The Bet // Niall Horan

24 - We've Lost Control

My guess was that Niall was thinking the same thing, but air meant a little more to him than it did to me considering that he pulled away. Once again, we were a mess of heavy breathing and dazed looks. Although he broke the contact of the kiss, he didn't break out eye contact. "See? No need to worry, Lucky Charms," I smiled slightly and he chuckled, finally telling me that he was at ease again.

"I s'pose not." The smile he gave me made me almost lose more breath than when we were kissing. I could tell by the way it followed all the way through to his eyes that he was happy. Truly happy. His smile was contagious, leaving me with no other choice than to smile along with him.

He bushed a piece of hair that had managed to fall from my ponytail away from my eyes so nothing was interrupting our line of vision from each other. "I guess there's only one thing left to say," Niall announced.

"Oh? And what would that be?" I wondered, a slight smile following.

"You're definitely worth it." It was like someone had gotten inside my body and let out all the butterfly's in the world. The entire world seemed to slow down at his words, but my body was on fire. Warming and jittering all at the same time.

Come on, Carter, say something. Don't just leaving him hanging. You can do it, come on.

"Thank you."

Seriously. Thank you? What the fuck, Carter.

"Wait, shit. Forget I said that. Please for the love of God please forget I said that. That was the lamest reply in the history of lame replies. Ew, oh my gosh," I sputtered. I shook my head, and for the first time, I looked away from his bright blue eyes. It was his turn to laugh at my response. And by laugh I don't mean a light chuckle. I mean a full on Niall Horan belly laugh. The sound that brings angels to shame. And when he laughs like that, a person can't help but laugh too. Still horrified by my response, I let out a nervous chuckle as he let himself nearly cry of laughter.

"Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever seen a person so disgusted by their own response, " he breathed, still not done laughing. I swatted at his shoulder then hit his stomach repeatedly with the back of my hand as he continued to roar with laughter. "Niall! Stop!" I dragged out the word, my face heating up for the, surprisingly, first time since by horrific statement.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just-it was great," Niall croaked, his voice raspy from laughing so loudly for so long.

I couldn't help it. It was a perfect moment and I couldn't contain the words I spoke next. "Thank you." I smirked up at him and he lost it all over again, but this time, I joined in with him. His hands were wrapped around his stomach as mine did the same. Both of us completely losing all sanity we had left. If someone were to walk by right now, I'm sure they would sign us up for a mental hospital.

After the two of us had calmed down we sat there for a few moments before Niall made the first move to speak, "I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while," he grinned at me. "And now people will be thoroughly confused when I laugh at someone who says thank you."

"You're welcome," I nodded briefly before adding another small chuckle.

"I'm afraid we've lost all control," Niall concluded.

"Afraid so," I agreed. A brief silence surrounded us, but Niall's thick Irish accent broke it. "I was serious y'know."

"About what?" I tilted my head slightly in confusion. A gear in him shifted as soon as I asked my question. His eyes shot down to look at his hands that were placed in his lap, bringing one up to bite his nail, while his shoulders slumped slightly. He was nervous. "You always do that," I pointed out.

"Do what?" He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced back up at me.

"Bite your fingernails when you're nervous." To prove my point I nodded towards his hand that was against his mouth, him slightly biting on his nail. He took his hand away quickly and I immediately took the chance to take his hands into my smaller one, lacing my fingers slowly through his own. Niall's eyes followed my every movement and I was afraid that he would be able to feel my rapid pulse through my hand. "It's adorable," I admitted. His head looked up from our hands, but mine stayed looking at them.

"I don't think anyone has ever called my nervous habit 'adorable' before." I could hear the mock in his voice as he said it, and when I looked up so our eyes could meet, I knew I was right. He had that slight smirk on his face, but admiration in his eyes. I rolled my eyes before replying, "it always makes you look like a lost puppy and lost puppies are adorable."

"Oh, so I'm a lost puppy now?" Niall gasped jokingly, placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"Is that such a bad comparison, Horan?" I challenged. He thought about it for a second before humming. "I suppose not, Anderson."

"Well good. Then tell me what you were going to tell me before you got all nervous and started acting like a lost puppy," I taunted.

"I don't even remember now," he shrugged.

"Don't bull shit me, Lucky Charms," I demanded, holding his gaze. "You can do it. I believe in you!" I mocked excitement, leading him to give me a quiet chuckle.

"We have gotten off of the original topic countless number of times, Carter. I'm afraid I don't remember." I rolled my eyes for the second time in this conversation. "If you don't tell me then I'm afraid that I won't let you walk away without telling me."

"I'd be okay with that," Niall mused and I raised my eyebrows as if saying 'that wasn't a proposition, tell me now, fool'. He let out a loud sigh telling me that, somehow, that's what he had gotten out of the look I gave him. "Fine," he said, defeated. "I was going to say that I meant it when I said you were worth it." By the end of his sentence his voice had gotten softer, leaving me with a lot of uncaught words.

"What was that?"

"I said I meant it when I said that you were worth it!" He didn't just say it, he screamed it out to the heavens, making sure everyone and everything heard it.

"Jesus, Niall! Shout it a little louder, I don't think anyone heard you," I joked. But this was Niall we're talking about here, he will do as he pleases.

And what he pleased at this very moment was to say it again...louder. But this time he stood up from his position on the beach and spread out his arms, as if calling out to God himself.

"You're worth it! Carter Anderson, you! Are! Worth-"

"Niall!" I grabbed one of his arms, bringing it back down to his side and stopping him from screaming anymore in the process. "I heard you the second time," I giggled.

"I know," he looked down at me and I brought my hand that was on his bicep down to meet his hand. "I just wanted to say it again."

And I swear his smile could be seen from a billion miles away.

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A/N

Well gee. That was a long chapter. 4 and a half pages to be exact.

The gif at the top makes me so happy you don't even know :) :) :) :)

So I went back and changed a few things about Cameron's character. Before he was talking to someone on the phone and I made it sound like he was trying to find her for someone else but I changed that. Now he's looking for her for his own personal reasons. Chapter 17 is a good chapter to reflect back to.

Other than that, there were a few editing changes so I wouldn't fret about those too much.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I was smiling for a lot of it. And if you've never noticed that Niall bites his nails, Google "Niall Horan biting nails" and you'll see that he does it all the time.

#teamCariall