"So is that guy your bodyguard or something?"
I looked up from the change I was counting to find one of the bus boys, whose name was either Jim or Jerry, standing in front of me with a tray piled with dirty dishes balanced on his hip.
"I don't have a bodyguard." I replied, ladling the coins into the register.
Jim or Jerry nods his head towards the parking lot. "Then who's that guy that's been sitting in the car for a while watching you? Real scary looking- got some weird ass purple hair. I was suppossed to tell him he was loitering, but he told me to fuck off because he was checking up on you."
I slammed the register shut, causing all the change to rattle together as I peered out the front windows, immediatly spotting Niall himself sitting complacently in his car, ratty sneakers kicked up on the dashboard. He calmly blew a stream of smoke out the window and grinned when he caught my eye.
"Oh hell." I said quickly, "Hey- I'm taking my break right now. Gotta talk to my bodyguard."
The bell on the front door chimed as I sped out of the building, struggling to untie my apron as I walked over. After Niall had inadvertently gotten me fired from my last job, he had vowed to find me new one, saying a buddy of his owed him a couple favors. So here I was on the second day as a waitress, already causing a scene.
"Sweetheart." Niall greeted, "I must admire that impressive speed walk over here."
I paused beside his open door, my hands still working behind my back to untangle the impressive knot. Niall grabbed my waist calmly, spun me around, and began to untie the work apron. I felt his slender fingers brush against my lower back before the fabric fell free.
"There you go." he said, handing it to me. I immediatly threw it into his face.
"God damn it, Niall." I fumed, "I was trying to make a grand gesture of throwing an apron at you, but the stupid knot was too tight." I bent down and began to slide off my sneakers.
Niall sighed, "Oh come on, don't throw a shoe at-" I threw my shoe at him.
He caught it too easily, turning it around in his hands for a moment of examination. "You've got small feet." he observed, before setting it down and scooping up the fallen apron as I moved for my other shoe. He stopped my movement halfway, looping the ties of the apron around my wrists before I could react and tightening it.
"Now we can all can all calm down." he said, "And you can tell me why you're throwing things at me." I stared in shock at the ties that held my arms together and attempted to pull them apart. Standing with one shoe on in a parking lot, caught by my own apron, it was a sight to see.
"I'm practicing my aim for archery." I snapped back, "Niall, you just tied my apron around my wrists. Who does that? Oh my god- untie this right now. I'm at work."
Niall watched as I tried to undo the knot by using my teeth. "They won't fire you, remember, I know the guy that owns this please. Besides, it's kind of hot seeing you like that. Also I don't want a black eye from your shoe."
"I'm vulnerable to attack like this."
"Then tell me why you're mad."
"Look, I can't even do the Macarena. How will I dance at weddings."
"Abbey!" Niall demanded, but he was laughing as I continued to struggle. I slid into the passengers side and sank down into the seat, casting a nervous glance towards the diner to make sure we didn't have a crowd of spectators watching from booths.
"You keep following me around." I exclaimed angrily, flicking hair out of my face. "Why do you keep checking up on me at random moments? I'm fine. I don't need you to be my bodyguard. I've survived eighteen years without being killed, and I plan on continuing."
Niall chewed on his bottom lip, blue eyes watching me carefully, before reaching over the console and undoing the restraints. "I don't know, I just like to check up on you." he grumbled, lilac head bent low to avoid my gaze, "I just like to know that you're okay."
"I'm fine." I said, examining the red marks that were left on my wrist. "I'm fine, really. But I think you're stupid."
Niall raised an eyebrow. "I'm stupid?"
"Yes," I huffed, "You don't just go around tying people up. Christ."
"I'll gladly do it again." he mumbled, eyes flashing over to me. I felt a blush burn across my skin, and was searching my mind for the best response to that (I couldn't find one) when thankfully somebody interrupted by knocking on the top of the car.
"Niall?" a girl said- and I take that back, I was no longer thankful she knocked. She bent down to eye level and continued, "Oh my god! It's been so long. Remember me? What a surprise seeing you here."
It was clear by the blank look on Niall's face that he didn't remember her the slightest. I, meanwhile, was wondering how he could have forgotten her. She seemed bold. And gorgeous. Bleached blonde hair piled high on her head, a nose stud, and eyeliner sharp enough to cut paper. I felt extremely lame in my frazzled work uniform as she propped her elbows up on his open window.
"Oh, you've forgotten me, haven't you?" she pouted a lipsticked mouth, "Well, I don't know what I expected. You always did say you didn't do relationships."
"Um, right." Niall replied uncertainly, hand inching towards the button to shut the window. I jabbed him with my elbow to stop him.
The girl seemed to finally notice me sitting there. "Oh, this your sister?" she said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Steph. I had a thing with Niall about a years back. Haven't heard from him since."
"There's probably a reason for that." Niall replied bluntly.
I cut Niall a steely glare. "Oh really? Well, my big bro sure does like to get around."
Niall frowned, giving me a warning look. "She isn't my sister, it's my girlfriend, Abbey." he explained to Steph, "And she's kidding."
