Plain Pain: A Niall Horan Fan Fiction

Chapter 69

I pushed the tall glass door to find myself in a small yet fancy restaurant. The walls were a beautiful shade of brown that gave the room a cozy vibe, while the big exposed light bulbs hanging down from the ceiling made the place feel a lot more homey. I spotted Louise sitting at one of the tables at the end of the room, sipping at her coffee as she waited for me.

She smiled and stood up once she saw me inching closer to her table, and I pulled her in a tight hug once I was standing next to my seat. I sat across from her when we pulled away and she told me to have a look at the menu and see what I wanted to order for breakfast. She highly recommended the breakfast waffles, so that's what I went for.

We spoke about the fashion show Louise had recently attended in Prague, and I listened intently as she told me about all the landmarks she visited during her time there. This eased us into another conversation about my time touring around the world with the One Direction boys, and I felt my hands beginning to get clammy now that the topic of Niall was just around the corner.

"So how did you get on with the boys? Did they treat you well?" she asked concertedly before taking a sip out of coffee while looking at me.

I breathed out a laugh, "We got off to a bad start but we all ended up getting along eventually," I replied briefly and she picked up on my unwillingness to overshare, which was an unusual thing for me considering that I always told her everything.

"And Niall?" she raised an eyebrow questionably and I shifted in my seat, unable to get comfortable enough.

"He's alright," I forced a smile but she didn't buy it.

"What's wrong? Did you two fight again?" Louise asked. She'd already known about Niall and I finally coming to an understanding, but little did she know that we've had our fair share of trouble in paradise since then.

"Well, not exactly," I fidgeted with my hands and she looked at me suspiciously, urging me to explain.

"I did something. I mean -- we did...something," I croaked and her eyes widened.

"What? Did you two-"

I cut her off as soon as I realized how wrong my words must've sounded to her, "No, no, no, we just- we kissed. Nothing more," I assured her and she regained her composure.

"How many times?"

I raised my eyebrows in shock at her ability to tell what's going on in my mind without me even having to tell her, "Three."

"Three! How did I not know about this earlier? Tell me more."

I shifted in my seat again, wishing it could just swallow me whole so I didn't have to have this conversation. Still, I knew that if anyone could help me with this predicament, it was Louise.

"He sort of...told me he uh," I cleared my throat, still trying to believe that this had actually happened, "he said he loves me."

"You're joking!" Louise suddenly straightened up and leaned over the table attentively.

"Yeah. He didn't even mean to tell me; it just -- came out," I rushed through my words and she still looked interested.

"Rachel, that's great news!" I winced at her excitement and her smile disappeared once she saw my expression, "Why aren't you happy? I thought you said you still had feelings for him."

I hesitated, "I did. I do. It's just...it's not fair, you know," I tried to explain but failed miserable as Louise stared at me with a confused look on her face.

"What's not fair?"

"I told him how I felt about him once and he said he didn't feel the same way. He can't just change his mind and wait for me to run back to him," I'd only realized how ridiculous that sounded when I said it out loud, and Louise appeared to be thinking the same thing.

"You do realize that was four years ago, right?" she looked at me like I was insane, and I was finding it increasingly difficult to blame her.

"Yeah, but what am I doing differently that could've made him change his mind?" I asked Louise and she sighed, as if the answer was too obvious. I struggled to line my vision with hers.

"Ever thought that maybe he's the one that's changed?" she raised an eyebrow at me and I fell silent. I knew she was gonna say that. I'd already been entertaining the possibility for a while now.

"It's been a long time, Rachel. He's not a boy anymore. He's a man, and you're a twenty year old woman, which means you both know what you want now," she paused and her brown eyes pierced into my soul as she spoke her next words, "Don't blame the man for the mistakes of a boy."