× Mercury
I've had people tell me that they've been on cloud nine before, or feeling like their floating on air or some kind of euphoria. But I never truly knew the extent of what that meant exactly until I was hobbling down the hallway of the Aspen House, thinking back of the event that just happened in the gym.
Niall was my first love. He wasn't my first kiss, he wasn't the first person I slept with, but he was the first person that made me feel like words were better left unsaid because the feelings couldn't be controlled. It was going to take effort and energy to make this work, but we were growing together. I realized that it wasn't a perfect relationship because there is no such thing, but I knew that it always felt right between us.
And those were the thoughts floating in my head when I opened the door to my dorm just in time for a short, redheaded girl to come flying at me in a big, bear hug.
"I was so worried about you!" Jamie shouted, refusing to let me go. "Where the hell did you go!?"
Trying my hardest to stay upright from the crash of a body against me all the while trying to keep off my ankle, I leaned against the wall for some support. "The gym," I assured her. "I needed some air and ended up at the gym."
"Well you scared me half to death," she pouted, pulling away from me. "I've tried calling you a hundred times but you never answered."
Guilt washed over me as I made my way to my bed. "I turned the volume off. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I'm sorry; I should have called and told you where I was."
Jamie didn't say anything, and instead grabbed the bag of ice that had now turned into water and left the room. I groaned both because of my stupidity and because of the throbbing pain in my ankle as I sat in my bed and leaned against the wall. Being a better friend starts now.
A few minutes later Jamie walked back into the room and plopped the bag of ice next to my foot. I took it and gently placed it on my ankle, teeth clenched together as the sudden chill ran straight through my calf and up my body. I watched Jamie as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, still not saying anything.
"Niall was there," I said into the silence.
Jamie whipped her head in my direction, eyes big. "And...?"
"I told him."
She stared at me for a moment, like she was trying to process what that meant. But the second she knew, it was like the world suddenly lit up because she was hopping on her feet and smacked my leg as hard as she could.
"Shut up!" she shrieked excitedly.
"Ow!" I yelled and grabbed my calf where she hit me. "I already have a throbbing ankle; I don't need a Charley horse on top of that."
She ignored me and jumped - she literally bounced like an enthusiastic bunny - around the room. "I knew it! I flipping knew it!" Then she grabbed her phone and started pressing buttons before holding it up to her ear.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "Who are you calling?"
Again, she ignored me and turned her back in my direction. I distantly heard a muffle voice on the other end but it was cut off by Jamie's, "You owe me ten dollars!"
I rolled my eyes and sunk further into my bed, pulling a blanket over my lap. I wasn't even a little shocked that she would place a bet on this with Jace. I was surprised, however, that I didn't see it coming.
"I know what we agreed on, and I'm still in town and she told him!" Jamie explained through the phone. "Just now! In the gym apparently. Yeah. I don't know how they both ended up there, Jace. I'm just telling you what I know and that you owe me ten dollars!" Then there was a pause. "What was that? Niall's calling you? Don't tell him that I told you! Okay, yeah. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
She hung up the phone and spun to look at me, the biggest smile on her face.
"Spill the details, girl," she said.
× × ×
It was incredibly hard to let Jamie go after spending a whole week with her by my side. Especially since the next time I would see her would be around spring break, which was two months away. But she needed to go back, no matter how much the both of us protested, she still had school and soccer commitments.
She had spent the night with me last night, finally falling asleep at around one in the morning after telling her everything that happened in the gym last night. She had promised to keep the news about Niall and I to herself, knowing Emily and Macey wouldn't have the self-control to not tell everyone they encountered. That only made me wonder if Jamie had that restraint, but at that point, I wasn't sure I cared anymore.
Earlier today Jace had picked her up and brought her to the airport, after our gross-sobbing goodbye. Jamie had only been gone for maybe two hours, but I already missed her.
"Did you know that giraffes sleep no more than thirty minutes a day, and that they do it with their necks curled?" Chloe asked from her seat at her desk.
