Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop - Chapter 1
Niall was really beginning to get bored of the peppy brunette, Mandy, sitting next to him.
To be fair, it had been him who approached her, she had dimples, and Niall liked dimples, but thirty minutes into the conversation, he began to realize there was no way she was coming home with him. Partly because she was wearing a purity ring, something she flaunted shamelessly, and partly because he had begun to notice all the tiny annoying things about her. How her lips were coated in so much lip gloss they reflected light from every. Single. Angle. How she tossed her hair over her shoulder, chewed her lip playfuly, and bat her eyelashes at him at least twice every ten minutes.
And then she said it. That overly cliché thing that defines 98% of girls, and also serves as Niall's biggest turn off.
"You know, I'm not like other girls."
Niall bit back a laugh, suddenly deciding it was time to go. Checking his watch he turned to Mandy, "Look, Mandy, I-"
"It's Maggie," she frowned.
Oh. Niall smiled sympathetically, "Sorry. Maggie, I really gotta go," he paused, resting a hand on her shoulder, "it was great talking to you. See you soon?"
Maggie scoffed, shrugging him off and turning back to her club soda, "Probably not," she mumbled.
Niall hesitated, he hated leaving things like this, but he actually did have to go, thankfully Liam had scheduled their study-sesh at 4 instead of 4:30 as Niall had suggested.
"Okay... bye," he muttered guiltily as he scooted off the bar stool and walked swiftly towards the exit. He gave one last glance over his shoulder to Maggie sitting at the bar stool, and when he turned back he almost ran face first into a tall blonde with a strong build. "Sorry mate," the blonde yelled, obviously roaring drunk.
The drunkard had an incredibly attractive brunette in tow, with green eyes like emeralds. The kid was obviously flustered with the blonde's behavior and he was having some trouble keeping his temper in check. Niall felt bad for the guy, no one likes a bad drinker.
The boy began apologizing profusely, "Sorry, you must excuse my boyfriend, he's gotten a little too involved in the Irish lifestyle."
Niall laughed good naturedly, "'S alright mate, you two have a good night," he said, nodding at the two of them. He turned to the exit, and plunged into the freezing Irish autumn air.
Harry knew he never should've agreed to study abroad with Derek, especially in Ireland, of all places. Derek had never been a good person to drink with, even when it was just quiet nights with take away and a movie, Derek somehow found a way to get stumbling, slurring drunk. Add to that the Irish drinking lifestyle, and there was no way he was going to be able to keep Derek under control.
The day had started out nice enough. Harry and Derek had woken up and went for a walk to the park, Derek taking pictures and Harry begging to use them as reference for painting later.
It was around 4 in the afternoon that things started to go downhill.
Harry had been using one of Derek's photos he had pulled up on his computer to use as reference. He was halfway through the painting when Derek stumbled back from his photography class he had "supposedly" attended.
He came tripping into Harry's makeshift studio, holding a thermos, containing what he claimed was "tea", but his actions said otherwise. He wasn't drunk enough to be slurring full-on, but he was pretty damn close.
"Hey, H," he said, a little too loud, "lets go out t'night."
Harry stood up, protectively blocking his easel, it wouldn't be the first time Derek had lashed out on his art, and he wasn't going to let it happen again.
Harry took a few tentative steps forwards, carefully attempting to pry Derek's fingers from the thermos. "Derek," he said gently, "don't you think you've had enough to drink for one day?"
"Who me?" Derek asked, voice rising in defense, "I haven't drunk anythin'!" He hiccuped.
Harry sighed, "Babe, you're almost slurring."
Derek roared, "Don't call me babe!"
Harry flinched, taking a step back. Derek got like this sometimes when drunk, pet names he usually liked he ended up hating. It was like a really fragile time bomb, and Harry always hated having to disarm it, cut the wrong wire and all hell could break lose.
After four more outbursts, two more gentle remarks, and thankfully zero destroyed paintings, Derek won, getting Harry to come with him to the bar down the road from their tiny temporary apartment.
"Fine. Fine!" Harry yelled, done with fighting, "let me get dressed!"
Derek smiled triumphantly, "Good, now we're back to good boyfriends," he announced, pulling Harry into a suffocating hug, pressing a sloppy kiss on Harry's cheek.
Harry pushed Derek off him, partly amused, but mostly disgusted. He sighed, going into his closet for his jumper and jeans.
This was not what he had signed up for when agreeing to be Derek's boyfriend. When Harry first met Derek, he was a gentle, kind, and caring person who was fun to be around.
That all went downhill pretty quick after Derek's brother passed away. Harry had always hoped that staying with him was the right choice, that Derek needed him to stay grounded, needed someone to help pul him back up for air when he needed it. In the months after his brother's passing Harry felt obligated to stay to help Derek. But as months passed and they turned into years, nothing changed, Harry watched as the gentle, loving friend he once knew turned into a sloppy, lazy drunkard who felt like a stranger.
