Flicker Short Stories {n.h}

On The Loose

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Niall seethes.

He can't believe this.

After everything she's done, he let her have another chance, and this is what he gets? He gets screwed over again?

"It's not about you, okay? It's-" she starts but he's quick to put an end to the phrase he's heard many times before. He refuses to let her finish the feeding of lies. He is beyond angry, beyond hurt, beyond embarrassed and he's tired of it.

"Do you even know how crazy you're making me right now? Just last week you jumped on that flight from New York to LA just because you said you wanted me. Now you're dumping me? For what? For someone else? You know what I think? I think you just love the game, you love when everybody's watching, and you love the way I crawl back to you. I'm sick of it."

Niall sounds exasperated, and that's because he is.

She wasn't worth all the trouble she had put him through.

Regardless of the golden nights saturated with her dancing in the crowded dark room against him. Regardless of his love for the way her eyes would burn down the room. Regardless of the flame he felt whenever he touched her.

He needed to get out of this poisonous cycle consisting of her luring him in, then tossing him aside for something new.

It wasn't a special connection to her like it was to him.

To her, it was a game, a mindless game involving the many men wrapped around her finger. To her, this was a game she had always won and didn't know how to lose. Niall, at this point, was ready to end her little plans.

For him, it was over.

"You need to leave." He finally breaks the silence and nods towards the hotel room door. She looks up at him with a certain look of confusion.

"What?"

"Did I stutter? I told you to leave. I know exactly what you're doing. You're going to go anyways, hook up with Josh but say something to make me believe you're coming back. But this time I don't want you to come back, got it?" He mentally thanks his vocal chords for not wavering or straining the way he had expected they would.

She nods frantically and makes a move, grabbing her belongings as Niall internally told himself that this was for the best.

Just before she turned the silver handle of the oak door, she gives him one last glance.

The addicting brown pupils met Niall, and he was brought back to the nights they had spent together: the way her lips moulded into his, the way she would run her fingers through his hair and he would hold her bare body impossibly close.

He fought it. And he won.

The door closes behind her and Niall feels a wave of loss, but also of relief.

She couldn't hurt him again.

The only thing left to do now was call Josh. Niall knew her, he knew that she would find her way to him right away, and as a good friend, he felt the need to send a red flag.

"Niall?" Josh's deep British accent queries into the receiver.

"She's on the loose." Niall delivers the signal, a phrase they had dedicated to this exact situation.

"You're sure?"

"She just left me, I kicked her out. She's coming for you. I'm just warning you."

"Thanks bud. I'll do the same. I'm tired of this whole thing with her. She's crazy. Now you get some sleep alright? Don't think about it too much."

"I will." Niall responds and then hangs up.

Now, at 2am, he finally rests his head upon the soft pillow. He expects to feel empty, but a sense of comfort and content takes over.

He has won.

He didn't let her have what she wanted and as far as he is concerned, she's on the loose, and far away from him.