I looked up from my phone. "Okay?"
"Apparently they almost never lie down because of vulnerability to predators. They usually sleep standing, sometimes sitting, and they give birth standing up," she continued.
"Great," I said sarcastically. "If I'm ever on Jeopardy and get asked why giraffes don't lie down, I'll know the answer."
"You'll thank me later," she said with a wink.
I sat my phone down and leaned forward, adjusting the ice bag on my ankle. After my little episode last night, I was finally in my right mind and knew that I needed to stay off it as much as possible, now more than ever. Since Jamie left this morning, I've been texting everyone from the team to pick me up something to eat or to get my homework assignments. Honestly, I never had this special treatment the first time my ankle gave out on me. If I'd known my teammates were desperate to do anything for me just as long as I'd get better, I would have faked an injury sooner.
"Aren't you supposed to be working on homework?" I asked Chloe who I saw was on Google looking up random facts.
"No, I'm waiting for Lucas Adkins to Skype me," she explained, looking over her shoulder. "We have a date but he's fifteen minutes late."
"I wouldn't worry about it," I smiled at her. "He's in my Psychology class and he's always at least twenty minutes late."
Despite my reassurances, she sighed and turned back to the computer and somberly clicked on her mouse. Chloe wasn't one to go on dates, even Skype dates, so it sucked to see her so put down like this. It also came as a shock after what happened at the party two weekends ago. She still hasn't said much to me about it, but then again, we weren't that close. She had Abby to talk to if she needed. I was just a girl she sometimes borrowed clothes from.
Right then, there was a knock on the door. Chloe looked over at me to see if I was expecting someone, but I didn't have the slightest idea who it was. The last text I sent in the team group chat was for someone to bring me McDonald's, but that was delivered an hour ago.
Chloe stood up and went to the door, opening it a crack.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Good to see you, too," the person said, and from the sound of their voice, I perked up. "I just came to see Lynn. I need some help with English."
Chloe looked over at me to see if I was okay with letting Niall in, and I gave her a nod. Chloe opened the door all the way and let him through.
Niall was sporting faded blue skinny jeans and a sweater with black strips down his arms. His grey backpack was slung over one of his shoulders and his winter coat was over his arm. He got a haircut a few days ago, chopping off the sides and leaving it brunette while he kept the top longer in its striking blonde.
"How's the ankle?" he asked as he sat his backpack down by his feet and flung his coat on the back of my desk chair.
"Still messed up," I assured him.
He unzipped his backpack and took out his English textbook and a sheet of paper before he sat on the edge of my bed, the mattress sinking slightly from his weight. "Good, then you can't run away when you get too frustrated in helping me with Greek Mythology."
Reaching down, I grabbed the ice bag from my ankle and put it on the nightstand. I sat up straighter and rubbed my hands around the tender joins in my legs. I watched Niall as he flipped through the pages of his book absent mindlessly and wondered if I was ever going to pin down this enigma of a boy. He was infuriating eighty percent of the time, but his capacity to be heart wrenchingly sweet at just the right moments threw me off.
Even now, his hand started to wander to my exposed ankle; his finger gently tracing patterns on my skin like Chloe wasn't sitting two feet away behind him.
"I'm going to go find Lucas," Chloe said suddenly as she stood up, grabbing her keys and coat. "I'll probably be out late."
I told her good luck and watched her leave the room.
"Thank God," Niall said, closing his textbook and throwing it on the floor next to his backpack. "I thought I was going to have to come up with an excuse to get you to my room so we could be alone."
"Ah," I said just as Niall started to get closer. "So, you're telling me you didn't come all this way to study mythological stories?"
"Fuck no."
My breath caught in my throat as Niall lifted my chin between his fingers and licked his lips. It didn't matter how many times we kissed, how often we kissed, or where we kissed; that same excitement of anticipation would bubble inside me.
And Niall knew that, so he liked to draw that out as long as he possibly could, second after tortures second. My eyes locked with his, fleeting between one to the other. The impossible blues of his irises were going to drown me one day, and I wouldn't be too upset about that.