It was clear that the term 'girlfriend' didn't sit well with her. Niall Horan was known for many things- usually it was his hair, for some it was his extensive record, but for others it was the fact that he simply didn't date. Until now. I was secretly ecstatic though, because it was the first time he had ever officially called me his girlfriend.
"Oh." she replied, and I had to admire her tact as she leaned forward to shake my hand, not to subtly sticking her chest in Niall's face as a result. She nearly pierced his pupil with her nipple. "Nice to meet you, Abbey."
Niall was apparently not in the mood for pleasantries. "Go away."
Now it is no secret that I'm not a fan of touching (with a mild exception of Niall) so handshakes weren't really my thing. So at the moment it seemed like a good idea, but afterwards I regretted it. I high fived her instead. I might as well of added a peppy, "Go team!", because I made it seem like we were celebrating a football match instead of having a hostile greeting.
Niall was trying hard not to grin, tongue tucked behind his teeth. Steph stared at her hand. "Well. Aren't you cute." she said distastefully, "Niall, I don't know what you think you're doing with her, but you better be careful, okay? Little things break easily. And I'd hate to see something happen to her."
Niall slammed his foot down on the gas. His car jerked across the parking lot, leaving me to clutch the dashboard and watch in the rearview mirror as Steph was left behind in a cloud of dust, giving us a nice farewell parting with both her middle fingers raised.
"What was that?" I asked frantically, as the car stopped behind the building.
Niall put the car into park, muscles tense and jaw tight. His eyes had darkened from their bright blue to the color of the sea late at night, dark and swirling with danger. He was practically seething. "That was some dumb bitch who has the audacity to talk to me. God, I think I remember her now. Back from when I was a real dick, I knew her."
"Don't call her a bitch."
"Okay. She's a whore."
"Not what I meant either."
There's a moments silence as storm clouds continued to brew over Niall's head. I watched him nervously, waiting for it to clear. I had that same urge to run again as I had been having lately, to burst out of the car and make a break for it. This was just another name to add onto the list of people who knew Niall and warned me about him, clearly knowing more then I do. I watched his profile carefully.
"Why do all your friends call me cute?" I finally said, "I'm not 'cute'. I'm fierce."
Niall blinked, looking over at me slowly. "Because you're fucking adorable."
I frowned, throwing my hair back at my best attempt to appear as equally sultry as Steph had. This resulted in a mess of hair thwacking me in the face instead. Niall smirked, and suddenly leaned down and pulled the lever on the floor, making my seat jerk backwards so I was suddenly lying flat on my back.
"Sweetheart, one of these days I won't be able to control myself around you." Niall commented, wiggling his hand under the hem of my shirt to reveal my stomach. His lips leaned down and kissed my belly button. "How about you sleep over at my house tonight?"
I stared at him as he moved to the end of my seat, grabbing my ankles and moving my legs over his shoulders. It felt extremely sexual and I was still severly blushing. "Are we just going to forget that whole fiasco that just happened?"
I could admit that I was jealous. How could somebody change so much, from going around and sleeping with all those girls like that, to somehow suddenly crossing paths with me and changing. His friends didn't understand it, and I wasn't beginning to either. I wasn't like Steph, who radiated confidence and appeared to be the epitome of a female badass. Something wasn't right here.
But then he kissed me hard, and for the moment I had to trust him.
"My dad'll be gone tonight." he continued, "Tell your mom you're going to a friends house. Please. Just sleeping."
"A slumber party?" I feigned absolute joy, "Oh boy, we can like, do each others makeup."
"Let's agree not to call it that."
-------------------
One can completely understand why I was nervous. After convincing my mom I was spending the night at Maggie's, I had headed over to his place. I had never really slept anywhere with Niall, much less spent an entire night with him, so the thought of being alone at his flat was a bit scary. At girl sleepovers, you know what to expect. Usually gossip and junk food and chick flicks. This was a vast area of the unknown.
So I was standing at his front door later that evening, a little uneasy about entering, as though once I passed the threshold there was no turning back. Niall noticed this immediatly. "Sweetheart," he said, "Why are you standing by the door?" He continued to scrutinize me. "You're scared, aren't you?"
"No," I replied hastily, "I'm just- examining the material of the door." I tapped my fist on it expiremently. "I think it's oak. Very solid."
He sighed deeply, running a hand through his mess of hair and pulling on the ends. "Why don't you trust me yet? It's driving me mad, I need you to be comfortable with me. I'm not scary."
"Because you're suppossed to be the bad guy." I said, before I could stop myself. The whole meeting this morning had only seemed to awaken old suspicions and feelings.
Niall stepped up to me and held my waist against the (solid oak) door. He grabbed the end of my braid, tugging slightly on the end to tip his mouth up to mine. "Well, now I'm the good guy."
We ended up playing video games. Sitting on the floor in front of his TV with me sitting inbetween his legs and leaning back on his chest, playing some violent war game, with me clearly getting my ass kicked on screen. His ankles hooked around mine as I struggled to play. My gaming experience only went to about Mario Kart, and it clearly showed through the way I was jerking my controller around.
"You shot me!" I exclaimed in disbelief, watching at my character receivered a fatal blow to the head.
