She | h.s

thirty-nine

"I walked around, didn't wanna bring my phone because I knew he was gonna try to call me, and yeah I did go to a few bars but that is where I met Elio—" I smile and him and he smiles back, flipping the pancakes over on the stove.

"And we just went out to get food and then hung out here, I got back at around three? Almost four? Actually I think it was four in the morning, I'm totally fine." I say, walking over to Elio's side and smiling at the stack of perfectly golden brown pancakes he had made.

"Do you want pancakes?" I offer to Niall and he huffs.

"Daisy, what the fuck?" He says, walking over to us and glances down at the pancakes, debating on whether or not he would take some.

"Daisy, you are not fine. You went out! All by yourself, in New York City of all places! In the middle of the night! Without your phone! That is probably the most unsafe thing you've ever done, oh my god." He scolds me.

"That's what I said too!" Elio chimes in, making me laugh at the situation we were in.

"Stay out of this," Niall barks at him, and I see his lips fold into a line, shrugging his shoulders as he continues to finish up another stack of pancakes.

"Okay," Elio says, "I think you two need some privacy right now... so I'm gonna go—-"

"No!" I say, cutting him off, "Please stay, Niall's just worried for me." I smile at him.

"I was gonna ask if I could shower here but... okay, uh, would you mind if I showered here?" He asked and I felt my cheeks heat, nodding my head as he turns the stove off, putting the dishes away and muttering something about how he'd clean up after his shower.

"Daisy, you have to explain to me literally fucking everything that has happened in the last fifteen hours, right now. I need a play-by-play to understand why the fuck some stranger was making pancakes in your kitchen right now, and why his car is parked right outside of your driveway." Niall says, making me sigh as I take a seat next to him, sliding him a plate of pancakes that I knew he wouldn't refuse.

"Okay, so I thought that last night was gonna be the best time to tell Harry that I had liked him, so I went out to the park, gathered my thoughts, ran into Liam and told him to fuck off and then rang Harry." I said, shocking Niall as he choked on his food for a second before composing himself.

"Sorry, proceed," He said.

"So I rang Harry, and had this entire speech in my mind and then he just... He was drunk and went on and on about how much he hated the thought of dating people and didn't spare me any details on his disliking towards ever getting into a real relationship,"

Niall's expression softens, as he rests his elbows on top of the counter and completely disregards the plate of food in front of him.

"That's why you left..." He mutters and I nod.

"Daisy, I know that it must've hurt to hear that but... You can't just run off like that in the middle of the night without your phone or anything, something bad could've happened to you and you know that."

"Nothing bad happened to me!" I protested, "I met Elio in an empty parking lot and he was just... I don't know it was like a breath of fresh air after feeling miserable all night, he even paid for my In N Out," I point out to him and he chuckles.

"Did you guys..." He trails off awkwardly as I begin to stretch again, hearing my bones cracking and making me feel instantly better.

"Never mind, I can see it on your neck." He says, making my cheeks heat in embarrassment.

"Oh don't get shy on me now, you're wearing a man's shirt and walk like a dog with a limp, you've definitely shagged last night." He teases me and I groan at him.

"Okay, yeah, whatever." I roll my eyes, walking over to the fridge to cut up some fruit that I thought would go nicely with Elio's plate.

"What's the plan with Harry now? I mean, you went out and slept with another man after he hurt you, and I don't think he was even aware that he had hurt your feelings. He called me worried sick that you'd been 'off' when you last spoke and said that you weren't returning his calls."

"Yeah, when we um... finished, I checked my phone before going to sleep and he was still texting me, asking me what was going on. I just don't know how to face him now, especially after he had went on and on about how he loved pretending to love me but also hating the thought of ever doing that with someone else. Completely discouraging on my end you know?" I huff.

"I mean I get that, but what's gonna happen to you and Elio now? He's upstairs taking a shower in your bathroom for gods sake!" He laughs at the absurdity of the situation and so do I.

"I actually really enjoyed spending time with him, I mean, he was so nice. We smoked a bit of weed and he let me finish his blunt off before we... you know." I shrug my shoulders, recalling the events of last night.

"And the sex was good, so good. He was really good, so I just wanna see where this goes with him. I asked for his number before falling asleep and I was honestly surprised to see him still there when I woke up, maybe he's good for me."

"Well then, you're gonna have to introduce him to the rest of the gang, Lou's been worried sick. I hope you at least texted them to let them know you were okay," he says.

"I did, I did. I'll explain everything to them later on, but I don't know... Is it silly for me to want to spend more time with Elio today? Do you think he's gonna get all freaked out because he slept with some random girl once and now she wants to spend the day with him?" I joke.

"I'd actually love to," I hear his voice say from the end of the hall, making me freeze and my cheeks turn pink in embarrassment.

"Okay, so I'm gonna go now... I would very much not like to see you two shagging in front of me, just call me whenever okay?" Niall says, getting up from his seat and I nod at him.

"Yeah, of course." I say to him before he slips his shoes on, Elio still frozen to the spot at the end of the hall and Niall walks up to him, actually patting him on the back and I laugh.

"The pancakes were great by the way, thanks. Daisy cut some fruit up for you like a total mum so I guess you better eat." He says, Elio nodding his head with a laugh.

As the door clicks shut, Elio walks over back to me with a smile on his face, his dimples prominent on his cheeks and I smile back.

"So..."

"So....."