Niall and Audrey story:
Audrey tries to stay out of Niall's way when he's writing and making music. She doesn't want to bug him or interrupt his process. Sometimes he doesn't even notice when she's in the room. It wasn't like she was unfamiliar with being ignored, she had plenty of experience with it thanks to her mother. It did tend to eat away at her, though.
She knew he wasn't doing it on purpose, knew he would never intentionally try to hurt her feelings; It had just become a habit now that whenever she saw him pull his song book out she would excuse herself from the room.
Sometimes she'd start baking, or make a cup of tea and go have some quiet time herself, maybe the bedroom needed tidying or laundry needed to be folded- but on the days when she found herself feeling a bit more than hurt she would gather her things and grab her coat, slipping out the door to venture into the city.
If it was a bad day she would catch the tube to a fairly new destination, in search of some part of London she hadn't seen yet.
The wandering would commence, her eyes wide to take in every detail of the new space. Time would fly by and she'd find herself in a hole in the wall tavern or coffee shop, sipping on a tea or a latte, ordering a basket of chips or scribbling notes and stories, documenting numerous details from the last few hours. She'd make lists and check things off. Sometimes she would journal about her feelings but most of the she found herself people watching.
Sometimes she'd visit people. She'd gone to see Paul a few times, catch up with Sarge if he was around.
She'll show up at Zayn's unannounced, tending to his garden until he gets home from the studio. She's just caught her finger on the rose bush when he opens the gate. She's flipping the flower off when she hears it click shut.
"Be nice to my roses, Aud." She turns, lips turned down in a pout
"It's a two way street!" The boy resists the urge to roll his eyes.
"What's the damage?" She holds her hand out, blood already running down her finger.
"Jesus, audrey." He sucks in a breath and hurries to unlock the door, pulling her in behind him. After he'd fixed her up she refused to meet his eyes, mumbling answers to his routine questions.
"You know he loves you more than anything, right?" He's leaned over the kitchen counter, lip between his teeth as he watches her eat the pot pie he'd heated up for her. She nods, glancing up at him.
"I know. It's not him, it's me. It's always me."
That brings up another point: she has keys to all the boys places. Or she knows where the spares are. She rarely uses them because she hates actually intruding and is usually content staying outside until they get home but if the weather is shit or if she's in a bad headspace or if she needs a cup of tea ASAP, etc.
N- I thought you were home are you ok?
Niall is chewing on his finger, a nervous feeling stirring in his chest when she didn't respond or read the text right away. When did she leave? How long had she been gone? Did he sound possessive right now?
What could she say and how could she say it without letting him know that she was upset...Start with the facts?
A- I just had some errands
A- it's freezing out and I forgot my gloves
A- home in a bit, yeah?
He let out a big breath, dropping the phone and running his hands through his hair. She'd be home in a bit. She'd be home in a bit.
In reality, Audrey had been crying and it wasn't hard to tell. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes puffy from tears. She was exhausted from walking and was definitely looking forward to sitting down on the tube ride home. Hopefully, she would just look cold by the time she got there and not like she'd just spent half the day wandering around London crying.
She feels stupid. She always feels stupid. Especially because all she wants now is to be near him.
A- come walk me home?
His heart jumps at her text and he's up from his chair in half a second, already reaching for his coat.
They're both looking for each other as soon as the train pulls in. He's leaned against a pillar, hair tucked into a cap, scarf tight around his neck and hands shoved into his coat pocket. She pushes her glasses up her nose one more time before the doors open, making her shiver despite a sweater and jacket. She catches sight of him almost immediately, even through the crowd, only hesitating for a moment when she steps out.
One track mind.
Even from far away he can tell something is off. They meet halfway, both pushing past people to get to each other. It's as if time stops for a moment, he swears everything else fades away as he looks at her. Her cheeks are flushed due to close proximity of everyone on the tube, he can tell she's been chewing on her lips all day, and her eye makeup is smudged quite nicely- but she's all he can see.
Someone walking too close to him breaks the trance and he takes her gloves out of his pocket, holding them out to her. She blinks up at him, the faintest smile tugging her lips as she glances between them and his face. Her eyes turn glassy as she takes them, damn this boy for being so thoughtful all the time. They reach for each other's hand at the same time, this time his lips turn up in a smile as they make their way home.
She makes a beeline for the bathroom, itching to run a hot bath, thinking it'll give her more time to think about what to say to him. If she was going to say anything at all.
Niall thought it best to give her a bit of space and put the kettle on, reaching for her favorite blend to make a pot of tea. He sits at the counter for a bit, chewing on his finger as he waits for the water to boil. Should he bring her tea? Should he wait for her to be done? She'd be in the bath for a while, always loved a good soak.
Niall found himself in front of the door, both cups of tea against his chest as he knocked softly.
"Can I come in, petal?" After a moment of silence he reached for the handle.
Audrey sat in the tub, arms wrapped around her knees, bubbles up to her neck. The water was steaming and she still couldn't get warm. He noticed she was still shivering, taking a seat at the side of the tub. "tea for ya, petal." He spoke softly, the sweet smell breaking her trance as she glanced up, face flushed. Her lips parted and she reached her hands out, taking the cup delicately. He watched as her eyes fell shut, body shuddering as she took a big gulp. He had to focus on keeping himself from melting at all the soft, breathy sounds she was making.
"Cheers," she whispers, eyes still closed.
