I breathed in the warm summer air, having been cooped up in a school for what felt like five years. It was finally summer, and Harry was having a pool party to celebrate.
Louis knocked on the door, glancing at me.
"What bathing suit are you wearing?" he asked, and I glared at him a little, knowing he was just being a protective but annoying older brother.
"If I didn't want to show skin, I'd become a nun," I retorted half-teasingly, and he scoffed at me.
"Just a simple question," he shrugged, and I kinda chuckled.
Harry opened the door, smiling at us and inviting us in. Leading us out back, I looked around at how cool his house was. We were late because of Louis, but that meant we wouldn't have to wait for anyone to arrive.
Greeting everyone, I eyed the pool, seeing Niall walking towards it. I ran and caught up to him quickly. I was good friends with all the guys.
"You getting in?" I asked, seeing him turn to look at me.
"It is a pool party," he chuckled, and I nodded. Dipping one of my toes in the water, I approved.
"Warm," I told him, and he grinned, slipping his shirt off over his head. Niall was always the one I was most drawn to at parties like this. I didn't want to tell him or anyone because Louis would be out for both of our heads, but I let the feelings simmer in my heart. I just loved his carefree attitude that complimented mine so perfectly.
He met my eyes as they jumped off of him, seeing him waiting expectantly as I set my towel down.
I untied the bow on the back of my dress, taking it off over my head. I met his eyes once more, quickly glancing behind him at all those other losers socializing and talking. I'd rather do what the party was named for; get in the pool. The rest of them usually didn't stay in the pool if they got in at all. I was the only one until Niall began to join me.
Niall was really to fun to be around, but I held off on trying to see if he liked me or could. I wanted to still have fun without making things awkward.
On the count of three, we jumped into the pool, laughing as we came back up. We got Liam to join us, and then Louis naturally came, seeing me outnumbered by the other guys in the pool and seeming to panic.
Louis started shouting while I was underwater, making me come back up to see what he was saying so loudly.
"Wanna play truth or dare?" he yelled to all of them outside of the pool. I rolled my eyes.
"Really, Louis? Truth or dare?" I sighed, and he pouted at me.
"Think you're too old for that?" he teased, I raised an eyebrow as he turned back to everyone else.
"Come on! We can all get in the pool," he suggested, and I thought that would kind of fun at least.
One by one, they all jumped in until the pool was pretty full. I leaned against the wall of the pool, seeing Niall a few people away from me. When he glanced at me, I looked away quickly.
The dares were stupid and some involved a lot of splashing, so I began to yawn a little. Swimming always made me tired. When the question got to me, I was so disoriented at the time that I said truth, knowing that when best friend Amanda had picked that she was just left being embarrassed.
"Truth," I let out. My eyes popped open, and I blinked towards Liam who was asking me.
"I mean dare!" I exclaimed, and they all shook their heads.
"First answer," he smirked. I sighed out, sinking down under the water until Louis pulled me back up.
"C'mon scaredy cat," he spoke, and I groaned.
"Whatever," I mumbled under my breath. What was done was done.
"Who do you have a crush on?" Liam asked. I immediately felt my stomach drop, knowing what the possible answer was but not knowing what to say. So naturally, to hide my surprise, I put up a fight.
"Are you 12? Crush? Really, Liam?" I shouted, and a few people laughed. I sighed, staring at him like he could possibly save me.
"Just tell us," Niall spoke, and my stomach leaped a little. I glanced at him, sighing.
Right as I was about to put out a random name, my mouth legit malfunctioned and spat out "Harry." It felt like the whole world stopped, spinning in slow motion and making me dizzy.
"What?" Louis exclaimed, and I felt sick.
"I meant Harry from business class!" I shouted back, my cheeks going red under the luckily dimming light.
"Are you sure?" Valeria spoke up, only having started to date the Harry standing next to her a week earlier. I nodded quickly, lucky that my brain had got that right in the event of what could have been a disaster.
"Bathroom," Niall seemed to answer to no one, hopping out of the pool with one motion and walking through the sliding door, slamming it closed.
"Is he mad?" Harry wondered, mumbling something about breaking the door afterwards. I furrowed my eyebrows, going numb again when I thought about what would have happened if I'd said his name.
Within a few minutes, Harry went to go get Niall for the bonfire we started setting up in the yard, and I dried off with my towel, putting my dress back on afterwards.
