✰eight; a change
❂
Usually in the morning, the sun would peek out the windows and wash the floors in its light, however living on the second floor of an apartment complex during a blizzard has prevented that. Instead, snow covered the windows and it seems like it was at its worst. Before they went to bed, they were actually able to see outside, meaning all this snow came from the very early hours of the morning when nothing good ever happens.
Since there wasn't any natural light when Harry got up, he walked to the light switch on the wall nearest his bedroom door and flipped the switch on. He glanced back at his bed where Niall still lied asleep peacefully, just not for much longer.
Harry checked the time, making sure he wouldn't be too rude. He wouldn't want to pounce on him if was too early. The time read half past ten and Harry deemed that as late enough.
With the little energy he currently has, he uses it by leaping on the bed over to Niall's side and landing on top of his body. Niall instantly opens his eyes, alarmed. His eyes adjust to the brightness of the room, soon landing on Harry who happened to be sitting on top of him.
"I was enjoying my sleep until you ruined it." Niall muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah but what's the fun in laying unconscious for several hours at a time?" Harry questioned, still not having moved from his position.
Niall just growled in response, trying to shake Harry off of him. It was no use, Harry was comfortable where he was and Niall had no strength several seconds after waking up. Realizing he couldn't do anything, he just sighs.
"So, what are we doing today?" Niall asks, once he figured out Harry wasn't going to budge.
And just as he's about to reply, he's interrupted by abrupt darkness. The light Harry had just turned on, had gone off by itself and left them both surrounded in darkness.
Harry looked down at Niall in confusion, sliding his leg over and hopping off and onto the floor. Niall sits up in bed, watching Harry walk to the wall and flip the switch a few times before understanding that it wasn't doing anything.
"The power must be out," Harry announces.
With the newfound darkness, Harry figures they need some sort of illumination. He exits the room, leaving Niall alone as he searches through various cabinets trying to recall where he placed his candles last. He rummages through the bathroom, finding a few underneath the sink and then once he's padded into the kitchen, he finds three in random spots. Deeming five enough, he grabs the lighter from the junk drawer in his kitchen and lights all the candles, scrunching his nose in disgust as the different scents mingle together in a clashing mixture.
Harry scatters the candles throughout the apartment, trying to keep them as far away from each other as possible. Niall has now gotten up and is standing in the living room, watching Harry as he runs around in such a disordered manner. Harry pauses when he sees Niall, smiling so large that it takes up his entire face.
"What're ya smilin' at, ya goof?" Niall asks, scratching at his messy bed head.
"I don't know, really. I think it's ridiculous that the power's out and our only source of light are these candles. It's funny, you know, we get stuck together for all this time and I'm just really happy it's you that I got stuck with. I don't think I could have handled it with anyone else." Harry says.
Instead of replying, Niall walks towards Harry and places his arms around his neck, feeling the warm contact of his bare skin against his. He snuggles in the nook of his neck, finding it easy due to their height difference. Harry brings him in closer, tightly pressing Niall against himself. Niall's hair tickles against his chin slightly but he doesn't mind it.
Niall feels some kind of giddiness washing over him and he isn't sure why. He's always happy around Harry, even the times that he can be annoying as hell. This feels like a different kind of happy though, one that is foreign to Niall.
Eventually, Niall decides to pull away and he soon meets Harry's gaze. He already has his trademark grin plastered on his face and it's hard not to return a smile after seeing his.
The room is tinted a warm orange tone from the various candles littered throughout the apartment but the light is dim. It's oddly romantic and reminds Niall of some kind of rom-com film. And in such a strange way, he sees how he and Harry fit in that genre. Their friendship in a nutshell is comprised of laughs and cuddles so perhaps it's not that far from the truth.
"Well with the power out, there really isn't much to do." Harry remarks.
"I forgot to charge my phone last night, so it's dead." Niall says.
"So did I." Harry replies.
"We're not playing scrabble again." Niall states.
"Oh God no, I couldn't handle another game of that. We're both way too competitive for our own good."
"So what is there to do?"
"Well, we could just lay in bed?" Harry suggests.
Niall ultimately agrees, padding barefoot back into Harry's room, crawling back into the bed where they initially began in the first place. They slither beneath the white duvet and stare at the ceiling, the clock on the side wall ticking painfully slow. It was the only noise taking up the room, that is, besides the mingling combination of their breaths.
There was a single candle sitting on Harry's dresser across the room. The flame flickers ever so often, catching the attention of Niall. He could feel his chest rising and falling in tune with Harry's, making him feel at peace. He imagined what it would be like for him to wake up besides Harry everyday. Niall has never had the urge to think about these sort of things about his best friend before. He blames it on their current close proximity but he knows it's more than that.
Minutes pass and neither of them are really sure what to do. This is the fourth day and they've pretty much ran out of new ideas.
"This is fun." Harry comments sarcastically.
"Mhmm." Niall hums in agreement, turning on his side to face Harry.
Harry does the same and now they're laying facing each other. It's quiet, and their gazes both land on the other. It's quite a platonic act, actually. Well, that is, until it crossed the line and became intimate. Almost as if there was a break in the atmosphere, the mood had suddenly completely changed.
Niall watches as Harry brings his hand up to his face, barely grazing it against him. His fingers hardly even press against Niall as he traces the bridge of his nose down to the outline of his chin and jaw. He sweeps upwards towards his hairline and fixes a few loose strands that fell across his forehead. Niall's skin was soft and pale, and Harry couldn't stop himself from admiring him.
All the while, Niall remained still, breathing softly as he watched his friend do this. It was very relaxing, making his eyes droop as he began to yawn. He felt Harry remove his hand and bring it back down to connect it with his own. Harry's slender fingers were now intertwined with his and it felt right. He never once thought about doing anything of this sort with his best friend until now, yet it didn't seem too strange. It was then that something in the air had definitely changed.
