Great Expectations [ A Niall Horan OU ]

ten

Warning: This story contains content that revolves around pregnancy issues. Please read with caution!

24 weeks

For the past week, it's been pitch black by the time Niall has gotten home. He's made sure it's that way. The house is too awkward, too quiet for him to be there without feeling like he's crawling out of his skin. He hasn't spoken to Gia since that day, both of them skirting around each other when they happen to be home at the same time. Niall's made it a point to wait until she's gone in the morning to "wake up" — listening to her make her own coffee, get ready and leave for work before he finally turns so his back isn't to her side of the bed.

Maybe he's a coward, avoiding the mother of his child because he can't get over their issues. But despite how much he wants to be with Gia, he can't help but think that things won't work out in the long run if she can't be honest with him.

When he pulls into the garage on Friday night, he pauses a moment before turning the car off. His hands rest on the wheel as he stares at the blinking clock on his dashboard. It reads 2:37 am. Niall lets out a sigh and lets his head rest back against his seat. He'd spent the better part of the day hanging out with his cousins and friends, answering their questions about Gia and the baby with halfhearted replies. He'd gone to the gym, out to lunch. He'd even gone to the studio and done absolutely nothing except strum a guitar for hours.

And the entire time he was thinking about how he could be home with her, hearing about her day, seeing that pretty smile and that growing belly.

Niall lifts his head off the seat and sees that the clock now reads 2:40 am. He stifles a yawn as he turns his car off and shuts the garage door, stepping out of his shoes and heading inside. The house, as usual, is quiet. He puts his keys away, heads to the fridge for a beer. He's been good about not drinking, especially since he found out about the baby, but he doesn't quite want to head up to bed yet.

So he sits in his kitchen, sipping his beer like the most sorry guy in the world. He looks around at the small indications of Gia in the room. Her Keurig, her laptop in the corner. The fridge is filled, not rare for Niall, but it's stocked with an assortment of both of their favorite snacks. The side of the fridge has sticky notes, some from him and some from her — mostly filled with little notes they wrote to each other before everything went to shit.

He finishes off his beer with a single swig before standing up to get rid of the bottle. It's only when he's tossed it in the recycling bin under the sink, rising up to stand up straight again, that his eye catches the sticky note he wrote over two weeks ago. It has tomorrow's date on it, the brunch restaurant where he and GIa are supposed to meet Harry and Rhea, and a time.

He debates texting Rhea and canceling, but it's too late and she'd know something was up — especially because all four of them had been so looking forward to meeting up again. "Fuck," he swears under his breath. He rips the sticky note off the fridge, squashing it into the pocket of his jeans. He turns the lights off and starts heading upstairs, beyond exhausted.