The Project

Chapter 36

"Goodnight guys. Remember we're getting up early to go find a tree" mom says before hugging me goodnight. I hug Derek goodnight and walk downstairs to Niall, who's sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. "Hey" he smiles, scooting over for me to sit.

"Hi" I smile, putting a strand of hair behind my ear. I sit down next to him and he looks at the fireplace. "Marley, you can sit closer to me" he chuckles. I smile shyly and snuggle into his open arms. I didn't realize he had a blanket with him until he covered it over both of us. "It's kind of chilly" he says.

"Yeah" I say quietly, looking up at him. "So what did you think of my family" I ask, smirking at him. I see his lips curve into a small smile as he looks down at me. "They're nice" he says. "Just nice? Nothing else?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "And loud" he adds, containing his laughter. I swat his chest and laugh along with him.

"Honestly, they're wonderful. I love your family" he says, his tone sounding a bit more serious. I smile up at him and put my hand on his cheek, not knowing what I had just done. Instead of flinching back, he did the complete opposite. He leans into my hand and closes his eyes for a second. His lips parted a little as he breathed out contently. I smile at the sight and stroke his cheek with my thumb.

"Marley?" I hear a familiar voice say from behind us. I take my hand off of Niall and look in the direction of the voice. Cole stood in the doorway, his hair ruffled and in nothing but his baggy sweatpants. I've never seen my brother this way, at least at this age anyway. He looked so much older. That can't happen.

"Cole" I smile, standing up from the couch. I swear I heard Niall grunt and mutter something when I leave his embrace. I shake it off and walk over to Cole. "What's the matter?" I ask. "Can I talk to you? Please" he says in a pleading tone. "Of course" I say, following him into the other room.

"What's the mat-" I start but I'm cut off by Cole hugging me tightly. I hug him back and his breath is shaky. Is he crying? "Are you okay?" I ask, pulling out of the hug and looking at my brother. His eyes were a little bloodshot and puffy.

"It's nothing really, I just missed you a lot" he says, sniffling a little. Cole and I have always been close, so close that we did everything together. We never left each other's sides, until I auditioned for the X-Factor. "I missed you too bud" I smile, putting my hand on his shoulder. He gives me a weak smile and his shoulders slump over.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" I ask carefully but firmly. "Can I just sit with you for a little bit?" He asks shyly. I nod and bring him close to me, resting my chin on top of his head. His breathing slows down and it feels like he's falling asleep.
After a few more minutes Cole gets up and hugs me some more. "Tomorrow, I'll hang out with you all day" I say to him. He smiles and nods.

"Okay let's go to bed. See you in the morning" I say before giving him a hug goodnight. Cole walks back upstairs and I return to Niall, who's snoring lightly on the couch. His head was hanging off the back of the couch and his arms and legs were spread out.

I giggle at the sight and walk over to him. I stand in front of his head and smile as he moves in his sleep. Without thinking, I run my fingers through his flattened hair. He doesn't wake and his snoring stops, but he breathes out sweetly.

After a few minutes, he wakes up and his bright blue eyes stare into mine. I keep my hands in his hair, not knowing what to do. Just take your hands out of his hair Marley. "Hi sleeping beauty" I giggle. He smiles tiredly and stretches his arms out, grabbing my face in between his hands later.

"Hello beautiful" he yawns, not removing his hands. My heart flutters when he says those words and I'm forced to swallow my feelings. Lately, he's been acting really affectionate and I'm not sure if that's for show or real. Snap out of it Marley, of course it's for show.

"Marley, you okay?" He asks, moving his left hand lower towards my jawline. "I'm good, yeah" I nod. "Okay, I was saying that we should go to bed" he smiles, sitting up. We both remove our hands and the awkward tension begins to rise.

"Up here is where our rooms are" I say, leading him up the stairway. We walk down the long hallway and go to the last room on the floor. I open the door and realize that my hopes of having the two beds are crushed, seeing that there's only one bed. Of course.

Once we got our stuff unpacked, Niall grabbed a pillow and a couple of blankets. He throws them on the floor and sits on top of them. "Are you sure you want the floor tonight? I'll give you the bed it's no problem" I say, standing next to the bed.

"Hey, it's fine. Really" he says. I breathe out in defeat and climb into the gigantic bed. "Goodnight Niall" I say, bringing the covers up to my chin. "Goodnight Marley" he yawns. Within seconds he's snoring like before and I'm staring at the ceiling. Great.

(Here's a little gift for you all! I thought it would be good to add a few pictures here and there. Thanks!)