He would've left if it weren't for Derek's threats.
Some nights, when Derek was really roaring drunk, he would come home accusing Harry of infidelity. None of the accusations were true, but they always ended in death threats to him and his supposed lover. Harry would pack an over-night bag and go to his friend Nick's house. The following mornings he would wake up to voice messages from Derek, claiming he meant nothing about what he said. Regardless, there was always some small part of Harry that felt like Derek did mean it, at least part of him did.
By the time they left to go to the bar, Derek had already downed the rest of his thermos and was starting on a bottle of vodka. Dragging Harry by the wrist, he pulled him down the street and into the bar.
Harry was utterly embarrassed by Derek's drunkenness, and all he wanted to do was dissappear. When they exploded through the entrance to the bar, Harry was hyperaware of everyone's eyes on the two of them, which only made him more uncomfortable. His mood was only worsened when they ran into the blonde, Derek loud as ever.
The first thing he noticed about the smaller boy was his clothes, he wore a burgundy leather jacket that clung to his form in all the right places. He had ripped leather jeans and white keds.
The second thing he noticed was the boy's eyes. Bright blue, soft but excited. Harry watched as emotions transformed from one to another on the blonde's face: confusion, then realization, then recognition, then finally sympathy. The combination both confused Harry and calmed him. Confused as to why the boy wasn't judging Harry, and calmed at the thought that the boy knew Harry wasn't endorsing what his boyfriend was doing.
Harry found himself apologizing exceedingly, "Sorry, you must excuse my boyfriend, he's gotten a little too involved in the Irish lifestyle."
To Harry's amazement, the blonde laughed it off, nodding at the two of them "'S alright, mate," the boy said, "you two have a good night," he brushed past Harry with a sympathetic smile and walked out. Harry's eyes watched the boy as he left, before returning his gaze to his boyfriend to assess the situation at hand.
Niall made his way down the cobblestone paved street, passing several cafés, a few coffee shops, and a bookstore before reaching the bus station.
He boarded and took his usual seat in the front next to the window, and watched the blocks go by until the bus stopped in front of the University he attended with his friends Liam and Louis. He jogged to his dorm before joining the boys in the library.
"Niall!" Louis yelled across the room, before Liam slapped him upside the head and bringing a finger two his lips. Louis winced, rubbing the back of his head and slapping Liam's chest.
"Niall!" Louis whispered loudly, Niall nodded at the boys and made his way over to them.
Louis elbowed Liam's ribs, holding his hand out as if asking for money. Liam rolled his eyes and handed him a wad of bills, Louis unfolded them and kissed the money.
Niall shook his head, smirking. Liam sighed, "We had a bet on how late you would be," he whispered.
Niall smiled mischieviously, "Oh yeah?" he winked at Louis, who had obviously just won.
Louis blew him a kiss back, nodding at Liam, "Smart-ass right here said you wouldn't get here until four thirty," Louis wiggled his eyebrows, "I said this would be the one day you would get here on time just to spite him."
Liam scoffed, "The one day, Louis the One. Day."
Louis rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He flicked his eyebrows at Niall, "So there's a party this Saturday at Eleanour's, wanna come?"
"Sure, you mean this Saturday? Tomorrow?" Niall clarified.
"Yeah."
Niall nodded, "Sounds good," he looked to Liam, "You coming?"
Liam shook his head without taking his eyes off the textbook, chewing on the eraser end of his pencil.
Louis scoffed at Niall, "What did you think?" He then turned to Liam, slapping the pencil out of his mouth, "That's gross, Payno," he said.
Liam marked him with his highlighter on his white jeans. Louis gasped, "Liam!" he shouted.
Niall shushed him while Liam covered Louis' mouth with his hand, glancing around the room to see who was looking.
Liam gave Louis the death stare while Louis pinched Liam's hand. Liam winced yanking his hand away and sucking on the wound.
Louis smiled, whispering, "Serves you right," he giggled, "these jeans are brand new! A present from my mum!"
Niall sat with his arms crossed, shaking his head at his two best friends. Louis returned his gaze to Niall, who asked, "Who all is going?"
Louis shrugged, "The usual crowd," he said, yawning, "Oh but Eleanor's cousin is coming. Derek, I think his name is, and he's bringing his boyfriend Harry."
Niall smiled, "sounds like good times."
Louis nodded simply, before leaning back and kicking his feet up on the table, ignoring the penetrating glare from Liam. Stretching his arms, he said, "Now if you lads don't mind, I'm going to take a quick power nap."
Liam rolled his eyes, glancing at Niall, who just smirked, shaking his head. Liam went back to studying as Niall began to empty his homework out on the table.