Niall's POV
Harry and I hadn't spoken since he had admitted his feelings to me, which was just over a week ago. Although I was happy that Harry and I were possibly going to fix things, I couldn't help but feel a little worried. I wasn't sure if the lack of communication between us both was because he already regretted it or not.
Though I didn't really think he regretted it because all the times I had passed him in the corridor I had seen him brightly smile at me, leaving me to rush off to class in hopes of no one noticing the blush on my face.
We had been texting pretty much non-stop since then. Actual, meaningful texts, not the awkward, one worded messages we had been sending each other previously. It was generally him texting me some dumb joke or telling me how good I looked that day. Whatever exchange we had, he always managed to get a reaction out of me.
He was so endearing, even over text messages. He always managed to make me blush, or smile ridiculously. His apparent and obvious charm was rather frightening in my opinion but in the best way.
I just wished the captivating attitude he had in the phone appeared in real life, to my face.
Now, I easily could have approached him myself, which I nearly did on several occasions but I willed myself not to. The last thing that I wanted was to seem overly desperate for his affection. I was but I didn't want him to know that.
So I knew that I instead had to just put up with his little game for a while longer. I would just have to trust that this would all be worth it.
~
"Can you please tell me why you're here at this time?" I asked Louis, not knowing why he decided half past ten at night was a good time to bother me.
"Cause I was bored and Liam's busy," he shrugged carelessly, not seeming to give a crap about the way I was looking at him. Which wasn't far from the ordinary when it came to Louis.
"Maybe if you just made more friends outside of me and Liam, someone else can deal with you for a change," I told him with a raised eyebrow.
"But I hate people," he whined.
"That's your own fault, Louis," I shrugged, sinking beside him on the bed.
It was hard to believe that Louis was older than me, as I knew that he would always be one of the most childish people in my life.
Harry being at the top of that imaginary list.
Though his immaturity kind of seemed more charming to me than Louis'. Perhaps it was the blossoming romance between us, or maybe it was because Louis sometimes reminded me of a six year old that had consumed way too much sugar.
"So... any news on Harry?" he asked, making me turn to look at him, only to see him giving me a sly look.
Sadly, Louis was one of my friends that didn't know the definition of privacy, particularly when it came to private text messages from Harry. So like he had done countless times in the past, he had snooped through my phone and discovered that Harry and I were in fact, getting back on track. This discovery led to a new goal; not leaving me alone until I spilled every single detail.
"No..." I trailed off. It was rather embarrassing to admit that regardless of the definite growth Harry and I have had since we discovered our feelings, neither of us were capable of making a move.
He stared at me, an almost suggestive expression on his face. I didn't really know what he was thinking because at this point, it could be anything. Louis just seemed to find whatever Harry and I were to be considerably amusing.
I tore my eyes away from him in hopes that he didn't notice that I was getting rather embarrassed from the way he was acting. Of course, we both knew that it was useless and that anyone could detect my embarrassment from miles away, so it was painfully obvious that someone as nosy as Louis could tell that I was getting kind of uncomfortable.
"I just don't know if he intends on taking this further. I mean, his texts say one thing but he hasn't spoken to me face to face at all since he told me that he liked me," I finally admitted.
Louis, being the worst person that he could possibly be, began to laugh at me, not seeming to hold back in the slightest. Nice to know I could always count on him. Eventually, he calmed down enough to look straight at me, noticing the expression on my face.
"He's probably just nervous. Maybe he's just more confident over texts than he is in person. You aren't the most...well, pleasant person to be around most of the time. I think he's just scared he's going to fuck something up," he shrugged.
"You say that as though I'm unstable or something," I frowned.
"You? Unstable? Never," he replied sarcastically.
"Louis."
"God, you're so dramatic. Maybe Harry's just respecting your boundaries. You know, taking it slow this time," he shrugged, that infuriating grin still on his face.
"I don't know if that's the reason. I mean...neither of us really know what 'slow' means in this context and it's so-- out of the ordinary."
"That's the point. You're both so used to this fast paced, toxic relationship which is fucking with your sanity and maybe he's trying something different. You know...something that's not going to lead to you both having unnecessarily rushed sex and confused feelings."
He was right, I guess. But the smug tone of his voice left an unpleasant feeling in the back of my mind. I was tempted to push him off of the bed but knew too well that his reaction wouldn't be worth it.
"You know what? Let's stop talking about this," I retorted instead, though didn't bother to stop him when he started to laugh again.
~
The sound of my phone buzzing was what distracted me from the lengthy English paper I had to finish. Unfortunately, it was harder for me to ignore because I had looked down to see that it was Harry that had texted me and suddenly all other thoughts disappeared from my brain.
From Harry:
I'm outside. Come open the door.
I sighed and stood up from the couch, closing my laptop screen, which might not have been the best idea considering that it was admittedly quite late, which meant that the house was now completely dark.
Thankfully, since I had been sneaking in and out of the house in the dark from time to time, I knew it well enough to make my way out of living room easily enough. I opened the door, surprised to see that it was Harry. Of all the times he had to talk to me, he chose to do it in the middle of the night when I was only wearing my boxers and a loose t-shirt.
He had seen me in a lot less clothing but that wasn't the point.
Regardless of the delay and time, I was happy at his unexpected visit and couldn't help but grin at him shyly.
"Look, I know it's late and I haven't made much of an effort to see you in over a week but I heard from Louis that you were worried that I regretted talking to you again and I just thought..."
"Fucking hell, Louis," I muttered, annoyed at myself for not learning the consequences of telling Louis things like that because he was dating Harry's best friend and was getting worse at keeping secrets as time goes on. Those two things should not mix.
"Ni, did you really think I was starting to regret telling you that I liked you?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at me with an almost worried expression.
"Well, not exactly. I was just confused because it kind of seemed like you were avoiding me," I mumbled, becoming aware that I sounded like a clingy girlfriend, which was especially bad because Harry and I were not dating.
"I'm sorry that you felt that way. I still fully intend on gaining your forgiveness but I'm shit at romance and it's taking me a while to think of something that's not ridiculously cliche," he admitted, a blush appearing on his face. "I want to do it right this time."
Although I wasn't exactly the most romantic person in the world either, I wouldn't mind if he were to do something so incredibly cheesy that it seemed as if he had gotten the idea from a fictional book.
Unless, perhaps, if he had gotten it from Fifty Shades of Grey or something.
"I'm sorry if I sound clingy, I just--"
"Don't apologise. It's cute," he grinned, seeming rather pleased with the way my usually pale skin burned pink the second that the words left his mouth.
I usually disliked people calling me cute because I was a teenage boy and the last thing that any teenage boy wanted was to be called cute by someone. Though I didn't mind when Harry did it. I guess I just accepted the fact that Harry was always going to be an exception in some way, and I would most likely let him call me whatever he wanted to.
"I-- thanks, Harry," I murmured, though I wasn't really sure why I was thanking him.
"Thank you as well, Niall," he grinned. "Now, I don't know how much longer it's going to take for me to do this, so you're just going to have to be patient. Do you think you can handle that?" he teased.
"Hilarious," I rolled my eyes. "I'll try my hardest," I added to humour him.
"Good," he said, leaning forward slightly to kiss my forehead, before allowing me to shut the door behind him.
At least now I knew I hadn't scared him off. The other thing I now knew, was that I was one step closer to killing Louis.