i still do || n.h au

thirteen

Astrid accepts the drink from Matt and before she can thank him, someone else interrupts them.

"Excuse me—" Tom squeezes himself in between Oscar and Matt, lips pulled into a smile. Holding his hand out, he says, "I don't think we've met. I'm Tom. And you are?"

Astrid smiles as she accepts a handshake from Tom. "I'm Astrid."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he grins as they shake hands.

Oscar rolls his eyes before he levels Niall with a look, one that says 'are you going to let him talk to Astrid like that?'

If Niall didn't find this amusing, he definitely would have felt jealousy surging through him. As it is, the fact that Tom is oblivious to the way Astrid is reaching for Niall makes him want to laugh. Besides, he's known Tom long enough to know that he'd flirt with any woman that comes across his path and that his flirting is harmless. Well, most of the time.

"Why do I feel like I've seen you before?" Tom asks as he lets his eyes linger on Astrid. It's not exactly a question, but more of a pick-up line. Niall knows this because he's heard and seen Tom in action and he's used this line plenty of times. Surprisingly enough, it works on some.

Niall realises then that he might've spoken too soon because when Tom continues to look at Astrid like she's the only person in this crowded room, he feels a flicker of jealousy igniting in the pit of his stomach. That's how he looks at Astrid and that's how he feels when Astrid is around him. It's irrational, he realises that, but right this moment he wants Tom gone. Vanish into thin air. Or maybe the ground should open up and swallow him whole -- anything to have him disappear.

"Have we met?" Tom asks again. "You look very familiar. I must've bought you some drinks before."

Matt must have seen the way Niall is clenching and unclenching his jaw as he looks at Tom because the words that come out of his mouth after he clears his throat are this: "Hey, Tom, I think someone at the bar wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Tom asks as he looks over his shoulder, subtlety out the window. "Is it that girl in red? She's been eyeing me since we came in."

Matt glances at the bar and shrugs. She definitely has not but no one corrects him. "Yeah sure."

Niall doesn't know what he'll do without Matt, he thinks, because he's always been the one who'd step in to save his arse. Oscar does it too but the only difference is that Matt won't give him shit afterwards. Still, Niall reminds himself that he loves both of his friends equally.

"Sweet," Tom mutters under his breath as he runs his fingers through his hair. Then, he straightens his back and to Astrid, he says, "I'll find you later. Or maybe you should come find me."

Astrid presses her lips together and nods, "Mhmm." As soon as Tom turns around and walks away from them, Astrid scrunches up her nose. "Is he always like—"

"Yup," Oscar answers before she can even finish her sentence. Everyone knows what she's going to say, anyway. "You'll learn to tune him out."

"He's not all bad," Niall chimes in, though to be completely honest, he doesn't know why he says that. He doesn't know why he's defending him.

"Yeah, right." Oscar retorts. "Like you weren't seconds away from knocking him out."

Niall opens his mouth to argue but closes it when he realises that whatever he has to say next is going to be a lie. Oscar was right. He did want to do something like that to Tom — a thought that has never crossed his mind before no matter how annoying Tom was. Guess all it took is for Tom to hit on Astrid.