linger // niall horan

one // a haon

augustine's pov

"Why are you sitting on your ass?" Thomas hisses at me as I watch the wedding guests settle into their assigned seats for the reception.

My hand goes up to block the bright sun so I can properly look at Tom's sweaty face, wondering if it's as red with rage as it always is. 

It was. 

"Because my parents are your boss," I smirk at him as I hop off of the table, heading back by the rest of the staff. Everyone moves around me as they struggle to get the buffet ready for the guests. 

My parents stand up by the bridal party, ready to intervene if any mass confusion breaks out. I still cannot believe they suckered me into coming home to Mullingar for the summer to help out. I should be back in Dublin with all of my friends, enjoying the summer off of school. Instead I'm sweating my ass off at some lame couple's wedding with the rest of their staff. 

"Tom is such a prick," Tierney grumbles as she holds a pitcher of water, equipped to help keep the guests from passing out under the hot summer sun. 

Luckily Tierney agreed to help out as well. She was my freshman year roommate at uni, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. 

The two of us laugh as we watch Tom run around the tables as if someone lit a fire under his arse. His red face matched his bright ginger hair. When he catches Tierney and I watching him, his eyes nearly bulge out of his head. With a fit of laughter, we hurry back to our designated jobs for the evening. Tierney heads out into the small crowd of people to refill any empty glasses, while I stand at the beginning of the tables, ready to direct traffic to the buffet tables and answer any questions. 

Mom grabs her mic and begins releasing people for the buffet, table by table. With my fakest grin on, I smile at people as they walk passed me. 

"Excuse me ma'am, I need your help. I'm far too sober to be attending this event," A deep husky voice whispers in my ear, causing me to jump nearly a foot in the air. 

I whip around to see that familiar smirk towering over me. Seamus wore his dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the tie around his neck was far too loose, but he still looked more put together than usual. 

"How do you manage to keep your job when you're always two hours late to everything?" I roll my eyes, batting away his hand as he reaches out to tug one of my curls that has escaped my ponytail. 

"My undeniable charm," He smiles as he pushes his long dark hair out of his face.

I want to retort something smart but as I look up at him as he scratches his beard, looking around at the wedding venue with his playful brown eyes, I couldn't disagree with him. His charm is exactly why I haven't dropped his ass to the curb after all these years. 

As his eyes travel back to mine, that playful grin of his expands, nearly absorbing me. He reaches out to tug on one of my curls and this time I don't bat his hand away. 

"I'll wait around for you after the wedding's done," He whispers, leaning in, smelling like cigarettes and cologne.

My mind wanders back to the last time we broke up, which was approximately three days ago. He had invited me to dinner with his sister and her boyfriend and I threw my shoe at him and told him he was suffocating me. 

We're dysfunctional, to say the least. 

"I thought we were off, Shay?" I smirk, repeating what he had said to me the last time I approached him to turn our off relationship back on. 

"Blurred lines, really," He laughs before turning around to man the bar. 

Smiling to myself, I return my attention to the people walking passed me in an unorganized line. I catch Tierney's eyes through the crowd and she just shakes her head with a smirk on her face.