Amanda came up to me.
"What?" she spoke, and I knew what she meant.
"I don't like either Harry," I confirmed, and she nodded.
"So who is it? Who were you so nervous about saying?" she wondered, and I sighed. Niall walked back out of the sliding doors just then with Harry, both of them with food for all of us.
I threw my head in their direction, and she breathed in deeply.
"You should have told him," she sighed out, and I scoffed at her.
"In front of everyone? Why?" I asked, and she was about to answer when the two of them walked towards us.
"Want some?" Harry offered as Niall walked past us to offer the others some food.
"Watermelon?" I asked, picking up a slice.
"It's pretty good, too," Harry nodded, putting down the plate on a lawn table and going to get a lighter.
I sat down next to Amanda on a chair, sighing. I'd barely gotten out of that mess. I glanced over at Niall, seeing him slowly eating some watermelon alone. I stood up to go ask him what he would have chosen for truth or dare. But as soon as I started towards him, he got up to go inside once more.
I sat back down, wondering if he was okay. He seemed off.
"Hey," Liam spoke up, and I looked over at him. When his eyes were trained on me, I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Yeah?" I wondered, and he inhaled.
"Something you want to tell us?" I blinked, knowing what he meant. I guess it was easy to tell. Maybe Niall had thought I liked him, too. Maybe he was so relieved that I didn't that he was awestruck. Other than that, I didn't know what to say for Niall.
"Sorry, Louis," I started, seeing him raise his eyebrows. "But I like Niall." I looked around at everyone, but no one looked surprised except for Louis. He glared at me, and I held up a hand. I didn't need to be reprimanded. I was 19.
"I guess he doesn't feel the same way because he seemed--" I began.
"Upset," Harry cut in as he continued to try to light the fire, and I flinched a little.
"What do you mean?" I wondered, and they all kind of groaned.
"Niall likes you," Liam told me, and I shook my head.
"How do you know?" He was about to speak up when my cousin came in.
"It's not hard to tell," Valeria shrugged, and it just then occurred to me what they were saying had meaning. Niall liked me?
"Shouldn't I have been the one to tell her that?" Niall spoke from on the porch. He jumped down and over the railing, again, in one swift motion, meeting my eyes quickly and keeping the connection.
"Sorry I didn't tell you myself," he shrugged. "I thought you really did like Harry from business class." I felt my heart begin to beat rapidly, thinking that it was insane that this was happening. Out of instinct, I looked to Louis, but he didn't seem mad. And that was my cue to let it happen.
"I don't. And I'm sorry I didn't really tell you myself, either," I sighed, the fire starting to grow between us. I stared into it, seeing Harry sit back down.
"Should we roast marshmallows?" Niall suggested, breaking the silence with a grin. I smiled to myself.
"I'll go get the stuff for s'mores," I offered, beginning to walk towards the door.
"I'll help," Niall said behind me. I made sure Louis wouldn't follow us inside, letting Niall lead me to the kitchen.
"That was a little awkward, I'm sorry," I breathed, seeing the ingredients already set out on the table.
"That's okay," he chuckled, and I felt my stomach contract. I looked over at him, seeing his flattened, wet hair and smiling.
"You should have told me sooner," I grinned down as I put all the stuff in my arms.
"I wanted to," he sighed, looking at me as I turned towards him to tell him I was ready to go. He took some of the things from my arms, eventually meeting the gaze I was giving him. Blinking at me twice, he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, making my heart almost melt the marshmallows itself.
"You can't do that in front of my brother," I let out shakily, feeling my legs weaken just a little. I shook my head at him, seeing that his smile had grown bigger than mine.
"I'm guessing I can't do this either, then?" he spoke, becoming more unpredictable than ever and placing his lips on mine. I completely forgot I had food in my hands, dropping it out of surprise. He pulled away quickly, about to bend down to grab some of it but being stopped by me. I put a hand on his shoulder, my heart pulsing through my entire body. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not anymore.
"Can you do that more often, please?" I whispered, seeing his eyes smile as he reached over and met my request.
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thanks to Becca_08 for requesting! i hope you liked it babe! sorry for the long wait!
i love you all so much! thank you for your support, encouragement, and patience UGH I LOVE YOU
Mel xx
p.s. this one made my heart hhurt langldsnglfnglfdj