Crimes and Punishments [N.H.] (AU) #Wattys2022

XVI

Sixteen
Song Selection:
'San Francisco' Niall Horan
'In the Woods Somewhere' Hozier
'Still' Niall Horan

'Existence alone had never been enough for him; he had always wanted more. Perhaps it was only from the force of his desires that he had regarded himself as a man to whom more was permitted than to others.'

At the end of the meeting, the Dean, Dr Debes announced he was going to get the police involved in this and that Liam will be kicked out of the school immediately. With that, everyone was dismissed and Roisin hurried out away from Niall. She especially didn't want to see him after the engagement news.

'Rosy, what's wrong,' her mam asked as she appeared in front of her.

'The woman in there, the pregnant woman was Amanda and they got engaged. I can't believe he'd do this. He said he'd never give up on me, but he did.'

'Roisin,' Niall called as he jogged up to them. Her mam scowled. 'I'm glad you got your justice away from that prick.'

'It's just too bad I can't get away from you,' Roisin murmured. 'You got engaged to her. You said you'd never give up.'

'What else could I do, huh? You never reply to my texts, nor any of my letters. It seems like you don't even care!' Then, a loud slap was heard and Niall's head was to the side.

'Mama?' Roisin's mam had slapped Niall.

'You know, I knew your mother a long time ago. We were childhood friends...but I wonder if she'd be ashamed of what you're doing and saying to my daughter. All the things, I'd heard about you being the perfect man, but it seems Rosy was wrong.

'You let a woman with a child that's not even yours, manipulate you into marriage. That's sad and I thought you'd grown up, but I was wrong as well. Thank you for saving my daughter from being raped, but I think any further contact with her is over until you can grow up.'

'And you are?'

'My name is Laoise MacGeoghegan, but your mother knows me by Laoise Ryan.' A tear ran down Niall's face.

'I'm sorry for disrespecting you and your daughter, forgive me. I've got to go.' With that, Niall turned and headed to Amanda who was waiting at the end of the hallway for him.

'Mama, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,' Roisin cried as tears ran down her face. She felt the guilt of everything weighing her down. She didn't want her mother to think she was spending her school time sleeping around and after everything she just wanted to go home.

'Rosy, it's not your fault. Conor, Niall, Liam? None of them are your fault. Come on, do you have any more classes for the day?' They walked to the lift as Roisin tried to sober up before eventually nodding.

'I've got Philosophy of Religion and then, I'm free for the rest of the day.' Laoise smiled.

'In that case, I'll pick you up after your last class and then, we can spend some time together. Because I can't wait until Holiday break for you to come home.'

'I love you, mama.'

'And I love you, Rosy.'

—

Niall couldn't stop rubbing his cheek as he still felt the sting of the slap. He had to go home, because he couldn't stand Amanda's non-stop talk about how Roisin was ungrateful after her mother slapped him when it was none of Amanda's business what happened.

He got home and tossed the keys into the bowl. Why did he say such stupid things to her? Why did he accept Amanda's marriage proposal? He thought about how well he and Roisin moulded together. How they fit so well and the sex was amazing, but did he truly make an effort to get her back? Were all the letters and texts really efforts?