Chapter 33: Miles Better
Liam’s POV
All of us were filing back into the flat. After Louis, Zayn, and I had spent the night at Eleanor, Danielle, and Perrie’s flats, respectively, and Harry crashed on Perrie’s couch, we had met up at a Starbucks and decided to just hang out for a day. The girls, however, wanted to go shopping, so had come to the flat to grab Nell.
I was first to walk in. I stopped abruptly, causing Danielle to run into me. “Liam, what the hell?” She asked playfully. Louis came in behind us and pushed past me, and he also stopped in his tracks. I heard Harry from the back. “Okay, what is it—” He stopped talking as he came to the front, looking at the scene in front of us. There were clothes scattered about the floor, half Nell’s, half Niall’s. We were silent for a moment, until Louis wolf whistled. “Niall got some action!” I chuckled, and Harry glared at the floor. Zayn looked like he was trying to stifle his laughter. Danielle and Eleanor exchanged looks, like they were trying not to laugh, and Eleanor took charge of the situation. “Okay, boys, turn around.” She said, obviously trying to save Nell from embarrassment. I rolled my eyes, and we obliged, while the girls picked up the clothes. “Alright.” Danielle said, once they had finished, and the three of them had gotten everything. “Let’s go find them.”
We all started walking towards Niall’s room, when Eleanor turned and pushed Harry and Louis back. “Nope. You two are staying here.” She said to them.
Harry just kept glaring, but Louis protested. “What? Come on, El! Why?”
“You’ll embarrass the shit out of them, Lou.” I answered.
“I know! I’m good at it! Please? She lives here, now. We’re allowed to.”
Perrie turned to Eleanor. “Just let him. It’ll be hilarious.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, babe, you can come. But you, Harry, are staying back.” He nodded and slumped onto a chair, and Louis jumped in victory. We all walked into Niall’s room—they’d even left the door open, and thankfully they were wearing clothes—and the girls dropped everything from the living room onto the floor. We stood around the bed, where Niall was spooning her, and Zayn said quietly, “Okay, that’s just really fucking cute.”
“Yeah. I need a picture of that.” I whispered. I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo.
“They’re adorable.” I heard Perrie from the other side of the bed, and Zayn leisurely put his arm around her.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, okay, let’s wake them up. Niall!” I yelled. “Nell! Wake up!”
They stirred, and she sat up quickly. She noticed us, and seemed to relax a bit. Rubbing her eyes, she said, “Oh, hey, guys.”
Niall stretched his arms and yawned. “What’s up?” He looked over at Nell and grinned. She just looked away towards Perrie and Zayn, a blush evident on her cheeks.
“So.” I heard Louis. “You guys, you know. You left your clothes on the floor out there. Nice boxers, Niall.” He snickered.
“Oh, shut up, Louis.” Nell groaned, climbing out of bed. “Could you guys just…” She trailed off. I could tell that she wanted to ask us to leave, but she hastily added, “Give me my clothes.”
I grabbed Danielle and whispered, “Let’s leave them alone.” She nodded and ushered the others out. We walked out to the living room where Harry was still slumped on a sofa. I sat next to him. “You all right, Haz?” I asked.
“No.” He answered. I decided to talk to him about it later, when the girls weren’t around. Dani shot me a knowing look and I grinned at her, giving a thumbs up. Harry just rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Couples.”

