The Nanny
The Morning After
It was official.
I was an idiot.
I was sure of that from the moment I opened my eyes this morning.
The fact that I had slept on the sofa wasn't even the worse part. No, the worst part was when I realized I was practically sleeping on top of Harry.
I had been so shocked by it that Jamie's cries, what had initially woken me up, were momentarily muted out by my internal panicking.
It didn't take long for me to recall all the talking I had done the night before and that just made my stomach drop in the most uncomfortable way.
I had never told anyone the whole story like that before and it left me feeling embarrassed and exposed and I didn't like that one bit. I especially didn't like the feelings I had managed to bury and where now there, just on the surface. Raw and real and painful all over again.
Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut?
I blamed mine and Harry's heart to heart on the lack of sleep.
Maybe if I had just sucked it up and been a big girl and ignored the dumb dreams I wouldn't be in this awkward situation now. All my skeletons would still be sealed up tightly in the closet where they should have stayed.
Needless to say, as soon as I had calmed myself enough to remember I was a mother and my baby needed me, I jumped off of the sofa like it, and Harry, had a deadly disease and fled to my room. I did not hesitate to shut myself in there with the plan of staying there the rest of the day, if not the rest of my life.
I couldn't make myself understand how what had started off as an innocent confession of my silly nightmares turned into a past reviling therapy session with my boss, who I had only recently been in speaking terms with.
WHO DOES THAT?!?!
Idiots, that's who.
My god, I was never going to be able to face him again. I was so utterly embarrassed.
"Knock, knock."
I spun around so fast I gave myself a head rush only to find my favorite irish boy peeking his head into my room.
I lunged at him and pulled him into the room, my eyes shifting up and down the hall before slamming my door.
"Good. You came."
Niall looked startled by my wild eyes and slightly out of breath state.
I had been pacing around my room like a maniac for almost an hour. Harry had even come by and knocked asking if I was ok to which I made up some nonsense story about being tired still and wanting to sleep a bit more. I'm sure it came out sounding like a stuttered jumbled mess but Harry was polite enough to ignore it, even though I could sense in his tone that he didn't want to leave it like that.
All Harry's visit managed to do though was make me a bit more manic in my marching.
But Niall was here now so all was right with the world again.
"Why are your knickers in a twist, love?"
I hadn't realized I had begun to pace again until I stopped to look back at Niall who had taken up his normal position spread out casually on my bed with his hands tucked behind his head as he watched me with a smirk playing across his lips.
Smug bastard.
With an over dramatic sigh, I dropped down onto my bed with my back to him and let my face fall into my hands.
Idiot.
"Ari?" Niall persisted.
I pulled my face out of my hands and sighed before turning to look at my blond friend with a forced smile. "Nothing. I'm fine." I completely turned until I was facing him with my legs crossed in front of me and smacked his thigh, changing my entire demeanor to lighten the slightly tense mood. "So? How was home?"
The smile that lit up Niall's face was contagious and I found myself leaning forward towards him trying to capture some of his happiness for my own as he told me about seeing his friends and family in Mullingar where he had gone to visit this last weekend. It was obvious that he was close to his family and he missed his old friends dearly but I don't think he would give this life up anytime soon.
"And..." I asked when he reached the end of his recounting. He noticeable forgot to mention something we had talked about quite a few times before he had even booked the trip.
Instantly his face flushed the most adorable red I had ever seen and I wanted to pinch his cheeks.
Niall cleared his throat and tried to hide his smile by looking up at my ceiling. "We can get to that later."
I was just about to open my mouth to argue and tell him to tell me now but he sat up so fast I nearly fell backwards off the bed. As it was I had to clutch onto the comforter as I stared with wide frightened eyes.
"How do you like the nursery?"
"Nice subject change there, Irish." I said, still trying to regain my balance on the bed. Niall ignored my comment and just stared at me for an answer. "I love it. How did you know about it?"
He winked at me and flashed me his famous smile. "I may have stopped by here on the way to the airport to see how the lads where doing. They were all here. Harry even convinced Louis to paint. Got more paint on himself and the others then on the walls too. It was a mess."
I reached out and smacked him hard with the back of my hand on his stomach, dangerously close to his more prized part of his anatomy. It was comical to watch the petrified look on his face as he curled inward to block the attack.
"WATCH THE GOODS WOMAN!"
"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?!"
Niall looked at me with dangerously wide eyes, alarmed not only by my shouting but at my nearly very painful smack.
"Oh man up." I scoffed after he just looked at me with a pitiful pout.
I barely had time to register what was happening before Niall had sprung across the short distance between us and onto me. Clearly he didn't think his attack through because moments later we were both on the floor with our legs still up on the bed. I looked up at him, slightly out of breath from the impact but it didn't stop either one of us from breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.
