under my skin || n.h. au

two: it starts with a picture

As soon as those words leave Niall's mouth, Harry's curiosity piques so he leans forward and waits – only to have Niall looking at him all confused. Between him and Brooklyn, he's the one who looks far more eager to hear Niall spill the beans.

Brooklyn feels her cheeks heating up even though there's a big possibility that Niall's just messing with her. It's not something new – him teasing her. Besides, the thought of someone having a crush on her is so weird. She's pretty sure no one has ever had a crush on her since high school. But, now that Niall has mentioned it, she feels curiosity creeping under her skin. "Who?" She blurts out the question before she can stop herself.

Niall grins, happy that he manages to catch Brooklyn's interest, which isn't easy. She almost never wants to hear what he has to say. "Louis," he answers. Brooklyn's brows shoot up in surprise. "Louis has a crush on you."

"Really?" Brooklyn asks, immediately clearing her throat when she hears how different her voice sounds like. She hopes to God that Niall doesn't notice that and she hopes that he doesn't see her fighting a smile.

"Yeah," Niall answers with a nod.

Louis did tell Niall once that he thinks Brooklyn is pretty when he met her at Niall's New Year Eve's party last year. In fact, most of Niall's friends who have met her would tell him that they thought she's beautiful or that she's fit – Niall would gag when he hears that, of course, because he's never seen her like that – or that they thought they've fallen in love with her.

Anyway, each time he spills his friends' thoughts to her, she'd give him a disgusted look, quickly shaking her head like she hates the idea of someone liking her. Which is odd because most girls would be flattered to know that. But then again, Brooklyn isn't like other girls that Niall knows.

So, he finds it weird when he catches her smiling to herself now that he's told her that Louis has a crush on her.

"Wait, you're not disgusted?" Niall asks, brows furrowing. This is a first, he thinks. He's gotten used to her telling him that she's not interested, but that phrase hasn't left her mouth yet.

"No," Brooklyn answers with a shrug – Niall has an odd look on his face when she says that as if that's not the answer he's expected to hear – before quickly adding, "I mean, why should I? He's cute."

He is. He really is.

Which is why when she found out that Louis got hired by Adidas to be one of their models, she wasn't surprised at all – he deserves it. His face is now on most Adidas stores and although those pictures don't really do him justice, Brooklyn would still catch herself staring at it a bit longer than appropriate each time she sees it.

"Well good thing that you think he's cute cos he's coming over," Niall mentions few seconds before Louis makes his way to their table, clasping Niall on the back. The two of them exchange a hug whilst Brooklyn remains immobile in her chair. How dare Niall spring the news on her merely seconds before Louis come up to them? She needs at least fifteen seconds to compose herself, but now she doesn't get the chance to do so.

And that explains why she finds it difficult to look at him in the eyes. When they do land on him, though, her face turns red. It's truly embarrassing because there's still a possibility that Niall lied. Alas, that doesn't stop her from replaying his words in her head: Louis has a crush on you, Louis has a crush on you, Louis has a crush on you.

Get over it, Brooklyn scolds herself. She's pretty sure she's having an out-of-body experience. It's the most plausible explanation she can think of as to why she's behaving like a teenage girl.

"Hi, Brooklyn." Louis shoots her a smile.

As though his smile is contagious, her lips curve upwards. "Hi."