Just as Much

Erica's POV



“All right guys, I'm going to bed.” I'm so tired. Intellectually from all my lectures today, my brain is wiped out.



“No!” Ashton complains. “Stay up just a bit longer. Watch me beat the crap out of Niall in FIFA.”




“You've been saying that for hours now and haven't beat him in a game yet.” I flop my arms around. I feel like a dead fish.




“How about ice cream Erica?” Niall pauses the game and looks at me, of course he knows my weakness.



I bit the inside of my cheek and nod my head quickly. “All right, lets get some ice cream from the freezer then.” He pats my leg and gets up taking Ashton with him.




Once they're out of range in the kitchen, Calum pipes up. “You know Niall totally loves you, right?” He smiles and Luke chokes on his drink, hitting Calum in the arm.




“No he doesn't, we're just friends, we've been friends for years.” I inform him as if he keeps forgetting.




“Whatever Erica. We all see it, you're obviously blind to it.” He tells me in a sing song voice.




“It doesn't matter. I'm technically a Modest employee so we can't date.” I shrug my shoulders, I can't believe I'm having this conversation.




“That's crap. You know people date Modest employee all the time, and you're not technically a Modest employee your a contract employee, not a hired one.” Luke informs me.




“Doesn't matter, Niall doesn't like me like that, I'm like his sister.”




“I don't know any brother and sister that look at each other the way he looks at you and you look at him.” Michael looks at me and I mentally brush it off. It will never happen anyway.




"He doesn't pay that much attention me." I speak to no one in particular, I just don't want things to get awkward, what if they're wrong? Calum shakes his head.




“Okay, here we go!” Niall comes in with Ashton behind him carrying a tray with ice cream in bowls.




“Whose glass is that?” Luke pushes his brows together and looks around.




“That's Erica's. She only likes her ice cream in a cup with a little milk and chocolate powder in it.” Niall smiles and passes it to me, I can't miss Calum's pursed lips and knowing eyes looking at me.

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“Okay, I'm officially off to bed. Niall you can just leave the dishes in the sink, I'll get them in the morning.” I say over my shoulder.



“Wait, I need to get some things from my room.” He calls out after me and follows me down the hall.



I grab my pajama bottoms and walk to the bathroom, taking out my contacts, taking off my makeup, emptying my bladder and brushing my teeth. I slip on a jumper and grab my bra and jeans, walking out to Niall's room, throwing my dirty clothes in the basket at the back of the closet.




“Which side of the bed to you sleep on?” I ask Niall as he has his back turned towards me, getting a few things.




“Oh, uh, it doesn't matter. I usually sleep in the middle so I don't care.” He turns and stands, smiling at me.



“Well I'll sleep on this side, it's closer to the door so I can slip out easier while you're sleeping in the morning.” I pull the covers back and sit on the bed, plugging in my phone charger and phone, laying my glasses down and push my legs under the sheets.




“Sounds good. Good night Erica.” He leans into what I'm assuming would be a kiss but I must give an awkward face or he notices what he's doing because he pauses and stands back up straight, giving me a strange high five instead, causing me to laugh.



“Good night Niall.” I fall back on the bed and get comfortable as he gently closes the door. That was just weird.



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“What are you doing?” I hear Niall almost whisper yell as he's talking to someone.




“What? You two look so cute all cuddled up there.” I recognize the voice as Luke's. I haven't opened my eyes yet but I know it's morning. I can feel Niall's heavy limbs over my body, I try not to let my body tense up so they don't know I'm awake listening to their every word.




“Delete that picture.” Niall demands. Ouch, that hurts. “Well, send it to me first then delete it.” I bite back a smile.



“Why don't you just tell her you like her. It's not that big of a deal.” Can they really think that I'm not awake right now? I mean seriously.



“It's complicated. Just send me the picture and leave.” Niall demands.




