Leap Year

Febuary 16.

Niall knew he messed up, he knew that Alice wasn't the type of person to just ignore someone for no reason, especially him. The fact that he hadn't heard from her for a full day made him nervous, he found himself not being able to concentrate during the meetings he was in, his mind kept replaying the stupid voicemail he left her a few nights before that giving her nothing but excuses as to why he didn't follow through on their Skype date. Niall knew that most of the time Alice was extremely understanding to his schedule, she was quick to say it was okay and just simply reschedule but this seemed different, this time even Niall was annoyed with himself over how he handled the whole situation.

"Come on love pick up da phone," Niall mumbled to himself as he placed his phone up to his ear while opening the door to his hotel room. He was hopeful that she'd pick up since he knew that back home in LA she was just now getting off work and she always liked talking to him on her drive home so she could rant about her day and how her boss was a prick.

"Hey!" Niall felt a sigh of relief when Alice's sweet voice filled his ears. "You've reached Alice unfortunately I can't come to the phone but feel free to leave me a message! Have a great one!" His relief was soon replaced with annoyance when her voice mail message began to play, he quickly hit the end call button and tossed his phone onto the bed.

"Fuck Horan ya really gone an done it dis time didn't ya." He groaned as he ran a hand through his hair, "da least she could do is answer da bloody phone." He ran a hand down his face as he just grew more annoyed as the minutes passed, he knew she was mad but how did she expect him to fix the situation if she wouldn't answer his calls or texts?

"Shit shit shit!" Alice mumbled as she flung the cushions off her couch, her mouth forming a frown when she didn't see it anywhere. "Where the hell did i put it?" She placed her hand on her forehead as she tried to remember the last place she saw her phone. She could've sworn she had it with her when she was binge watching Stranger Things last night while lounging on the couch.

"It's not in your pantry." Alice rolled her eyes as Vivian walked into the living room with a bag of chips in her hand. "What? I had to check, remember that time you left it in the freezer?" Alice just let out a groan as she tossed the couch cushions back to where they belonged.

"I probably have like 20 missed calls," Vivian just shrugged as she took a seat on Alice's loveseat. "probably like five voicemails and I don't even wanna think about all the texts." Vivian watched Alice's cheeks get red as she paced the living room with her hands on her hips.

"All from the Irish lad who," Alice looked at Vivian who was shoving another handful of chips into her mouth. "you're mad at so it's fine. Make him wonder why you're ignoring him, maybe it'll make him realize just how important you are and how he shouldn't be a dick and blow off your Skype dates." Alice just let out a huff as she sat on the armrest of the loveseat, Vivian leaned the bag of chips towards her and smiled when Alice reached her hand in.

"I'm not ignoring him on purpose, I just can't find my stupid phone." She explained before popping a few chips into her mouth. Vivian just reached over and patted Alice's thigh, Alice gave her a small smile as she placed her hand on top of Vivian's.

"Have you checked the bathroom?" Vivian asked as she reached into the bag of chips her mouth forming a small pout when she realized the bag was now empty. "Always like to play that stupid candy crush bullshit while on the toilet." Alice jumped up from where she was perched on the armrest of the couch and took off for her master bathroom leaving Vivian a giggling mess in her living room.

She felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw the rectangular shaped device sitting on the edge of her bathtub. She quickly reached for it and felt her eyes go wide when she saw just how many missed calls and voicemails she had from Niall, she noticed how they got shorter and shorter as she scrolled through them. She slid her thumb across the screen and brought the phone up to her ear as she sat on the edge of the tub. She knew that he'd be annoyed, he never was one to like the feeling of being ignored.

"Oh so now ya wanna talk?" Alice rolled her eyes as Niall's annoyed tone came through the phone. "Done bein all pissy wit me then?" She felt her cheeks get warm as she remembered why she was upset with him in the first place.

"Really Niall? This is how you want to talk to me?" She stood up and headed into her bedroom as she heard Niall let out a huff from the other end of the phone. "Don't get all huffy with me Horan when you're the one who was an ass and blew me off." Alice walked over to the window in her bedroom, she moved the sheer curtains so she could see the sky as it began getting dark outside.

"I told ya what happened, explained it all to ya in one of the hundreds of voicemails I've left ya over da past few days Alice." His tone was harsh and she knew he was probably running a hand through his hair with his eyes closed trying to calm himself down.

"Yes a voicemail that you left at the end of the night." Alice felt her eyes start to tingle and a small lump form in her throat. "You let me go the whole day thinking something happened, something important because of course that's the only reason why you'd go a whole day without even saying hi or happy Valentine's Day." Niall could tell by the way her voice was a little lower that she was upset and it made him instantly feel guilty.

"Alice I'm so-" Alice was quick to cut him off because he'd had time to say sorry and she wasn't in the mood for it right now.

"It was just a meeting, that turned into drinks." Alice couldn't help but sniffle as she felt a few tears fall down her face. "It's fine Niall I'm used to it, don't worry I forgive you." Niall swallowed hard as he heard her let out a shaky breath. "I'll see you whenever you get home." With that Alice hung up the phone and tossed it onto her bed, Vivian watched from the doorway of her bedroom as she looked out the window as tears streamed down her face.

"Oh honey," Alice just let a small sob escape her as Vivian wrapped her arms around Alice's shoulders. Alice brought her hands up and placed them on top of Vivian's arms as she closed her eyes tightly.

"I love him," Vivian just nodded her head and rested her cheek on top of Alice's shoulder. "What if he doesn't care about me? What if he says no? I don't think I can do this whole proposal thing Viv." Alice opened her eyes as the feeling of panic started creeping up on her.

"We will talk about that later love," Vivian gave Alice a little squeeze making her just nod her head. "Let's just go have a little snuggle on the couch and watch some trashy reality tv yeah?" Alice just turned her head as Vivian lifted her head and gave Alice a reassuring smile.

"Jersey Shore?" Alice asked as Vivian unwrapped her arms from around her so Alice could swipe her fingers under her eyes getting rid of any evidence she just shed tears over her best friend.

"It's T-shirt time!" Alice laughed as Vivian began fist pumping as she turned around and headed for the living room letting Alice fix herself up a bit before joining her on the couch where they'd spend the rest of the night snuggled under a few blankets watching Jersey Shore, momentarily forgetting about Niall and the idea of proposing to him.