#voirdire

But in the the wake of morning, Kelsey realized the insanity of it all. This was completely out of character for her. She barely knew Niall, and she surely didn't want him to think that she was emotionally available- she clearly wasn't. Last night had been fun, and that was all it needed to be. Nothing more.

Kelsey knew she needed to leave before he awoke and she could realize the mistake that she had made.

She grasped the closest thing she could find to cover her naked body- a black hoodie folded neatly on a black chaise in the corner of the bedroom. Kelsey yanked it over her head before frantically trying to search the room for her lost belongings. She followed a trail of various garments strewn across the dark hardwood floors out into the living room, reaching down to pick up her jeans from the foot of the couch when Niall's voice startled her.

"Making a run for it this morning?"

Kelsey turned around slowly. Niall was leaning against his bedroom doorway in only his black Calvin Klein boxer briefs, looking just as intriguing as he had last night. Kelsey averted her eyes, trying to focus on the doorframe behind him instead of the half-naked man in front of her. The last thing she needed to be doing was thinking about Niall in that way. She was just seeing herself out.

"Figured it was for the best," Kelsey replied quickly. In all honesty it was a bit of self-defense. Kelsey didn't want to be the one kicked out of the celebrity dream house, she'd take things into her own hands.

"I don't usually uh...do this with girls. I mean..." Niall stammered, his brain unable to form a coherent sentence.

Kelsey's face turned into a questioning smile.

Niall quickly corrected himself. "I mean I do this with girls, but not like this," he sighed throwing his hands up in the air at his inability to express his thoughts. "I guess what I'm trying to say is I usually like to take a girl to dinner first."

Kelsey found her self stifling a laugh. "No dinner needed," she fiddled with the jeans that were now in her arms. "But I should probably get going."

"At least let me make you some breakfast before you leave?" Niall pleaded, forming his lips into a pout. He felt like he had to do something to convince himself that it wasn't just a One Night Stand- even if in reality that was what it was.

Kelsey smiled. "I guess breakfast wouldn't hurt." Kelsey figured at this point the damage was already done, it wouldn't hurt to spend a little longer living out the fantasy of countless fangirls.

"If you'd like, you can take a quick shower. Bathroom's just off the master. Should be some clean towels hanging up," Niall gestured into the bedroom they both emerged from. "I'll get some food going."

Niall left his perch on the door frame to head towards the kitchen, leaving Kelsey to pick up her remaining articles of clothing. It crossed her mind for a moment to make her escape right then, but she couldn't do that to Niall. He had been so nice to her, and besides, she rather enjoyed his company.

Kelsey walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the steam from the hot water begin to fill the room. She stared at her face in the mirror, noticing a glow that she hadn't seen for quite some time. Even her brown eyes, seemed to have more hazel to them than usual.

She stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run over her skin. The warmth reminded her of Niall's touch, and she shuddered as her mind flashes back to last night. Kelsey pushed the thought deep into the darkest corners of her mind. All the instant chemistry in the world couldn't convince her to get romantically involved with someone again, even if that instant chemistry was with Niall Horan. 

Meanwhile, Niall found himself humming the tune of his latest single while frying up some eggs and bacon on his stainless steel stovetop. He felt his mood had done a complete 180 from the events of yesterday. Maybe it simply the fact that sleeping with a girl that was not his alleged girlfriend was a big 'fuck you' to his management, but Niall couldn't help but think that maybe it was more.

It had been a long time since he had felt as instantly connected to someone as he did with Kelsey. She was a breath of fresh air really, expressing a genuity that was hard to find in the crowds of Los Angeles. Niall knew that logistically, nothing could ever come of this. But somehow, he still found himself eager to continue the conversation with her and make a good impression on his guest. He only hoped that the connection would continue as easily sans alcohol.

"Smells good," Kelsey startled Niall with her presence in the kitchen. Her now damp hair lay over her shoulders and onto Niall's black hoodie, which Kelsey had pulled over last night's jeans.

