Terrible Little Things
Chapter Six
“I. Am. So. BOOORRREEDD,” I groaned. It was mid-July and I was sitting in my living with Niall, Catherine, Harry, and Zayn. Louis and Liam were on a cute double date with their girlfriends.
“Go eat,” Catherine mumbled, not looking away from her intense game of Monopoly with Zayn and Harry. “I’m not gonna eat just cause I’m bored….you know what? Screw it.” I rolled off my couch and walked to my kitchen. I stood in front of the open fridge and tilted my head to the side. I groaned and closed the fridge, moving on to the pantry. I quickly grabbed a bag of chips and walked back into the living room.
Niall was sitting on the arm chair in the bay window looking disgruntled. I walked over to him and sat on the arm rest, “What’s wrong, babe?” I asked him. He looked up from his phone with a frown on his innocent face. “Niall, what’s wrong?” I asked grabbing his phone. I scrolled through the twitter mentions.
“Why are you wasting your time reading these lies?” I asked. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Cause it’s true,” He grumbled. I shot up from my spot on the arm rest and looked over at Harry and Zayn. They frowned and shook their heads. “How often do you read this crap?” I turned my attention to Niall.
“At least 4 times a week,” He mumbled. “That’s ridiculous! Do you really believe this? Why? Niall, do you honestly think that if you weren’t talented Simon would have called you back to give you another chance? That he’d waste 2 years of his time supporting and endorsing you for nothing? You are signed with one of the top record labels in the world, you are part of the most popular boy band in the world. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? You have such a beautiful, sweet, unique, perfect voice. When are you going to realize that?”
The room had fallen totally silent. The only sounds to be heard were the ragged breathing coming from my boyfriend and the rapid beating of my heart. “Do you know how many tweets I’ve gotten, saying that if I hurt the glorious Irish member of the band that I’d have to move to another country and change my name? I’ve gotten thousands upon thousands of tweets like that. So many people care about you. They love you and want to protect you. More people like you than hate you, Niall,” I said, my voice barely faltering.
Niall stood up in front of me staring into my eyes. I kind of expected him to lash out at me, but he didn’t. He pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my neck. “Thank you,” He mumbled, his warm breath hitting my neck, causing a shiver to go down my spine. I looked over his shoulder at Harry who nodded then at Zayn who smiled then at Catherine how mouthed ‘Get some’. I rolled my eyes at her and focused on hugging Niall back.
***
I sat in my room that night with my black guitar in hand. I was strumming the chords to one of my many favorite songs. “Made a wrong turn, once or twice. Dug my way out blood and fire, bad decisions, that’s alright. Welcome to my silly life. Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood, miss no way it’s all good, it didn’t slow me down. Mistaken, always second guessin, underestimated, look I’m still around. Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever feel like you’re less than fucking perfect. Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing, you’re fucking perfect to me.” I looked up from the guitar strings and saw Niall in the doorway, leaning against the frame. I smiled slightly and stopped playing.
“Hey,” I whispered. I sat my guitar on the stand next to my bed and watched as he looked around my room. He chuckled slightly and pointed at the One Direction poster handing over my bed. I blushed and looked down. I was sitting in the middle of my bed, cross-legged watching Niall’s seemingly graceful movements.
He traveled to my desk, his eyes scanning over the slightly cluttered surface. He stopped in front of a notebook that was lying on top, opened to a random page in the middle. “Songs?” He asked. “Yep,” I answered quietly. He moved to the window and stared out, looking the quiet street I live on. A stark contrast to the normally loud and hectic city of London. He finally turned to me, staring right at me. My breath hitched in my throat as my eyes scanned over his perfectly beautiful features. He walked up to the bed so that he was right in front of me.
“I, uh, I wanted to thank you for today. And I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t be believing, let alone reading that stuff,” He said, his eyes never leaving mine. I shook my head and smiled, “It’s fine Niall. I just don’t want to see you upset.”
He sat down next to me, “You know, your guitar skills are pretty great. Where did you learn to play?”
“My father taught me when I was younger. I was in 6th grade and I was failing my classes. My parents quickly realized that academics weren’t my thing and that art was. My dad sat me down and made a deal with me. If I brought my grades to at least passing he’d teach me to play guitar. Now here I am, master guitar player.”
“You play piano, right?” I nodded, “My brother’s girlfriend taught me. I can also play the kazoo. I am like the best kazoo player in the continental United Kingdom,” I said with a straight face. He and I looked at each other before breaking out into giggles. “Wait, wasn’t Harry your ride?” I asked him. “Yeah, but he had a date or something, I don’t know.”
“You can stay here, if you want,” I offered. He smiled, “Okay. Thanks.”
