You were friends with the boys and you loved them to pieces, but they could still be idiots sometimes. This was one of those times. You should have known there would be trouble, considering you were the only girl among a group of five immature guys.
You felt tears tugging at your eyes as you sprung to your feet and headed for the door, making sure to slam it after you. They all decided to meet at Niall’s apartment, and though it was a lovely place, you didn’t know your way around it very well yet. You crossed your arms over your chest and walked with angry but strong steps down the hallway until you found the front doors of the apartment building. You pushed through them and hurried down the steps, following the sidewalk wherever it would take you. He lived in the city, and on a somewhat busy street, yet you didn’t fear being caught by paparazzi. They would have no reason to recognize you. You were hardly ever out in public with the boys, so if anyone did recognize you, it would only be from tweets or pictures that the guys had taken of you. You never really met any of their fans in person before, and you were certain that a good portion of them didn’t even know you existed. You liked it that way, though. You could still enjoy all the benefits of being friends with the boys without the stress of fans and paparazzi.
It was an overcast day, as it usually was in the part of the world that Niall lived in. But there was no rain and you were thankful for that. There was just a slight chill in the air; enough to refresh you, but not enough to need a heavy jacket. Niall’s apartment was located in an upbeat and exciting part of the city—just perfect for him. There were a lot of local people that either lived around the area or had a small business there, and Niall was the type of person that would want to get to know every one of those people. He had a pretty large network in his area, so much so that he almost always waved and said a ‘hello’ to someone he recognized every time he left his apartment. Like Niall, you enjoyed wandering around his neighborhood on foot. It was midday and just about the right time for people to be out walking their dogs or stopping for lunch. You felt as if you fit right in and didn’t even look questionable for walking down a busy street by yourself.
Though you weren’t very familiar with the neighborhood, you did know about a little diner that Niall had taken you to once. It was only down the street and then around the corner from Niall’s apartment, so you guided yourself in that direction. You didn’t have any money with you, so you weren’t planning to eat there; you just wanted to go in and maybe have a talk with the owner. Niall was friendly with the owner and he had introduced you to him when you were there. You even remembered the guy’s first name—it was Sebastian.
The bell that hung on the door sang as you walked in. It was a cozy little place, complete with wood flooring and the smell of coffee. You found a seat at the empty counter and waited for someone to come to you. Meanwhile, you glanced around and exchanged friendly smiles with the people that sat at the tables around you. Your attention was stolen when you heard someone clear their throat and say, “Well, look who’s here!”
You beamed as Sebastian leaned over the counter and said, “It’s Niall’s lovely little lady. Pleasure to see you again, doll.”
You shyly glanced down at your lap before telling him, “Well, me and Niall are just friends, but it’s nice to see you too, Sebastian.”
“Are you sure about that one?” Sebastian asked with a chuckle. There was a mug of coffee sitting on the counter beside him, and he picked it up and brought it to his lips. He furrowed his eyebrows as he sipped from the cup and set it back down on the counter while saying, “I think he’s got a little thing for you, if you ask me. Every time he pops in here by himself, he’s always talking about you.”
This caught your attention, and you looked up at him. “Really?” You squeaked. He laughed and you cleared your throat as a blush crept across your features.
“Really.” Sebastian’s lips curled up into a small smile and he quietly added, “And it seems to me that you’ve got a thing for him too, hmm?”
Your eyes widened before you managed a fake little laugh while shaking your head. “No, no. We’ve been friends for years. I doubt we’ll ever be anything more than that,” You told Sebastian, though your words weren’t very sincere.
“Whatever you say, little miss,” Sebastian said as he straightened up and took another sip from his coffee mug. He didn’t sound very convinced. “Speaking of the little Irish lad, where is he?”
You sighed and shrugged as you mumbled, “Still at his apartment, I guess.”
“He’s not with you, I’m surprised,” Sebastian said, clearly wanting to know more. This was confirmed when he leaned in again and glanced up at you, asking, “He didn’t do something stupid, did he?”
You smiled a little and explained, “His friends are over. They turn into immature, obnoxious idiots when they’re around each other. I just needed to get out for a while so I walked down here. This is really the only place I know around here, I hope you don’t mind.”
Sebastian shook his head and said, “No, I don’t mind at all! You’re always welcome here, my dear. Can I get you a coffee or something?”
“No, I’m alright. I didn’t really bring any money with me,” You admitted, but Sebastian just waved off your comment.
“It’s on me,” He said, “What would you like? Other than coffee, we have milkshakes and tea, soda, and I think we’ve still got lemonade. We usually stop serving that around this time of year, but I can compromise for you.”
“You have chocolate shakes, right?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at him.
He nodded and said, “We sure do, ma’am. I’ll go make you one.”