"Hope it's okay that I snagged your hoodie for the time being. Going out outfits aren't quite as appealing the next morning," Kelsey slid onto the black barstool and rested her elbows against Niall's white granite kitchen countertop.

"Not a problem," Niall said with a smile, wondering if her scent would linger on his hoodie after she left. He turned back to the stove momentarily to check on the now sizzling bacon.

"Your place is gorgeous by the way," Kelsey added trying to fill the void in conversation. "But I mean, of course it is." Kelsey wished she could retract her words as soon as they leave her mouth. Complimenting him on his house? Was that the best she could do?

"It is. Sometimes I can barely believe I live in it."

"Did you ever imagine your life would end up like this?" Kelsey asked, gazing over at the brunette scrambling eggs.

"Never in a million years."

Kelsey supposed her answer to the question would be the same. Never in a million years would she have imagined a pop star would be cooking her breakfast in his mansion. But then again, never in a million years would she have guessed that she would even been in a city like Los Angeles, not having spoken to her mother in months. Single, working as a bartender, and mostly alone.

"Always thought I would end up being some business man in Dublin who would play guitar at a pub every once and a while to keep himself young," Niall laughed. "Guess that's why I try not to take myself too seriously, I'm living the dream of so many people."

Kelsey nodded. Niall was so different than she ever would have imagined. I mean she never thought he was one of those obnoxious celebrities, but she definitely expected him to be a little less...well normal.

"And how about you Kelsey? Did you always want to come out to LA?" he asked as he places a plate of steaming bacon and eggs in front of Kelsey before taking a seat on the barstool next to her with his own.

"Wasn't exactly my plan," she said with a shrug.  Niall can tell that there is probably more to that story than meets the eye. But why would she share that with him, a stranger by most definitions?

"Ehh, who needs plans anyway? What ever happened to just living your life?" Niall's voice became laced with a bit more passion than he intended. He supposed that had something to do with the fact that the plans that now ran his life weren't even his own.

Kelsey laughed. "Wish my type A self could accept that. Unfortunately, I'd rather beat myself up bombing a test I was well prepared for," Kelsey took a bit of her eggs, shaking her head. She wasn't sure why she just shared that piece of information with Niall Horan, but she supposed it wasn't like he could judge. The man likely didn't even have a high school degree.

"Well hey for what it's worth, I'm glad you bombed that test," Niall said with a smile.

Kelsey raised an eyebrow.

Niall laughed. It was a deep, full-bellied laugh. The kind of laugh that makes you want to laugh too. "Because if you had passed the test, I wouldn't have spilled a drink on you last night and well, I wouldn't be eating breakfast with you now."

"Listen Niall..." Kelsey began. She figured she better be the bearer of bad news before Niall got his hopes up that this was going to be some kind of long-term thing. Not that Niall wouldn't be the type of person she would want a long-term thing with, because he was. It was just that, at this point in time, and probably for a while longer, Kelsey wasn't emotionally available enough to commit to any kind of possible relationship. Even if it was with someone that she connected with so quickly.

"I should tell you, last night. Well, last night was really great." Kelsey finds herself smiling thinking back. "The most fun I've had in a long-time actually."

Niall nodded in agreement. "Last night was quite fun, wasn't it?"

"And you are great Niall, you really are. But this thing, well, I'm just not in a place right now to get emotionally involved with anyone," Kelsey paused for a moment hoping she wasn't coming across as too insensitive. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not you it's me? But let's just leave it as a night of fun?" Kelsey lets out a slight uncomfortable laugh, the kind of laugh that is given to fill a void of silence rather than because something was actually funny.

"Oh no, I mean, if I'm honest with ye, you could say I'm not really in a position right now to start anything. It was just a good time," Niall stumbled. "You're great Kelsey, but ya, timing's just not right for us."

"Exactly," Kelsey replied. She was glad Niall seemed to be on the same page.