“I still have your sweats in my closet. I’ll go get them.” I stood from the bed and walked to my large closet. I grabbed his sweatpants and wandered back into my room. I threw the pants at Niall who shamelessly stripped down to his Calvin Klein boxers. I found myself staring at his toned torso. For a kid that eats a lot, he’s definitely not lacking in the ab department. He caught me staring and smirked, “Like what you see Liz?”
I playfully rolled my eyes, “Watch it Horan, I can practically see your head increasing in size.” He laughed and pulled me down next to him on my bed. “You know there’s a guest room, right?” He shrugged, “It’s so far away.” I smiled and rested my head on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to his body.
I fell asleep listing to the beautiful sound of his heartbeat.
***
I woke up to the heavenly scent of sizzling bacon. I laid in that half-awake/half-asleep bliss before I realized that the only person in my townhouse was Niall, and he can’t cook. In fear of another fire burning down my house, I sprung out of bed and raced down the stairs and into my kitchen.
He stood in front of the stove watching the sizzling bacon, softly singing a song I recognized as one I had written not too long ago. “There’s a place, that I know. It’s not pretty there and few have ever gone. If I showed it to you now, will it make you run away, or will you stay?”
“Even if it hurts, even if I try to push you out, will you return? And remind me who I really am? Please remind me who I really am?” I cut in and sang. I hadn’t but the lyrics to music but I saw my guitar sitting by the table next to my song notebook. We joined in on the chorus, “Everybody’s got a dark side, do you love me? Can you love mine? Nobody’s a picture perfect, but we’re worth it, you know that we’re worth it. Will you love me? Even with my dark side?”
He turned to smile at me, “Good morning! I hope you don’t mind that I put a song to the lyrics. It’s a really good song. It’s relatable, too.”
I smiled and sat at the table, “No, it’s fine. I really like it.” I looked around the kitchen seeing fruit, eggs, pancakes, bacon, and orange juice. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Niall skeptically, “What’s the occasion?”
He turned from the stove with the bacon in hand and shrugged. Smiling he replied, “I just wanted to do something special for my beautiful girlfriend.” I tried to contain the giggle that was rising up my throat. I blushed something fierce and looked down at the high top table.
He put a finger under my chin and made me look him in the eye, “Don’t look down. It’s really cute when you blush.” I blushed harder and smiled. “Now, eat.” He said setting a plate in front of me filled with chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I dug in and my eyes widened. “This is amazing! I didn’t know you could cook!”
He chuckled, “I can’t. Harry texted me the recipe.” We laughed and continued eating the delicious breakfast.
“Go eat,” Catherine mumbled, not looking away from her intense game of Monopoly with Zayn and Harry. “I’m not gonna eat just cause I’m bored….you know what? Screw it.” I rolled off my couch and walked to my kitchen. I stood in front of the open fridge and tilted my head to the side. I groaned and closed the fridge, moving on to the pantry. I quickly grabbed a bag of chips and walked back into the living room.
Niall was sitting on the arm chair in the bay window looking disgruntled. I walked over to him and sat on the arm rest, “What’s wrong, babe?” I asked him. He looked up from his phone with a frown on his innocent face. “Niall, what’s wrong?” I asked grabbing his phone. I scrolled through the twitter mentions.
“Why are you wasting your time reading these lies?” I asked. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Cause it’s true,” He grumbled. I shot up from my spot on the arm rest and looked over at Harry and Zayn. They frowned and shook their heads. “How often do you read this crap?” I turned my attention to Niall.
“At least 4 times a week,” He mumbled. “That’s ridiculous! Do you really believe this? Why? Niall, do you honestly think that if you weren’t talented Simon would have called you back to give you another chance? That he’d waste 2 years of his time supporting and endorsing you for nothing? You are signed with one of the top record labels in the world, you are part of the most popular boy band in the world. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? You have such a beautiful, sweet, unique, perfect voice. When are you going to realize that?”
The room had fallen totally silent. The only sounds to be heard were the ragged breathing coming from my boyfriend and the rapid beating of my heart. “Do you know how many tweets I’ve gotten, saying that if I hurt the glorious Irish member of the band that I’d have to move to another country and change my name? I’ve gotten thousands upon thousands of tweets like that. So many people care about you. They love you and want to protect you. More people like you than hate you, Niall,” I said, my voice barely faltering.
Niall stood up in front of me staring into my eyes. I kind of expected him to lash out at me, but he didn’t. He pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my neck. “Thank you,” He mumbled, his warm breath hitting my neck, causing a shiver to go down my spine. I looked over his shoulder at Harry who nodded then at Zayn who smiled then at Catherine how mouthed ‘Get some’. I rolled my eyes at her and focused on hugging Niall back.
