As hard as Savannah tried to make the Holiday a happy one, she just couldn’t. Every time she saw Harry, her heart ached for him. Every time their eyes connected, her whole body shook from the intensity. She tried to detach her heart, but she couldn’t. There was no denying the feelings she somehow felt for Harry. And having to ignore them was almost like a sick form of torture to her heart.
When she woke up the day after Christmas and overheard that Harry and Gemma flew to England that morning to visit their mom, Savannah was filled with an over whelming sense of relief, knowing she could finally breathe. That she could finally act like herself around the amazing people in Niall’s family.
Niall and Savannah stayed two more days, visiting Niall’s father in the process, before heading back to Los Angeles together. And they were happy.
Over the next couple of weeks, things with Niall were almost back to normal. The normal before everything happened with his brother. Savannah was able to give her all into their relationship and Niall seemed to be working less, so they had more time together. They were closer than ever and it made her realize that she made the absolute right choice. Niall was it for her. He meant everything to her and she was ecstatic to become his wife.
A few weeks into the New Year, Greg, Niall’s older brother came to stay with Niall in L.A. for a few days to visit. Niall even invited Savannah with to the studio with them one day to watch the magic unfold. It was an amazing experience. Savannah really like getting to know Greg more than they did at Christmas and they got along great. His sense of humor was similar to hers and they had a lot in common. It made her wish she could have a similar, non-complicated relationship with his other brother.
Later in the day, Niall informed Savannah that Harry was headed in to the studio to help out with the record, which immediately made her uncomfortable. She did not want to see him. She quickly made an excuse that she needed to run some errands and she got the hell out of there as fast as she could. But not fast enough, apparently. As she dipped out the door, she smacked right into him.
“Uh, sorry,” Savannah said, looking up to find his eyes staring down at her.
“Sweet cheeks,” he breathed and her throat seemed to close up. Ugh, that fucking nickname was back.
“I-gotta-go,” she said in one breath and continued on passed him down the hallway, not looking back.
She told herself it wasn’t going to affect her anymore to see Harry. She told herself that in order to make things work with Niall and with their family, that things with Harry couldn’t affect her like they previously did. But that was easier said than done.
The next time Savannah saw Harry, everything escalated.
She went over to Niall’s apartment to surprise him by cooking him dinner. When she walked into the kitchen, hands full of bags of food, she was startled to find Harry sitting at the kitchen counter texting on his phone.
“I thought you… I thought you got your own place,” Savannah stammered as she set down the groceries carefully.
“It’s being painted,” he replied dryly, keeping his vision from even falling on her for a second.
Savannah rolled her eyes. How convenient that his place was being painted. How convenient that he could just mooch off his brother like he’d been doing for months.
“So, you’re staying here then?” She asked.
“What’s it to you?” Harry snapped, finally looking up at her, giving her a glare of annoyance.
She took a deep breath, feeling all wrong that they were suddenly at each other’s throats.
“Harry, please don’t be like that,” Savannah said softly, her face falling.
“What do you expect, sweet cheeks? You said it yourself. I’m an asshole,” he scoffed and she could tell he was being petty on purpose.
“Except you’re not,” she replied quietly. He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if her words hurt him.
“I-I’m really sorry…” Savannah breathed as tears stung her eyes.
“You know what? Save it, Savannah. You made your choice. I just hope you can live with it,” he snapped, his voice coming out strong and angry. He hastily stood from the chair and violently pushed it in, so it made a loud clanking noise when it hit against the counter.
“I want to know what the fuck you have against your brother? What is this… this vendetta you have against him? I mean, you’re trying to steal his fucking fiancée right from under him. That’s pretty bold, don’t ‘cha think?” Savannah exploded on him.
His response was a laugh, but not an outright laugh. It was more of a chuckle to himself to say ‘this girl has no fucking clue’.
“What!? What the fuck is your problem!?” She yelled loudly, stepping closer than she had been to him in weeks. Harry’s eyes were ablaze from her reaction.
“You want to know!? You really want to fucking know, Savannah?” Harry yelled in her face. And for some reason all she could think about was that he called her by full first name.
