She's Not Afraid. (Niall Horan)

Chapter 23.

Marina's POV

"I don't exactly have any girl clothes for you to sleep in so I hope you don't mind wearing mine." Niall grinned enthusiastically as he led me into his bedroom. I looked around the room, taking in the view. It was fairly obvious he had been packing at some point in this room, there was clothes sprung everywhere. It was a little chilly inside his apartment, he wasn't due home from tour for another week or so and he had no need for the heating to be on. I gripped my arms around my body – savouring all my body heat. I was still damp from the rainstorm but not so much I was beginning to get hypothermia.

"That's more than enough," I smiled back at him warmingly. "I hope you realise how much I appreciate this right now."

"It's no problem Maz, I'd do anything for you." He walked over towards me and swiftly wrapped his own arms around my body. I snuggled into his warm chest slightly and breathed in his familiar scent.

"I can't believe you guys spent your day off coming to find me. That's a long way to travel for just me."

"I'd travelled all the way around the world just for you." He chuckled before poking my nose with his finger. "Now you go shower, you smell like fresh rain and car air freshener." I subtly gave him a surprise kiss on the cheek before I quickly scurried into the bathroom. I don't know why I did that, it just felt right.

The steaming hot water felt like heaven against my shivering skin. Niall didn't have any woman target products so I ended up washing my hair with some manly shampoo and washed my body with a shower gel that smelt like the typical male specimen. I let the warm water run over my body for a couple more minutes before I hopped out and pulled a towel tight around my body. The mirror in the bathroom was completely steamed over so I took the opportunity to leave a small message for Niall. Whenever the bathroom gets steamy again he'll see it. It wasn't any drastic message, just a simple Marina & Niall, best friends forever ;) x. I laughed at my own cheesiness, when did I turn into such a softy?

"Maz, you alright in there?" Niall called through the door. I quickly slipped on the spare clothes he had kindly given me; his t-shirt was just long enough to cover my butt. He didn't own any shorts apparently so I was stuck wearing a pair of his underwear – they were clean, don't worry.

"Perfect." I replied as I swung the door open and greeted his face.

"I was starting to think you'd fallen down the plug hole or something."

"Somehow I don't think I'd fit."

"Well you never know." He shrugged casually. "I wasn't sure if you were hungry or not, but I am. So I made us some sandwiches to eat."

"I can't pass an opportunity to eat food." I chuckled before jumping on the bed next to him.

"I thought you might say that." He laughed along with me.

We both munched our way through several sandwiches, to my surprise jam and cheese actually worked well together. We sat eating in silence before he turned the TV set on which soon started blaring out the football scores. After I finished eating all I could manage I shuffled further into the duvet, wrapping the silky sheets around me comfortably. Niall soon joined me as he slouched down onto the bed, his head hitting the pillow next to mine. I rolled onto my side so I could get a better look at the charming boy lying next to me. He quickly mirrored my actions and the silence dawned on us again once he turned the television off.

"I really wish you had told me," he sighed, looking directly into my eyes as he removed a strand of wet hair from my face.

"I didn't want to cause any unwanted pressure on you. Every time I talked to you, you were always so tired. I didn't want to make that worse." I admitted.