Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon

Aylie struggled to get into her flat as her phone began to ring loudly. The three full bags from trips to the shops were making it hard to get in the door. Aylie groaned as her phone stopped ringing. She'd missed the call. As Aylie finally got the key into her door, the phone began to ring again. She kicked the door open and threw the bags to the floor inside.
"Hello?" Aylie answered the phone gruffly.
"Hey, babe." Niall's sweet voice soothed her instantly. "Are you okay? You didn't answer me the first time." Niall sounded worried.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I had my hands full and I couldn't get in the door. I'm just frustrated." She sighed, bending over to pick up the things she'd thrown on the floor.
"Oh, um, do you want me to call you later? Do you wanna call me when you can?" Niall inquired nervously.
Aylie giggled, "No. It's okay. I'm inside now." Aylie lifted a bag from the floor and headed for the kitchen. "What's up?" Aylie asked casually as she started to fill the fridge with the contents of the bag.
"Am I going to see you this weekend?" Niall asked with hope in his voice.
Aylie laughed again, "Of course, Niall. I promised I would come for the weekend. I'll be there a little later on Thursday night if that's okay with you?"
"Yes!" Niall shouted at her. Aylie felt her breath being taken away as Niall started to chatter at her about all of the things that they could do for her visit to his home. Niall had a list of restaurants they could visit, pubs and different activities. "But really, I just wanna see you. This living an hour apart thing sucks."
"Yeah. Niall, I know. As it goes on we'll get better at this. It's only been a couple of weeks. We'll find a rhythm that works." Aylie tried her best to sound reassuring.
"I know that. It doesn't mean that I have to like it." Niall chuckled at Aylie's failed attempt to be the strong one for the moment. "What are you doing tonight?" Niall inquired, just wanting to hear Aylie talking to him.
"Trinnie is coming over. She'll probably get drunk and pass out on my sofa again." Aylie giggled. "We're just gonna watch television and I'll probably listen to her babble for most of the night about the boyfriend or whatever of the week." Just then there was a loud knock on the door. "Speak of the devil." Aylie murmured, wishing she had more time to speak with the man she missed so much.
"There already?" Niall asked sounding as sad as Aylie felt.
"Yes. I bought a whole bunch of stuff to bring to your house this weekend and I haven't had time to hide it yet." Aylie replied just above a whisper. Niall cackled at the embarrassment in Aylie's voice. "Which I think you're going to like a lot of it."
"You're not wearing anything but my jumper when we're at home." Niall demanded while Aylie picked up the two remaining bags on the floor. She carried them to her bedroom while Niall continued to tell her about all of the plans he wanted to make for the weekend.
"AYLIE! I know you're home!" Trinnie shouted from outside the door. Aylie groaned and decided to stay on with Niall. She saw Trinnie almost every day. Trinnie could deal with not being the center of attention for a few more minutes. As Aylie made her way back to the kitchen, she opened the front door for Trinnie but didn't truly stop to greet her.
"I think I like the idea of going to the gardens. I saw them when I visited last but didn't go." Aylie sounded excited as Niall brought them up.
"Of course. Anything for you. It's a day trip though. Maybe Friday or Saturday?" Niall suggested. "And some of my mates want to meet you. Apparently, I can't shut up about you." Niall teased himself. Aylie couldn't hold back her laughter as she kept putting away her groceries.
"It's like I'm not even here." Trinnie grunted from her seat at the table. Aylie turned back to her and glared. Trinnie giggled and stuck her tongue out.
"I'll let you get to your girlie date, baby. Call you before bed?" Niall sounded hopeful.
"Of course, love. I'll talk to you later." They said a quiet goodbye. Aylie sighed and pushed her phone into her pocket. "Hi, Trin." Aylie murmured, wishing she could still be talking to Niall.
"Hello, my dearest, loveliest best friend in the whole world." Trinnie stated, trying to suck up to Aylie. She'd noticed the difference Niall had created in her but she couldn't get Aylie to talk about it. "Spill the beans, Aylie." Trinnie demanded.
Aylie stared at her like she was crazy, "About what?"
"Don't you treat me like I'm stupid, Aylie. I know that there's a man in your life now. I've known you for thirteen years. I know when you're gettin' dick." Trinnie snapped.
"Jesus Christ, Trinity! That mouth of yours!" Aylie shouted, shocked at the varncaular of the girl sitting at her table. "Do you kiss Marie with that mouth?" Aylie was now laughing.
"Come on, Aylie!" Trinnie whined. "It's been years since you've even looked at a man. I wanna know!"
"Fine." Aylie grunted. "His name is Niall. We met on a golf course while I was on vacation, before Rorke so rudely called me back. He lives an hour away and I really like him. Please, don't fuck this up for me." Aylie stated in one large breath.
"ME fuck it up? How would I fuck it up?" Trinnie was genuinely confused by the statement.
Aylie's jaw dropped, "Are you kidding me, Miss Motor Mouth of the Century? Don't tell anyone. Not Marie, not Kellan, NO ONE. He's a good man and I really like him."
"Alright. Alright. I get it." Trinnie held her hands up defensively. "Why does Jan know about him then?"
"Niall was here for some things regarding his work and he stayed with me for a few days. Niall and I were outside the pub and Jannon was going in. He just had to say something, the way he always does." Aylie explained with attitude. "Have I ever told you how much I hate your cousin? I'd love to skin him alive and feed him to the dogs."
Trinnie giggled, "How does Niall feel about good ol' Jan?"
"Not fond." Aylie replied. "But he's not worried because he's the one bending me over the kitchen counter on Sunday morning." Trinnie's jaw dropped at the wild statement. Aylie mocked her shock, trying to hold back the giggles.
"Aylie, I cannot wait to meet this guy." Trinnie smiled brightly, loving the newfound playfulness in her childhood best friend.


