the coffee shop girl // niall horan

Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

Soon the days began to get slightly longer and the calendar was reading March. And with it came the flu, which meant that no one was left unscathed.

For once, the overly-large and expensive flat was quiet. The only sounds were of the occasional stumble of feet as someone would rush to the bathroom, closely followed by the unmistakable sounds of retching. Thus Róisín found herself camped out at the flat nursing five very sick adult children. From what little she knew, Róisín was made aware that management knew the current predicament and the lads were given as much time as needed to get well, though it was stressed that the sooner the better would be best. As of now, they had been sick for two days, and showed no signs of improving.

Róisín was busy in the kitchen making herself a cup of tea on Day 3 when Louis made his presence known.

"Can you turn the smell off? I feel like I'm going to hurl," he whined, his face slightly greenish and his eyes sunken and glassy. He looked horrid.

"Louis, there is no way for me to 'turn the smell off,'" she said plainly. "And if you're going to hurl, the bathroom is behind you, down the hall, and the third door on the left.

Louis hacked a laughing cough. "Very funny. Is there anything on telly?"

"I have no idea what's on, feel free to look, it's your house. And bring a bucket with you!" she yelled after him.

She set up a pot to make some chicken noodle soup for him. She got out two extra cans in case anyone else wandered into the kitchen, knowing that where one went, another was sure to follow.

She busied herself in making the soup and listened closely to Louis in the other room, thankful that the only sounds she heard were that of Thor playing in the background.She stirred the soup as she listened, a faint smile on her face.

She thought about what had happened in the past months. She had met Louis in the café, and he had offered to give her a ride home to shield her from the pouring rain as apology for accidentally dropping his order down her shirt. She had befriended Niall, who had seemed to see past what others did and became a true friend to her. Róisín knew that the whole thing was cliché ... how could something like this ever really happen to her? A celebrity "seeing past" every one of her faults ... it was absurd. She stirred the soup again thoughtfully, picking up her book (North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell) and leaning against the counter, reading.

" ... 'I care for nobody-Nobody cares for me.' ... "

She snapped it shut with a loud sigh. She tucked a stray auburn hair behind her ear and sighed in anger. Why could she not trust the friendship-could she call it that?-that Niall provided her.

She scoffed at herself. She didn't even know what to call her relationship with Niall. She mentally berated herself for not being bold enough to question him of their status: were they friends ... partners ...what? She briefly though of the few kisses they'd shared over the past two or three months. Friends didn't kiss like that ... she certainly didn't see Meaghan kissing every male friend she had. At the thought of Meaghan, Róisín bit her lip. They'd seen each other once or twice since Christmas, Meaghan mainly staying over at friends' flats or returning long before Róisín came home or long after her - the latter was more frequent.

"Róisín?"

Róisín started at the harsh croak of her name coming from the living room, and she quickly filled a glass of water from the filtered water in the refrigerator and, giving the soup another stir, quickly walked into the living room where Louis was reclining on the sofa beneath a large fluffy green blanket. Said blanket was drawn up to his chin, his eyes half lidded and only seeming to be half-watching the movie presented on the television screen.