Alright lovelies this flashback lasts for a few chapters :)) and the gif on the side...omg i laughed for like ten years...anyway I hope you're enjoying the story so far and like this chapter too xxx
...So here it is; the first screw up in our perfect friendship. I don’t want to keep bringing up bad things from the past Niall, I really don’t. I’m writing this letter as an explanation first and foremost. However, if I can get you to remember how we were I will. What is really important about this point in our friendship is you. I want you to think about what you said to me; the good thing. I still remember quite well, it wasn’t that long ago after all. It’s crazy to think it was just two years ago actually, I was sixteen and you were seventeen...
Apparently I was a real magnet for trouble. Everywhere I went it seemed to find me. Trouble was my dad, the parties I went to, and all of the shit I seemed to find myself in without even trying. It wasn’t that I was a bad girl; in fact I tried my best to be good. I had decent grades, a part-time job, and rarely found myself in detention or even being lectured by one of my teachers. But that’s not exactly the kind of trouble that I found myself in on that cold day in September. In fact, at the time, it didn’t feel like trouble at all.
I was at school in my second last year. It was Niall’s last year. Pretty soon he would be leaving me; he’d be gone doing something with his life and I’d be stuck in this small town for another 365 days. The thought had been nagging at me that past summer; I was finally starting to grow up and realize we weren’t kids anymore.
That was what I was thinking about as Cassidy and I ate lunch at a picnic table outside. I was completely spaced out until she started snapping her fingers in my face. "What?" I asked, annoyed as I swatted her hand away.
Cassidy rolled her eyes, "You’re grumpy today. I was just trying to bring you back to reality instead of your little dream world." She was quiet for a minute, looking to the side. When she turned back to me she was grinning, "And to let you know that Ben’s been staring at you for about ten minutes now."
"What?" I said confusedly, following the direction she was staring. At the table a little ways down from us I made eye contact with Ben. I knew who he was; he hung out with Niall and his friends. However, I had never really paid him much attention. In fact, I barely knew a single thing about him other than that he was kind of obnoxious. And I only knew that from hearing him talk at lunch a few times.
I smiled a little before turning back to Cassidy. "Huh, that’s weird."
She raised her eyebrows suggestively, "Maybe you should go talk to him."
I shook my head, "No thanks." She rolled her eyes just as the bell rang. We left and headed for class, going in opposite directions. On my way through the hall I felt someone’s presence beside me. I casually glanced over and was surprised to see Ben there. He was smiling at me, his brown eyes looking into mine, and his light brown hair falling messily on his forehead. He wasn’t extremely tall or anything, but was taller than me. Mind you I was small, I always have been.
"Hey Megan," he said offhandedly as if we talked all the time, "What’s up?"
I shrugged, "Not much Ben, just on my way to class."
He grinned, I don’t know why; I said nothing clever or funny in any way. "What class do you have?"
"Biology," I answered with a grimace. It didn’t take long for him to jump into this story about how much he sucks at the subject and that he thinks his teacher failed him on purpose. When I told him the name of my teacher he slapped his thigh before pointing at me like I just got the answer right to a very difficult question, "That’s the one!"
I couldn’t help but laugh a little, "Right, I’m sure it was the teacher’s fault and not at all the fact that you probably never studied."
Ben gave me a mock-offended look before insisting, jokingly, that he was very studious and never missed a deadline. I laughed and rolled my eyes before sarcastically agreeing with him. That’s when we arrived at my class and I told him I had to go.
"Well, you want to talk later then Megan?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
I shrugged, thinking what could be the harm? Ben seemed nice and easy to talk to. "Sure," I agreed before we parted ways. I spent that class pondering over Ben’s intentions; why did he all of a sudden want to talk to me? After about twenty minutes I nearly rolled my eyes at myself. I had a bad tendency to overanalyze everything. Why did Ben have to have a motive? Perhaps he just wanted to talk like any other normal person. Yes, I decided, that must be it.
Niall met me on my way out of class. I smiled as soon as I saw him and he did the same. He was wearing a pair of kakis and a green polo shirt that hugged his strong shoulders. Niall had grown up a lot in the past year; that was clear just by looking at him.
"Let me walk you home?" he asked casually.
I nodded, "Sure, you can stay for dinner if you’d like, my dad’s not home. And I need you to help me with my homework." I gave him a big smile.
He let his head fall back as he groaned, "If it’s math don’t bother asking me because you’ll fail if I try and help you with anything."
I shook my head and gave him a sheepish grin, "What about biology?"
Niall groaned even louder this time, "You know I hate biology."
I pouted, "Please Niall?" I held onto his arm and looked up at him with the same sad expression. "Pretty please?"
He sighed, "You’re demanding, you know that Megan?" I smiled as he began to give in. "Yes, fine, I’ll try to help you, just stop looking at me like that." He playfully flicked my cheek with his free hand.
"Thanks babe," I said, squeezing his hand briefly before letting go.
The walk to my house wasn’t far; about ten minutes or so. When we arrived I let him inside and we immediately entered the kitchen. "So what are we making for dinner?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Knowing he was starving, I tossed him a bag of crisps, "Eat this to hold you over, my little piglet."
