Heat

Part 24

*Audrey's POV*

The only way I could describe my behavior these past few days is childish, self-centered, catty, and selfish. I wish I could put self-preserving on that list, that the avoidance of my room was for my own health, but it wasn't. I was cowardly and I was afraid and that was that.

I spent the past few days camping out in Katie's room with her roommate. Hannah had tagged along too, following along with my bad decision. She didn't want to see Louis either and I tried to tell her my situation was different, her issue between the two of them more serious, that they had a long standing relationship that was at risk if she didn't go and see him to talk things out, but my speech was rewarded with scowl and a harrumphing sound. There were also some creative expletives muttered and I was told "she'd sort her shit when I dealt with Niall." That shut me up quickly because I didn't want to. Hell, I didn't even know where I'd start if I did decide to speak to him.

So I spent my time preparing for finals on the the fucking floor of a cramped room built for two now holding four. Katie was indulgent, her roommate slightly less so- grousing loudly one night when she had to get up in the middle of the night to use the toilet and almost tripped over H's lumpy form, swaddled in blankets and an uneasy sleep from laying on the hard dormitory floor.

I trekked to my exams with a crick in my neck and completely decked out in Katie's clothing. Everything was a little snug seeing as how she was shorter than me, but it was a sacrifice I made to make sure I didn't end up running into Niall or Harry. Not seeing the latter one was slightly more difficult because we were both scheduled to take a final for our shared intro to modern art course, but I managed it, slinking down into a seat I normally wouldn't have taken, speeding through the questions at a pace that made my eyes hurt so I could be done before him. Like I said, I was behaving like a kindergartener, but I liked to think it was an alright defense mechanism (although I knew it was completely, utterly ludicrous bullshit) kinda like when an ostrich sticks its head in the sand, the whole "if I can't see you, you can't see me so the problem doesn't exist and will disappear if I wait long enough" thing.

Exams were hard, but no harder than I had expected them to be so I counted that as a win, but once Friday rolled around, Hannah, Katie and her roommate still had a couple of tests to take and I had nothing to do. Kay kicked me out, politely of course, but booted me out her room none the less reminding me that I had to go back to my room whether I liked it or not- I had a flight back home for the winter holiday later that evening and unless I wanted to board that flight and spent the vacation naked, I had to pack.

So in the early morning after I said my goodbyes and good lucks to the girls, I crept through the halls of my dorm on the tippiest of tip toes and managed to get into my room undetected. I spent the first part of the day lazily sorting through the belongings I wanted to take home with me, leisurely putting clothing and other sundries into my rollie luggage while the tellie played rubbish programming, buzzing lowly in the background to fill the void, drown out the quiet of the dormitory that finals had created.

Finally it was that time, time for me to call a cab and head to the airport. It was close to 2, and I could see fluffy white flakes starting to fall from the low grey clouds as I looked out my window trying to spot when my cab arrived. I saw a beat up yellow checkered car and sighed. I grabbed my purse, the handle to my luggage, and keys so I could lock up behind me. As I opened my door, the first thing I noticed was a clear cd case on the floor. On the disk inside was my name, printed carefully in black permanent marker. I picked it up, flipped it over to see if there was a note, any indicator as to who it was from, but there was nothing so I just slipped it into my shoulder bag.

"Ahem," a voice startled me.

I looked up and noticed Niall, his heavy lidded eyes, the clothes that were creased and seemed to be two days old, his hair disheveled and slightly greasy, missing his normal snapback and needing a shower.