Niall opened his eyes again, seeing Harry peer back at him. His heart rate had increased ever since they joined hands and to be honest, Niall is feeling something he has never really felt before. At least not with Harry.
He's not sure whether to keep his eyes shut or to monitor Harry's next movements. It almost felt intimidating as he stared back at his friend because he no longer feels like they're just friends. A short strand of hair falls down onto Harry's face, laying on the side of his nose. He makes no movement to sweep it back so Niall feels obligated to do so for him. He reaches gently with the hand not intertwined with Harry's and pushes it back along with his other hair.
He keeps his hand near his face, gently resting it upon Harry's cheek. He watches Harry as he lowers his head towards Niall's neck. If his heart wasn't already racing, it was now. He could feel Harry's lips softly press against the side of his neck. He stayed there for a few seconds and pressed another one higher.
The atmosphere had definitely changed and Niall was certain this was no longer platonic. He closed his eyes and breathed a deep, peaceful sigh. Harry continued his trail, now reaching Niall's jaw line where he kissed several pecks slowly. Harry wasn't actually as calm as he made himself out to be because he was the one testing out new territory and he wasn't sure what was too far and what wasn't. Niall hadn't made any signs of discomfort or awkwardness so he continued his actions. As he kissed the very corner of his friend's lips, Niall's eyes flickered open and met Harry's gaze.
It remained silent just like it had for the last few minutes. Niall released his hand from Harry's and brought it up to the nape of Harry's neck. With the already close proximity, Niall broke the small distance and finally kissed the one spot they were both anticipating. Harry's mouth parted and allowed Niall's to mold along with his. Harry flipped them on Niall's back where he hovered over him and continued the kiss. Niall then grabbed at Harry's hips, rubbing at his exposed hip bones.
The kiss was soft and gentle and Harry felt confident that it was mutually wanted since it was Niall to initiate the actual kiss. He had been imagining this moment for the last few days, well actually the thought popped up about a month ago when he last saw Niall. He had a habit of staring at his lips at inappropriate moments and now he knew how they felt and tasted.
He pulled away for a quick second and brought his lips back on Niall's but now the kiss had deepened. He slid his tongue across Niall's bottom lip which allowed him more access to his mouth. He now sat on Niall's lap and they both sat up, Harry's hands carding through Niall's short hair. The heat grew more intense in the room and it was then that Niall felt like it was most appropriate to pull apart, not that he necessarily wanted to.
He was afraid things would grow weird when they ceased their kiss but when he glanced at Harry, he knew that nothing had truly changed. This romantic tension had always followed them, even the first day they met at the bar.
Niall smiled up at Harry who remained in his lap, staring down at him. The moment the atmosphere switched from platonic to intimate, it had just felt right, like it was meant to happen. Harry moved his hands down to the sides of Niall's jaw line and held his face. No words were spoken for a bit, it was more like communication through touches and stares.
However, silence never lasts between the two because someone eventually ends up laughing. Their giddy smiles soon turned into euphoric giggles and their laughs grew so hearty that Niall threw his head back and then softly onto Harry's shoulder. He had a tendency to laugh when he wasn't sure what emotion to express.
Harry spoke up once their laughter died down, "If I knew you were that good of a kisser, I would have kissed you the moment you walked into my apartment with ice cream."
Niall shakes his head, wrapping his arms around Harry's neck. He didn't expect anything of this sort to happen when he visited Harry, but he's glad it did because there was always something deep down inside him that craved more affection than what he already received from his friend.
But are they really just friends now? Niall's not all that sure that platonic kissing is a real thing. It's probably just something made up by people that don't want to admit their feelings.
"I'm surprised we haven't done that before," Niall says, releasing another breathy laugh.
Harry nods in some sort of agreement, almost as if saying that he too noticed their undeniable chemistry and how touchy and needy they were with one another. They did basically throw minor fits when they weren't able to find time to see each other for a few weeks.
"I think the blizzard-" Harry begins to say before getting cut off by the lights powering back on.
He laughs, restarting his statement, "I think the blizzard is the best thing to happen to us."
Niall gets up from the bed, dragging Harry along with him. The mixed scents of all of the candles have become overwhelming, having made its way into their room. He goes to each one and blows the flames out, Harry trailing behind.
Niall sneezes abruptly, right after he had blown out the citrus scented candle.
"I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to that one." He says, pointing to orange, devil candle.
Harry gathers them all up, placing them to one shelf in his hall closet. He turns to Niall, noticing his arm up to his nose as if he's about to sneeze again.
"Bless you." Harry says, before Niall even sneezes.
Niall looks up, glaring at Harry for stopping his sneeze.
Harry simply laughs, padding back over to Niall. He was feeling such genuine joy, even more so than when he's usually with Niall. It wasn't too different, but it felt more true. It felt natural. This joy had crossed territories and resulted in something neither of them knew they needed.
Niall looks at Harry, a small grin plastered on his face. He feels Harry's arms link around his back, pulling him in closer. Harry shakes his head, chuckling softly.
"Niall James Horan, to be with you is nothing short of perfection."
-
This is where I had ended when I first wrote this in the beginning of 2016. I'm not quite sure what happened in which I never finished or posted any more parts, but this is as much as I'll be posting.
After their hiatus, I drifted away from this ship and stopped writing anything about them. I still do think they're cute together but I'm sorry to have ended it like this, I feel like it's a little abrupt and could have been finished in a better way.
Anyway, if anyone even decides to read this, I hope you enjoyed it. I honestly really like how this turned out. Thanks for your reads.
Much Love,
Lexi