All my worries and chastising from this morning forgotten as I lay in the precarious position with an internationally known dumbass on top of me, laughing our heads off.
That is, all my worries were forgotten until a slightly frazzled Harry burst through the door with a very concerned look on his face that instantly dropped into a blank stare when he saw Niall and me innocently looking up from the floor at him.
"Hello mate." Niall waved cheekily at him as I tried my best to stifle my laughter.
Harry's lack of response made all humor leave me though as his eyes stayed glued to Niall's body still draped over mine.
It was obvious Harry was not a fan of what he was looking at.
I looked up at Niall and cleared my throat before pushing his shoulders a bit for him to move. He turned his stare from Harry to me. Something in the lingering glint in his eyes had me thinking that his stare down with Harry had more meaning then I knew about.
"Um... I can't exactly... um, breath."
Niall still looked blankly at me like he was trying to decide something.
"Niall... you're crushing my lungs." I joked with a small chuckle trying to lighten the slowly tensing moment.
"NIALL!" Harry finally shouted abruptly causing both Niall and I to jump slightly before looking at him. "Get off her."
It was mesmerizing to watch Harry's jaw clench. I could almost see every single tendon stretch and tense in his neck and I even saw a vain pulse as he stared his friend down, who by the way, was still on top of me.
"Seriously Niall, you're crushing my spleen." I hissed into his ear after a moment longer of their stare down.
"Oh right, sorry." Niall explained as he pushed himself up and off of me before holding down his hand for assistance in standing up.
I ignored the dull ache in my back from the fall off the bed as I turned to look at Harry who was still looking at the spot we had both been in at our feet.
"Um... Harry?" I said while waving my hand in his line of vision.
As soon as his eyes were back on me I managed to give him a small smile.
I may have been a little on edge to talk to him after all that I had blabbed to him last night, I may have even wanted to take it all back but I couldn't forget how sweet he had been about the whole thing. I didn't want to forget how easy it was to just sit with him last night.
He seemed to feel the same way as he sent me a matching smile, the tension in his body loosening as he spoke to me. "What was all that, erm, noise?"
I was going to answer, I even had my mouth open to do so but the voice I heard was not mine answering.
"Sorry mate, we'll keep it down."
And then I felt his hand on my hip pulling me back into him. My eyes widened while I turned my head to the side to see Niall giving Harry a cocky smirk. I felt like I was missing some sub conversation the two were having with their eyes when I turned back to Harry and saw the same stony look from before on his face.
What the hell was going on?
Was I in the middle of some territory battle?
Was I the territory?
With that thought I pulled away from Niall slightly and sent him a glare over my shoulder before looking back at Harry, who wasn't looking at me.
"I'm sorry Harry. It won't happen again."
"Yea." His intense green eyes snapped up to me and he nodded. I wasn't sure if that was phrased as a question or a statement. "Just... keep it down. Mum and Darcy are on their way back. I'd rather not have to explain all the thumping coming from up here."
Once again my eyes widened. "No, Harry it's-"
"All right mate." Niall answered again as Harry began to leave.
Then like slow motion I felt myself be turned around. Niall's eyes on the door as he spun me to face him before apologetically latching onto my eyes for a moment. I was confused what he was trying to tell me with his blue orbs but I soon found out as his soft lips pressed to mine.
Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Harry turn to close the door only to spot us kissing in the center of the room. Even out of my peripheral I could see the hurt and saddened look on his face as he hesitated for only a second before slamming the door shut.
The sound of the slam was all I needed to snap me out of it.
With all the strength I had in my body I placed my hands on Niall's chest and shoved him backwards, nearly sending him toppling over his own feet.
His fearful eyes locked on mine while he swallowed deeply and opened his mouth to speak but I beat him to it.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Again Niall's apologetic eyes searched my face, probably trying to figure out what he could say to get himself out of this.
"I... I'm sorry Ari-"
"Are you kidding me?!" I was still in shocked by everything that had just occurred. Niall didn't help my steadily darkening mood as he just stared at me dumbly. "Leave Niall."
I angled my body so I could point to the door, not even looking at it because the image of Harry's upset face was still a bit too fresh in my mind.
Niall hesitated for a moment but began to walk my way only to stop in front of me.
"I'm really sorry Aria. Just let me-"
"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to, Niall."
That shut him up quickly. He watched me a moment longer before nodding and doing as I asked.
As soon as the door was closed I collapsed onto my bed, flinging myself back, only then realizing exactly how exhausting a morning I had had. I literally wanted to sleep forever.
But I had no such luck.
All the excitement must have woken Jamie up because as soon as my tired eyes snapped shut, they were slowly opening again at the sound of my sons cries.
"Perfect." Just what my morning was missing. A cranky infant to add to the two cranky men I just dealt with.
I was an idiot.
