"So, what?"
They proceeded to have a staring contest- Luz determined to get Niall to confess and Niall not saying a word. He didn't know why he didn't say anything to her, he just couldn't. Not yet, at least, when there wasn't really anything to tell.
"Fine, don't tell me," Luz said at last, jumping a little when Harry's arms snaked around her waist. "Just don't break her heart, okay? Because then I'll have to hate you, and I don't want to have to hate you."
"You don't have to worry about that. There's nothing going on," Niall insisted.
"If you say so."
"I do say so," he said, and left it at that.
Niall stayed with the happy couple for a little while longer until they were pulled away by someone else. He let them go with a wave, saying that he couldn't stand them being so in love right in front of him.
He was joking, of course, and Luz had never been one for public displays of affection anyway. Harry definitely was, especially with Luz, each kiss to her neck or shoulder leaving her blushing furiously and him grinning like he'd won the lottery. It was really quite disgusting.
After a few more hours of dancing and drinking, Niall decided it was time to go home. Despite hinting to a certain flower woman that he might be worth getting to know for a night or two, he hadn't seen much of her the rest of the night. It was probably better that he didn't go down that road, anyway. Luz was joking earlier when she warned Niall not to break her cousin's heart, but he realized now that something like a fling with Liliana could potentially be messy.
Reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket, Niall retrieved his phone and sent a text to his driver, letting him know that he was ready to leave and go back to the hotel he was staying at a few minutes away from Luz and Harry's house. He wasn't stumbling or seeing double, but he was definitely thankful he'd had the foresight of not driving to this wedding. Luz's family liked to party more than any family he'd ever met before, and a wedding only gave them more of an excuse to keep it going until the sun came up. Harry and Luz were already long gone, staying at some fancy hotel before taking off for their honeymoon, but that didn't mean the festivities left with them, it just meant everyone was careful not to break anything while the newlyweds were away.
As he waited for his driver to pull up to the house, he heard footsteps coming towards him until they stopped at his side. He didn't pay them any mind at first, figuring it was someone needing a moment to themselves or waiting for a ride like he was, but when he caught sight of the soft pink silk of Liliana's dress in his periphery, he looked over at her.
"I'm starting to think you forgot about me, Horan," she said, her eyes trained on something in the distance.
"I don't think that's possible," he mumbled to himself, his eyes widening a bit when he realized he'd said the words out loud.
The corners of Liliana's lips tipped up, in a way that almost seemed smug to Niall, but he was too embarrassed to comment on it. "You flatter me. Perhaps there's hope for you yet."
Niall saw the headlights of a car approaching the house, and he realized it was his. He'd been more than ready to head home a few minutes ago, but now he found himself wishing that his driver hadn't been so good at his job.
As he tried to come up with something charming and clever enough to say to Liliana, he heard his driver get out of the car and open up the back seat for him. Words he'd been about to speak died on Niall's tongue as he watched Liliana, with a small bag and her shoes dangling from one hand, strut past him and slide effortlessly into the open door of his car. Niall's driver, Thomas, raised his eyebrows, his question very clearly written on his face. He waved Thomas off and walked over to the car, getting in after Liliana, though not nearly as gracefully as she had. The door was shut, and for about six seconds, it was just Niall and Liliana in the back of his car. She looked at him curiously, like she was trying to decide if he was worth her time, and he felt an overwhelming and slightly worrisome amount of hope wash over him. He was desperately hoping that he was. He liked her bluntness, he liked that one look from her seemingly brought him to his knees, a feeling that was both foreign and intriguing to him, he liked the flower-freckles that hadn't smudged all night, he liked that she seemed to care for his best friend as much as he did, he liked her approach to life and love. He liked her.
It was an alarming realization, to be sure, but Niall believed that those feelings were just a result of the wedding. A side effect of being surrounded by so much love in one day. He was attracted to Liliana, and that attraction was merely amplified by the atmosphere the wedding had created.
"Just don't fall in love with me, okay?"
Liliana couldn't really make sense of what was going through Niall's head at that moment, but she thought she should make that clear before they did anything tonight. She'd spoken those words before, and people always reassured her that they wouldn't. Until they did. Love made things messy. Love made things not as fun or enjoyable as they once were. Love could kiss her ass.
"I won't," Niall said as his driver pulled away from Luz and Harry's house. Liliana had heard that before, but what he said next was new. "Just don't fall in love with me, okay?"
To Niall's surprise and delight, Liliana laughed. It was a full bodied laugh, unencumbered by the serious air that had taken over the backseat of the car. Finding her laugh infectious, Niall found himself laughing with her.
Before he could even react, Liliana leaned over the middle seat and kissed the corner of his mouth, her lips lingering for a moment before she pulled away and sat back in her own seat again. "You got yourself a deal, Horan."
Niall Part 2
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