Forever & Always - (One Direction, Narry)

Chapter 24: Answers & Kisses

Harry paced back and forth in the cold hotel room, his mind flooded with questions that he knew would probably never get answered. It'd been a week — a whole week!— since Niall had kissed him without question. Obviously the media was buzzing, which he knew would make Modest! happy, but why did— oh wait... That's why Niall had done it; to get some new buzz flowing.

Harry sighed, sitting on his bed. Duh. He felt so stupid. Niall couldn't possibly have feelings for Harry, that'd be insane, like breaking an unwritten rule. Even though Harry himself wasn't so sure with where he stood on the emotional side of things, he knew there was no chance  that Niall would ever be.

"Still fantasizing about your boyfriend's lips?"

Harry snapped out of his daze in seconds, looking up at the accuser who, not surprisingly, was Liam. He laughed from the doorway that connected their rooms together. "You're not funny."

"What was that even about?" Liam pushed on, entering the room all the way. "Simon asked or what?"

Harry didn't know what the hell to say because, truth be told, he had no idea what it was about either. Niall's kiss had totally caught him off guard, just as it had with the rest of the world. "Yeah," he decided to lie. "Management called and wanted to stir the pot, you know."

Liam chuckled heartily again. "No, I don't know, but alright." A long, awkward silence had settled between the two boys before Liam cleared his throat and started heading for the door to his shared room. "Well, we leave for the studio in an hour."

"Alright," was all Harry could murmur. He winced when Liam subconsciously slammed the door behind his departing figure.

Harry was going out of his damned mind. For the love of God, what were these mixed signals? He swore that he and Niall were only a publicity stunt; that's what it should've been, after all. But now that he was six months deep and feeling...different feelings, how could he possibly know what was going on in Niall's head?

He wanted to crawl into a deep deep hole in the middle of nowhere and just lay there for a while. That's what he desperately wanted, that's what he needed.

"Knock, knock!" a voice shouted from just beyond the door to the hall. "The love of your life needs to come in! Ha!"

He recognized that laugh anywhere. Harry got up and shuffled across the room quickly, sliding the lock and pulling the door open: Niall.

"Hey," Niall greeted with a big smile. What was up with him?

Harry turned around and began walking back towards his previous spot on the couch. "Someone slept on the right side of the bed."

"Nah. Just a good morning."

"Okay."

"Simon's really happy with us so far," Niall chirped, pulling out a bottle of water from the fridge, unscrewing the top, and taking a long drink. "Maybe they'll be satisfied enough to let us 'break up' sometime soon."

All Harry could say was, "Yeah."

"I'm excited for sound check tonight. This is the first time we're performing Drag Me Down live!"

Harry nodded.

Niall eyed him then took a step closer. "Uh...are you mad at me or something?"

Harry shook his head, his curls swaying back and forth.

"Then what's bugging' ya?"

This was his chance. Every question Harry had ever wanted to ask Niall, he could ask right now. He was scared, though. What if he made a complete fool of himself? What if Niall thought he was a freak? There were just too many variables, too many places this conversation could go wrong.

"Nothing."

"Okay," Niall started, going to sit next to his friend. "Nice try, but I know you too well for you to lie to me like that."

"I'm not lying," Harry insisted, staring blankly ahead of him.

"Yes you are!" Niall retorted with a laugh. "Come on, just tell me, I can take—"

"Why'd you kiss me, really?"

Niall was frozen. Harry knew this was a mistake. Oh God, what had he done?

"Okay, sorry, I—"

"Listen, Harry...I don't want to freak you out or anything so can you promise to wait until I'm done talking to say something?" Harry nodded, slightly cowering from Niall. "I was pissed at you when you immediately slammed the idea of us for publicity. I didn't understand why you were so against it, and I was only against it because no one would listen to me...I thought you just hated me. But then, after a while, when we agreed...something changed..."

"Changed?"

"You promised you wouldn't talk," Niall warned, looking away from Harry. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Every time we faked holding hands or doing simple stuff like touching a knee or lingering on a shoulder, I just...it started feeling different. And then I thought I was a freak but then I realized I had to cut myself some slack. Of course it'd feel different, it was different. That didn't mean I was weird or anything.

"But then I felt something different than the different I was already feeling and that's when I knew something really changed. I...I think I may have feelings for you, Harry, and not feelings that bandmates normally have for each other. That's why I kissed you, to see if it was real or if I was tripping out." He snuck a quick peek at Harry, afraid that there would be horror all over his face. "I-I'm so sorry if I freaked you out or something but I...I had to tell you. I'll uh...I'll leave now."

Niall got up to leave, taking a few steps away from a very motionless Harry. He was almost to the door when he finally made a noise. "Wait."

Niall turned with a sad face. Harry caught up to him, grabbed his neck, and pulled him close. He searched his eyes, desperate for a signal to stop or continue but when he received no sign from Niall, he took it as a cue to continue.

"It was real. I swear, it was real."

And this time, Harry was the one that kissed Niall.

it's looking like there's one more chapter of this book, possibly two. ahhhhhhhhh.