beau·ti·ful
ˈbyo͞odəfəl/
adjective
pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically
Watching the one and only Harry Styles having to reject someone from afar was like a scene straight out of a cliche, teen romance movie. Niall felt bad for the girl, he did, but all he could think about was how Harry was his and, well, nobody could ever take that away from him. He watched on curiously, staring shamelessly at the way Harry's lips would part and press together briefly while he spoke, from the comfort of his own lunch table. Liam and Evan had been paying him no attention, lost in their own little world and bickering about whatever it was that they were like they always did. Which, now, Niall didn't exactly mind because this way they wouldn't tease him about how obsessed he was with his own boyfriend, so he figured maybe it was a good thing that they were a bit preoccupied at the moment.
Speaking of his boyfriend, Harry was making his way back to their lunch table now, Niall watching his every move. His shoulders slumped, making it appear as if he had horrible posture, and his lips were protruding out into a soft pout. Niall kind of wanted to kiss it right off. Harry's fingers lingered at the back of his neck, gently rubbing at his skin before he dropped his hand and pulled out his chair once he made it to the table.
"So," Liam was the first to speak up. Niall couldn't shift his eyes away from the way Harry chewed at his lower lip. God, he really needed to stop thinking about kissing, like now. "How'd it go?"
"I'm going to hell." Harry answered around a quiet sigh, making everyone (including Niall because, really, he just couldn't help it) burst out into a fit of laughter. "S'not funny." Harry whined, but it only made him look that much cuter. "Lisa is really nice. I should've told her no when she first asked me instead of making her think she actually had a chance."
"Hey, it could've been a lot worse." Evan gave his input, and yeah, he was right. "Oh wait. Just kidding, you're stuck with Niall, I guess the worst has already came."
Never mind, then.
"Shut up." Niall groaned, blue eyes shooting darts at his best friend. And if his foot happened to accidentally collide with Evans shin, well then it wasn't entirely his fault.
"Guess that means we should find dates then, huh, Evan?" Liam nudged Evan's shoulder with his own, only to be pushed right off once their bodies collided.
"Uh, negative." Evan held up a hand as if he were gesturing for Liam to stop. "I don't do dances. You're on your own this time, mate."
"Aw, c'mon Evan, you have to go!" Niall whined, because this was Niall's first year attending a school dance ever and now he finally had a date to go with and he didn't think it'd be half as worthwhile without his best friend being there with him, too. He had to go; there was absolutely no way Niall was going to let him think otherwise.
"You're only going because you've got a boyfriend now. If it weren't for Harry, you'd be on the same page as me right now."
And, well, he wasn't wrong. Evan was completely right—if it weren't for his new relationship, he wouldn't even be thinking about this little winter formal at all. He'd be stuck at home with Evan like every year, watching shitty, old school movies with too much junk food while he pined over Harry in his head and moped around like he used to do because he was so in love with Harry that it hurt to think about. Luckily for him, that was no longer the case. He didn't have to pine over curly strands of hair anymore, didn't have to whine about how impossibly green Harry's eyes were, didn't have to hope that one day Harry Styles would actually, somehow become a part of his life. He didn't have to do any of that because he had Harry right where he always wanted him, and if that wasn't the actual best thing to ever happen to him, then he'd like to know what was.
"We can go together if you'd like." Liam suggested with a shrug. "I mean, I can't really be bothered to find anyone anyway, and there's not anyone I actually fancy here either, so why not?"
Evan seemed to actually be contemplating Liam's proposal for a moment, his brown eyes squinted and his lips twisted upwards in concentration. But then the moment was completely ruined once Evan made a weird face at Liam and then flat out told him no, so boldly like it didn't mean a single thing at all. He was such a hard shell to crack, definitely.
"I think you should at least think about." Harry chimed in, and yes, Harry was pretty good at persuading (Niall knew that for a fact) so this could actually work in Niall's favor. Cheers. "S'not that bad, anyway. It's like a big party but at school. It'll be like Liam's party, remember?"
"I didn't even wanna go to that." Evan grumbled underneath his breath, earning an offended "hey!" from Liam. "No offense. It was nothing personal."
"Has he always been like this?" Liam questioned, turning to Niall and seeking out an answer from him.
"Trust me, you haven't even seen the worst yet." Niall chuckled loudly.
Niall wasn't even sure if it was possible for Evan to groan even more than he already had within the lunch hour, but apparently it was. "I'm right here, you know?" Evan squinted his eyes evilly, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
"Yeah, we know." Liam and Niall said at the same time, giving each other high-fives across the table. Evan just rolled his eyes, slumping down into his chair like the grumpy boy he was, and Harry just shook his head in complete amusement because they were all just a bunch of idiots, but none of them would have it any other way.
Niall was so glad to be back.
***
"So, are you coming over to mine again today?"
Closing his locker, Niall turned to face Harry where he was leaning against the wall next to him with an eyebrow quirked upwards as he waited for Harry's answer. Harry usually spent afternoons at Niall's house after school was over and done with, and he wasn't sure why it was always his place that they went to, but Niall didn't want to ask about that. He knew Harry had a thing—a thing Niall was still trying to find out—about going to his own house, especially when his patents were home, but he wasn't going to bring that up. Harry always acted weird around that subject and Niall wasn't really in the mood to deal with that right now. Besides, it'd been a good day so far and he didn't want to change that.
Harry shrugged his shoulder, a smirk evident on his pretty little lips as he tried to play it coy, but Niall already knew his answer so he wasn't even sure why he asked in the first place. "Depends." Harry's smirk grew, the idiot. "What's in it for me?"
"Me," Niall said it like it was the obvious thing, which it was, of course. "Duh."
"Eh." Harry made a face. "You got anything else?"