“YES!” She screamed back.
“God, Van!” Harry scoffed, taking a step back as his mood changed from anger to pity in a matter of seconds.
She didn’t understand him. She couldn’t read what the hell he was thinking. And it annoyed her so much. She just wanted to punch him – hard.
“He’s been cheating on you,” Harry breathed lowly, letting his tense shoulders fall lax, as if finally telling her released a burden that was weighing him down and he could finally let it go.
“What?” Savannah choked out a laugh.
“He’s been fucking cheating on you!” Harry yelled, his eyes slightly enraged once again.
“You’re lying. Why are you lying!?” She yelled at him through gritted teeth. She was the one truly enraged this time.
“I’m not lying!” Harry yelled back at her.
“You think by telling me that Niall’s cheating on me this it’s going to make me leave him for you?” Savannah spat at him, letting out a taunting laugh.
“You’re so fucking ignorant, Savannah! God damn it!” Harry yelled, throwing his hands up.
“I’m ignorant!? Look at you! You and I will never be anything!” She yelled at him spitefully.
Harry froze in place, staring at her in the eyes. He had a look on his face that was similar to someone who just found out their dog died or something. She froze, letting her emotions settle for a moment. She felt bad for saying what she did. She was throwing his emotions in his face and it wasn’t fair.
“Harry…” She croaked out, automatically feeling terrible.
“No, no. That’s fine,” he said quietly.
“Harry…” She said again, softening to him, wanting to reach out to him. But she refrained at the last second, keeping her distance.
“Savannah, I understand that you love him, okay? I understand. But you need to know the truth,” Harry said evenly. Her heart beat was erratic and she couldn’t control her breathing.
“The girl at the hospital the night Niall got into the car accident…” Harry started. Savannah immediately thought back on the blonde she saw Harry fighting with.
“Her name is Shanna,” Harry told her.
“Harry, what do I care? I don’t give a shit about the girls you’ve slept with,” Savannah spat out. She didn’t want to hear it.
“She’s not… mine,” he said quietly.
“You’re lying,” she choked out as her stomach turned violently.
“I’m not. I wish I was, Savannah. But I’m not,” he told her.
“Niall would never…” Savannah started to say as tears pricked at the back of her eyes.
“He would and he did,” Harry told her.
Savannah couldn’t control her breathing, her heart was breaking. Flashes of memories infiltrated her mind. Her hindsight was working over-time. The terrified look on Harry’s face when he turned around to find her standing behind her after he fought with the blonde at the hospital. And then the relieved look he displayed when she accused the woman of being his whore. And of Harry telling her she needed to ‘open her eyes’ and that she was ‘blinded’ in the car after the hospital.
“You’re putting two and two together, aren’t you? All the long days and nights in the studio. Him not being there to take you home after you stayed here that week,” Harry told her. She was shaking her head trying to fight the tears that were about to fall.
“It’s all making sense now, isn’t it?” Harry asked. She was spiraling.
“Shut up. Just shut up, okay!” she yelled, closing her eyes tightly.
“Van…” Harry said quietly.
“How long?” She growled, finally opening her eyes to look at him.
“Months. I caught them at his apartment the week I moved in with him. It was the week before you came to stay there,” Harry told her.
“You knew… all along?” She said, feeling like she’d just been slapped across the face. Harry nodded solemnly.
“You knew and you didn’t tell me?” She asked, taking out her anger on him
“I didn’t know you. And frankly, back then I didn’t care,” he told her honestly.
“So you just seduced me? To what? Be as disgusting as your brother? Make me as disgusting as your brother?” Savannah replied, glaring at him.
“Honestly? The day in the bathroom, when you were showering, and you said you got all you needed from Niall… I don’t know. I just… it just ignited something inside of me. I knew he didn’t deserve you,” Harry told her and sounded so honest, she knew he was telling the truth.
“And when you… when you started having feelings toward me… you didn’t think it was pertinent to tell me then?” She seethed, her eyes narrowing even further.
