discuss

cash

three weeks later

"So is this a civil or criminal case you're looking to file against North Atlantic?" the lawyer, a Niall Horan raised his eyebrows at me as he looked through my case file.

I had to repeat what he said phonetically in my head to understand what he was saying because of his accent. It was maybe some sort of Scottish accent (Irish possibly?), but I was focused more on his words more than anything.

"Both if possible," I explained, crossing my legs in my jeans and thigh high boots. "I'm not sure how it could go in either filed honestly. I was hoping you could break it down for me?"

He sighed, running his hand through his blonde hair. "Well, for starters, my retainer fee would have to be paid because this trial could take place in Massachusetts. Most lawyers would've backed down knowing that info, but I have a feeling that this is a solid case."

I released a breath, nerves relaxing. The last four lawyers wouldn't even see me or they would talk about how great Mr. Tomlinson made NAU, and how they couldn't believe he was part of a conspiracy.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Horan," I said, standing up to shake his hand. "I appreciate you taking me on."

"Don't thank me, thank your boyfriend," he responded, shaking my hand then putting my documents back in the manila folder.

My eyes widened. "Um, excuse me?"

He glanced at me before saying, "I went to law school with Zayn's sister, and she called me for a favor. He's agreed to pay all your legal fees."

What the fuck? How did he even know that I would come here? Liam was the one who suggested I—

Fucking LIAM!

"Thank you," I replied sweetly before grabbing my bag off the seat and opening the door.

Liam and Kayla were sitting outside he office in the hallway, talking before they noticed me come out.

"How did it go?" Kayla asked, standing up from her seat.

"Why don't you ask Liam how it went?" I retorted, cocking my head at him. "Since he likes to run his mouth to Zayn about my business."

After that phone call a couple weeks back, any mention of Zayn filled me with frustration and confusion. I didn't know if I was happy he called, angry at him for waiting so long, or just plain sad.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Cashmere—"

"So you're saying after everything I told you in confidence, you ran behind my back to tell Zayn?"

"No—"

"No?" I mocked his tone, chuckling with disbelief. "Then what is it?"

"Maybe if you let me speak, you'll understand," he said, irritation clear in his voice. Why the hell was he upset? I'm not the one running to his ex to state his life issues.

I gestured for him to speak, because I did genuinely want to know. And after all the bullshit that went down because of miscommunication, I should learn to open my ears a little more.

"He cornered me when I went back for the Northeastern game, begging me for an update about you," he explained, his hands unsteady within his hair. "I just told him that you were trying to build a case against NAU and he gave me a number for a lawyer that he already paid for. That's it."

I was silent for a few moments before I sighed. "Liam, I really didn't want him involved in this. The more people involved, the more problematic everything gets."

What if down the line because he paid for this, his chances of being picked high up in the draft are significantly lowered? I didn't want to ruin his dream and his future, even after everything that happened.

"I know, but he worries about you," he insisted, grasping my forearm. "Just let him do this one thing. Please."

I sighed before I nodded and sat down next to Kayla. "This whole thing is blowing me."

"I don't really get why you can't be with Zayn," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "He's probably going into the draft to get to a team that you could easily to go school in that same area, you know."

I narrowed my eyes, irritated that she would even say something like that to me right now. "Why don't you practice what you preach? Maybe you should do the same with Adonis and transfer to NAU. I'm sure they'll have a room that can accommodate you and the baby."

The moment I said those words, I instantly regretted it. And by the hard look on Kayla's face, I knew she was mad.

"That was low," she seethed, shaking her head. "I understand you're going through some shit, but that's no excuse to say fucked up shit and think it'll slide."

"Kay—"

"No," she said, getting up. "I need a moment before you say something else to me."

She grabbed her coat and stepped out leaving me with Liam and a heavy heart of regret.

I don't know why I was adamant about fucking everything up. Looking back on the mistakes I made, there were so many things that could've been avoided if I thought things through better or if I wasn't so hasty or impulsive. Maybe things would be a lot better if I wasn't here at all.

"Cashmere," Liam said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Are you ready?"

I nodded, even though I really wasn't. "Yeah."

—-

I was in Liam's car, driving god knows where because I still couldn't go back to my house, and Kayla's was out of the question until she calmed down.

"Cash, I'm wasting gas with all this driving," Liam said, shaking his head. "Where can we go?"

I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head. "I really don't know. We can just park, if you want until I figure something out."

He pulled over by an elementary school playground, and we got out of the car to walk over to the swings. When we sat down, he started to speak.

"Do you love him, or something?" I don't even have to ask who he was talking about. It was already obvious.

I swallowed hard, lowering my eyes past my beat up vans to the hard, black cushion under our feet. Did I really love Zayn after that short amount of time? I couldn't possibly, but why did I feel otherwise?

"I—Liam, it's only been a few—"

"Don't fucking talk to me about time. I don't give a shit about that, and neither does love. There's no reason to go this damn hard for someone you 'just like a lot'. And if you're going to force all of us to go through this bullshit, at least let me know if it'll be worth spending my winter break going back and forth from campus to here."

I blinked, staring at his face. He was a little red, and it was clear that it took a lot for him to say those words. My lips suddenly felt dry, and I shakily let out a breath before I could feel tears well up in my eyes.

"I really don't know, Li," I admitted, placing my hands in between my thighs for warmth and sniffling, trying to keep my tears inside. God, I'm such a pussy. "I know this has to be something more than just some infatuation. I—I think I do."

"That's all I needed to hear, Cash," he said, tugging on the chains of my swing to pull me in for a hug as I softly cried. "As long as you love him too, everything will be alright."

-----

a/n: I'm sorry this is really short, but I really wanted to get something out there before the new year! My goal is to finish this before I go back to school in the middle of January because no way should I be writing a story for three years. that's fucking ridiculous and my stories could've been finished a long ass time ago if I wasn't so distracted.

but on that note, merry early Christmas and happy New Years! I hope 2018 is filled with joy, dick, and more updates!

-rachel

(p.s. I wrote an original story called leopard space dolphins that I would really appreciate if you could check it out. I worked really hard on it, and I've been trying to branch out of fan fiction. after all, I'm highkey not as much as a fan as I was when I started this story. I would really be grateful for feedback on it so check it out on my page! thank you!!!