Silence (Niall Horan)

Chapter 12

"Cheating on me?" Niall's eyes are dark.

"No. I'm not cheating on you! Let me explain."

He hesitates but then relaxes and nods his head.

"My teacher, Mr. Rodriguez asked me to go with him to a book signing. He said it would be like an extra credit project. He didn't mean it that way. We decided to go get dinner and we were walking down the sidewalk when Zayn saw us. He just saw everything wrong. He didn't even let me explain."

His eyes are on the floor and he is playing with his fingers. I stay quiet. Unsure of what to do next.

"So you blew me off for some extra credit project?" he breaks the silence.

"I had already agreed to it before you asked me to go with you."

He takes off his skates and puts his shoes back on. He stands up and heads back to the lady in front handing her his skates. I do the same and follow him out.

"Where are you going?" I grab his arm.

"Home." he jerks away.

"Niall, it didn't mean anything." He doesn't respond.

"I need a ride back." I say.

"Call your little boyfriend and tell him to take you home."

He slams the door and drives away. I didn't realize how quickly the weather change in New York. It's freezing now. I pull out my phone and call Jenny.

"Hello?" she answers.

"Hey, are you busy?"

"No. What's up?"

"I need someone to pick me up at," I glance around ", I don't know. It's ice skating rink."

"Is it around here?"

"Like 20 minutes away."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine. My car broke down." I lie.

It takes Jenny 30 minutes to pick me up. She is riding with Harry and Liam. I climb inside and sit next to Harry.

"You should come with us to a bar." Jenny says.

"Oh no. I don't drink."

"Neither does Liam so you guys can get along just fine."

Liam looks back at me and smiles. Harry is looking out the window. I find myself staring at the tattoos on his upper arm. I want to know what made him get a tattoo of a ship. What's special about it?

"Do you like them?" Harry interrupts my thoughts.

"Yeah. They're... interesting." I search for words.

"Yeah. They're pretty random. Especially that one." He points to the ship. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Were they painful?"

"Not that much. You get used to them after having so many." He laughs.

"I want one." I blurt out.

"Really?" He laughs and tilts his head back.

"What?" I frown.

"I can't picture you with a tattoo. Although that would be very hot." he smiles.

I could throw myself out of this car right now. I'm even more embarrassed than I was with Niall. Niall. I miss him already. The way he left me there like an idiot. He was so cold.