"Hello?" Aylie answered her phone with a huge smile. It was Niall calling. He must've been getting ready to go to sleep. Trinnie slapped Aylie like she would've when they were much younger. Aylie slapped her back, telling her to shut up.
"Hey." Niall chuckled at the scuffle he heard between the two girls. "Just calling to say goodnight, babe."
"Aylie." Trinnie's tone was pleading.
"Put me on speaker, baby." Niall requested softly. Aylie was confused but she did as she asked. "Hello, Trinnie." Niall's tone was cheerful and almost teasing.
"Hi!" Trinnie peeped out in shock. "You know who I am?" Trinnie inquired, leaning closer to the phone.
"Of course I do!" Niall kept his tone bright even though he was exhausted. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't know who my girl's best mate was?" Niall's question to Trinnie brought the biggest of smiles to Aylie's face.
"Are you coming to visit soon?" Trinnie asked quickly, making no effort to hide how much she wanted to meet him.
"Not this weekend. It's Aylie's weekend to come to me." Niall informed Trinnie with a happy tone.
"More like for you." Trinnie muttered under her breath but it was still audible to Niall and Aylie.
"TRINITY!" Aylie shrieked, throwing a pillow at the other girl's head. "What is wrong with you?" Aylie asked quickly, not knowing what to do with her embarrassment. Niall stayed on the line as he was cackling at the joke.
"Nice to speak to you, Trinnie. Hopefully, I'll be able to meet you soon." Niall stated, trying to contain his laughter.
"Oh you too, Niall. I can't wait to meet you." Trinnie's tone told Aylie that she had an evil scheme already coming to life in her head. Aylie took the phone off speaker and placed it against her ear.
"I am so sorry, Niall. Apparently, she has brain damage." Aylie spoke to Niall whilst glaring at Trinnie. Trinnie was smiling evilly at Aylie, the cogs in her mind obviously turning.
Niall's voice dropped to the octave he used in bed, "We both know that she's right though." Aylie could hear the mischievous smirk on his face. Aylie pursed her lips and refused to give in to what could be the start of a naughty conversation. "Aylie." Niall sang her voice softly.
"Stop it, Niall. We're not doing this." Aylie giggled. Niall made a whining sound. "Oh my goodness, Trinnie is here! How would that even work?"
"Man made texting for a reason, love." The smirk returned to Niall's voice. Aylie didn't say a word, she just huffed at him. "Fine." Niall grunted. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, baby. Good night."
"Good night, love." Aylie replied with a bright smile. She hung up and placed her phone on the sofa next to her.
"Not as good as a good night kiss is it?" Trinnie asked noticing the saddened look on Aylie's face. Aylie smiled weakly and shook her head. "How far away does he live?" Trinnie inquired softly.
"An hour, well, depending on the traffic." Aylie answered quietly.
Trinnie shrugged, "That's not too bad. I mean, I'll probably get in trouble for saying this but maybe in a few months or when you guys are sure you're solid and really wanna be together, you can move. I know you don't really care for the city." Aylie gave Trinnie a blank look. "Yeah. Yeah. I know, work. But guess what, not everyone lives around the corner. I mean, doesn't Sean drive from Kildare everyday?" Trinnie tried to make her point.
"Yeah, he does, but that's different. He's married." Aylie spoke with a sadness Trinnie hadn't heard in a while. Trinnie frowned, wondering how she could convince Aylie about moving.
"This life really isn't as bad as you make it out to be, Aylie." Trinnie murmured, feeling like her best friend was ashamed.
"Yes. It is." Aylie huffed. Trinnie frowned deeply. "I'm not saying I don't love you. I do. So much and I love your parents. I don't think I'd make it through the day without talking to Kerrianne. Sean is like my brother. But...don't you ever wonder what life could be life outside of this damn town? A life without Rorke and Colm and Emmet? Who would ask someone else to be apart of this if they didn't have to?" Aylie questioned with a fire in her eyes.
"I know what you mean but this is what life is. And if he loves you, don't you think Niall would accept it anyway?" Trinnie inquired thoughtfully. Aylie rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her fist. "Aylie, have you told him anything about yourself?" Trinnie questioned, worry beginning to plague her.
"Yes. He knows me. Probably better than a lot of people even though it's not been that long." Aylie responded with a bit of a smile. It embarrassed her to tell Trinnie that he knew things she didn't. Trinnie had prided herself on knowing the most about Aylie. "We talk about Belfast a lot. My dad." Aylie confessed.
"But does he know you now? Does he know what you do?" Trinnie felt anger beginning to rise in her chest.
Aylie shrugged, "He knows I'm a photographer. It's kind of how we met." Trinnie's nostrils flared at the confession. "Can we not talk about Niall anymore? Let's just watch a movie and get drunk, please." Trinnie grumbled but agreed. She had to come up with a way to talk some sense into Aylie.