As he spun around and headed for the kitchen, you called after him, “I’ll pay you back next time I come!” He shook his head and waved you off again, but you were still going to do it.
While you waited, you tapped your fingers on the counter and let your eyes wander around the place. It really was a nice little business. Niall had told you that it was his favorite place to hang out after a long day, or when he just needed somewhere to get his mind off of things. You could understand why. It had a comfortable vibe to it and kind of made you feel as if you were at home again. You noticed that each table was covered with a tablecloth, and that the cloth had changed since the last time you were there. The tablecloths were plaid patterned last time, and now they had snowflakes on them. The windows had little snowman stickers on them, and the shades on the lights that hung over the tables had snow painted on them.
Sebastian set your shake down on the counter and slid it over to you, hitting your arm and gaining your attention. “Thanks,” You smiled as you grabbed the straw and sipped from it.
“No problem,” He said. He leaned against the counter and drank from his mug again, and for a while you just sat in silence when Sebastian suddenly glanced over your head.
Your eyebrows furrowed with confusion until he waved at the door behind you and called out, “Niall! How’s it going?”
You groaned and slapped your forehead with the palm of your hand, letting your hand slide down your face before you turned around and glared at Niall. He had the other four guys with him. Wonderful.
You spun back around on the little stool that you were sitting on, and Sebastian gave you an apologetic smile. “I can keep him busy if you want some more time for yourself,” He whispered to you just as Niall’s arms folded together on the empty space of the counter beside you. You thankfully smiled back at Sebastian, but shook your head. You’d have to confront Niall again some time or another, so you’d might as well get it over with now.
“Ah, I’m alright,” Niall finally answered Sebastian’s question from earlier before asking, “How are you? It’s been a while.”
“You’re right, it has,” Sebastian said while the other four boys found seats at the counter next to Niall. He glanced at them and said, “I’m doing pretty good, actually. Business is good, the family is good. Couldn’t ask for anything more, really. Who are these guys?”
Sebastian already knew the answer to his own question, but he wanted to get Niall talking to him so that you could have more time to think, even though you thought you didn’t need it. Sebastian was one of those people with an old soul, whom always knew what was best.
Niall looked over at you and licked his tongue over his teeth before turning his attention back to Sebastian and saying, “Oh, these are my four best mates. I’ve told you about them before, these are the guys in the band with me.”
“Right, right,” Sebastian nodded as he remembered the very long conversation that he had with Niall about these guys. “I thought you guys were still tourin’. But you’re in town, why?”
Harry spoke up and said, “Our tour is over now. Felt like it lasted a lifetime, though.”
Silence fell over them and you felt as if all eyes were on you, and you were right in feeling that way. Sebastian was watching you sip your shake, desperately waiting for you to finish it so that he could refill it and have a reason to excuse himself from the extremely awkward situation. Niall was waiting for you to say something to him, but you were waiting for him to even acknowledge your presence. The other four had their eyes on you, interested in seeing how this would play out.
Much to your surprise, you felt Niall’s fingers lightly stroke your arm and he turned to Sebastian, saying, “So, I see you’ve met (Y/N) again.”
Sebastian nodded and told him, “Yeah, she walked over. Still as lovely as she was last time. You know what, I’m gonna go whip up a couple coffees for you guys.” He brushed his hands off on his pants and awkwardly backed away from the counter, but Louis spoke up before he could run off.
“Could you make a tea for me, please?” Louis’s little voice asked from the corner, and Sebastian nodded with a small smile on his face. He sighed with relief as he hurried back into the kitchen, grateful to be out of that mess for a while.
Niall sunk into the stool next to you and took your hand in his. He gave your hand a gentle squeeze and you glanced at him from the corner of your eye. You sipped from your straw until it started making obnoxious slurping sounds because there really wasn’t anything left in the glass. “I’m sorry if I said something I shouldn’t have,” Niall said, keeping his fingers intertwined with yours. “I’m stupid sometimes,” He added.
“Trust me, I figured that one out by myself,” You told him with a giggle as he placed his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt by your words. He knew you were just teasing him, though. “It’s okay, Nialler,” You eventually said.
He smiled, relieved that you weren’t angry anymore. There was nothing in the world that Niall disliked more than the feeling he got when you were angry with him. He slid off of the stool and brought himself to his feet, opening his arms as he asked, “Can I get a hug from my favorite girl in the world?”
You shyly grinned and slid off your stool in the same way Niall did before walking into his arms. He enveloped you for the longest time, swaying side to side as he rested his chin on top of your head. He rubbed your back and squeezed you as Sebastian reappeared, as if on cue, and set the drinks down on the counter. Louis excitedly reached for his tea while the others grabbed a coffee, leaving one for Niall. You pulled yourself away from Niall and he let his hands slide down your arms as you separated.
