Painted Black 2 *niall horan

Chapter 3

gene's point of view

"Yes, Niall. Look, I really have to go, I'll explain it all to you when I get home." I said hurriedly before hanging up, and heading back into the dining room. I saw Table 2 had cleared out and left a huge mess. I sighed as I began collecting all their plates and heading back into the kitchen to give to Jace. 

Jace was waiting, a towel slung over his shoulder as he leaned against the dishwasher. 

"Hey, you okay? Angela told me you were having boy problems, or something." Jace looked at me with concern and I easily avoided his eyes. 

"No, no. You know not to listen to Angela." I said placing the dishes in the sink. 

"Gene..." Jace said in a tone that I couldn't ignore. I sighed as he crossed his arms.

"Okay, fine. So maybe my ex boyfriend is in New York. And maybe he's sitting in our dining room." I timidly glanced at Jace's expression and he raised an eyebrow. A strange look was on his face and he turned away from me to begin loading the dishes into the dishwasher. 

"You should get back to work, only about 20 minutes left before closing time." He mumbled. I frowned, but did as he said, turning and leaving the kitchen. 

niall's point of view

I angrily stormed out of the kitchen to face a nearly empty dining room, save Andrew who was staring at me wide eyed. He no doubt had tons of questions that I was not in the mood to answer. I reluctantly walked over to our booth and sat down, once more in front of him. He opened his mouth, but I cleanly cut him off.

"Don't." I growled, grabbing my menu and lifting it between us to hide my face. He laughed lightly, surprising me.

"I wasn't going to, I just wanted to let you know I already ordered because I'm starving." Andrew said casually. 

Right on cue, the other waitress appeared holding two identical plates of spaghetti and ravioli. She placed one in front of both of us.

"Anything else I can get you?" She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. I ignored her, waiting for Andrew to make her go away.

"No, thank you." He said politely. She hesitated for a second before strutting away, her high heels clicking loudly. 

Andrew immediatley began devouring his food as I glared at him. Sometime later, after half of his plate was eaten he looked up and cringed at the look I was giving him.

"Uh..is something wrong?" He asked, wiping his lips with a napkin.

"Yes. I hate tomatoes, meaning I hate tomato sauce." I said, trying to sound stern, but ending up laughing as he began apologizing profusely. 

"I'm so sorry, man. I had no idea." He said sincerely.

"It's fine, actually there is something you could do to make up for it..." 

gene's point of view

At exactly 11'oclock I pushed open the kitchen doors and headed to the main door to turn our "OPEN" sign off and lock up. I was surprised to see just Niall in the dining room, his friend was nowhere to be seen. He was still sitting in the booth, his plate of food untouched in front of him and his eyes intently focused on my every move. When I was done locking the restaurant doors, I slowly turned and just stared at Niall from across the room. I chewed on the side of my cheek nervously. He leaned back and crossed his arms, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Uh.." I cleared my throat. "Do you...do you want something else to eat?" I called out, feeling childish for refusing to move closer to him. Niall narrowed his eyes.

"No." He responded tersely. 

I slowly inched my way across the room until I was a couple feet away from him. 

"Um, I'll just take this for you." I leaned towards him and quickly grabbed his plate before making a hasty retreat back into the kitchen. There was a static tension in the air as I walked out of the dining room, but when the kitchen doors closed, it disappeared. 

"Gene!" 

I nearly dropped the plate I was holding to find Jace standing in front of me, his jacket on and car keys in his hand.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just heading out, Angela already left. You have a ride home, right?" He asked.

"Yah, it's fine. Thanks for asking." I said, dumping Niall's food into the trash and putting the last plate into the dishwasher. 

"Alright, cool. I'll see you tomorrow." Jace smiled at me before leaving out the back door. I watched him go and a feeling of dread seemed to settle over me as I thought about the man waiting for me just one room over. I washed my hands quickly before turning to grab a towel and ending up face to face with Niall. He was so close my wet hands dripped onto his shirt and our faces were mere inches apart. I inhaled sharply, my mind going completely beserk and all thoughts abandoning me. I could barely remember how to breathe right with him so close. 

"I lied," Niall said quietly, barely breathing out. "I do want something else to eat."

 "Uh-I-" I stuttered. 

Suddenly, Niall's hand was cupped under my chin and he roughly pulled my lips to his. He placed his other hand at the bottom of my spine and pressed himself against me while trapping me between him and the sink. His mouth moved expertly as he kissed me hard. My mind totally blanked and all I could do was allow myself to succumb to his lips.

niall's point of view

She stood there, shocked and unmoving as I hungrily explored the lips that I had yearned for for months. I pressed her body to mine, dreading the moment she may pull away. Her scent overpowered my senses and I couldn't get enough. Her lips were as soft and full as I remembered and her mouth tasted even better. I was surpised when Gene let me trail my tongue along her lower lip, without protesting. I gently bit down and she let out a small moan, her hands gripping my shirt tightly. The bottom of my shirt was cold and wet from her hands and when I felt her slip under to touch my bare skin, I shuddered, wanting her to touch more of me.

Gene pressed her palms against my abs under my shirt gently, immediatley turning me all the way on and I groaned against her mouth. She lifted her hands up to my chest and then they were exploring everywhere and I was about to come undone just by her touch. 

"Gene." I gasped, breaking away momentarily, to look in her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes, panting slightly. Her hands halted and she began to withdraw them from me. I grabbed both of her hands in my own and placed them around my neck, leaning forward to rest my forehead against hers. 

"Niall.." She whispered softly, her eyes downcast. "We can't."

"Gene, we already have." I answered and I kissed her once more as her eyes met mine.