“I wanted to. There were so many times when I almost did. I-I just couldn’t bear seeing your heart break right in front of me because I knew you truly loved Niall. You needed to find out on your own, Savannah,” Harry said, averting his eyes from her as his cheeks burned red. Savannah quickly wiped at the tears streaming from her eyes, but it was of no use since they just kept coming.
“And I wanted to show you there are guys out there that could love you without cheating on you,” Harry said in whisper.
“And you thought that person should be you? Mister fuck-anything-with-a-pulse?” She shot at him.
“I haven’t been like that in a while, Savannah,” he said sheepishly.
“I don’t believe that,” she scoffed.
“Believe what you want! I don’t do that shit anymore. You don’t know anything about me. You’ve never even tried to get to know me,” he yelled angrily. She was taken aback by his defensiveness.
“Harry, this would never work between us. We both know it,” she told him quietly.
“You don’t know that,” Harry said, shaking his head.
“I do. And I don’t think I could handle it even if I wanted to try,” she replied.
He scoffed at her, staring at her trying to read her. Her comment hurt him. She could see it written all over his face. When she finally looked away from him, he took the opportunity to walk straight out of Niall’s house, slamming the door behind him.
Savannah was left there feeling broken and defeated. Her tears were relentless as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialing Niall’s number. It when straight to voicemail, which was no surprise because he was supposedly in the studio.
She sat down in the chair Harry occupied no more than twenty minutes earlier. She sat there playing their conversation over and over in her head. Along with all the moments in the past few months that were now screaming “aha!” at her, when they should have held more meaning to her back then. She was so blinded by her affair with Harry that she couldn’t even see what Niall was doing right in front of her face. It was now dawning on her that Niall had his own set of ‘naughty & nice’ lovers and she was the ‘nice’ one. The one he brought home to his parents. The one he, in the end, would marry.
Savannah’s tears finally subsided and she just sat there in Niall’s kitchen staring into space – feeling numb. Feeling nothing. Time passed slowly, but yet too fast at the same time. Before she knew it, she heard the front door creak open and then feet move their way toward the kitchen.
“Savannah! What are you doing here?” Niall asked startled to see her sitting in his kitchen. She didn’t react. She was frozen in apprehension.
“Savannah?” Niall asked, moving toward her.
“I was going to make you dinner,” she said quietly, finally speaking.
“Aw, babe. That was thoughtful of you,” Niall said with a smile as he set his keys, wallet and cell phone down on the countertop.
“Yeah,” she chuckled darkly.
Niall sat down next to her and let out a deep, exasperated sigh, raking his hands through his hair.
“Savannah…?” He asked her.
“Hmm?” She replied hollowly.
“We need to talk,” he said nervously.
Oh, Jesus Christ. Was he about to come clean with her? Now after she just found out? Savannah turned to look him dead in the face, a glare in her eyes. If he was going to confess, she was going to make him look her in the eyes when he did it. He looked at her, confused by her body language.
“What is that look for?” He asked, furrowing his brow.
“I don’t know. What are you going to tell me?” She shot at him.
“Savannah…” Niall sighed, running his hands through his hair again.
“Just fucking tell me,” she snapped. He blew out another loud breath and she shook her head, rolling her eyes.
He was silent for a few moments and she realized he was going to string it out as long as possible.
“Shanna?” Savannah questioned, getting it right out in the open.
His face grew red and blotchy as his mouth dropped open. She watched him squirm as his eyes looked straight into her, completely mystified.
“How…?” He breathed lowly.
“Does it matter!?” She yelled, getting to her feet, throwing the chair against the counter, much like Harry did previously. Niall was shocked by her reaction.
“Savannah…” He said, his voice louder than it was before.
“Stop saying my fucking name and tell me the truth, you son of a bitch!” She yelled at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, hanging his head. She laughed openly at him because she knew he wasn’t.
“I can’t fucking believe you, Niall! My god! For months… for months you’ve been lying to me. You’ve been fucking her behind my back. Our entire relationship was a lie,” Savannah growled at him.
“No, Savannah. I loved you. I do love you,” Niall told her desperately.