"I love you," he said, so softly that I might have missed what he said if I didn't see his lips move.
I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him closer, my heart thumping like crazy in my chest just from those three words. "I love you," I responded just as quit.
Finally, he leaned forward and brushed his lips with mine. I could feel his smile as he kissed me, so gentle and sweet. But I could practically feel Niall's insides buzzing for more, so he looped an arm around my waist and pressed his fingers into the soft spot where my spine met my backside.
Suddenly, Niall stiffed and pulled away, looking down and cussing under his breath.
"I tried," he said and looked up, a sheepish grin playing on his lips. "I really tried to control myself, but you're like Medusa or somethin' because lookin' at you is making me hard."
I couldn't help it; I busted out laughing.
Last night, after Jamie had fallen asleep, I had gotten a text from Niall. I thought it was going to be a goodnight text, but when I opened it up I found something else instead: I'm gonna call you Odysseus, because you're about to meet a one-eyed monster.
Needless to say, after that, we had gone back and forth with different pick-up lines; his were mythology related, and I sent some that associated with science. I guess you could say that it was our way of sexting.
"Wow," I said through my laughter. "Do you think that will get me to sleep with you?"
Niall grabbed my leg and gently placed it on the other side of him so he was between my knees. Pushing up my pant leg, he started running his fingers along my skin, instantly budding goosebumps.
"I wouldn't argue if ya let me put my Minotaur deep inside your Labyrinth."
Putting my hands flat behind me on the mattress, I scooted myself closer to him so his face was right in front of mine.
"If I was an enzyme," I started as my hands wondered up his jeans, fingers playing with the button. "I'd be DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes."
Before he could respond, I pressed a kiss firmly to his upturned mouth. He instantly responded and I could feel his chest tightening against me, arching up in search of contact. His fingers traced leisurely up the slope of my shoulder and roamed to find the small of my back. My frame settled with his as he cradled me, one arm wrapping around my back and the other sliding under my thigh and lifting me onto his lap. I pulled his hair gently as he teased, kissing me deeply and working his tongue before pulling away to peck along my jaw.
Niall let out a low groan when I wiggled on top of him, making sure to keep my ankle out in front of me.
Between the figure eights I was grinding into his crotch and the hand I had slipped between us to toy with the top of his jeans, Niall was panting into my mouth. I could already feel his sizable erection.
"Fuck," Niall cursed, jerking his hips up to meet mine.
And then suddenly I was off his lap and on my back as he hovered above me. Not even a moment later, he grabbed the hem of my pants and tugged them down and over my feet, dropping the material on the floor.
I barely had enough time to gather my bearings before he trailed hot, wet kisses down the exposed column of my neck. His hands had snaked their way under my shirt to grip my hips as he leaned forward and nudged the bottom of my T-shirt up with his nose. I felt his pink lips drag across my lower abdomen, tickling my skin with his shallow breath and stubbled jaw.
The heat from my skin radiated against his as he slid his hand past the waistband of my underwear. I stopped breathing for a beat, and then swallowed hard before a growl left my throat. All I could feel threading through the space between us was excitement; thrill too good to be a high. His fingertips brushed over my center, careful not to move too fast. Chewing his bottom lip, Niall let out a low laugh when a short, pleased sound escaped from my lips.
"Haven't even done anythin' yet, love," Niall purred, the playful chime edging his voice.
"Then maybe you should," I breathed, getting annoyed.
Clearly getting impatient himself, Niall didn't tease any further and slid a single finger inside of me. My breath caught in my chest as his fingertip pressed gently against a small bundle of nerves on the top wall of my core.
"Ohh," I moaned, body jerking underneath him.
"There we go, Princess," Niall grinned, twisting his wrist to reach a better angle.
Pushing a second finger inside, Niall tapped my lips with his hand and I sucked his thumb into my mouth, swirling my tongue before he trailed it down to rub circles into my clit. My body molded into his immediately, small, overwhelmed gasps falling from my lips. Digging my nails into his forearm, I threw my head back just as his name wrenched from deep in my throat.
