Niall's Girl

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

I woke up in the morning, lying on the kitchen floor, my t-shirt missing. My head throbbed and my mouth was dry. My phone was lying on the tiles next to me, and when I turned it over I could see that the corner of the screen was cracked. I had a bandage wrapped around my hand, but why, I didn't know. A large chunk of last night was missing from my memory, but I'll tell you what I remember.

***

When my friends arrived, we started off with some simple drinking games, making sure we avoided Never Have I Ever, since I didn't fancy hearing more about Ben's sex life. The last time we played had scarred me for life. Benjamin suggested spin the bottle, but it didn't work out since I was the only single friend. Boohoo for me.

We turned on my laptop and watched Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo, playing along with a twist. Every time you laughed and spat out your water - you had to drink. Niall would have been hammered, I thought, since he literally laughs at anything. I was pretty drunk by the end of it, and then we turned on some music, dancing around the living room. A while ago, Ben and I had learned Monica and Ross' dance routine from Friends, so we performed it for the rest of them, receiving loud cheers and manic applause from our drunken friends who thought it was the best thing they'd ever seen.

Time passed quickly, and I got more and more drunk. I think my mistake was mixing the alcohol. I had vodka shots and then a couple of ciders, quickly sending my head spinning.

I vaguely remember getting the hoover out from the cupboard under the stairs and using the nozzle to suck on Will's cheek, who had fallen asleep on the sofa. Sadie was dancing around on her own, oblivious to her boyfriend's unconsciousness and Sophie and Eric had disappeared upstairs. I didn't even want to think about what they were doing. I just hoped they were using the guest room.

The last thing I remember is chasing Ben down the street, who was claiming he was a fairy. I eventually caught up to him, and he piggybacked me back to the house. I was shouting something about how I used to want to be a ballerina, when Mr Luzowski from across the road yelled at me that it was two a.m. and I needed to shut the fuck up. I apologised sincerely, (at least I wasn't a rude drunk) before telling Benjamin off for being loud. His reply was that we should be quiet and meditate and so that was what we did. In the middle of the street. Humming loudly. Oops. We eventually went back to the house after finding our inner souls and had some more shots.

And that's all I know.

So when I woke up in the morning, I was so confused. Mainly about why I was half naked and why when I moved my hand, it stung like hell.

I stumbled out of the kitchen to the living room, where Will and Sadie were asleep on top of each other. I walked tiredly to the stairs, hauling myself up using the banister. I peered inside the guest room, thankful that the sheets were covering Sophie and Eric's most probably stark naked bodies. Ew. I finally entered my room, where I found Ben starfished on top of my duvet, as if he had fallen backwards onto the bed and just passed out. Which was highly likely.

I retracked my steps, waking up each of my friends. When they were all awake (and clothed) we relocated to the living room, collapsing on the floor and the sofas.

"So..." I said, breaking the silence. "Can anybody tell me why I found my top hanging from the light shade in the hallway?"

Will raised his hand like he was in school. "Um, it was when I woke up. You and Ben had just come back inside and you claimed you were now a Buddhist, and because your top said 'YOLO' on it, you said you couldn't wear it because Buddhists don't believe you only live once, they believe they're reincarnated." We all burst into laughter. At least I remembered something from GCSE Religious Education.

"And can anyone tell me why I have a bandage around my hand?" I asked, lifting my hand up. "It feels like there's a big cut under there or something." I frowned, had I slipped on some glass? Was something broken?

Benjamin laughed and I swivelled my head round to where he was sitting next to me.

"You don't remember that?" He chuckled and I shook my head. My other friends were looking confused as well. "We were in the kitchen and I said something about us being like brothers from another mother." Ben explained, and lifted his eyebrows as if asking if I remembered now. I shook my head and he carried on, but now he was laughing so hard he could barely get his words out. "So you said we should be blood brothers, and grabbed a knife from one of the drawers and slit open your hand." Ben smacked his chest, trying to soothe his choking laughter. My other friends all looked astounded, before laughing, too.

"Jesus Emma, you're crazy!" Sadie laughed. I just shook my head, shocked. I had cut open my own hand! On purpose! What the fuck?!

"Yeah so then you got really pissed when I wouldn't slice my hand open, too." Ben grinned at me, his laugher now under control. "I bandaged your hand up and then you sat on the kitchen floor and called Ni -" He stopped abruptly as he realised his mistake - none of my other friends knew about Niall, they just knew of 'Mystery Boy'.

"Called who?" Sophie frowned but I left Ben to cover up his mistake because I ran in to the kitchen to retrieve my phone. I frantically unlocked it and went to my recent calls list, dreading the worst. And sure enough, I had called Niall. The call had only lasted fifty seconds, though, so I was pretty sure I couldn't have done too much damage in under a minute.

I hauled myself up to sit on the counter and took a deep breath before pressing call. The phone rang a couple of times before Niall picked up.

"Ems?" He didn't sound upset or pissed off, thank heavens.

"Hey Ni," I said nervously. "Um..." I didn't know what to say.

"You don't remember last night, do you?" He chuckled.

"No," I admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. "What did I say?"

Niall laughed again and my nerves dissipated, I mean he wouldn't be laughing if I'd declared my undying love for him, surely. "You said that I was, and I quote, a 'meany poo' for leaving yesterday. I coud tell how drunk you were though," he chuckled, "you were slurring your words. And then Ben shouted in the background something about 'four for you, Glen Coco!' and then I think you dropped your phone because there was a bang and you hung up."

"Oh." I breathed out, sighing in relief. Then I started laughing. "I'm - sorry!" I managed to say. I continued to laugh. I think I was giddy on relief; I hadn't ruined Niall and I's friendship by blurting out my unreciprocated feelings like I'd dreaded.

"Oh and I think you said something about slitting your wrists? That got me worried." Niall said, more serious now.

"No, don't worry! I just cut my hand by accident... well, on purpose." Sophie walked into the kitchen, therefore I cut the conversation short. "Look, I have to go!"

"You realise you have to explain all of this later, you alcoholic." Niall teased. "Love you Emmy! Talk to you later!"

"You too. Bye!" I hung up the phone.

"Messy night, right?" Sophie smirked.

"Never again." I mumbled, knowing I'd been let off quite drastically with the drunken call to Niall. Next time I might not be so lucky.

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Video of Zayn playing Innuendo Bingo on the side!

Big question for you - does anyone have any good ideas about who could be cast as Emma? I've said brown hair and blue eyes, but apart from that I've kind of left it open to interpretation. I'd love to hear your ideas since I've not got any good ones myself :p

I hope you all have a brilliant weekend:)

-Laura xo