Fight For Her || n.h

Chapter 13 - "It wasn't just a crush."

"Okay, so it all started when I was like eight. All of my friends started realising I got more expensive toys than them and stuff, and asked me about it. So I said my family was rich and everyone got very... excited about it. So for about six years my friends asked me to buy expensive things to them as well, because "my parents could afford it". I was sick of hearing people asking me for stuff all the time, so right before freshman year I decided to put a stop to it. That's when I came up with a fake identity. I asked my siblings to play along too, but never told my parents about it."

"Wasn't it hard to keep that from your friends?"

"You have no idea." I mumbled and took another sip from my drink.

"Niall told me your friends were furious when they found out."

"They were. It was much easier telling Niall, because we weren't even friends when he found out. So he got over it pretty quick, unlike Katelyn and the others. Zara and Casper were the only ones who understood and forgave me first. The rest came around later on."

He gave me a sad smile.

"Oh, and by the way... I'm sorry about the whole bet thing. It was all Tyler's idea and I could tell that Niall wasn't really feeling it from the beginning. He's always been good at acting. Niall really knows how to keep a poker face."

I glanced over to him, seeing him mixing drinks to a group of girls.

"It didn't take long for him to fall for you, you know. Only a couple of weeks actually."

I looked back at Jake, motioning him to continue.

"By his seventeenth birthday he was already in too deep. I remember he called me in the middle of the night one time late in September, clearly drunk off his ass, and he started talking about you and how much he regretted agreeing to the bet. That's when I knew it wasn't just a crush. He was in love with you. And don't tell him I said this, but frankly... I think he still is."

Jake's words made me think. Niall can't possibly still be in love with me, can he? I mean he's always going to have a special place in my heart, but I didn't think I meant that much to him that his best friend thinks he still has feelings for me.

"But what do I know? The closest thing I've ever had to a relationship is that fling between Zara and me." Jake then chuckled, placing the beer bottle upon his lips before taking a sip.

"Yeah, what happened there?" I asked, nudging my elbow into his arm to mock him.

"Nothing major. Just a little on and off thing thanks to you and Niall. We probably wouldn't even have talked in the first place if our best friends didn't become a thing."

"Feel free to thank me." I grinned.

He grinned back and I took another sip on my drink, catching Niall's eyes from a distance. He winked at me and butterflies appeared in my stomach.

I guess it's true what they say; you never really get over your first love.

And your first love isn't always the first person you kiss, or the first person you date. Your first love is the person you'll always compare everyone to. The person that you will never truly get over, even when you've convinced yourself you've moved on.

"Girls, you really need to go now. We're closing." Niall told the same group of girls he'd been serving all night.

"But it's only two!" One of the whined and leaned over the bar disk, probably to show him some more cleavage.

And of course his eyes drifted down for a second.