Then suddenly, his hand was gone and I was back on Niall's lap, his legs off the side of the bed. He clutched the nape of my neck and crushed our lips together, teeth knocking as our tongues tangled in search of control.
After a few beats of groaning and clashing, I gave in and lazily loped my arms over his shoulders, enjoying the dominant work of his mouth on mine while his hands fisted desperately at my shirt. Bucking our hips together blindly, his hardness rutted up between my legs, creating this torturous heat in the pit of my stomach.
"You took your birth control, right?" Niall's palm found my center again and he started rubbing frantically.
All I could do was nod before dropping my head into the crook of his neck, grinding against his hand like it was the only thing holding me together.
Niall only smiled as he dotted kisses all across my shoulder through the thin fabric of my shirt. I tried to get out of his lap and kick off my underwear, but Niall's large hand squeezed my thigh to stop me before snaking his other one between my legs to push my panties to the side.
"I can't wait," Niall mumbled, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it to the side.
A tiny moan escaped my lips as he grew bolder, wrapping his hand on his cock and slowly guiding himself to my core. I eased myself down as Niall's hands dropped to the back of my thighs. I pulled almost completely off of his cock before slamming back down, launching a desperate cry from the both of us.
Rolling my lower body, I tried to ignore the pressure that was threatening to split me open from the inside out. As soon as he dragged inside of me, my muscles clenched around his length.
"Fuckin' Christ," he mumbled into my neck, biting down as his muscles flexed and his hips ticked up in need.
Niall pulled away and looked at me, his face twisting in confusion. Then he started yanking off my shirt, pulling it over my head as I tried my best to stay on his lap instead of falling backwards on the ground. Once the shirt joined my pants on the floor, he was quick to slip his hands up my torso to cup my breasts over my bra before pulling me in for another hot, deep kiss.
We're competitors to the core, but we complimented each other the way every good opponent should. We could read each other's movements on instinct. As his lips traced all over my body, the sweet distraction lulled me slowly into opening up for him, just like he knew it would.
With one swift motion, his lower body launched up off the bed and he buried himself completely inside of me.
"God, ya feel so good. So, so good..." Lowering me back down, his cock grazed the sweet spot inside of me and I nearly crumpled in his arms. "So good for me."
His teeth found my neck again and I let my head fall back while he rocketed up into me over and over again. Niall held me firmly in place and I rode the rhythm of his hips up and away. Pleasure coursed through me - not quite a roar or a wave, but a steady strum of satisfaction tinged with heady pain.
Beneath me, Niall's hips stuttered and his arms enveloped me, wrapping around my back and pressing our chests flush together.
"Fuck, fuck. I'm so close."
Sloppily, our lips met and he groaned colorful curses into my mouth, so loudly I could almost taste them, until he came with one last deep and powerful slam inside me. My heart clanged against my chest, thumping in tune with the heavy beat of our breathing.
"You didn't come," he frowned after a few moments.
"That's okay," I assured him with a smile, pushing a matted lock of hair out of his face.
Still holding my body in his lap, Niall slipped us off of the bed and onto the floor in one smooth motion before laying me on my back. The cool hardwood soothed my flushed skin.
"You have to come."
"Niall, really. It's fine."
His fingers trailed down my stomach and snapped my panties. "Round two."
Blinking, I tried to shake off how utterly obscene he was acting, but found myself strangely turned on. This was all sort of nice in its twisted way. I was smart, intimidating to some, but sometimes I needed to just feel wanted and desired.
"Take off your bra."
Slowly, I did what he said and reached behind me and unclamped the material, letting it fall away from my body. Not even a second later, Niall's thumbs trailed down and rolled over my nipples, causing me to shudder and gasp, my mind going haywire. Niall chuckled at my response and set to work moving down my body, hands already yanking down my underwear.
"Niall," I sighed as I tugged at his hair.
