Just Another Girl (Niall Horan A.U. fanfiction)

Chapter 13

I don't see Luke until a few days after Regionals. As I climb in his car I try to muster up the courage to ask him about missing Regionals. I'm hoping he'll ask me how it goes, because that will help me start but he doesn't. We're going out to dinner again, and I just decide to bring it up during our meal.

We chat for a bit and I notice for the first time how boring our conversations are. They're the most normal conversations about the most normal things.

I finally just blurt out, "Why didn't you come watch me at Regionals?"

He looks taken aback. "What?"

"I played at Regionals the other day...that tennis tournament I've been telling you about? Why didn't you come and watch?"

He smiles. "Emily, I didn't know you wanted me to come!"

I gape at him. "I've been hinting for the past three weeks!"

"Well that's what you did wrong! You should have just asked me to come!"

I try to smile but I can't help noticing the fact that he said what I did wrong.

His smile fades and he looks worried. "Look Emily, I'm sorry, I didn't know it meant that much to you."

"Well you should have, I've talked about it for so long! And even though you didn't know, that's not an excuse. You're my boyfriend you should just know to come support me!"

"Emily, no guy just knows to come, they need to be told specifically to come."

"Niall didn't." I say before I can stop myself. Luke freezes.

"And who is this Niall guy?" He asks quietly. I would have preferred it if he shouted at me.

"Just some guy from my classes." I try to cover myself but it's way too late for that.

Luke just glares at his plate. I wait but he doesn't say anything.

"Look," I say, starting to get mad. "You didn't come to watch me, even with all my hinting, so don't be mad that some other guy did."

He shakes his head but he still doesn't say anything. We sit in a tense silence, but I don't try to do anything about it. I'm too mad at him to say anything.

The rest of dinner is spent with him trying to compliment himself back into my good graces. If anything, that makes me more mad. Finally, we finish and he pays (for once, I don't try to pay for my own meal).

As we leave the restaurant I turn to him. "You didn't even ask me how it went."

"How what went?"

"My tennis match! After everything we talked about you still didn't bother to ask me how it went."

He sighs. "Well I just assumed you won, you're so good at tennis."

I shake my head. "Stop trying to flatter me, Luke."

"I'm sorry." he says finally, and he really does sound sorry. But he still hasn't done anything to show that he actually cares about my life. All we talk about is his band or stupid small talk.

'Luke, I just need to think."

"About what? What is there to think about?"

I hesitate. "Us."

"What do you mean?" he asks, sounding nervous.

"Well I can't help but feel like you don't care about my tennis playing, for starters." I'm about to go on but he interrupts me.

"Are you still upset about this? It's not that big a deal!"

"To you! To me it was an important tournament that my boyfriend didn't show up for because he didn't care. And by the way, I won, thanks for asking." I turn on my heel and walk away. Luke doesn't say anything and he doesn't follow me. I wish he had. Then it would make me feel less like I was doing the right thing by walking away and more the wrong thing.