"Don't be a dick." Niall laughed, swatting at Harry's arm and loving the way Harry giggled when he did so. He really needed to kiss him quick. "C'mon."
"Yes sir." Harry saluted the blond, following right behind him as he led their way out of the school.
Niall's mum was at work so he wouldn't be getting a ride home today. Which he didn't mind because he liked walking home sometimes and he didn't live too far so he couldn't really complain at all. Besides, he had Harry here to keep him company so it wasn't that bad.
The couple was quiet while they strolled down the sidewalk. It was a bit chilly outside, but nothing either of them weren't used to at all. There was conversation here and there—stupid little jokes Harry would randomly tell because he was weird like that, Niall's loud yet kind of obnoxious cackles that Harry loved no matter how excessive they were, talk about nothing and everything in between until they found themselves standing on Niall's doorstep, finally making it to their destination. Niall fumbled around in his backpack to find his key and Harry couldn't help but laugh because Niall was so cute sometimes it wasn't even funny.
"You know, it would've made sense to have already pulled your key out beforehand so you wouldn't have to do all this, but hey, whatever floats your boat."
"Shut up." Niall mumbled, finally finding his key and shoving it in front of Harry's face just to make sure he saw it. He stuck his tongue out childishly before spinning around and unlocking his front door.
"You tell me to shut up too much, I'm getting a little offended." Harry pouted, and it was a good thing Niall was facing the other way because surely he wouldn't have been able to contain himself if he would've seen the way Harry's lips jutted out.
"It's all in good nature." Niall muttered, making his way towards the kitchen with Harry following his every step. He opened up the refrigerator, pulling out two bottles of water and tossed one of them Harry's way, giving him a huge grin and a thumbs up for such a perfect catch. "Nice one."
"I try." Harry fluttered his lashes.
Soon enough, they were both in Niall's room, Niall plopping straight down on top of his bed without even bothering to take off his backpack. Harry, on the other hand, took his time removing his and gently setting it down by Niall's door. He tried not to stare at the way Niall's milky skin peeked through when his shirt rose a bit where he laid down. Decided to distract himself by spreading his body out right beside Niall, turning over until he rested on his side.
Niall's eyes were closed so he hadn't taken notice to the way Harry stared down at him like he was the greatest thing to ever walk this planet. Surely, that was debatable, but to Harry it was the truth because he was. At least to him, anyway.
Niall's eyes eventually fluttered open when he felt Harry leaning closer to him, close enough that their cheeks were almost toughing, close enough that Niall could pinpoint every glistening sparkle embedded into Harry's green irises. Beautiful, Niall thought to himself. Absolutely beautiful.
Niall was given no warning whatsoever before Harry closed the tiny gap between them, leaning in until his lips gently pressed themselves onto Niall's very own. Niall let out a soft sigh, thinking about how he'd been waiting for this moment for forever it seemed. He'd never get over the way Harry's mouth felt against his.
"What was that for?" Niall breathed, unable to look away from Harry's gaze.
Harry smiled softly, lips just barely curving upwards at the corners. "'Cause," he brought a hand up to Niall's jaw, tracing the line with his forefinger and making shivers roll through Niall's spine. "You've been staring at my lips all day so I figured a kiss was a long time coming."
"Dork." Niall murmured fondly, lips barely brushing against Harry's very own. "You know me so well."
"No, you're just way too obvious."
"Well at least you can take a hint."
"It'd be hard not to with the way your eyes were practically glued to my mouth." Harry snorted, giving Niall's lips a short peck. Maybe another one, too, just for good measure. "Way to be discreet, Ni."
"Shut up."
"Will do." Harry sent Niall the most smug grin he'd ever seen before placing his lips back where they rightfully belonged.
Harry's hand slid down from where it was cupped around Niall's chin until it rested against the soft skin of Niall's neck. Neither of them realized Harry started to turn himself over until their chests were pressed up against one another's, their hearts beating just the same.
Kissing Harry felt so different this time compared to any other. For some reason, there was a shift in the atmosphere that Niall could definitely sense, and that only led him to wonder if Harry had felt it, too. Their tongues met up together on the middle, curling around the other just barely. Niall somehow found his lip being pulled in between Harry's teeth, his pearly whites lightly scraping against the surface.
Total bliss is what it felt like, Niall underneath Harry. He would always cherish moments like this no matter what. He still couldn't believe he had Harry to call his own after all this time. Sometimes it didn't even feel real, but thank God it was.
Leave it to Niall to interrupt such a glorious moment, though. He just couldn't help it. One minute he was kissing Harry like he waited to do all day, and the next he was finding it hard to contain his laughter, giggling right into Harry's mouth like he just couldn't stop it.
"What's so funny?" Harry pulled away even though that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. Why did Niall have to be so bubbly all the time? He just wanted kisses, was that too much to ask for?
"Nothing." Niall continued to laugh even harder once he took in the look on his boyfriend's face. "S'not even funny actually. Don't know why I'm laughin'."
"Well what is it then?" Harry started to find it hard to contain his chuckles too, because he was kind of weak when it came to Niall and something about him was just so contagious. Something about Niall made Harry not be able to help himself around him.
"Just," Niall gasped. "Just thinkin' about us. Like, how we ended up like this. Together, I mean."
"Okay?" Harry frowned, completely confused but never wiping that sweet smile off of his face.
"I just had the hugest crush on you and now we're... we're here."
"You're silly." Harry snickered, but the look in his eyes let Niall know that he felt the same way. He was lucky, really. Felt like the luckiest boy alive. "Silly but I like it."
Harry closed the distance between them once again, kissing Niall like he absolutely meant it (which he did), kissing Niall like he never, ever, ever wanted to stop (which he didn't). Their smiles clashed in the middle, noses brushed together in the most delicate way, and nothing would ever feel better than this. Nothing would ever compare.