Reminisce [ A Niall Horan OU ]

iiii. if you haven't found somebody

In the coming months, as Meera delved into wedding planning, Niall tried to keep himself busy and the nagging feeling of uneasiness  that never seemed to entirely disappear at bay. If you asked him what was wrong during those months, he didn't have much to say, but words weren't needed for everyone around him to know that he was slowly slipping back to his old habits. Shutting people out, being angry all the time, avoiding going out unless he absolutely had to.

But worst of all, he fell back into his old coping mechanism. He hadn't planned on turning back to the girl who fucked him up from all those months ago, but she was going through a breakup and running into each other in LA wasn't that hard. Similar to what seemed like ages ago, Niall most often finds himself waking up alone or doing the walk of shame down her driveway.

It's on one of these occasions that he has to blow Meera off. He was supposed to meet her for a cake tasting because Alex was out of town on a last minute gig with a local artist who needed an engineer. Instead, he'd driven himself home when he woke up alone in a bed that wasn't his — still hungover. He'd been so out of it he hadn't left through the back door and immediately faced a wall of paps who'd been on his case for the past few weeks. He could already picture the headline as he pushed his way into his car.

Former One Direction Niall Horan found leaving ex fling's house!

When he finally walked through his own front door, he'd quickly sent off a text to Meera telling her he couldn't make it, leaving his phone in the kitchen on silent and then crawling into bed.

It's not too long after when Niall distinctly hears his front door open and he buries himself deeper under the covers. His head is throbbing and he wants to forget he exists. There's only two people who have keys to his house other than him, and one of them is in Ireland, so he doesn't panic. All of a sudden he doesn't feel irritated either.

His bedroom door opens and closes, very carefully, so that the squeak from the hinges doesn't echo through the room. He can hear her shuffling to the other side of the bed, putting her stuff on the floor.

His eyes are still shut as she lifts the comforter, crawling under and pulling it over their heads again, like they're kids playing in a tent.

He only opens his eyes when the shuffling stops, and she's lying next to him. A slight glow emulates through his white comforter, giving off just the right amount of light so he can see her without it making his hangover any worse.

She stares at him, with those big eyes. But she doesn't say anything. A quick glance down her body shows Niall that she's wearing her favorite pjs. Avocado patterned pajama pants paired with a pink t-shirt that says "let's avocuddle" in green font.

Meera scoots closer to him, her face on the edge of the pillow. Niall watches her with tired eyes, his head throbbing with less ferocity now. His heart doesn't feel as defeated with Meera here.

She lifts her head and leans over, kissing him square between the brows. It's a soft, sweet kiss. She lingers there for a moment and then pulls back. She gives him an understanding smile, one that tells him she's probably already seen all the photos of him leaving the house. There's no words exchanged between them, but there isn't a need for them either. She may not understand why he was here in this place again, but she realizes that he needs her — no judgement, no outside world — just him and his Meera.