“Hardly!” She scoffed loudly.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I-I have nothing to say that can truly convey just how sorry I am. I fucked up so bad, Savannah. But… but I ended things with her. Back in December. I haven’t been with her since. I love you so much. I only want to be with you,” he pleaded.
“The fact that you proposed to me when everything was so fucked up… God, Niall. God damn it!” She said, ripping the ring off of her finger.
“Savannah, please don’t,” he pleaded.
“Take it,” she said, thrusting her arm out to hand him back the ring.
“No, Savannah,” he said, shaking his head.
“Take the god damn ring before I throw it at you,” she growled. Niall hesitated, but held out the palm of his hand and she dropped it in.
“Please, Savannah,” he pleaded, taking a step closer.
The look in his eye almost had her reeled back in. Somewhere from deep inside her, she hated the fact that he was feeling so much pain and anguish.
“God, Niall,” she breathed, calmer than before.
“Please, Savannah. I will make this up to you, I promise. I will never even look at another woman for as long as I live,” he told her, boldly reaching out for her hand.
“Niall…” She choked out as she felt him work the ring back into her grasp.
“Please, I love you,” he said, pulling her against his body.
“Why? Why did you do it?” She whimpered as tears fell from her eyes.
“I don’t know. I was weak. But I promise that it will never happen again if you just please forgive me. Please,” he pleaded as he pulled her into his arms.
She felt her body melting against his. His lips trailed kisses up her jaw line and she truly felt herself slipping back to him.
“I love you so much, Savannah. No more secrets,” he breathed against her lips before he kissed them.
Savannah squeezed her eyes shut, because she knew she needed to tell him her deep dark secret – that she was sleeping with his brother. But before she could even wrap her head around it, Niall was confessing something else to her.
“I have something else to tell you,” he said quietly, still holding her tightly in his arms.
“What could be worse than what you already told me?” Savannah asked, looking him in the eye.
He shut his eyes tightly and took a deep breath as his grasp on her loosened a bit. Savannah pulled away slightly, looking at him skeptically. What could be worse?
“She’s pregnant,” he said, finally opening his eyes again.
Savannah felt like she was just shot in the heart. He got the wrong lover pregnant. Everyone knows you don’t get the bad girl pregnant. It was like an unwritten rule or something. She felt like she was going to throw up as she staggered backward, trying to find something – anything to steady herself with. Her hand met with the back of one of the dining room chairs.
“I’m so sorry, Savannah,” Niall said, walking toward her. Every step he took, she took one back to maintain the distance between them.
“I never loved her like I love you. I don’t love her,” Niall confessed and Savannah scoffed, feeling as if she would throw up if she said one single word.
“She was… she was just… a conquest,” he told her. The anger was radiating off of her. She was about to explode. Just a conquest?
“It was purely sexual. I-I love you,” he said, reaching out to grab her hand.
“Well… well, I’ve been fucking your brother!” She screamed at him, unable to hold back the malice that came along with it. His jaw dropped and his brow furrowed. She could see the anger pillaging through his body.
“Which one?” His response came out as a growl.
“What does it matter!?” Savannah yelled back at him.
“WHICH ONE!?” Niall bellowed loudly.
“HARRY!” She screamed. Niall’s face displayed shock for a split second, maybe because she got along so well with Greg and she didn’t at all with Harry. But his demeanor quickly went back to anger.
“How long?” He growled, glaring at her.
“Since I met him,” she spat at him.
“You fucking bitch, Savannah. You bitch!” He growled.
“Fuck you!” She yelled back, pushing him hard in the chest.
“You hate Harry!” Niall threw at her.
“Oh, but I love the way he fucks me!” She shot at him viciously.
Niall let out a loud growl from deep within his chest. She had never seen him so angry and frankly it scared the shit out of her. She quickly grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the door.
She heard a loud thwack and realized that Niall’s fist collided with something.
“SAVANNAH!” He screamed angrily.
“It’s over, Niall!” She screamed as she continued out his front door and ran without ever looking back.

Notes

Well, that escalated quickly. How many of you predicted Niall's infidelity? Were there any of you that didn't? Well, there is still a lot of this story left, so buckle-up - you're in for a wild ride. :)