then she bursts into tears. I’m getting really worried now. Is something wrong with Max?
Niall calms her down and she’s finally able to speak. But her answer shocks me.
“No, I haven’t visited him since this past weekend. I can’t bear to go see him! He’s so different now and I just…I…”
“You what?” I egg.
“That day when we got hit, I was planning on telling him that…I like him,” she confesses.
It’s so cute but so heartbroken at the same time. I don’t know how to react to this.
“Aw, Alexa,” I say.
“I knew I should’ve done it earlier. I was a chicken; a big, fat, scared chicken who couldn’t even tell someone something as simple as that! And now he’s different and I don’t know what to do.”
“How is he different?” Niall asks.
“He…he…doesn’t remember me,” she slowly reveals, and cue the tears.
Oh, my God. He doesn’t remember Alexa. That means…he probably doesn’t remember me. Max, one of the strongest people I know, doesn’t remember Alexa or me or…Niall. Those two have had the longest history together and Max probably can’t remember it. Then I look at Niall and I see it; wet drops racing down his face.
I bet people are looking at us like we’re crazy; 3 friends crying on a blanket. That does seem a bit odd to outsiders, but they don’t know what we’re going through. After a few minutes, I realize we really need to get back to the studio so we dry our tears and walk back.
The second half of today is very stressful as the thought of Max keeps popping up in my head. When we’re released, I take a deep breath and let out all of the stress. I really need to take a nap or something. But before we can leave, Niall has to go to the bathroom, so I wait by the doors while he finishes.
Just like on Monday, an extra walks up to me. As she nears, I realize it’s my stunt double. She’s carrying a small, black box in her hands and gives it to me.
“Hey. Niall feels really bad about what happened on Monday, so he wanted to give you this,” she explains. Hold on.
“This isn’t another trick of Spencer’s, is it?” I panic, whipping my head around to try and see if she’s here.
“What? No! I’m serious! Before Niall went into the bathroom, he gave me this to give to you. He would’ve done it himself, but he was in a hurry and told me to do it,” she says.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Leila, trust me,” she responds, and walks away.
Okay then. So, I open the box and inside is a note on top:
Hey babe, I feel really bad for what’s all been happening, so I wanted to give you this to express my love. Hope you love it :)
Love, Niall
Removing the piece of paper, a silver ring with diamonds on it appears. It’s so pretty and as I take it out, the stones sparkle in the low light. I slip it on my finger just as Niall shows up by my side again.
“Thank you, Niall,” I begin, smiling at him.
“For what?” he says, confused.
“For this,” I reply, holding up my hand with the ring on it.
“I didn’t give that to you…”
Wait, what?!
“What?” I ask.
“I don’t know who did, but I didn’t,” he repeats.
I look at the note again and sure enough, that’s not his handwriting. I’ve seen it from when we wrote the song together and that’s definitely not it.
“Oh, my God, did I seriously fall for another Spencer trick?” I rhetorically ask.
“Who gave it to you?”
“My stunt double,” I answer.
“There she is!” a voice yells from the end of the hall. Niall and I turn around just in time to see a woman with 2 security guards rushing down the hallway.
“That’s the girl who stole my engagement ring!” the woman screeches as she nears us. Wait, her engagement ring?!
“This is your engagement ring?” I question, holding up my hand again.
“Yes it is! Give it back to me, stealer!” she screams again.
“Wait, wait, wait, Leila didn’t steal it!” Niall defends.
“I saw her with my own two eyes!” the woman squeals.
“Hold up. Are you sure it was her?” one of the security guards asks.
“Positive! Dark brown hair, short, dainty hands,” the woman points off.
“She didn’t steal it!” Niall argues.
“Then why do you have it?” the woman demands. I have no answer for that.
“What is going on over here?” Mr. Conners questions, running over to us.
“This girl stole my engagement ring!” the woman cries.
“I did not!” I defend.
“Leila?” Mr. Conners delivers.
“Give it back to me and then we’ll decide your punishment,” the woman smirks, holding out her open hand. Reluctantly, I pull it off of my finger and press it in her hand.
“Leila, what has gotten into you? First Spencer’s necklace, now this?” Mr. Conners asks.
“Oh, she has a history of stealing? She should be locked up!” the woman screams. Niall’s hands wrap around my arms, calming me down.
“Take her back to her office, I’ll deal with her later,” Mr. Conners tells one of the security guards. He drags the woman back down the hallway and now Mr. Conners faces me.
“Before you say anything, I swear I didn’t take it,” I say, shaking my head.
“There’s only one thing I can do to find out for sure, but I can’t get into the room right now. For the time being, you’re put back on security,” Mr. Conners speaks.
“What? But—”
“No buts, Leila. This can’t keep happening.”
“She didn’t do it!” Niall repeats.
“I would love to believe it, but this is business. I can’t have immaturity going on backstage. If it happens again, I might just have to cut you from the show,” Mr. Conners states. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to take care of. You are dismissed, but have the security check you first.”