***
I sat in my room that night with my black guitar in hand. I was strumming the chords to one of my many favorite songs. “Made a wrong turn, once or twice. Dug my way out blood and fire, bad decisions, that’s alright. Welcome to my silly life. Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood, miss no way it’s all good, it didn’t slow me down. Mistaken, always second guessin, underestimated, look I’m still around. Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever feel like you’re less than fucking perfect. Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing, you’re fucking perfect to me.” I looked up from the guitar strings and saw Niall in the doorway, leaning against the frame. I smiled slightly and stopped playing.
“Hey,” I whispered. I sat my guitar on the stand next to my bed and watched as he looked around my room. He chuckled slightly and pointed at the One Direction poster handing over my bed. I blushed and looked down. I was sitting in the middle of my bed, cross-legged watching Niall’s seemingly graceful movements.
He traveled to my desk, his eyes scanning over the slightly cluttered surface. He stopped in front of a notebook that was lying on top, opened to a random page in the middle. “Songs?” He asked. “Yep,” I answered quietly. He moved to the window and stared out, looking the quiet street I live on. A stark contrast to the normally loud and hectic city of London. He finally turned to me, staring right at me. My breath hitched in my throat as my eyes scanned over his perfectly beautiful features. He walked up to the bed so that he was right in front of me.
“I, uh, I wanted to thank you for today. And I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t be believing, let alone reading that stuff,” He said, his eyes never leaving mine. I shook my head and smiled, “It’s fine Niall. I just don’t want to see you upset.”
He sat down next to me, “You know, your guitar skills are pretty great. Where did you learn to play?”
“My father taught me when I was younger. I was in 6th grade and I was failing my classes. My parents quickly realized that academics weren’t my thing and that art was. My dad sat me down and made a deal with me. If I brought my grades to at least passing he’d teach me to play guitar. Now here I am, master guitar player.”
“You play piano, right?” I nodded, “My brother’s girlfriend taught me. I can also play the kazoo. I am like the best kazoo player in the continental United Kingdom,” I said with a straight face. He and I looked at each other before breaking out into giggles. “Wait, wasn’t Harry your ride?” I asked him. “Yeah, but he had a date or something, I don’t know.”
“You can stay here, if you want,” I offered. He smiled, “Okay. Thanks.”
“I still have your sweats in my closet. I’ll go get them.” I stood from the bed and walked to my large closet. I grabbed his sweatpants and wandered back into my room. I threw the pants at Niall who shamelessly stripped down to his Calvin Klein boxers. I found myself staring at his toned torso. For a kid that eats a lot, he’s definitely not lacking in the ab department. He caught me staring and smirked, “Like what you see Liz?”
I playfully rolled my eyes, “Watch it Horan, I can practically see your head increasing in size.” He laughed and pulled me down next to him on my bed. “You know there’s a guest room, right?” He shrugged, “It’s so far away.” I smiled and rested my head on his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to his body.
I fell asleep listing to the beautiful sound of his heartbeat.
***
I woke up to the heavenly scent of sizzling bacon. I laid in that half-awake/half-asleep bliss before I realized that the only person in my townhouse was Niall, and he can’t cook. In fear of another fire burning down my house, I sprung out of bed and raced down the stairs and into my kitchen.
He stood in front of the stove watching the sizzling bacon, softly singing a song I recognized as one I had written not too long ago. “There’s a place, that I know. It’s not pretty there and few have ever gone. If I showed it to you now, will it make you run away, or will you stay?”
“Even if it hurts, even if I try to push you out, will you return? And remind me who I really am? Please remind me who I really am?” I cut in and sang. I hadn’t but the lyrics to music but I saw my guitar sitting by the table next to my song notebook. We joined in on the chorus, “Everybody’s got a dark side, do you love me? Can you love mine? Nobody’s a picture perfect, but we’re worth it, you know that we’re worth it. Will you love me? Even with my dark side?”
He turned to smile at me, “Good morning! I hope you don’t mind that I put a song to the lyrics. It’s a really good song. It’s relatable, too.”
I smiled and sat at the table, “No, it’s fine. I really like it.” I looked around the kitchen seeing fruit, eggs, pancakes, bacon, and orange juice. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Niall skeptically, “What’s the occasion?”
He turned from the stove with the bacon in hand and shrugged. Smiling he replied, “I just wanted to do something special for my beautiful girlfriend.” I tried to contain the giggle that was rising up my throat. I blushed something fierce and looked down at the high top table.
He put a finger under my chin and made me look him in the eye, “Don’t look down. It’s really cute when you blush.” I blushed harder and smiled. “Now, eat.” He said setting a plate in front of me filled with chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I dug in and my eyes widened. “This is amazing! I didn’t know you could cook!”
He chuckled, “I can’t. Harry texted me the recipe.” We laughed and continued eating the delicious breakfast.
Notes
Whoop a cute little chapter!Vote comment subscribe, THANK YOU FOR READING
I love you so so much :)
~Alex
11/16/13