Under my skin

Chapter 17 - You're beautiful.

*Author's note*

Hello all!

I have gotten SOOO many reads, and I am just so thankful to you all <3

it means a lot to know that people are actually reading what I write! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, it was a little longer than most :)

Please let me know any suggestions or ideas you have...

BTW, I'm sorry for the longer wait, it's just that I'm in year 11 and stressed out :(

love you all :)

x juls

BTW! I honestly CANNOT believe I now have nearly 1500 reads on this story! that's over 200 more than when I last posted! :O THANK YOU!!

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Chapter 17 - @Julia_Golafshan (twitter)

"Sorry about them," he said, clearly embarrassed by the way the other boys behave. "They're good at heart, I promise!"

I chuckled; "Don't worry about it - they're just so.... hyper and excited all the time, I can tell!"

As we were laughing, I got a text; I checked my phone, and it was from dad. 

What time are you getting home? Should I cook dinner for me? 

I smiled, and replied, on my way now, and I have dinner planned. Be home soon x

"Who's that?" Niall asked, winking at me, but as he bent to look at my text, I quickly hid it. 

I knew he was joking, but I didn't want him to see my texts from dad - in the past he has gotten quite violent, and even though he wants to put the past behind him, I still had those messages...

"A bit protective I see!" Niall said as a joke, but I could see in his eyes, he looked a bit offended.

I quickly made a mental note to delete the messages, and put my phone away.

I changed the subject, and we started joking round, but I could still feel the tension in the air.

“What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?” I asked him, trying to move on and lighten up the mood.1

“You tell jokes? Definitely a keeper!” he said, and I tried to not look as stunned as I felt. Niall Horan just told me I was a keeper.

OH MY GOSH. I wonder if he meant like a girlfriend keeper, or a friend keeper, or a crazy-forever-alone-joketelling keeper…

Before my thoughts could go any further, I remembered he would never want me for a girlfriend, because after all, just about every other girl in the universe is prettier and more perfect than me.

Trying not get depressed about those thoughts, I told him the punch line.“Finding half a worm!”

He started laughing, and his laugh was so contagious, I couldn’t help but laugh too!

He took his own phone out of his pocket, and held it up, as if he were taking a photo. Automatically I turned away.

“Why aren’t you looking at the camera? Come on, this is a perfect photo shot!”

“Yeah, but I look really bad in photos, honestly Niall. I don’t want to be a party pooper, but I hate being in photos, I’m sorry.”

Niall didn’t say one word, he just looked at me. For about five seconds, the car was completely silent, except for the slight bumps in the road. Then he just smiled at me, and moved closer to me.

He came so close to the side of my face that I thought he was going to kiss my cheek, but instead he whispered in my ear, “You’re beautiful Ivy.”

Right then, I heard the driver’s voice. “We’re here ma’am.”

Inwardly I groaned. How bad can timing get? Of course I have bad luck to go with my bad looks – oh well, at least we had the car drive and –

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. OH MYFREAKING GOODNESS.

Niall just told me I’m beautiful by whispering into my ear, in a car with just us, and…

Once again, having to drag myself back to reality, I brushed away my thoughts and smiled a sad smile at Niall.

“You’re sweet, thank you,” I said softly, and got out of the car quickly, not looking back as I unlocked my house door.

If I let myself get any more attached to him, whether physically or emotionally, I was going to end up with something I couldn’t fix. Do you know how hard it is to act normal around the guy you like who doesn’t like you back and doesn’t even know you like him?

Exactly.

I didn’t want to make the situation awkward, so I left so fast. I thought that maybe if I tried to block my feelings, I could avoid any chances of developing a crush on him.

I know what you’re thinking; are you freaking insane? Walking away from Niall freaking Horan?

Let me just put it this way – if you’ve been in my position before, you know what it feels like, and you know I’m not to be blamed.

“Hey dad! “ I called out, mentally promising myself to make this night fun and enjoyable for both Dad and I. “I’m going to start cooking now!”

Putting my bag down on the table, I heard footsteps upstairs. All I could hope that dad wasn’t drunk, that he didn’t break his promise.

I got carrots, broccoli, peas and capsicum out of the fridge, and put them on the counter; as I was turning around, I saw dad.

“Dad! I’m cooking chicken stirfry for dinner, I hope you’re hungry!”

“That sounds really delicious, I can’t wait!” He grabbed the plates and cutlery out of the cupboard, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

He was sober, and I was very thankful. At least tonight would be a good night, and maybe we could just get on.

I finished cooking dinner twenty minutes later, and we both sat down to eat.

We talked to each other about how the day had been, and I decided that I should tell him the truth before anyone else told him about one direction and ‘the mysterious visitor’.

“So, um, dad, you know how I texted you before about I was at my math tutor’s place?” He nodded, smiling, and I closed my eyes, wondering how he would take the news.

“Well, my new maths tutor… he’s actually part of one direction.”

I slowly looked up at dad’s face to see what his reaction was.