And with that, he walks away, leaving me with Niall and the security guard. The security guard pulls out her wand, but doesn’t find anything, and soon we’re on our way back to the apartment.
On my way back to the apartment, I couldn’t stop thinking about Leila’s texts. Spencer is the only one who I can think of that would lead her on like this, but Leila told me it was an extra who came up to her. My thoughts are still jumbled as I insert the key into the door of her apartment and enter inside. I feel bad for Lei though because I didn’t have a surprise, but I wasn’t planning one to begin with.
I settle down on the couch and watch some TV while waiting for her to come home. Madison arrives earlier than Lei does and prepares a dinner that her friends wanted her to try out and asks me for my opinion. Maybe this can be a small surprise for Lei.
Sure enough, a few minutes after Madison’s dish is ready, Leila walks in, looking completely stressed. The bags under her eyes don’t help much as she sloops to her room to put everything away.
“Lei, come here,” I say as I follow her into her room, opening my arms. She drops her stuff on the bed and succumbs to my embrace, burying her face in my chest as she does so. My heart sinks as I can just hear the faintest sob mumble out of her mouth and I hug her tighter. Something is clearly wrong.
“Babe, can you tell me what’s wrong?” I question when I let go of her. Leila immediately goes back to unpacking, but after a few moments, she answers.
“That whole thing that happened at lunch today? Yeah, Spencer set me up,” Leila speaks.
“I fucking knew it,” I mutter, leaning my head back and rubbing my face with my hands. “I had a feeling it was probably her.”
“It was, and I can’t believe I fell for it. Again,” she responds, sitting down on the bed. Feeling like I need to, I decide to join her.
“It’s not your fault,” I deliver.
“I know it’s not my fault but I feel like it is because I keep hurting those around me!” she shouts, filling the room with sound.
“You’re not hurting anyone! Spencer has that ability to do that to people. Don’t let it get to you.”
“I’m trying but I just can’t! I don’t even want to go back to the studio for another day of torture, even if it’s my dream! I keep falling in her ugly traps and I’m sick of it! And it’s really hard when Max isn’t around to help defend me and the only person who can is Alexa because she’s my only friend but since she’s in casts and everything…” Leila chokes on the last few words and breaks down. I pull her in and she cries into my white T-shirt, but I don’t care.
I need to take action. This is getting serious and I’m not standing for it anymore. But what can I do? Spencer has always had more power over me; I can never win against her. But you’re stronger and you have the public vote on you,” my unconscious adds.
“Ssshh,” I shush, trying to calm Leila. Eventually she does and her head raises, her beautiful eyes looking into mine. “I promise you everything will be okay. We will get through this together because I am not leaving your side now. I will be with you every day you go to the studio and I will stay at the studio until you’re done.”
“Really?” She gives me a weak smile and one last tear trails down her cheek.
“Really,” I confirm, wiping away the tear. I press a kiss to her forehead and hear her stomach growl loudly. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I’m starving,” she replies.
“Good, because Madison just made some excellent dinner and I want you to try it,” I reveal, leading her into the kitchen.
For the rest of the night, I help Leila learn her lines and keep her off of the subject of Spencer, which is hard considering Spencer’s character interacts with her a lot. We get through the first couple of scenes before Leila calls it quits and decides it’s time to sleep. It’s still pretty early, but I guess she had a rough day so I don’t question it. I just be the best boyfriend I can be.
Leila’s P.O.V.
Tuesday actually goes pretty smoothly and I’m glad Niall has choosen to stay with me. He’s like my bodyguard, you could say. It’s really nice, though, because now I don’t have to face my battles alone. Spencer kept smirking at me the entire day and I tried to ignore it, but it’s Spencer.
Wednesday is here and it’s a pretty good day today. Niall and Madison make me a cute breakfast in the morning and Niall escorts me to the studio like usual. The day drags on and I’m glad when we break for lunch because Spencer couldn’t keep her eyes off of me.
Niall, Alexa, and I head out to lunch at the same park that we usually go to. I’m not letting the memory of what happened on Monday keep me from visiting the park which ends up being a good thing because I like this park.
“So how are you feeling, Alexa?” Niall starts.
“Better, the pain is going away and I can maybe get these casts off in a week, if all is going well,” Alexa answers.
“Have you visited Max recently?” I ask, biting into my sandwich. Alexa’s face turns expressionless and I can tell she’s avoiding the question.
“Alexa?” Niall delivers, glancing at me.
Alexa shakes her head and continues, “But yeah, I’m doing all right.”
“Did you hear me? I asked about Max…” I try again.
She stays still for a moment, but then she bursts into tears. I’m getting really worried now. Is something wrong with Max?
Niall calms her down and she’s finally able to speak. But her answer shocks me.
“No, I haven’t visited him since this past weekend. I can’t bear to go see him! He’s so different now and I just…I…”
“You what?” I egg.
“That day when we got hit, I was planning on telling him that…I like him,” she confesses.