Niall laughed before cracking into the bag and practically stuffing his face in his usual way. When he caught me giving him a scolding look he pressed his lips together. I just smiled and shook my head as I grabbed my book bag off the table. Niall wrapped his arm around my neck, jokingly putting me in a headlock just as we reached the sofa in the living room. We used to play fight all the time when we were little. Sometimes I would have a chance because we were both small but Niall’s quite strong now, leaving me hopeless.
"Niall," I whined, trying to wiggle free from his grasp, "Let go."
"But that means we have to do homework," he complained, poking my stomach with his other hand.
"Yes, it does," I answered. When he still didn’t let go I huffed, "Fine then." I wrapped my arms around Niall’s torso and began tickling him, knowing he had quite a weakness for that. He flinched a bit but not enough to free me. I tried a different tactic and stepped on his foot. As he tried to step back he tripped onto the sofa, bringing me down with him in the process. I ended up on top of him but he had freed me. Triumphantly, I found a comfortable position sitting on his stomach so he couldn’t move.
He groaned, "Fine Megan you win," he slapped my lower back near my ass, "Now get up, you’re sitting on my rib cage."
"Can we do homework now?" I asked demandingly.
Niall nodded, "yes love." I smiled, kissed his cheek, and found my own spot on the sofa. He adjusted himself as I placed my books in-between us.
Niall and I together aren’t exactly fantastic at concentrating but somehow we managed. Neither of us is particularly good at biology but it was easier to figure it out together. He really is a big help.
When we had done all we could we were just sitting on the sofa, talking. At one point Niall brought up his friend Ben. "What’s Ben like, anyway?" I asked indifferently, simply curious. He knew the guy much better than I did after all.
Niall shrugged, "He’s alright I guess, why?"
"He talked to me today is all," I replied, "He asked if I want to talk later so I was just wondering what he’s like."
Niall had the strangest expression on his face. I honestly couldn’t describe it if I tried; it wasn’t quite anger, he wasn’t upset either...perhaps a little uneasy? I really didn’t know. "Hmm," is the only sound that escaped him.
I stared at him suspiciously. "Hmm? What does that mean?"
He shrugged again but kept his eyes away from mine. "Nothing, I just—I didn’t realize you guys were friends..."
"We’re not," I told him, "He just started talking to me today and it was only for like five minutes."
"Huh, so you’re going to talk to him later?" The way he asked it was really strange. Why was he being so weird about this?
"Yeah, I told him I would."
"Cool."
I stared at him again, "Cool? Is something wrong Niall?"
"No, I just-uh, I don’t know," he stammered, "He’s kind of a player, you know?"
I rolled my eyes, "Well I don’t think he’s interested in me like that so no worries there."
I swear Niall looked a little relieved. I didn’t question him on it because if I was right and he was relieved then...why? Was it because Ben was a bad guy? Or maybe Niall didn’t want me to get close to him? I really didn’t know so I simply tucked it away somewhere and forgot about it.
The awkwardness of the moment disappeared when Niall smiled at me. "Are you hungry?"
I laughed, "Are you hungry?"
He nodded quickly, "Starved."
I stood up and took both of his hands in mine to hoist him up too. "Then I suppose we oughta make something to feed you." He grinned and stood up in front of me. I was about to drag him into the kitchen when he gently pulled out of my grasp and wrapped his arms around me. I gladly welcomed his hug, snuggling my face into his neck as he did the same to me. Niall pulled away then and brought his hand to my chin, tilting my face up so that I was looking at him. We stared at each other for a long minute. Niall and I were really close and probably hugged more than most best-friends but that was normal for us. That moment, however, felt different. It felt strangely more intimate. I was dreamily thinking about that as Niall leaned in close to my face. For a split second I thought he was going to kiss me but instead he just pecked me on the nose.
After that it was hard to just pull away and head into the kitchen but I tried. Oddly enough, I could feel myself blushing. Niall never made me blush; I was too comfortable with him for that. And yet, there I was with my cheeks turning red. I tried to shake it off as I took his hand and led him into the kitchen. I continued trying to shake it off the entire time we were cooking. It really wasn’t working. It wasn’t until Niall got pasta sauce in my hair that I finally snapped out of it.
I glared at him as he stared at me wide-eyed. He looked genuinely upset, "I’m sorry Megan?"
Not able to stay mad at him, I smiled and rolled my eyes, "Don’t worry about it darling." The rest of the night went by without that strange feeling lingering overhead. Niall helped me wash the sauce out of my hair; an awkward moment where he scrubbed my hair in the sink. After that we ate and watched a movie before he had to leave. My dad would be home shortly and I didn’t want to deal with the two of them in the same room.
As I lay down in bed that night and tried to get to sleep I was interrupted by my phone buzzing. Tiredly, I checked my messages. There was one from Niall saying: Night love x, and another from...Ben? I didn’t even know he had my number. The message read: Sweet dreams Megan x—Ben.
Oooh ok here's where some of the drama starts haha x what do you think about Ben so far? What's going on with Niall? Tell me what you're thinking! Fan vote comment maybe? Thank you for reading-Summer, Love youuu x