Crooked

“What’s up with Niall?” I asked Liam casually. We were sitting in the hotel room, where Liam, Niall and Zayn were sharing one room and Harry, Louis and I in the other. There were two double beds, which meant that I got to have the bed to myself. Harry said he didn’t mind sharing, since he and Louis often slept together.

If only that boy knew what was running through my mind in that moment…

Liam frowned. “Not sure. I’m worried about him though, he hasn’t eaten a thing since we’ve come.”

Liam and I were currently watching one of those music video countdowns, where Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass had just begun to play. Harry and Louis were in the other room doing God knows what, Zayn was in the bathroom – no surprises there – and Niall was outside, calling his family back home.

I hummed in reply and focused my attention on Nicki Minaj, who was ready to rap the first few lines of her song. I knew the song well and just as I was about to sing along, Harry and Louis burst through the door of Liam’s room, wearing matching onesies. It was cute, to say the least.

“This one is for the boys in the boomer system!” Louis sang, standing in front of the TV with Harry as they swayed their hips to the beat. I couldn’t stop myself from bursting out into laughter; these two really knew how to ease the mood.

“Top down AC with the cooler system!” Harry sang next. He winked at me and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“When he come up in the club he be blazing up, got stacks on deck like he saving up!” They both shouted at the same time, causing Zayn to open the bathroom door with his eyebrows raised as he watched his band-members act like complete idiots.

A part of me wanted to join them, the other part wanted to check on Niall and see if he was okay.

The Niall side won.

I quietly excused myself and let the boys rap the rest of the song, with Liam and Zayn joining in. Smiling fondly at the scene, I slipped outside where Niall was sitting against the wall; his shoulders slumped with a sad expression on his usually happy face.

“Niall?” I was surprised by how soft my voice came out. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t reply, but let out a loud sigh. I took this opportunity to sit down next to him, staring up at him worriedly.

“You’re missing out a lot inside,” I told him. “Haz and Lou are dancing in their onesies to Nicki Minaj.”

The words seemed to perk him up, as he looked at me with a curious expression in his eyes. “Super bass?”

“The one and only,” I confirmed with a smile. Standing up, I offered Niall my hand and was grateful when he took it, sending a jolt of electricity down my arm. I didn’t understand the effect Niall had on me, but I shook the thought away from my mind and instead concentrated on the way his strikingly beautiful blue eyes pierced into my brain.

Cassie, focus. FOCUS. Look away while you can.

My mind wasn’t listening to my heart at the moment, and I watched in fascination as Niall tucked a stray tendril of my golden hair behind my ear, his gaze still focused on me. My breathing became hollow and deep, and almost subconsciously I opened my mouth as if I wanted something. He seemed to be inching closer to me and I didn’t want to move away, in fact I wanted to lean forward closer to him, as close as I could without any space between us. My heart seemed to beat faster and louder as he continued to lean in, and I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to touch mine…

…but they never did.

“Cassie?” Louis’ piercing loud voice broke the two of us apart. Immediately I opened the door and let myself in, leaving it open for Niall but practically running into the room where the rest of the boys were.

“What?” I asked, trying to act frantic but really I was feeling frantic from what could have almost just happened before. “What’s wrong?”

“You missed our dance,” Harry pouted and put his hands on his hips.

I snorted. “So?”

“At the end of the dance we were going to give you a gift but if you don’t want it…” Harry trailed off, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Gift? I want a gift. I love gifts. Much better than presents, really. Although I think they’re the same...” Oh my God, I was babbling. Someone stop me now before it’s too late.

“Here.” Niall appeared behind me, holding a blue gift bag that contained my present inside. I couldn’t look him in the eye, it was much too embarrassing and I was pretty sure that if I did, my heart was going to melt like it had minutes earlier.

Curiously, I took the bag from Niall and peered inside, the contents pleasantly surprising me. They had bought me Taylor Swift’s perfume, Wonderstruck, which I had been wanting for a while and underneath that, was a cotton-like material. I picked it up and held it in my hands, realising finally what it was.

“Really guys, really?” I turned to face the boys, who were grinning at me.

“Put it on!” Louis exclaimed cheerfully. “The rest of the lads will put theirs on too so you don’t feel left out.”

I sighed, and after I chased Louis out of my room who wanted to watch me change, I came back into the room almost self-consciously, untying my hair out of its bun. I had put on my underwear underneath; there was no way I was going to wear what I was wearing by itself.

“Hot dayumn girl, you lookin’ mighty fine,” Louis said in a ghetto voice, which caused me to pick up the nearest pillow around me and throw it at his face.

“Seriously Cass,” Harry grinned. “You look great.”

“Gorgeous.”

“Wonderful.”

“Beautiful.” The last one came from Niall, and I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. Sure, I had gotten called beautiful before, but not from Niall. Never from Niall.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, deflecting the compliments and sitting down next to Zayn. “Pizza night? Watch Louis and Harry be stupid night?”

“How about a dare night?” A new voice said behind us. We all turned around to see Angie, in a black onesie that matched my polka dot onesie. “I brought favours as well.” She held up a bag which I saw contained several bottles of vodka.

Clearly, we were going to be having fun tonight and looking back at the expression on the guys’ faces, they weren’t complaining either.