Bearing Down

The Calf

Calf: young animal, especially a domestic cow or bull in its first year.

Chapter Two

Zayn's hand remains on Theo's chest, his eyes set in a hard gaze. Theo backs off, brushing Zayn's palm off his chest. With the amount of people in the room and the alcohol finally fully sitting in her stomach, Liv starts to feel queasy. She leans over, and clears her throat. Turning to Harry, she states with a heavy breath, "I don't feel so good." With Liv still in his arms, Harry leans forward to straighten her up. "Hey, I think she's going to be sick," He says flatly.

Addy turns to her best friend, completely removing herself from the situation. Harry lets the girl go, releasing her gently into Addy's arms. She grabs onto Liv, pointing at Theo, "This conversation is over. We broke up three fucking months ago, I was emotionally removed way before that, and if you try and talk to me again-"

"You'll have to deal with the consequences," Zayn cuts in, moving to block Theo from seeing her. Addy's freckled face softens as she looks at the man in front of her, unsure of what to say to such a sudden declaration. Not thinking about it for too long, she adjusts her grip on Liv and starts walking towards the exit.

Zayn gives Theo one more icy stare before turning around to follow Liv and Addy through the crowd. Harry follows close behind, making sure Theo doesn't try and follow them out.

Even with it being later in the night, the crowd is still large from the big shot bull rider making his way into the bar. Addy struggles to make her way through the crowd with Liv stumbling, and bumping into people. Pushing forward, Addy tries her hardest to get her drunken friend outside in the fresh air. Liv was known to party hard, but she had never let herself go to the point of being so distressed and upset. Addy quickens their pace, pushing people out of the way so Liv wouldn't be sick all over the floor . With a sigh of relief, and one final push, the two girls made it through the exit, thankful for the clean, cool air hitting their faces. Wanting to give their thanks to the men that saved the night, Addy turned, only to find Harry and Zayn had been caught in the crowd and couldn't keep up with the girls. Feeling a tinge of disappointment deep in her chest, Addy decided to focus on getting Liv home safe and sober.

"Okay girl," she starts. "How bad are we feeling?"

"Mmmmm high 90's," Liv mumbles, her head lolling. Trying her best not to make the poor girl feel any worse, Addy cringes silently. With one arm still wrapped around Liv, she pulls her phone out of her purse to find an Uber that will get them home. "Alright babe, let's get you out of here and into bed" Addy says softly.

Turning to find a place to sit while they wait, Addy bumps into someone, knocking the drink out of their hand. She gasps as the drink flies all over her and the person."Watch it love, trying to celebrate my big win over here," snaps a thick Irish accent. Addy comes face to face with the man of the hour.

His previously occupied hand is hanging in mid air. His sharp blue eyes meet hers, recognition flits through them as he looks her up and down landing on the hat. His now empty, plastic cup lies on the ground. Addy opens her mouth to say something, but she quickly closes it. "I'm... so sorry," she mumbles, truly at a loss for words. She can feel the beer staining and dampening the front of her shirt, white top soaked and see through on her chest. The red lacy bra Liv had convinced her to put on earlier was now on full display. Niall's eyes trail down but quickly snap back up to the green eyes staring back at him. The pictures around the arena are nothing compared to the way he looks now here in front of her.

He's changed out of the attire he was wearing during the show and now is wearing a thin, gray button down with the top three buttons undone and the sleeves cut off so his muscles are on full display. Addy can see his chest hair peeking out of his shirt with a gold necklace, a gold cowboy hat charm hanging from it. There's a medium sized stain of beer going down the middle of his torso, darkening the fabric. Addy can smell a fresh aftershave with a woody, leathery cologne. He has a manicured yet thick beard. He's switched into a loose pair of jeans with a bandana hanging from the back pocket and a pair of black boots on his feet. His head, however, is missing his hat. Addy notices two small gold earrings in both of his ears. His previously messy hair is now neatly shaggy, some strands curling against his forehead. Addy's mouth goes dry.