Plain Pain: A Niall Horan Fan Fiction

Chapter 63

I woke up the next day to find that Niall and Greg were both gone, and it was just me and Maura at the house. Breakfast was relatively more silent than usual today with just the two of us at the table. Maura had told me that Niall tagged along with Greg and Denise to go look at some venues for the wedding and give them some extra input, but I had a feeling he was just looking for an excuse to leave the house and get some space after our conversation from yesterday. I wouldn't blame him if that was the case. I also considered the possibility that Greg could have convinced Niall to come so he could get something out of him in case he didn't have any luck with me tonight.

Speaking of which, my mind was reeling the whole day as I wondered if Greg would actually remember our exchange from last night and still insist that we have 'a talk.' I prayed to the heavens that he wouldn't and waited anxiously for his arrival.

I watched some TV with Maura until Greg and Niall came home, and I almost bounced off my seat when I heard the sound of keys jingling. I refused to turn around when they came through the door, pretending to be too focused on the reality show playing on the television.

Maura looked up from her seat and asked Greg how his day went.

I heard Greg complain from behind me, "Today was an absolute bust. Didn't find any places that we liked enough," I had to acknowledge him now that he'd spoken, so I turned around and tuned into the conversation.

"Don't listen to him, Mum. There were lots of good places. He and Denise are just insanely fussy," Niall rolled his eyes and threw his keys on the coffee table in front of me, taking a seat on the couch at a considerable distance away from me. He casually draped his arm over the back of the couch.

"It's my blimmin' wedding. I think I've earned my right to be fussy," Greg retorted.

Niall ignored him and turned to his mother, "Mum, please tell me you waited for us to have lunch," he gave her a pleading look and she laughed.

"We did, and we're starving so come on and help me with the table so we can all go eat," Maura said and turned to Greg who was now on the phone, standing by the staircase, "that includes you, too, Greg," she slightly yelled so Greg could hear her and he gestured for her to give him a second before he turned around and continued talking on the phone. I chuckled as Niall, Maura and I got up to start setting up the table. It didn't take long for Greg to join us, and we soon had everything laid out on the table before we sat down and proceeded to dig in.

I was the first to leave the table. I ate especially quickly today because the longer I sat at the table, the more obvious it became that Niall and I had barely even said a word to each other the whole time. I also wanted to escape Greg's suspicious glances, but I didn't do such a great job at that when I realized that Greg had also finished eating and was now following me as I approached the staircase to go to the upstairs bathroom and wash my hands.

He subtly leaned towards me and said, "Don't forget, we need to talk tonight," before he walked away and headed for the kitchen. I nearly froze in my spot as a wave of anxiety washed over me, and my brain naturally began conjuring up every possible scenario of how this conversation with Greg would go as I willed my legs to climb up the stairs and tried to remember why I wanted to go upstairs to begin with.

I was in Niall's room texting Trisha on my phone and asking her about how my studio in New York was doing when someone knocked on the door. I furrowed my eyebrows, knowing that Niall would never knock on his own door, despite the fact that he was now sharing his room with me. Sometimes I really questioned his understanding of the word privacy.

My heartbeat quickened when I realized that the possibility of it being Maura and not Greg at the door was really slim. I cleared my throat nervously and told the person at the door to come in. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Greg enter the room and close the door behind him.