"But if you ever want to hang or something. Give me a ring," Niall added, picking up Kelsey's phone from the counter and plugging in his number.

"Okay," Kelsey said. She stood up from the counter. "I should probably get back to my apartment, got to hear all about the date," she laughed. "Thanks for breakfast, it was delicious actually."

"You sound surprised," Niall chuckled, grabbing Kelsey's empty plate and placing it in the sink to wash later.

"Didn't know pop stars could cook I guess," Kelsey teased. Gathering up her clothes and purse from the pile on the couch. She gazed down and saw that she's still wearing Niall's sweatshirt.

"Ooops, better give you this back."

"Nah, you can keep it," Niall said. What was one sweatshirt? "Give it back to me some other time if it really bothers ya."

Kelsey nodded in understanding, standing awkwardly holding her clothes in her hands. What was the appropriate goodbye in this type of situation? "Well, I guess I better get going then," she gestured towards the door.

"It was nice to meet you Kelsey," Niall said, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Kelsey took a deep inhale of his scent, before pulling away and heading out the door.

Niall watched as Kelsey walked out the door. There was something about this girl that wasn't like any of the others. He just wished the timing was right.

**********************************************

"Where were you last night?" Becca exclaimed with a raise of an eyebrow as soon as Kelsey stepped in the apartment door. Becca was seated on the couch, legs up in the air and latest tabloid open upon her chest. Her date nowhere to be seen.

"Jeez can I get in the door?" Kelsey said with a laugh, slipping off her heels before sauntering over to set her purse on the kitchen counter. Becca eyed her as she walked, and Kelsey didn't have to look her way to know her roommate had a lot to say.

"Is that..." Becca began, gesturing to the black hoodie still adorning Kelsey's body. Kelsey looked down at the soft black fabric, she'd nearly forgotten it wasn't her own. She nodded, which triggered a high-pitched squeal to be released from Becca's mouth.

"Oh my god Kels, I can't believe it. You really did it."

"Did what?" Kelsey asked, even though she knew exactly what she had done. It was shocking even to her, the girl that had sworn off the male species. And just as shockingly, Kelsey wasn't regretting it. She felt strangely empowered, like she was reinventing herself.

"You know exactly what," Becca laughed. "You are glowing girl, I haven't seen you this happy since..." Becca stopped her sentence before finishing.

Kelsey didn't need her to finish. That sentence ends with a name. Sam. And that happiness had been a long time ago. That happiness was before Kelsey realized what a lying, cheating scumbag Sam Harris was. Back in the honeymoon phase when Kelsey thought she had found the perfect man.

Kelsey didn't want to hear Becca compare her evening with Niall to her relationship with Sam. Just the mention of her deceitfully perfect former relationship had enough negative thoughts associated with it to ruin anything in its path.

"Sorry," Becca said shyly. "I'm just really glad that you enjoyed yourself. You deserve it you know."

Kelsey smiled. Becca was right, she did deserve to have a night like that on occasion. Something to make her feel like her life wasn't absolutely in shambles, even if only for a few hours.

"So are you going to see him again?" Becca inquired.

"Niall?" Kelsey asked, eliciting an eye roll from Becca.

"No I was asking about the bouncer from last night, yes Niall."

"I don't think so..." Kelsey trailed off. She thought about the contact that now took up a space in her phone, the one that could keep her touch with Niall if she ever so wished.

"Wait don't tell me he's one of those celebrities that takes home a different girl every night, he seemed so normal last night."

"No, no," Kelsey instantly found herself coming to Niall's defense. Even in the short time she had spent with Niall she was certain that he wasn't that kind of guy. No, Kelsey believed Niall to be someone who didn't want to use his fame as an advantage. If anything, he wanted to be seen as just another guy.

"It was more that you know, neither of us were really looking for anything serious," Kelsey explained.

"You mean YOU aren't ready for anything serious," Becca corrected her. Kelsey sighed, while Becca wasn't completely wrong, her departure from Niall's place this morning had shown a mutual understanding of the situation. She'd gotten the vibe that he wasn't exactly available either.