Niall laughed. "Sweetheart, we're not on the same team."
"What? Why? Make me be on your team. Or else- fine, I'll shoot you. Which button do I push?"
"That one." Niall said, leaning over my shoulder. He took a moment to kiss the bare skin. "No- not that one. Oh god, you've just thrown a grenade at the orphaned children's choir."
As the explosion glowed on the screen, followed by a deep voice declaring, "Mission failed" I threw my controller down on the carpet in a huff. "Why are there orphaned children in the middle of a war? Go to your bunkers!" Niall laughed and kissed my forehead, right along my hairline.
He was also clearly trying to make me as happy as possible, and led me into the kitchen when we had both agreed we were kind of hungry. I sat on the counter and watched as he unearthed a roll of toll house cookie dough from the refrigerator.
"I think you just throw the whole fucking thing in the oven." he muttered, forehead crinkling as he squinted at the tiny instructions.
"Don't you take off the wrapper and slice it?" I asked. Niall scoffed at me, said that he was old enough that he could bake damn cookies, and tossed the entire roll (with the wrapper still on) onto the oven rack. After punching in a seemingly random number onto the timer, he turned around.
"Pajamas." he said simply. "I have some for you."
"I was just gonna wear these." I whined, tugging on my sweatpants. Niall ignored that, tucking his hands under my thighs and sliding me off the counter into his arms. Although I pointed out how my legs weren't broken, I was still carried all the way to his bedroom with my legs around his waist and arms looped around his neck and set gracefully on the floor.
"You can change in the bathroom." he said, gesturing over his shoulder as he dug around his messy clothing drawers. He held up a tshirt for a moment, scutinized it, and then let it drop. "We'll do a swap."
Although it was a weird request, I complied, going into his connecting bathroom and making sure to lock the door. It was habit that made me slide back the shower curtain, partly to check for murders and partly to see what shampoo he used. He always smelled nice. And although I'll admit it was a little creepy, I opened the cabinet behind the mirror, examined the scattered contents. Toothpaste and deoderant and condoms. It was like a 'what doesn't belong' scenerio.
There was a knock on the door and I hurried out my clothes, passing the bundle to him, our hands getting tangled in the exchange as he gave me pajamas. I slammed the door shut and leaned back against it.
"I've practically seen it all, sweetheart." Niall laughed from the other side, "There isn't much to hide from me now." I ignored him and slid on the large sweatshirt he gave me. It was a red with some faded sports logo on the front, the sleeves going past my hands and bottom stopping at my thighs. I then realized something crucial.
"You didn't give me any pants." I exclaimed, flinging open the door. Niall was laying on the bed, his eyes lighting up when he saw me.
"I know."
"Give me some pants." I demanded, tugging on the front of the sweatshirt.
Niall pursed his lips, as though in thought. "No thanks."
"For the love of god, give me some damn pants." I stood over him with my hands on my hips, scowling. "Or else." I added in feebly.
That caught his attention. He sat up on his elbows, hooking a leg around the backs off my knees to pull me closer. I hit the edge of the bed and stumbled, falling on top of him (as he'd probably planned) "Or else what?" he muttered, as I pushed my hands against his chest to straighten up.
"Or else I'll-" The fire alarm went off.
The next sequence of events depicts the most disastrous sleepover I have ever attended. Niall rolled over, jumping to his feet and racing out of the room. I followed behind, bumping into his back as he skidded to a halt before the kitchen.
"Oh fucking fuck." he sighed. I peered around his muscular frame, eyes widening at the thick cloud of smoke that was currently rolling out of the oven and consuming the kitchen. It smelled like burning cookies and plastic.
"I told you take off the wrapper!" I declared, as Niall pulled his shirt over his mouth and stumbled over to the oven, pulling it open to reveal a ball of fire that had previously been toll house cookie dough.
"Oh shit, sweetheart, stand back." Niall exclaimed, as the fire alarm continued to shriek overhead. As though the universe was looking down on us and thinking, 'Well look, a mild disaster, let's add more' there was a sudden pounding on the door. I jumped and screamed, but the noise was practically drowned out by the continuous drone of the fire alarm.
"Someones here?" Niall asked, at the same time I said, "I still don't have any pants."
Niall slammed the oven door shut on the burning toll house hell pit, and pushed me backwards until I was a safe distance away from the kitchen. "I need pants." I reminded him, as he stalked over to the door and peered the the eye hole. I watched his shoulders tighten, posture turning defensive at the sight of the newcomer.
He spun around, leaning against the door. "Oh god, sweetheart, I need you to go hide."
"Friend or foe?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. The oven continued to pour smoke, but Niall grabbed an umbrella from beside the door and used it to jab the fire alarm, effectively quieting it. He was getting how he was whenever somebody arrived that he thought could cause any immediate danger onto me, his springs tightening for a fight. I was still struck the whole weirdness of the situation, and how weird this day had been.
"This is the worst slumber party ever."
"Not a slumber party." Niall reminded me, giving me a chastening look. "Go. Seriously. Go into my room and shut the door."
(I love writing about them together sigh) (sorry this was all over the place but)