Nell’s POV
I watched as they all filed out of the room. I was standing up, looking out Niall’s window, and Liam shot me a look. He had realized that I wanted them to leave. I didn’t like being found like this. I didn’t want anyone to know about anything that happened between Niall and I—it would make it worse later.
When they were all gone, and Zayn had closed the door, I finally spoke. “I’m sorry, Niall.”
He stood up and came over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “It’s no big deal. I’ve walked in on all the lads like that.”
“No, I mean…I’m sorry for doing this. I shouldn’t have.” I pulled out of his embrace and walked towards the door. I wanted nothing more than to stay with him, but I tore myself away.
Add that to the list of reasons I was afraid of him: Niall Horan was irresistible. I could feel myself getting attached. I could feel myself wanting him more and more. I hated that he blinded me. Last night, I just couldn’t stop myself. “Wait, Nell, what?” He called after me. My every instinct told me to keep walking right out the door, but he sounded so bewildered, so hurt, that I turned and answered him. “I shouldn’t have slept with you. I’m sorry. We’re just supposed to be friends.”
“Why?” His voice broke, making my heart ache. Because I’m terrified of you. Because I’ll hurt you. Because I love the way you make me feel which will make it even worse when you hurt me. I had so much that I wanted to say to him. I finally found something to say. “Because…I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want this.” Yes, I do. I want this more than anything.
“Oh. Right, yeah. Just…sorry. My bad.” He looked away. Standing there, without a shirt on, in just his sweatpants, I wanted him more than anything. Something inside me told me to flee, so I did. I turned and ran out of his room.
I walked into the guest bedroom to find Eleanor. I was glad that I wasn’t crying. “Hey, girly. We’re going to go shopping, and you’re coming, so get dressed. I hope you had fun last night.” She winked at me and left, leaving me alone. I collapsed on the bed, trying to get my mind off of Niall. Maybe shopping was exactly what I needed.
I wanted to just dress in sweatpants, and tie my hair up above my head, but something told me to wear something nice. As soon as I got the idea, I realized how good it was: I could flirt a bit and get my mind off of Niall. Some part of me also wanted him to drool over me, although I’m not quite sure why. I grabbed a blouse and a pair of shorts from my closet, not caring how revealing they were, and a pair of black heels that I used to wear to work that would show off my legs. I curled my hair, quickly, and put a braid through it. I put on some makeup, and just as I opened the door, Perrie knocked. She grinned when she saw me. “Girl, you are fit. Damn. Niall’s going to be drooling all over you.” She glanced back at the room and added, “Also Harry.”
I returned the smile and we walked out to the living room, where the girls were waiting. I saw Niall’s eyes widen and Harry’s jaw drop as we entered the room. I felt them staring at me, and I noticed the other three give me a once over before looking away. Louis snickered and ruffled Harry’s hair. “Well, I’m ready to go.” I said, anxious to leave.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?” Eleanor smiled. “So am I. Let’s get going!” She grabbed Danielle’s arm and we left. I swung my hips a bit as I left. “See you later, lads!” I called behind me, smirking.
(For those who are interested, here is Nell's outfit)

