Unwonted (Niall Horan)

Chapter 5 ~ Invitation

Chapter 5 ― Invitation

The lads look at me like I’ve grown a third head but I’m serious, dead serious and somehow, I’ll convince them that this is a good idea.

It’s been three weeks since we went to the fair and we meet the girls. We’ve become really good friends, all of us. I know the lads adore them and I actually feel like we’ve been friends all our lives. Kind of what happened when the lads and I met and we were put together for the X Factor.

I haven’t asked Alex out again. I’m giving her time, all the time she needs and once she is ready for a new relationship, I’ll try again. For now, only friends, although I still want more. How can’t I? In all this time I’ve got to know her better and she is as fascinating as when I met her. She is funny, she is sweet in a very special way, then she is so tough and she makes me feel like a… like a… a butterfly! Yes, like that. I’m a butterfly and she is a Spartan warrior. Yeah, my male ego suffers next to her, but I don’t care. Alex is witty and so nerd. Sometimes she forgets she is talking to peasants and she gets carried away in her geeky stuff and loses us all. She tries to explain what she is talking about, and we pretend we understand, but we don’t. And she makes it looks so easy and normal, but I swear it’s in another language to me. I see what she does and I feel dizzy. I feel like she is so extraordinary but so normal at the same time.

Yeah, I really fancy her.

That's why I want her and Phebs and Belle to come with us on tour. We had a break but he have to go back and do this UK-Ireland tour but I don’t want to lose contact. I feel like we’ve made great progress and if we keep spending time, maybe she’ll be ready sooner. I just want to keep spending time with her, as much as I can before summer is over.

“I dunno, Niall. We don’t know them that much. Isn’t it weird?” Liam asks, always so sensible about everything. Can’t he be spontaneous sometimes?

“Do you think they will accept?” Harry asks, not too sure but not exactly against.

“That would mean Alex would cook for us…” Louis muses, not really adding something to the discussion. Not that it surprises me or anything.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Zayn smiles but I lose mine.

I’m not blind and I’ve seen the way he looks at Alex, too. What a cliché, uh? One of my best mates also has a thing for the girl I like. It’s not weird though. At first sight, Zayn seems so much more Alex’s style. They have loads and loads of things in common and they get along really well, maybe too well. He smiles like an idiot when she is around and sometimes I feel like punching that smile away. Zayn is probably my biggest threat and I really like Alex, it would suck if he gets the girl. I don’t think I could bear seeing her with him. Nope. Just no.

Liam, Harry and Louis know. I haven’t told them but I know they know I fancy Alex. I haven’t talked to Zayn about it, not even asked him if he fancies her. In fact, I’m not talking too much to him anymore. I’m afraid he will tell me he does have feelings for her and that I should step aside because his chances with her are higher than mine.

“I still think this is not a good idea, Niall. I know they are great and we’ve got really close, but still. We’re not going on vacations; we’re going on tour. You think they’ll enjoy that?” Liam asks and I want to whine. He ruins everything!

“Do you think they won’t?” I retort and he arches one eyebrow. “C’mon, Liam! It’s gonna be fine. I bet we’re all gonna have fun. Haven’t we had fun so far with them? And Louis is right… Alex could cook for us. Do you imagine that?”