“So our two love birds are ‘friends’ again,” Sebastian observed, flashing you a toothy grin.
“We’ll see how long that lasts,” Louis teased before taking a sip of his tea. Niall whipped around and glared at Louis, and Louis innocently shrugged.
“Hey, Niall?” You said, and Niall turned back to you, raising his eyebrows as if waiting for you to continue. “Are the boys coming back to your apartment with us?”
Niall shook his head and answered, “I’m kicking them out.”
You nodded, secretly relieved. You enjoyed spending time with just Niall, especially because you were supposed to be staying with him for the next month or so. Not that you didn’t like the other boys, because you did. You liked them quite a bit. You just wanted some time away from them. And in all honesty, you came more so to visit Niall than anyone else.
You stuck around the diner long enough for Sebastian to pick up a conversation with the boys, while also managing to serve some of his customers. He had waiters for the others. You were quiet for the rest of the time, seeing as you didn’t really have much to say. Niall finished his coffee and Louis was on his second cup of tea when Niall grabbed his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled out some money and set it on the counter saying, “Sebastian, this is for all of us. Including (Y/N)’s milkshake. Me and (Y/N) are gonna go, but I really appreciate everything you’ve done.”
He slid the money over to Sebastian, and Sebastian said, “I told (Y/N) her milkshake was on me! I swear, you kids never listen. Thanks for coming over, you two. Remember, you’re always welcome as long as I’m still in business.”
You smiled at Sebastian and Niall exchanged a handshake with him over the counter, before grabbing your hand and heading for the door. You turned and waved at the boys as Niall pushed the door open, listening to the bell ring while you walked out. Sure enough, he waved to an elderly lady across the street that he said lived in his apartment building. Once you arrived back at his place, he opened the door for you and let you walk in first. He kept it to himself, but he stayed behind you so that it would be impossible for you to change your mind and run away on him.
He kicked his shoes off and stretched his arms out, letting a yawn slip past his lips. You smirked and used the opportunity to poke his sides, causing him to jump. You giggled as he raised an eyebrow at you and said, “You really wanna go there?”
You stuck your tongue out and teased, “You couldn’t catch me if you tried.”
He accepted your challenge and took off after you as you hurried through his apartment. Every time he reached out for you, you were just far enough out of his reach. His fingers grazed over your skin a couple times, but he was never able to get a firm grip on you, therefore he ended up chasing you around for a very long time. You panted, out of breath, as you stood behind one end of a table, and he stood at the opposite end. He wiggled his eyebrows at you and moved a little. Every time he moved, you moved.
“What would you do if I just crawled across this table right now? That’s the only thing keeping me from catching you, you know,” He said, almost threateningly. Common sense would say that he wouldn’t crawl across the table because he’d probably either break the table or hurt himself. But Niall was the idiot that would crawl across the table anyway.
“Don’t do tha-” You started, but were soon interrupted when Niall climbed onto the table and on his hands and knees, crawled his way across it, knocking things off as he did so. He moved onto his bum and slid off of the table, placing his feet on the ground with a satisfied grin on his face.
He grabbed you and swept you into his arms, carrying you through his apartment. “I caught you,” He sang as he carried you to the couch, throwing you down onto it. You tried to wiggle away, but Niall wasn’t about to let you do that. He didn’t go through all of this trouble for you to get away that easily. He crawled over you, straddling your hips as he dug his fingers into your sides. You squealed and he smirked as he tickled you to no end. Your stomach was hurting and you were out of breath, but that didn’t stop Niall.
“No!” You shrieked, squirming underneath him. “Niall!” You cried, “I only poked you, this isn’t fair!”
“But you thought I wouldn’t catch you,” Niall reminded you as he grabbed your failing arms. “Don’t ever challenge Niall James Horan, because you’ll never win.”
He held your arms above your head, but at least he stopped tickling you. Your chest heaved as you attempted to catch your breath, and Niall grinned down at you. “That’s not true,” You breathed, “I can stay under water longer than you, remember? And I’m certain that I can run faster than you. The only reason you caught me was because you crawled across the table.”
“Whatever,” He mumbled as he rolled his eyes. You giggled and he let go of your arms. He resituated himself so that he was lying on top of you. It was quite the scene because Niall was taller than you. His legs hung over the edge of the couch, and it looked as if he was suffocating you, but you were fine under there. You wrapped your arms around his middle, and he nuzzled his face in your neck.
You laid there like that for a while, just enjoying the silence and each other’s presence. Niall inhaled a sharp breath and hummed in satisfaction before raising his head and looking at you. You smiled and your eyes searched his as you patted his back. He blinked slowly and reached up to gently stroke the side of your face with the back of his fingers. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in his voice as he asked in a quiet and slightly raspy voice, “Can I kiss you?”