Tanner's POV
I stood infront of the bathroom mirror, leaning over the sink, and carefully applying mascara to my eye lashes. "Where's Niall taking you tonight?" Ariana asks eagerly as she props herself onto the bathroom counter, swinging her legs back and forth.
"A small Italian restaurant" I said with a grin. "I'm not sure what it's called, but It's in Waterloo"
"Ooo, Waterloo? Fancy" She answers with a posh accent as she hops of the counter and stands behind me, putting my hair into a fishtail braid.
"It's 15 minutes away from here, Ariana, it's not a big deal. Just a small dinner. He's with management today anyways, so he'll probably be a little late." I said casually, watching her in the mirror. Her head cam out from behind me, and raised her eyebrows towards the mirror, but directed it towards me. "What?" I asked with wide eyes. "I told you, it's not a big deal, alright? It's a casual meal, nothing fancy, we go here all the time." I state, making Ariana sigh.
"But what if he is late? Or doesn't show up?" she whines.
"Ariana, we're already going out, it's not like he would be standing me up, he would just get caught into work and couldn't leave. Stuff like that happens in relationships." I explained as she finished with my hair.
"But I always imagine you and Niall being a perfect couple, everything being all 'happily ever after'" Ariana whines. "Plus, if he does miss this date, I owe Harry ten pounds" She pouts, making me chuckle.
"You made a bet?" I laugh. "A bet about what?" I ask, still laughing.
"I said that you guys would never be late for each other's dates, and Harry disagree, so we made a bet!" She whined.
"Obviously you forgot that he was in one of the most popular bands?" I chuckle, and Ariana nods in reply. "And anyways, I'm sure Harry would accept a kiss instead of ten pounds" I add in.
Ariana suddenly perks up and smiles. "Oh, in that case, whatever!" she says with a shrug. "Now go! Have fun! Be home by midnight!" She yells and pushes me out the door to my car, while waving.
************
I sit in the waiting room, on a wooden bench with a plush red cushion. I sighed, tapping my fingers against the cloth and checking my watch. 18:17. (A/N: 6:17PM. Decided to go all European (or whatever country's/continents that use military time.) in this story!) 17 minutes late. It's just work Tanner, just work. I reassure myself. And anyways, it's just a dinner. It can always be rescheduled. No big deal.
"Tanner Parker?" I tall brunette calls my name.
I wave and stand up, "Hi?"
"Oh, yes. You're date called, Niall I think? He said that works holding him late, and he something about Pizza, Ben&Jerry's, and Movies?" She said, unsure of herself.
I nod my head, giving her simple "Thank you" and exit the resteraunt, heading towards my car.
"Tanner?" A voice says, making me spin around. I gasp and smile.
"Chase?" I chuckled. Was that seriously him? What are the odds that I would see him in a restaurants parking lot after talking to him over the phone for the first time in months.
"Tan Tan!" He sqeuealed, running over to me and giving me a giant hug. "I missed you so much, and you've grown! Last time I saw you, you were so short!" He giggled. "Oh, this totally beats emailing you everyday!" He squeals, jumping up and down.
"Chasie, what are you doing here?" I laugh at his childless.
"Jack owns this place, Tanner. Did you seriously forget?" He asks, shocked, but laughing at my bad memory. I gasp, that's right, he did own the place. "I brought him some extra clothes, apparently he had some accident with tomato sauce . . ." He stops talking when he sees my confused expression. "Yah, I don't know either" he says with a shrug. "So, how've you been?" he asks eagerly.
"Great! Do you wanna come over to my flat? Ariana's there, we can stop at the farmers market" I say, jumping at the last part. His eyes widen, and a huge smile appears on his face.
"OMG, the farmers market! I missed those blueberries so damn much!" He yells, as he hops into the passenger seat of my car.
I start up the car, ready to head over to the market, when I think of something. "Wait, what about your car?" I ask.
He just laughs and waves his hand, motioning for me to continue. "I walked, When I came back from France I moved to a different flat, it's just up the road from here" He explains as I head down a deserted road, leading to a small farm.
There were lots of animals, always just roaming about. And gardens everywhere, with random plats climbing onto fences and the walls of the barn and small sheds. We headed over to a stand near the barn, with smiles on out faces.
Freshly Picked Blueberries!