His mouth grazed over mine and it sent shivers through my body. He was the only flame I would ever need. His fingers were like divine fire for my soul, his voice intoxicating in all the finest of ways.
Writhing under him, I yanked Niall to my lips so desperately that his hands slipped out from under him and his body nearly collapsed on top of mine.
He moved slowly, carefully, because he could feel my movements growing more unstable by the second. Niall pinned one of my hands over my head and tangled our fingers together, his eyes looking down into mine, pupils blown out with lust.
"Do you trust me?" he asked, searching my eyes.
I ran my hand over his face, my thumb tracing his bottom lip. "You know I do."
In seconds, he had me on my hands and knees in front of him as he settled behind me. I wasn't a fan of this position more many reasons. One, it was impersonal. It was the go-to position with Bradley for that very reason. And two, it made me more vulnerable than I already was. Trust played a big role in this position because I couldn't see what was going on, and I anything I wouldn't want to happen does, it would be too late.
But Niall made it feel different; more intimate and trustworthy. I could feel every inch of his body against my back as he lined himself up, teasing my folds a little before pushing into me gently. It was slow and smooth, and Niall's breath on the back of my neck sent warm shivers through my body, a moan falling from my lips from deep in my throat.
His hands splayed on top of mine, his mouth tracing the contours of my spine and nipped his way up until finally settling in the crook of my neck. His teeth found the same tender spot they had wrecked earlier and Niall latched on without hesitation.
His hands slid down to grasp my waist and his digging thumbs let up to rub gentle circles into my skin. After a few breathless moments, he pulled my body upright, flush against his sweaty chest, finding a whole new angle.
"I've got ya," he whispered, voice breaking on his promise.
One of his strong arms locked across my torso, one hand clasped at the base of my neck and shoulder while the other slipped down to tease my clit. The sounds falling from his lips were unreal - hot, needy, and manly - and when my legs gave out he was there, drilling up into me over and over from behind and holding my figure to his. In that moment I couldn't think of anything but him.
It was amazing, being wanted like this.
My orgasm hit like a hurricane, sweeping me up with the dregs of the unreleased tension from our first go round, and jolting through my whole body. It had been so long since I last came that it felt like my body has shattered into pieces in a whole other way then I had before.
When Niall sensed when I came down, he pulled out and flipped me on my back. Soft moans vibrated from his lips to mine as he leaned over me, jerking himself off desperately until he was coming in hot spurts over my heaving stomach.
"Fuck," he drawled, falling on his back next to me and panting for air.
We both lay there, catching our breath, our hands intertwined between us.
This most definitely wasn't the first time we had slept together, but this was the first since we both admitted our true feelings for each other. I wanted to say that it was different, that it was magical and totally out of this world amazing. And it was. But it always has been. There wasn't anything different because we both felt this way by the first time. The only difference now is that we said it out loud.
Almost like he was listening into my thoughts, Niall looked over at me, face completely dazed out from the high. "I love you."
Two days ago in the gym, when he admitted to me for the second time that he loved me, it was like a dam in the back of my throat that had been pushing down everything I had always been afraid of for the past four months burst, and suddenly my whole body was vibrating with feeling. I was alive, I was in love with this incredible person who was here, beside me, and in that moment all of the technicalities, false starts, and meltdowns seemed tiny to what flowed through me when I grabbed Niall's face in my hands and kissed him with everything I had.
I squeezed his hand and gave him a tired smile. "I love you."
Somehow, I managed to stand up, leaning against the dresser so to keep my weight off my ankle, and covered the mess on my stomach with a shirt. I opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and tugged them on before grabbing the crutches leaning against the bureau.
"Where you goin', love?" Niall smirked up from the floor, stark naked.
"I need a shower." I muttered, grimacing at the fabric clinging to the stickiness on my flesh. "No thanks to you."
Niall sat up. "Need any help?"
"I can handle it."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea. The doctor said you should stay off your ankle. Maybe I should come help you."
I looked down at him. "Help me? Or hoping for round three?"
He reached over and grabbed his jeans. "Both."