One. || h.s.

Twenty Nine.

To my surprise Niall laughs, a hearty laugh. This time I don't laugh along with him, instead I sit up straight and furrow my eyebrows as I watch him catch his breath.

"What's funny?" I snap when he's breathing regularly again.

"I knew it, Harry. I knew it the whole time," he tells me, jabbing his finger in the air in my direction.

"Knew what?" I sigh and roll my eyes, not in the mood for a good laugh even though I could use one. I just can't seem to shake the chip that's not only sitting on my shoulder, but digging into it with full force.

"When the two of you came to the coffee shop, that's when I knew for sure," he continues on as if he didn't hear me.

"What the hell are you talking about Niall?" I exclaim. I push my hand through my hair, shutting my eyes and pulling it at the roots. I'm beyond frustrated with everything and I don't know if the alcohol is making it better or worse. Nevertheless, I nearly chug the second bottle of beer.

"I always thought you and Zayn were friends, but the way you were acting when I was at your place and Skylar was talking about her date with him made me start thinking that you didn't like him much. Then I saw the way he was acting around you at the coffee shop and I pretty much assumed you two weren't on good terms. I never could figure it out, but now I know," he explains, a smile set on his face and his eyes shining as if he has just uncovered the biggest mystery in history.

"Well?" I urge, raising my eyebrows.

"It's Skylar, you love her," he states, his eyes watching my face carefully.

Hearing it out loud makes me sound like a completely idiot. I know I love her, but the fact that I love her when I know she could never love me again is a complete waste of time. I'm trying not to make it a waste of time, and sometimes I think it's not when she does things like run her fingers through my hair or let me hold her at night. The only problem is that those moments when I think I'm finally reaching out to her are so short and they soon turn into her treating me like she did before and wanting to be away from me.

"Do have any harder liquor?" I mumble as I push myself from the armchair and head into the kitchen.

"In the cabinet under the sink," Niall calls from the living room. "And bring me another beer while you're at it."

I open the cabinet under the sink and grab the first bottle I see along with a glass from the cabinet over the stove. I grab Niall a beer from the fridge and make my way back info the living room. Niall watches in amusement as I crack open the bottle of rum and pour it into the glass, downing half of it in one gulp. The burn of the alcohol is familiar and I welcome it as it settles in my stomach, giving me something else to focus on other than my failed attempts with Skylar.

"So I'm right," Niall states cheekily, a smirk painted on his lips.

"No shit you're right," I say, taking another swig from my glass.

"What are you going to do about it?"

I sigh, finishing off my glass and pouring another. I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know where to start or where to go from here. It kills me knowing that I might end up losing her again because I can't win her back or make her see that I've changed for her.

"I don't know, Niall," I tell him, shaking my head.

"Well, what have you done already?" He asks, leaning forward on his elbows and setting down his empty bottle along side the other ones.

I can't tell him that Skylar and I agreed to having sex with no strings attached, no one can know that. I'm seriously so desperate to have her that I'll do anything to get her, to have her close and be able to kiss her and hold her whenever I want.