$1 A Tin
The blueberries were sold in little tins, about the size of a strawberry container. It was the best thing in the world, the little berries were like candy, and so addicting. Me, Chase, Jack, and Ariana would spend our Friday nights lounging on couches, watching movies, and eating bowls of it. Most people would think it was weird, but if you tasted the berries, you would understand. It was like heaven in your mouth.
And just like the old Friday nights, we all sat in mine and Ariana's den, well, without Jack, and watched movies, eating bowls of blueberries.
Niall's POV
"It's to bad the you couldn't make it to dinner with Tanner" Harry says, a bit of eagerness in his voice.
"Yah, but she understands, we're just going to go another day instead. No big deal" I say with a shrug. I guess you could say, me and Tanner had a different kind of relationship, but that was mostly because I was in one of the worlds biggest bands.
"Yah, but I get 10 pounds now, so WAHOO!" He says, even more excited this time.
"Ten pounds? What are you talking about?" I ask, and then it hits me. A bet. "Did you make a bet?" I ask, still not sure what he was talking about, completely. Harry nods, continuing to play thumb wars with Zayn, who was next to him. "Wha- . . . Never mind. I don't want to know" I finish, shaking my head and sighing.
"It's your stop" Liam says, turning around and giving me a wave. "See you tommorrow!" He shouts, as I climb out of the car, and walk up to Tanner's door, holding two bags, one full of Ben&Jerry's containers, and the other full of movies in one hand, and a giant box of pizza in the other.
Tanner opens the door, and grabs the pizza box, and pulls me in for a hug. "You're here!" She chirps. "We're in the den, I'll go get some plates" she adds, running towards the kitchen, leaving me in the hallway.
I enter the den, expecting that if anyone would be in their, it be Ariana, but there was someone else their, another guy.
"Niall, you're here!" Ariana chirps. "And you brought ice cream? Don't mind if I do . . ." she says happily, taking one of the containers from the bag. "Oh, and this is Chase" she adds, waving towards the guy sitting on the couch next to her.
Chase. That was Chase? Oh man . . . How could I compete with that? I stared at him, giving him a small wave and nod, then sat down on the other couch. While waiting for Tanner to get back from the kitchen, I studied Chase.
Tall, broad shoulders, tan skin, muscular arms, flat stomach, most likely has abs, stubbly chin, sandy tousled hair . . . He was probably a jock that always get's the girls. Yah, well you're a famous singer! A voice inside my head said. But he's known Tanner longer! He has more of a chance, right? I whined back. You're her boyfriend! You had the chance, you took it, and he has none. Okay? I was about to protest, when I noticed, I was talking to myself inside my head . . . Wow.
"So, Niall, is it?" Chase asks me, sounding eager to get to know me. And he's got a deep voice, and happens to have an Australian accent. Perfect. But If he's happy that I'm here, then him being here probably isn't a big deal.
"Yah, I've heard a little bit about you . . . Are you Australian?" I ask, unsure of what to talk about with him.
"Yup, and you're British obviously" he chuckles, and I nod in return. "How old are you?" he asks. He's probably just trying to make conversation.
"18. What about you?"
"27" he answers simply, not caring about any age difference. My eyes widen. He's 27? And He's Australian? Then how does he even know Tanner?
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Tanner?"
"Family friends. And she moved around a lot when she was younger, and ended up staying in Australia most of the time, so we just became closer. Then I came here for college, so we've known each other for a while" He answers, examining his nails like he isn't interested in this conversation. "How do you know Tanner?"
"Oh, my cousins friends with her, and she's my girlfriend, so . . ." I say, trailing on the so, hoping he gets it.
Chase looks up at me with wide eyes, and mouth open in shock. "You're her boyfriend?" As I nod my head up and down, he jumps up, screaming Tanner's name. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend!" He screeches.
Yah, Tanner. Why didn't you tell him? The voice inside my head says.
"Because I knew you'd act like this" Tanner says simply. Walking into the room, putting the pizza down on the coffee table with plates.
"Act like what?" Chase asks innocently.
"You know what I mean" She chuckles, ruffling his hair, earning herself a glare from him, and then he shakes his head, saying he doesn't know what she means. Tanner sighs and rolls her eyes giving him a death glare and then making her facial expressions happy immediately.
"Eh my gosh!" She squealed obnoxiously, making all of us look at her in shock. "You have a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me? Are you guys adorable together? I bet you are! What's his name? Niall? Okay I now claim your couple name is Tall! Wait no, Nanner, no . . . how about Tanall? Oh, forget the couple name, just get married, what does he look like? I want there to be beautiful children! Ah! This is so exciting!" She screamed, jumping around and clapping.
