I Would {A Harry Styles and Niall Horan Fan-Fic} (Completed!)

Chapter 8

That night, I got ready for my dinner with Niall. I had gone to Soma and purchased a maroon lace bra and nearly see-through underwear. I had put little makeup on, but applied a brown sugar lotion all over my body. I had blown out my hair, and worn a thin black dress and black wedge sandals. Examining myself in the mirror, I looked more innocent than sexy. Why was it reversed? Yesterday I wanted to look innocent, and instead looked sexy. Today I wanted to look sexy, but instead looked innocent.

I sighed and headed out the door. It was ten to six, and it took fifteen minutes to get to Niall’s flat in a taxi, and traffic was bad today. I got there at six-fifteen, sprinting to the elevator to catch it.

“Twelve, please,” I said to the balding man. He grunted and pushed the number twelve, and we rode up in silence. I got out and rushed to Niall’s door, knocking loudly.

Niall answered it almost immediately.

“Hey,” he said. “Come on in. I made Italian.”

I smiled, kissing him on the cheek before proceeding into his flat. I caught a whiff of heavy Italian seasoning, and a glimpse into the kitchen told me he had really worked hard to make this special.

“After you,” Niall said as we walked into the dining room. I was surprised to see his usual eight-piece table was gone, replaced by a tiny bistro table for two. There was a candle in the middle, burning and leaving a vanilla scent. The lights were dimmed, and the outside lights came into the room, making it feel special and romantic.

“Oh Niall!” I said, gushing. I turned to him and kissed him smack on the lips. “It’s perfect!”

Niall grinned and helped me sit down, pouring me a glass of wine before running off to the kitchen, coming back with two heaping plates of spaghetti.

I sipped my wine. Niall looked so proud of himself. I bet he felt guilty for the other day, or maybe he was realizing his true feelings for me.

He set the plate in front of me and said, “Bon Appetite!”

The spaghetti was awesome. While Niall may have used store-bought sauce, it was really quite good, and I actually helped myself to seconds. Niall went back for thirds, and throughout it all we talked about his upcoming tour in three months, the new album that had just come out last month, my search for a new movie to work on without leaving London, and his brother Greg’s new baby. No mention of Harry or the other boys came up.

We were just starting on the cheesecake when Niall looked up, purpose in his eyes.

“Annalise,” he said, setting his fork down. I knew something was wrong right then and there. Niall never stopped to talk when there was food in front of him.

“Yes?” I asked, setting my fork down as well and dabbing at my face with the cloth napkin. I felt a cold sweat come over me. Was I being paranoid, or was my intuition correct? Did Niall know about last night?

Niall looked away for a second before meeting my eyes. There were tears in them.

“I heard you kissed another guy last night,” he said. He wasn’t accusatory or mad. Just sort of sad. Upset, but not too bad.

“Niall....” I said, reaching to take his hand. He didn’t pull away, and that gave me hope. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” That was true. It was Mason’s fault I got drunk. He bought me all those martinis.

Niall smiled sadly. “I know you are. Someone told me that you were chatting up someone at the bar, and you two kissed and left together,” he said. “Did you sleep with him?”

At first I thought he was talking about Harry, but then I realized he was talking about Mason. The same Mason who gave me his number, which I threw away this morning with my guilty conscious.

I shook my head. “No, we kissed, but I told him I had a boyfriend and that it wasn’t right,” I lied. Okay, it was partially true. Sort of. Not really.

Niall smiled sadly again. “I’m glad you didn’t. When I heard about it, I was devastated. I was so hurt. I thought, why would she cheat on me? Then I realized something.”

“What?” I asked, cocking my head. Please oh please God, may he not say that he knew I had slept with Harry.

“We’ve been so distant lately. It’s like we’re on two different planets. Plus…you’ve tried to so hard to please me, and I’ve been…well…pushing you away. Tonight, I want to give you what you want.”

I was so touched by his confession. I felt tears begin to bud. Niall wasn’t mad at me. Niall had forgiven me. Niall was the one for me.

Niall leaned in and kissed me, and I kissed him back. Before I knew it, we were on his couch, my dress hiked up, my heels kicked off, and his shirt strewn across the floor. We were kissing madly, and I felt that spark I had felt that was missing.

Before we headed to the bedroom – my last thought before I lost all control – was of Harry. Sure, I might have felt something, but Niall was meant for me. He was so sweet, so trustworthy, and he went out of his way for me. Our relationship was back on track, and I would have no more distractions, whatsoever.