"I may not be ready for it," Kelsey reluctantly admitted. "But we both agreed, the timing is not right...for either of us."

Becca let out an overdramatic groan. Kelsey turned her head to her friend, ready to hear whatever lecture she was about to give. "What now?"

"You do know Kelsey's 'the timing's not right' excuse is like the most bullshit excuse in the world." Becca sat up from the couch leaning towards Kelsey as if she is reading to give her her piece of mind.

"There are only two reasons you use the "timing's not right excuse", the first being you can't bear to admit the true reason things aren't working out and you need to let them down slowly. The other being there is literally no other sane reason you would be stupid enough to let something like that go, so you need some kind of poor justification as to why things aren't working out," Becca paused for dramatic effect.

"And judging by the way you are glowing you definitely aren't using it for the first reason."

Kelsey rolled her eyes at her friend's lecture. "Don't act like you've never used that excuse before."

"I've used it many times. But believe me Kelsey, I've done the timing's not right excuse and I let the love of my life slip from my fingers." Becca stared distantly off into space, as if she was reflecting upon all her past mistakes.

"Is this about Johann?" Kelsey laughed.

Johann was a Danish boy Becca couldn't stop raving about from her senior year euro trip. She'd met him "at the foot of the Eiffel Tower" and spent a mere 48 hours with him before leaving on a train to her next destination. They'd exchanged numbers, become friends on Facebook, but soon fell out of touch.

"It might be," Becca replied shyly.

Kelsey chuckled.

"Hey you weren't there Kelsey, you have no idea the connection that we had. I never should have gotten on that train."

"But in all honesty Kels," Becca continued. "If you are going to take one thing away from my could have been European romance, be it that if you have a connection with someone don't waste it."

"Noted," Kelsey said with defeat. "But for now I think I'll stick with the theory that this was a one time occurrence. I'm not cut out to be a celebrity girlfriend anyway. Now speaking of connections..." Kelsey raised her eyebrows. "What happened with the connection that seemed to be going on in the club last night?"

"Oh that," Becca laughed as though she had already forgotten about the night before. She smiles coyly, "It was good. I definitely would be up for seeing him again."

"That's all I get? You interrogate me for every little detail of my night but only want to reveal "good" about yours?" Kelsey rolled her eyes at her friend.

"I mean he's no celebrity Kelsey," Becca laughed. "But the attraction was definitely there."

"And..." Kelsey prodded her roommate for more details.

"And I think we should go on double date," Kelsey rolled her eyes again, seeing this was going nowhere.

"Becca..." she protested.

"Okay, okay, fine," Becca sighed. "But please Kelsey, at least consider the possibility of seeing Niall again? It's good to see you happy."

"I'll consider it," Kelsey groaned, which resulted in a small smile of triumph on Becca's face. But Kelsey knew her consideration had already been done. Seeing Niall Horan again would only lead her to become attached. And becoming attached to someone was the last thing she wanted to do.

So Niall Horan would become nothing more than a spontaneous decision and a memorable night- and that was all there was to it.

It wasn't the type of job Kelsey had ever imagined applying for, but considering the extremely high cost of living in Los Angeles, and her extremely low wages as a bartender at the Manhattan (even including the very generous tips), she hadn't had much of a choice. These days her own earnings were all that were getting her by, and by getting by she meant living on a diet of mainly ramen noodles and cereal. 

"How was the interview?" Maya, Kelsey's favorite co-worker, asked as Kelsey slid behind the grey granite-topped bar to begin slicing limes. Maya was the only one that knew about the interview and Kelsey wanted to keep it that way, especially with the way her luck was turning out these days.

Kelsey had always considered herself lucky. She had been blessed with supportive parents, fantastic friends, and a will to do whatever she set her mind to. She had it all together...until she didn't.