Niall’s POV
“Motherfucking shit.” I said, as soon as I heard the door close. “She’s just…ugh.” I groaned and lay back on the couch. Zayn snickered at me and sat next to me.
“How was it?” Louis asked, taking a seat. “Last night, I mean. You got up to no good, Nialler.”
“Well, we went out for dinner and then I took her to a carnival, right. And it was super romantic and we kissed in front of the lights and whatever, and then we came back, and it happened. And, Louis, it was damn good. It was the best ever.”
He reached out to high-five me, but I didn’t slap hands with him. I sat up and put my head in my hands. “But then, after you guys left this morning, she said that it was a mistake. She apologized for it, and she said she shouldn’t have.”
I saw Zayn wince and Harry remained expressionless. I took a deep breath. “She said, and I quote, ‘we’re just supposed to be friends’. I just don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, mate.” Zayn pat my shoulder. “She’ll come around.”
“Maybe. It’s just that I really like her, lads, and every time I think that maybe she likes me too the next morning she says that it’s a mistake. Or she ignores me for ages. She just said that she only wants to be friends but then she wears that. She’s evil.”
Liam finally spoke, slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. “Niall, mate, you know that she has a lot going on. Just keep trying.”
“I’m not going to stop, Liam. I’m mad for her.”
He looked like he wanted to say something more, but Harry spoke before he could. “Good luck with her, Nialler.” He said, standing up and walking to his room.”
“Is it just me, or does he actually seem like he likes her?” Louis asked.
“He’s backing off because of Niall.” Liam answered. “I talked to him yesterday.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah. Yesterday, he was like ‘She likes Niall more. And Niall really likes her. Who am I to get in the way of that, huh? Even if I’m head over heels with her.’ It was actually a bit adorable.”
I sighed and fell back onto the couch. “That wanker! Why would he do that?”
The boys all stared at me incredulously, until finally Louis spoke up. “Niall, why the fuck are you mad about that?”
“Because, I mean, he shouldn’t give up like that. We’ve done this three fucking times and even when I was so far behind him I wasn’t even in the running I didn’t stop trying. It’s not fair to her, it’s not fair to me, and it’s certainly not fucking fair to him, the little shit.”
Liam laughed. “You should probably go to him, then, Ni. Knock some sense into that dense head of his.”
“I can’t believe you’re actually winning for once and when Harry steps aside you get angry at the fucker.” Zayn shook his head.
“What the shit, Niall, you’re the absolute weirdest guy I know. Well, go tell him before the poor bastard kills himself. He’s been moping about it for days. When we were drinking last night it was all he could talk about.” Louis patted my back as I stood up and grimaced, walking to Harry’s room. “You all right, Haz?” I yelled as I knocked on his door, praying he was wearing at least his boxers.
“I’m fine, Nialler. Go away.”
“You’re funny. Not a chance, Hazza, I’m coming in. If you’re not wearing pants, cover up.” I opened the door to find Harry lying spread-eagle on his bed, a beer in one hand and his cell phone in the other. He looked absolutely miserable, and a soap opera was running on the screen. I sat myself down on the side of the bed, and motioned for him to sit up and join me. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, but obliged. As he was moving, I got a glimpse of his phone screen, and saw that he had Caroline’s number pulled up. “Shit, Harry, you’ve got it bad. Were you really texting her?”
“Not yet. I was thinking about it. I kind of want to fuck someone to get my mind off things.” He groaned and switched off his phone, throwing it behind him on the bed, where it bounced twice and lay face-down. I heard it buzz, but he ignored it.
“What happened to waiting for someone?” I asked, referencing the conversation we’d had a couple weeks ago. Clearly, he’d been talking about Nell.
“Look, Niall, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that you like her and she likes you, so who am I to stand in the way of that? You guys obviously fucked last night—” He noticed my frown, and rolled his eyes. “Okay, you guys obviously ‘made love’ or whatever last night, and I really don’t think she likes me at all. Besides, even if we ever dated, our couple name would be Hell. Maybe it’s a sign that it’ll never work out.”
“You could be Narry.”
“No, Ni, that’s you and me.”
“Oh. Whatever. The reason I came in here is because you can’t just give up on her. Maybe you don’t have a chance at all, but I find that pretty hard to believe considering you’re Harry Fucking Styles. Mate, I never once gave up, even when everyone knew I wasn’t going to win. The point it, if you still have feelings for her, go for it. You shouldn’t let anyone stop you. What if you find out that she really fucking likes you? It wouldn’t be fair to any of us to stop chasing her, you shit, so get yourself together and don’t give up.”
“That was very inspiring.” Harry said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. I shoved him, and he snickered. “Whatever you say, Captain.” He slurred his words a bit.
“Okay then.” I stood up. “Get your arse out of bed because we are going to have a good day and we aren’t even going to think about her. Or Caroline. You’ve given her enough trouble as it is. And stop drinking that.” I pulled the beer out of his hand, and he whined. “Harry, if an Irishman tells you to stop drinking, you better damn well stop drinking. It’s ten in the morning, arsewipe, and you need a beer like you need a bullet in your head. Go get some aspirin from the bathroom and join us in the living room. We’re going to play FIFA and you are going to enjoy it.” I walked out of the room, feeling strangely empowered.
Zayn grinned at me. “Well, you look miles better, mate.”
“Let’s just forget about girls for a while.” I sighed, plopping down on the couch between Louis and Liam. “Okay, who’s ready to get destroyed?” I asked, grabbing a controller off the table.

Perrie’s POV
“Alright. Spill.” El said as soon as we got into the lift to head downstairs. “How was it? Are you guys official? What’s up?”
Danielle giggled. “You better tell us all about it. I’ve heard Niall’s pretty good, but, you know. I’m not supposed to say that.”
The three of us looked eagerly over at Nell, who was studying the ground. “Everything’s so damn complicated. Okay, well, it was really good. He does this thing where…ugh. It’s just amazing. But…I don’t really want a relationship.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, and we walked out of the lift as it reached the first floor. “Girl, why not? Trust me, if you’re worried about him, it doesn’t get much better than Niall. He’s the salt of the earth.”
“I know he is, it’s just…I’m just scared.”
“What could you possibly be scared of? He’s the best ever guy to fall in love with—”
Eleanor was cut off by Nell. “See, that’s the thing. I don’t want to fall in love. It’s terrifying. Now could we please talk about something else?”
I glanced at Danielle, and nodded. “Okay, whatever you want. Where do you guys want to go first?”

Notes

Okay, so I'm sorry about not posting as frequently as I normally do. I'm just getting massive writer's block, and it's actually really annoying me. One thing is, I really wanted to get on with the story, but I just could not write smut the other day. I just churned something out and I know that that chapter is shit but I don't really care. There's a lot of things coming up in the story, and I'm trying to do better about proofreading and such. I'm trying to write, but some part of me is getting a little bit fed up with the story, and I really don't know why. Oh well - no need to worry, I'll keep writing, and I think with some of the next chapters, I'll get back into it. Thanks again for the reviews. Seriously, when I see them I just want to write. You guys are the best!
-Sam