Suddenly, she stopped, pushing her hair out of her face and behind her ear. "That's what I'm talking about" She states, with a smirk on her face, looking at Chase who seems to be at a loss of words while trying to defend himself.
"Oh Shs!" He finally manages to say, and waves his hand at Tanner. "But you know, Nanner wouldn't be a bad couple name . . ." He says a smirk on his face now, making Tanner chuckle. "Anyways, I've got to get going! Later Ariana, nice meeting you Niall, See you soon Tanner!" He chirps, kissing Tanner on the cheek, and leaving the flat.
What just happened?
"Well, I guess I'll give you two your alone time. . ." Ariana says with a wink, before skipping off to some other part of the house.
Tanner shrugs, and hops onto the couch next to me, leaning her head against my shoulder and digging into a carton of Ben&Jerry's Banana Split Ice Cream as we watched the move 'Thor'.
*********
A pizza, two cartons of ice cream, and a movie later, I couldn't take it any more. I had to know who Chase was. Not who I met today, who he is to her. Their relationship together, I just had to know.
"Tanner?" I ask, surprising myself that I had gained enough courage to even start the conversation for me to ask her.
"Mhmm" she answers, snuggling into my chest deeper. I knew she was tired, but I didn't think I could wait until morning to know what was going on.
"A- Are . . ." I start to say slowly, and Tanner motions for me to go on. "Are you and Chase, uhm . . . romantically involved?" I asked, unsure if that was the right way to put it.
Tanner looks shocked, her eye brows furrowed together, and her head tilted to the side. "You think?" she whispers, sounding so confused. "You . . ." She starts to say again, but this time, she starts laughing loudly. What's so funny? I thought, Did I say something wrong? "Aha, Niall, I'm sorry, I should've told you before . . ." she says in between laughter. Here it comes . . . But why is she laughing? The voice inside my head reminds me, and I think. That is a good point. Why is she laughing?
"Niall . . ." She says, with an apologetic look in her eye. "I'm not exactly sure how to put this" she frowns, and pauses to think about it for a bit.
"Well, you see . . . Chase is . . ." Here it comes, brace yourself, Niall. I thought. "Chase, he's about . . . about as straight as a curly fry, I guess you could say" Shi- Wait, what? Straight as a curly fry? Oh man . . . that's embarrassing.
"He's gay?" I ask
"Mhmm . . ." She says nodding, a small smile on her face as she tries to hold in her laughter.
"Oh man" I sigh. "That's embarrassing"
"And why's that?" She chuckles
"I've been extremely worried about this whole thing, and jealous of him this whole time, I'm so stupid!" I groan, putting my head into my hands, making Tanner laugh.
"I'm sorry, I should've told you!" she laughs, rubbing my back. "And, you know the guy, Jack, we keep talking about?" She asks, receiving a nod as an answer from me. "That's his,"
"Boyfriend?" I finish for her, looking up from my hands.
"Mhmm . . ." she nods, a small smile still on her face. "Actually, they're engaged now, Jack proposed to him while they were in Paris" she chuckles. Way to make me fell stupider.
Bzzzz Bzzzz
Tanner looked up at me, as I read the text I had just received.
"Anything I should be worried about?" She asks
"Not worried about, but Zayn and Louis want to take you shopping tomorrow . . . Harry's going to take Ariana out and Liam and I have to record something, do you mind?" I said, giving her my puppy dog face.
"Don't mind at all" She says with a grin. "Any excuse to go buy some shoes" She chirps
"I think Louis would be fine with that" I chuckle. "And Zayn will be happy as long as you stop at the athletics store so he can by more customized varsity jackets" I add in, making Tanner laugh.
"Then it's all set, I will be hanging out with Zayn and Louis tomorrow"
Authors Note: Another chapter up! :) Pretty crappy ending . . . But I gave it my best shot. It's pretty decent sized... And it explains who Chase is! (Yay) Anyways, like wow. Thanks for the votes. You're all amazing, seriously. Also, I'm thinking about writing a sequel to this, but making it all about Harry and Ariana . . . would that be a good idea? But I don't really have to worry about that because I still have plenty more idea's for Tanner and Niall! So, thanks for all the feedback! Vote, Fan, Comment, whatever! Thanks for reading, Enjoy!
Also, there's a photo of Chase on the side. He played Will in 'H20: Just Add Water'! Was anybody else extremley obsessed with that show?
Hannah xx