"Aylie." Trinnie poked her gently as she was sound asleep in her bed. "Aylie." Trinnie nudged her again.
"What?" Aylie groaned, pushing Trinnie away. Trinnie just nudged her a third time. "Trinity, go away. It's sleep time." Aylie grumbled pulling the sheets over her head.
"I need to ask you something." Trinnie stated. Aylie turned over and pulled the blankets off her head. Aylie glared up at Trinnie, waiting for her question. "Are you ever going to tell Niall who you are, in the really real sense of letting him know everything about you?"
"Trinity." Aylie sighed heavily.
"No hear me out." Trinnie pleaded. "I've been thinking about this for hours because I love you. You've been really happy since you met this guy. He makes you smile and act like you did when we were teenagers. I think that if you don't tell him everything it's going to end. And when it does it will end badly, like really really bad."
"We've only been seeing each other for...three weeks if you count the week that we met. It's not like either of us are gearing up for a wedding." Aylie muttered, her eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Aylie, normally you would've dumped someone by now. He's different. Don't you think that you should give him a heads up on what life is like for you?" Trinnie asked, hoping she was getting through to her.
Aylie sighed and rubbed her face, "Trinnie, I tried. I told him that being with me was hard and that I had a demanding and high stress career, coming and going all of the time. He said that he wanted to try anyway."
"But you didn't actually tell him, Aylie! You don't want this to fail and yet you're setting it up to crash and fucking burn!" Trinnie shouted. Aylie looked at her with wide eyes. Trinnie took a deep breath to compose herself. "I love you, Aylie. I understand why you're holding it back. But you have to be honest before both of you get hurt." With the last thing she could think to say to her stubborn best friend, Trinnie exited the bedroom to return to the sofa.

Notes

Hey my people!

What do we think of Trinnie? What is everyone thinking about this thing that Aylie needs to tell Niall? Any thoughts on what it could be so far? I wanna hear your thoughts!

Peace&Love