Rewinding Time (Narry)

Chapter One

❝NIALL❞

"Niall!"

I turned around as I heard the desperate cries of my best mate.

"What is it now?" I asked as I watched his approaching figure.

Louis came to an abrupt stop in front of me, sweat glistening down his face. "She's taken again," he frowned. "This time she's going out with some guy named 'Liam Payne'." Louis rolled his eyes as he spat out the name of his new love rival. I draped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug.

"Come on Louis," I sighed, patting his back comfortingly.

Louis had been chasing after Eleanor for as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, Eleanor hardly ever really acknowledged his existence—mostly because we were in completely different cliques and he had perhaps one single class with her.

"She'll fall for you one day. You just need to keep trying!" I tried to reassure him.

Louis smiled weakly back at me before ducking his face into the crook of my neck. He sighed deeply, sending a shiver down my spine as his warm breath fanned across my skin. It was quite unbelievable how every little thing that he did could easily make my heart pound against my chest; just like Louis' prolonged interest in Eleanor, I had been in love with him for as long as I could remember. Thankfully, Louis had always been the somewhat oblivious type and never noticed; the fear of what might happen to our friendship if he ever did find out never ceased to plague me.

"Let's go to the ice cream parlor!" I exclaimed. If there was only one thing in the entire world that could make Louis feel better, it was mint chocolate chip ice cream in the dead of winter; the two of us had unashamedly been on a couple of ice cream runs since the start of the season.

It was actually quite nice because some of the ice cream parlors had some pretty comfortable couches and intricate seats scattered around the shop—sometimes conveniently placed in front of a telly. With just the purchase of one cup of double-scoop ice cream, Louis and I would sometimes cuddle on one of the couches and stay there for hours on end.

"What do you say?" I asked.

"Sounds good!" Louis replied, grabbing my hand as he began running towards his car. I laughed as he opened the door for me like a gentleman, ushering me to enter.

"After you, princess," he said mockingly, slapping my bum lightly as I walked past him to get into the car. I could feel the blood rush to my face in embarrassment as I let out a squeal. Louis laughed and turned, making his way over to the driver's side. Sliding into the car, he turned his attention back towards me. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, folding his hands neatly in his lap as he stared intently at me.

"Anywhere is fine by me," I shrugged. As long as I was spending time with Louis, it didn't matter to me what we did.

"Baskin Robbins it is!" he declared, throwing his fist into the air. His childish behaviors may seem like that of a five year old, but maybe that was what captured my heart.

The day I met Louis was on the very first day of secondary school; of course, entering a new school is always extremely frightening for any incoming students; the chances of being in the same class with any previous colleagues is relatively low. My first day, however, seemed to be much worse than anybody else's because I barely had any acquaintances in primary school to begin with; the few I knew had already made new friends.

So there I was, wandering around campus like a lost puppy. My hands began sweating and I felt extremely awkward walking around school alone during lunch; it felt as if everybody's eyes were on me even though they were probably lost in conversation with one another about their first day of school. I sat down at an empty table in the cafeteria, pretending to be occupied with homework.