Like some stroke of bad luck, Kelsey had went from a girl with a picture perfect family to a girl whose family was being ripped apart by an affair. She went from the girl who had the most tight-knit group of friends the world had seen, to a disastrous falling out with her best friend over the boy Kelsey had always pictured herself walking down the aisle to. And to put the icing on the cake, Kelsey had went from the girl with every academic accomplishment in the book, to a girl that wasn't accepted into law school because of her extremely poor LSAT score.

So Kelsey found herself three months post-college graduation, working as a bartender, living alone in the big city of Los Angeles, just trying to find ways to make ends meet so that maybe in a year she would be accepted into her dream law school- Stanford University. The bartending job was only supposed to be temporary, but considering the lack of lucky breaks in Kelsey's recent life, she was beginning to think the gig might be slightly more permanent.

Kelsey shrugged as she turned to Maya. "It went fine, but you know if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out." Kelsey moved on to unloading the dishwasher, the heat of the glass leaving a slight sting on her fingertips.

"You're going to get into law school Kelsey. I know you will," Maya set a hand of encouragement on Kelsey's shoulder, before joining in the joyous task of unloading glasses. "I mean think of all the connections you've made so far, the Manhattan clientele are not your average Joe's."

Maya was in fact right about that. The Manhattan was exclusive in every form of the word. Instead of a bar filled with drunk college students, raging alcoholics or lonely old men, it was filled with CEOs, celebrities and those of the upper class looking for a drink to take the edge off.

And Kelsey had made connections. She'd served a bottle of $300 wine to one of the top estate lawyers in the city, called a cab for the defense attorney of choice for celebrity "mishaps", she'd even run into a few politicians- Stanford law grads themselves.

They'd tipped nicely, they'd asked her what had brought her to the city, they'd even offered their words of wisdom a few times. But were they going to take the girl in the bar pouring their precious drinks seriously? Did they really believe this girl had what it took to get into law school? Absolutely not- they'd go back home, to their wives or their coworkers and they'd laugh about the bartender who thought mixing drinks was going to be her gateway into winning cases.

"I'm just trying to be realistic," Kelsey sighed, reaching to pull her chocolate brown hair into a knot at the nape of her neck. 

"When did realism get anyone anywhere," Maya said with a roll of her brown eyes. Maya was a dreamer. Like many people that came to Los Angeles, Maya had made the journey in hopes of getting her big break in music. She was good; a gifted singer, but in a place like Los Angeles being good wasn't good enough, you had to have connections. Despite the numerous demos Maya had snuck into the hands of Manhattan patrons against the explicit rules of management, she had yet to recieve her big break. 

"Speaking of 'realism'," Maya laughed. "The AMA's are coming up this weekend. Think we will get anyone good at the bar?"

Kelsey laughed. "You wish."

"I'm telling you girl, one day Beyonce herself is going to walk through these doors and get her hands on one of my highly prized demos. Mark my words." Kelsey rolled her eyes at her friend's daydream. Maya wouldn't want to be hanging out with someone as unlucky as Kelsey if she wanted that to happen.

"Opening in five ladies," Tom, the head bouncer announced from his perch in front of the glass double doors. Kelsey and Maya nodded in understanding.

"Maybe Beyonce's waiting outside those doors?" Kelsey joked.

"Now who's the dreamer," Maya laughed and the two began a busy night of mixing drinks. 

***********************

Niall Horan was not an unfriendly guy. In fact, Niall prided himself on being one of the most down-to-earth celebrities- someone that would strike up a conversation with anyone. The last thing he wanted to be seen as was a diva.

But yet as he sat at the table across from a beautiful girl, with blonde-hair curled in perfectly symmetric waves, he couldn't even bring himself to form as much as a smile. He couldn't find the words to form a single polite question. All he could do was stare, and think about how he had even gotten himself into this mess, seated at a table with a girl that he knew absolutely nothing about.