It’s so cute but so heartbroken at the same time. I don’t know how to react to this.
“Aw, Alexa,” I say.
“I knew I should’ve done it earlier. I was a chicken; a big, fat, scared chicken who couldn’t even tell someone something as simple as that! And now he’s different and I don’t know what to do.”
“How is he different?” Niall asks.
“He…he…doesn’t remember me,” she slowly reveals, and cue the tears.
Oh, my God. He doesn’t remember Alexa. That means…he probably doesn’t remember me. Max, one of the strongest people I know, doesn’t remember Alexa or me or…Niall. Those two have had the longest history together and Max probably can’t remember it. Then I look at Niall and I see it; wet drops racing down his face.
I bet people are looking at us like we’re crazy; 3 friends crying on a blanket. That does seem a bit odd to outsiders, but they don’t know what we’re going through. After a few minutes, I realize we really need to get back to the studio so we dry our tears and walk back.
The second half of today is very stressful as the thought of Max keeps popping up in my head. When we’re released, I take a deep breath and let out all of the stress. I really need to take a nap or something. But before we can leave, Niall has to go to the bathroom, so I wait by the doors while he finishes.
Just like on Monday, an extra walks up to me. As she nears, I realize it’s my stunt double. She’s carrying a small, black box in her hands and gives it to me.
“Hey. Niall feels really bad about what happened on Monday, so he wanted to give you this,” she explains. Hold on.
“This isn’t another trick of Spencer’s, is it?” I panic, whipping my head around to try and see if she’s here.
“What? No! I’m serious! Before Niall went into the bathroom, he gave me this to give to you. He would’ve done it himself, but he was in a hurry and told me to do it,” she says.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Leila, trust me,” she responds, and walks away.
Okay then. So, I open the box and inside is a note on top:
Hey babe, I feel really bad for what’s all been happening, so I wanted to give you this to express my love. Hope you love it :)
Love, Niall
Removing the piece of paper, a silver ring with diamonds on it appears. It’s so pretty and as I take it out, the stones sparkle in the low light. I slip it on my finger just as Niall shows up by my side again.
“Thank you, Niall,” I begin, smiling at him.
“For what?” he says, confused.
“For this,” I reply, holding up my hand with the ring on it.
“I didn’t give that to you…”
Wait, what?!
“What?” I ask.
“I don’t know who did, but I didn’t,” he repeats.
I look at the note again and sure enough, that’s not his handwriting. I’ve seen it from when we wrote the song together and that’s definitely not it.
“Oh, my God, did I seriously fall for another Spencer trick?” I rhetorically ask.
“Who gave it to you?”
“My stunt double,” I answer.
“There she is!” a voice yells from the end of the hall. Niall and I turn around just in time to see a woman with 2 security guards rushing down the hallway.
“That’s the girl who stole my engagement ring!” the woman screeches as she nears us. Wait, her engagement ring?!
“This is your engagement ring?” I question, holding up my hand again.
“Yes it is! Give it back to me, stealer!” she screams again.
“Wait, wait, wait, Leila didn’t steal it!” Niall defends.
“I saw her with my own two eyes!” the woman squeals.
“Hold up. Are you sure it was her?” one of the security guards asks.
“Positive! Dark brown hair, short, dainty hands,” the woman points off.
“She didn’t steal it!” Niall argues.
“Then why do you have it?” the woman demands. I have no answer for that.
“What is going on over here?” Mr. Conners questions, running over to us.
“This girl stole my engagement ring!” the woman cries.
“I did not!” I defend.
“Leila?” Mr. Conners delivers.
“Give it back to me and then we’ll decide your punishment,” the woman smirks, holding out her open hand. Reluctantly, I pull it off of my finger and press it in her hand.
“Leila, what has gotten into you? First Spencer’s necklace, now this?” Mr. Conners asks.
“Oh, she has a history of stealing? She should be locked up!” the woman screams. Niall’s hands wrap around my arms, calming me down.
“Take her back to her office, I’ll deal with her later,” Mr. Conners tells one of the security guards. He drags the woman back down the hallway and now Mr. Conners faces me.
“Before you say anything, I swear I didn’t take it,” I say, shaking my head.
“There’s only one thing I can do to find out for sure, but I can’t get into the room right now. For the time being, you’re put back on security,” Mr. Conners speaks.
“What? But—”
“No buts, Leila. This can’t keep happening.”
“She didn’t do it!” Niall repeats.
“I would love to believe it, but this is business. I can’t have immaturity going on backstage. If it happens again, I might just have to cut you from the show,” Mr. Conners states. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to take care of. You are dismissed, but have the security check you first.”
And with that, he walks away, leaving me with Niall and the security guard. The security guard pulls out her wand, but doesn’t find anything, and soon we’re on our way back to the apartment.
Notes
Sorry if it feels like it's repeating all of the shit Spencer's doing, but I promise you the biggest plot twist is coming up in the next few chapters and the cycle ends! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO READ IT!Rachel :)
Make a Sequel please.
9/13/14