“Fine. We're doing that photo shoot today so we'll be back this evening.” I hear Luke shuffle his feet as his steps get lighter and lighter I know he's walking away. Instead of removing himself from me I feel Niall's grip get tighter as he snuggles next to me, when his arm returns to cross my chest, I get tense for a moment, stomach nervous with butterflies, but when he pulls me closer, I just feel like I fit here. He places a small kiss right at the base of my neck and I can't help but feel like a little part of me is dying, this will never be for real.




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I wake up, what seems like a few hours later, but checking the time, it's only been about 45 minutes, Niall still has a tight grip on me but I managed to wiggle my way out as I grabbed my phone and glasses, escaping into the bathroom to get my contacts and head to the room I've actually been staying in. It's not incredibly messy, so I just straighten up the sheets and grab some clothes to change into and head to my bathroom to shower.




After about an hour of taking a shower, getting dressed, fixing my minimal make up, and styling my hair, I'm ready to start the day. I walk into the other bedroom and fix the bed up, straighten the knick nacks on the walls and head to the living room. Surprisingly it's fairly neat, all I really need to do is fluff the pillows and run a vacuum over the rug but I'll wait till Niall is awake.





I notice that the dishes from last night that I told Niall I would clean up have been washed and already put away. I'm actually surprised. I decide to quit with the cleaning for a little bit, it's easier when I technically live here so I can clean more when it's needed and not just when I'm at “work.”




I grab my books and computer from the front closet, so thankful that I take these with me every time I leave left my place so even if I lost almost everything, I didn't lose my work. I pull my laptop out and start it up, organizing my research articles and pulling out the passages I've already highlighted that I need to add to my essay.




I get lost in my words, biting the end of my pencil when the someone knocks on the front door. I pull a little bit at my eyes, tired from looking at my computer screen. I check the peephole before I open and quickly see one of my favorite people, I pull the door open quickly.



“Zayn!”I smile big as I usher him in to the house.



“Hey Erica!” I give him a hug as I move out of the way for him.




“What are you doing here?” I ask.




“Ah, Niall was going to let me borrow some things but he's not answering his phone and I was in the area so I thought I'd pop by.” He wipes his shoes on the rug and walks into the house a little more. “I heard about the fire at your place, I'm sorry about that.” His voice changes tone just a bit.




“Thanks, it sucks. I keep thinking about things I need and then realizing I don't have it and I need to buy it. I have my laptop and my books but I didn't have everything obviously.” I'm still upset about the fire, I try to keep myself occupied with things but my mind often drifts. “Hey, could you look at my essay really quick? I've read it a million times but it might be nice to have a fresh pair of eyes on it. Niall is still sleeping anyway.” Zayn is really good at English, I've always tried to get him to read my things before I submit it.




“Yeah, sure.” He follows me to the table and sits next to me, as I pull my computer to his view and he starts reading, making notes and telling me what doesn't make sense, we quickly get engrossed in my essay, forgetting about everything else.





“Hey, good morning.” Niall shuffles his feet, voice groggy with sleep still.




“Hey.” I look up quickly and turn back to my essay.




“Zayn, what are you doing here?” He ask, leaning against a chair across from us.




“Well I came to get those things I was going to borrow from you and you were still sleeping so I've just been hanging out with Erica, helping her with her essay.” He explains, splitting one of my longer paragraphs into two. I look up to see Niall's face tight as I notice discreetly Zayn pulling his phone out feverishly typing out what I can assume is a text. When Niall's phone pings I know right away that it's from Zayn. I pay attention to Niall's face as he looks at Zayn, then me, and shakes his head, putting his phone down and walking away.




I ignore this odd interaction and continue working on my essay, my head spinning with what the hell is going on in this house.

Notes

So I really wanted to update yesterday but my laptop is still broken and the place I'm taking it to is flooded with things that need fixed so it might be two weeks. :( I've only got a few prewritten chapters so I'm trying to space them out but all I want to do is write!!! Plus yesterday was my birthday and we had to drive to my uncles for our last family Christmas...finally!!!



Thank you all so much for all the comments! Really makes me excited that you all like the story so much! Maybe 30 votes as a late birthday present? :)


As always thank you so much for reading, commenting, subscribing, and voting!!


Happy day!



xoxoxo