I was sure of that from the moment I opened my eyes this morning.
The fact that I had slept on the sofa wasn't even the worse part. No, the worst part was when I realized I was practically sleeping on top of Harry.
I had been so shocked by it that Jamie's cries, what had initially woken me up, were momentarily muted out by my internal panicking.
It didn't take long for me to recall all the talking I had done the night before and that just made my stomach drop in the most uncomfortable way.
I had never told anyone the whole story like that before and it left me feeling embarrassed and exposed and I didn't like that one bit. I especially didn't like the feelings I had managed to bury and where now there, just on the surface. Raw and real and painful all over again.
Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut?
I blamed mine and Harry's heart to heart on the lack of sleep.
Maybe if I had just sucked it up and been a big girl and ignored the dumb dreams I wouldn't be in this awkward situation now. All my skeletons would still be sealed up tightly in the closet where they should have stayed.
Needless to say, as soon as I had calmed myself enough to remember I was a mother and my baby needed me, I jumped off of the sofa like it, and Harry, had a deadly disease and fled to my room. I did not hesitate to shut myself in there with the plan of staying there the rest of the day, if not the rest of my life.
I couldn't make myself understand how what had started off as an innocent confession of my silly nightmares turned into a past reviling therapy session with my boss, who I had only recently been in speaking terms with.
WHO DOES THAT?!?!
Idiots, that's who.
My god, I was never going to be able to face him again. I was so utterly embarrassed.
"Knock, knock."
I spun around so fast I gave myself a head rush only to find my favorite irish boy peeking his head into my room.
I lunged at him and pulled him into the room, my eyes shifting up and down the hall before slamming my door.
"Good. You came."
Niall looked startled by my wild eyes and slightly out of breath state.
I had been pacing around my room like a maniac for almost an hour. Harry had even come by and knocked asking if I was ok to which I made up some nonsense story about being tired still and wanting to sleep a bit more. I'm sure it came out sounding like a stuttered jumbled mess but Harry was polite enough to ignore it, even though I could sense in his tone that he didn't want to leave it like that.
All Harry's visit managed to do though was make me a bit more manic in my marching.
But Niall was here now so all was right with the world again.
"Why are your knickers in a twist, love?"
I hadn't realized I had begun to pace again until I stopped to look back at Niall who had taken up his normal position spread out casually on my bed with his hands tucked behind his head as he watched me with a smirk playing across his lips.
Smug bastard.
With an over dramatic sigh, I dropped down onto my bed with my back to him and let my face fall into my hands.
Idiot.
"Ari?" Niall persisted.
I pulled my face out of my hands and sighed before turning to look at my blond friend with a forced smile. "Nothing. I'm fine." I completely turned until I was facing him with my legs crossed in front of me and smacked his thigh, changing my entire demeanor to lighten the slightly tense mood. "So? How was home?"
The smile that lit up Niall's face was contagious and I found myself leaning forward towards him trying to capture some of his happiness for my own as he told me about seeing his friends and family in Mullingar where he had gone to visit this last weekend. It was obvious that he was close to his family and he missed his old friends dearly but I don't think he would give this life up anytime soon.
"And..." I asked when he reached the end of his recounting. He noticeable forgot to mention something we had talked about quite a few times before he had even booked the trip.
Instantly his face flushed the most adorable red I had ever seen and I wanted to pinch his cheeks.
Niall cleared his throat and tried to hide his smile by looking up at my ceiling. "We can get to that later."
I was just about to open my mouth to argue and tell him to tell me now but he sat up so fast I nearly fell backwards off the bed. As it was I had to clutch onto the comforter as I stared with wide frightened eyes.
"How do you like the nursery?"
"Nice subject change there, Irish." I said, still trying to regain my balance on the bed. Niall ignored my comment and just stared at me for an answer. "I love it. How did you know about it?"
He winked at me and flashed me his famous smile. "I may have stopped by here on the way to the airport to see how the lads where doing. They were all here. Harry even convinced Louis to paint. Got more paint on himself and the others then on the walls too. It was a mess."
I reached out and smacked him hard with the back of my hand on his stomach, dangerously close to his more prized part of his anatomy. It was comical to watch the petrified look on his face as he curled inward to block the attack.
"WATCH THE GOODS WOMAN!"
"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?!"
Niall looked at me with dangerously wide eyes, alarmed not only by my shouting but at my nearly very painful smack.
"Oh man up." I scoffed after he just looked at me with a pitiful pout.
I barely had time to register what was happening before Niall had sprung across the short distance between us and onto me. Clearly he didn't think his attack through because moments later we were both on the floor with our legs still up on the bed. I looked up at him, slightly out of breath from the impact but it didn't stop either one of us from breaking out into uncontrollable laughter.
All my worries and chastising from this morning forgotten as I lay in the precarious position with an internationally known dumbass on top of me, laughing our heads off.