Her name was Krystal Hoffman, and he was supposed to be in love with her. There was nothing obviously wrong with Krystal; she was pretty, polite, and confident. Although Niall had only met her a few minutes ago, he could already tell she wasn't someone that wouldn't be intimidated by the spotlight. He knew that because of the way she had looked him straight in the eyes when they shook hands and the way she had boldly introduced herself to each and every member of the Capitol team. Niall supposed it had something to do with the fact that she was an aspiring actress.

There was nothing wrong with Krystal except for the one thing that was completely wrong-she wasn't the love of Niall's life like she was pretending to be. She was a means to his end, a publicity stunt. Much like he would be the same to her, a way to get noticed.

Krystal cleared her throat, obviously seeking to break the awkward silence that has fallen between the two. "So the AMA's are this weekend right? I'm sure that's a pretty big deal."

Niall nodded politely. "Yup."

"Why do I get the feeling you don't like me very much?" Krystal asked bluntly, her eyes didn't waver as they caught Niall's gaze.

Niall sighed. This is what he didn't want to happen. It was the first day and the girl already thought he hated her. "It's not that I don't like you, to be honest I don't even know you. I just don't like the idea of you, you know a fake girlfriend and all."

"Don't worry, this is strictly business for me as well. I'm just trying to make my big break is all." Krystal offered Niall a polite smile. Niall could tell the poor girl was trying, I mean it couldn't be easy, being thrown in a room with a pop star and told to get to know them. Most people would be afraid to even ask as much as a question. He had to at least give her that, she was trying.

"Well let's start with the facts. Better get brushed up on these sorts of things before the red carpet," Niall sighs, flipping over to the first page in the one inch packet that more so resembled a small novel. He watched Krystal's eyes go wide at the mention of the red carpet. He supposed a word that had come to be the norm for him was likely a dream of hers. After all it had been his once too- heading to awards shows dressed to the nines.

That dream seemed like a distant memory to him now. His reality was far different than he had ever pictured it all those years ago when he had first applied for the X-Factor. If you had told him he'd be studying facts about a fake girlfriend before heading to the red carpet he would have laughed in your face.

"So according to my sheet we met on the set of my unreleased music video," Niall began, his eyes scanning the black font on the page. The papers in his hand hold a lot more information than he would have imagined. Making up a fake relationship required a lot more planning than Niall ever thought.

"The sparks were flying from the moment we started filming," Krystal added. Niall didn't see this on his paper but he nodded at it anyway. They must have picked the right girl for the job if she could make stuff like that off the fly with such ease. He could also now assume that his music video and first single have been pre-picked for him. Yet another thing out of his control.

"Do you have experience with this? This whole being a fake girlfriend thing?" Niall asked suddenly. He had the bad habit of saying whatever came to his mind, sometimes not with the best of timing.

"I've never been someone's fake girlfriend before no," Krystal laughed, twirling a strand of her long blonde hair through her fingers. "But I'm an actress, so it's really just another role for me."

"I'm sure you'll be great," Niall said with a polite smile, and Krystal returned her gaze to the papers in front of her.

"So where am I from?" Krystal asked.

"'cuse me?" Niall asks, not quite understanding why Krystal was asking him where she was from. He didn't know that, he'd only just met the girl.

"You've got to know where your girlfriend's from silly," Krystal giggled. "You have a lot of studying to do."

Niall sighed. "Guess I do." The idea of having to study facts about someone else was enough to make him cringe. Why couldn't they just play the whole unconfirmed relationship card? Why did the whole stunt have to be so detailed?

"Think we better call it for the day, I've got some people I need to meet with," Niall said, standing from the table and pushing in his chair.

Krystal stood as well, pulling down her mini skirt and then fluffing her hair. "Well it was nice to finally meet you, boyfriend."

Niall offered his hand out for a polite handshake. Krystal instead crosses the gap between him and brings them into a hug. "If your gonna play the part, I'm afraid your going to have to show a little more affection than a handshake."

Krystal pulled away. "See you Saturday then."

"See you Saturday," Niall replied with a polite wave. He hoped Saturday would never come.

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