Shades Of Styles

Manipulative (part 3)

"I'll take another round." I tell the bartender, for the 4th time tonight. Everyday for the last week I've been sat here, drinking away the pain. The memory of what I lost.
The good man sits the whiskey glass in front of me and I wrap my fingers around it before taking all the necessary steps to get it through my system. I can't feel the burn in my throat anymore but I feel it coursing through my veins.
It calls her name as it flies through me. "(Y/N)"
I close my eyes and let her face fill my memory as I allow myself to smile for the first time since she left.

"Harry." Her voice calls my name, it leaves her lips so elegantly and fills my ears. I relish in the feeling. "Harry." She says again. "Harry." My eyes pop open to a man in front of me, I kind of recognize but not much.

"Harry-it's me-Niall. Remember? Uni?" He tries to rejog my memory. My brain scans through names and faces for a second before I find a match in my memories of him. College roommate Junior year, we went to a lot of parties.

"Niall! Yes." I shoot up from my slouching position. "How the hell are yah man?" I ask as I give his shoulder a slap as he sits down next to me.

"Good. I guess...you?" He looks to me. Part of me wants to vent to him and tell him exactly how I'm feeling but I know better.

"Could be better...you're from Ireland right? What you doing back here?" I remember he said he wanted to study here in England but he said he was going straight back to Ireland after Uni was over.

"Well, ah-I never really went back to Ireland." He shrugs and I can tell he's about to tell me a story about the last few years. "I met a girl senior year, stupidly got married to her after graduation...got her pregnant. We got a divorce right before my little Amber was born. And I can't leave now." He explains. Wow. Sounds like a lot has happened.

"Oh no, what happened?" I push for more information. Getting to know him again might take my mind of her, for now. I signal to the bartender for 2 rounds of whiskey as Niall goes deeper into his life story.

"Well, I met her- Olivia in Uni. She was friends with my roommate. We had that fun, cute relationship you have-only once in your life. It feels endless. We dated for the entirety of senior year. And a few days later I asked her to marry me. We ended up at the court house in June of that same year and got married." He pauses as our drinks are placed in front of us. He grabs his, takes a sip and winces. I can tell he'll be nursing that all night, for me-it's all down in seconds. "Then in, September we started having our problems but they never seemed to get easier. She found out she was pregnant. I knew I couldn't leave. But I just-uh...I couldn't stand to be with Olivia anymore. It just felt all wrong. It pissed me off so much I ended up with another girl." He sighs, finishing off his drink. He gestures for 2 more and then continues. "She found out and 2 months before Amber was born, we filed for divorced. It all just happened so fast. But I love Amber so I know I can't leave."

"Sounds rough, friend." I tell him without actually feeling any sympathy for him at all. I have it so much worse, my girlfriend of 3 years left me out of the blue. And now I'm forced to drink away my sorrows. I'm living in actual hell.

I wake up to the sun shining on my face as a figure steps in front of it, I make no move to open my eyes now as the person was kind enough to block it for me so I can sleep. My head is pounding now anyways. Once my brain becomes less foggy I realize it's probably (Y/N), she always shuts the curtains for me after I've had a long night of drinking, so I can sleep.

"Thank you love." I mumble to her and cozy more into my bed.

"What'd you say mate?" I hear a voice that definitely isn't (Y/N)s and my eyes shoot open. I find a man standing in front of me and everything comes rushing back to me. And soon I realize I'm outside, the person here isn't (Y/N) because she left me, it's Niall, the guy I met last night and my cozy bed isn't a bed at all, no-it's-its a pile of trash.
I instantly jump up, getting dizzy and I end up vomiting right there on my own shoes. I feel the migraine now pounding in my head.

"Coffee." I murmur fo Niall and grab his shoulder for support.

"Harry, I've been looking for you all day. Thought you said you were going home? You live in a pile of trash?" He questions. What is he even talking about?

"What?" I ask him and look down the the trash pile. He thinks I live there? "No...I must have-passed out or something." I explain.

"You-smell so bad. Come on, let's get you...home." He assures me. I can't remember anything that happened last night past meeting Niall. I don't even remember how many drinks I had or what it was. I groan and wipe my eyes before getting in his car.

"What happened?" I finally ask him as he starts to drive.

"I don't remember much either. I just know I had to leave, I offered you to come with in an Uber and you said you'd make your own way home when you felt like it." He explains.

"Mmm. Clearly, I didn't. Fuck." I throw my head back against the seat and close my eyes. It feels slightly better.

"Well where do you live?"

"Uhh." I mumble, trying to regain my thinking skills. I open my eyes again, regretting the decision instantly and try to understand my surroundings. When it finally dawns on me where I am, I begin giving him directions.

"So what are you drinking that much for anyways?" Niall asks after a beat of silence.

"No...no reason." I lie. I really don't wanna get into my personal problems with a stranger.

"Come on man, I told you my life story. The least you could do is give me a glimpse into yours." He urges. I'm confused as I don't remember him telling me anything, then of course I don't remember anything of last night. But then I look at him for the first real time and it floods my brain. Niall, from Uni. Of course! He told me something about having a wife and a daughter. And a divorce. Fuck, he did spill his entire life to me.

"Uh, my girlfriend dumped me." I sigh.

"Oh, that sucks man...sorry." He apologizes but it's not sincere. How could it be, he barely knows me. We went to Uni together for 1 year like 5 years ago. Doesn't matter. Nothing does anymore.