That is, all my worries were forgotten until a slightly frazzled Harry burst through the door with a very concerned look on his face that instantly dropped into a blank stare when he saw Niall and me innocently looking up from the floor at him.
"Hello mate." Niall waved cheekily at him as I tried my best to stifle my laughter.
Harry's lack of response made all humor leave me though as his eyes stayed glued to Niall's body still draped over mine.
It was obvious Harry was not a fan of what he was looking at.
I looked up at Niall and cleared my throat before pushing his shoulders a bit for him to move. He turned his stare from Harry to me. Something in the lingering glint in his eyes had me thinking that his stare down with Harry had more meaning then I knew about.
"Um... I can't exactly... um, breath."
Niall still looked blankly at me like he was trying to decide something.
"Niall... you're crushing my lungs." I joked with a small chuckle trying to lighten the slowly tensing moment.
"NIALL!" Harry finally shouted abruptly causing both Niall and I to jump slightly before looking at him. "Get off her."
It was mesmerizing to watch Harry's jaw clench. I could almost see every single tendon stretch and tense in his neck and I even saw a vain pulse as he stared his friend down, who by the way, was still on top of me.
"Seriously Niall, you're crushing my spleen." I hissed into his ear after a moment longer of their stare down.
"Oh right, sorry." Niall explained as he pushed himself up and off of me before holding down his hand for assistance in standing up.
I ignored the dull ache in my back from the fall off the bed as I turned to look at Harry who was still looking at the spot we had both been in at our feet.
"Um... Harry?" I said while waving my hand in his line of vision.
As soon as his eyes were back on me I managed to give him a small smile.
I may have been a little on edge to talk to him after all that I had blabbed to him last night, I may have even wanted to take it all back but I couldn't forget how sweet he had been about the whole thing. I didn't want to forget how easy it was to just sit with him last night.
He seemed to feel the same way as he sent me a matching smile, the tension in his body loosening as he spoke to me. "What was all that, erm, noise?"
I was going to answer, I even had my mouth open to do so but the voice I heard was not mine answering.
"Sorry mate, we'll keep it down."
And then I felt his hand on my hip pulling me back into him. My eyes widened while I turned my head to the side to see Niall giving Harry a cocky smirk. I felt like I was missing some sub conversation the two were having with their eyes when I turned back to Harry and saw the same stony look from before on his face.
What the hell was going on?
Was I in the middle of some territory battle?
Was I the territory?
With that thought I pulled away from Niall slightly and sent him a glare over my shoulder before looking back at Harry, who wasn't looking at me.
"I'm sorry Harry. It won't happen again."
"Yea." His intense green eyes snapped up to me and he nodded. I wasn't sure if that was phrased as a question or a statement. "Just... keep it down. Mum and Darcy are on their way back. I'd rather not have to explain all the thumping coming from up here."
Once again my eyes widened. "No, Harry it's-"
"All right mate." Niall answered again as Harry began to leave.
Then like slow motion I felt myself be turned around. Niall's eyes on the door as he spun me to face him before apologetically latching onto my eyes for a moment. I was confused what he was trying to tell me with his blue orbs but I soon found out as his soft lips pressed to mine.
Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Harry turn to close the door only to spot us kissing in the center of the room. Even out of my peripheral I could see the hurt and saddened look on his face as he hesitated for only a second before slamming the door shut.
The sound of the slam was all I needed to snap me out of it.
With all the strength I had in my body I placed my hands on Niall's chest and shoved him backwards, nearly sending him toppling over his own feet.
His fearful eyes locked on mine while he swallowed deeply and opened his mouth to speak but I beat him to it.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Again Niall's apologetic eyes searched my face, probably trying to figure out what he could say to get himself out of this.
"I... I'm sorry Ari-"
"Are you kidding me?!" I was still in shocked by everything that had just occurred. Niall didn't help my steadily darkening mood as he just stared at me dumbly. "Leave Niall."
I angled my body so I could point to the door, not even looking at it because the image of Harry's upset face was still a bit too fresh in my mind.
Niall hesitated for a moment but began to walk my way only to stop in front of me.
"I'm really sorry Aria. Just let me-"
"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to, Niall."
That shut him up quickly. He watched me a moment longer before nodding and doing as I asked.
As soon as the door was closed I collapsed onto my bed, flinging myself back, only then realizing exactly how exhausting a morning I had had. I literally wanted to sleep forever.
But I had no such luck.
All the excitement must have woken Jamie up because as soon as my tired eyes snapped shut, they were slowly opening again at the sound of my sons cries.
"Perfect." Just what my morning was missing. A cranky infant to add to the two cranky men I just dealt with.
YOOO!!! IF YOU DONT UPDATE I SWEAR...
9/3/16