Crooked

“Woo, dare night!” Louis let out an enthusiastic squeal and practically grabbed the bottles of Vodka from Angie, who was sitting between Harry and I.

“Nice onesie,” I complimented her. “Who tipped you off?”

“I did.” Zayn grinned and attempted to slide an arm around Angie’s waist but she smiled at him coolly. I couldn’t help but share a secret smirk with Harry, who looked very pleased by the turn of events when Angie stood up and sat next to Haz and Niall instead.

Niall was sitting on my right with Zayn to my left, and I couldn’t help but think how much I wanted Niall to sit next to me. I knew I shouldn’t be thinking like this but I couldn’t help it, Niall was a force I couldn’t help but be attracted to.

Oh God. Did I really just admit that I had an attraction towards Niall?

“So how does dare night work, exactly?” Liam asked, going to the kitchen and taking some glasses before coming down to sit with the rest of us.

“Instead of playing truth or dare, we just play the dares because let’s face it, that sounds much more fun,” Angie explained. “If you don’t want to do a dare, you have to do a shot. Fair enough?”

I smirked. “So our choices are to do dares and embarrass ourselves, or get drunk and embarrass ourselves?”

“Aw Cassie.” Angie reached a hand over to ruffle with my hair. I glared at her while she laughed. “You know me so well.”

“I’ll go first,” Niall announced, sounding more confident than I would have expected him to. I wondered what brought this on. Confidence was always a turn-on for me.

“Hmmm,” Angie pondered, sending me an evil grin. “You have to kiss Cassie.”

I managed to keep my face blank and emotionless, but wheels were turning inside of me and I realised how much I wanted Niall to kiss me. These thoughts were stupid and I knew I shouldn’t be thinking of them, but I couldn’t help it. Niall was just so… adorable.

“Do you want to time it too?” I asked sarcastically. “Are there certain positions we have to be in as well?”

“Only if you want,” Angie replied, smirking. I looked around at the other boy’s faces. Harry, Liam and Zayn were smirking as well with Louis looking a little pissed off. Louis had to know by now that I didn’t like him in any way, but at a time like this I wished he’d just say something already so Niall didn’t have to kiss me.

Even though I really wanted it.

We all turned to Niall, waiting for his reaction. It didn’t take long as I could see his blue eyes light up, sending a crooked smile my way. “I’ll do it.”

“Sweet,” Angie said enthusiastically. “Anyone have any objections?”

I silently willed Louis to say something, but he kept his mouth shut, staring at the ground with his arms crossed.

“No? Sweet. Niall, do your thang,” Angie said and everyone’s eyes, including mine, were on Niall’s as we anticipated his next move. I crossed my legs in a way a kindergartener sat, as though to make it easier for Niall to kiss me. This proved to be right, as without almost any warning, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.

If there was a feeling I had not been expecting, it was the one I was currently feeling right now. To say I had butterflies was an understatement, it was more like there was a butterfly farm that was situated in my stomach and the butterfly keeper decided to let them roam at once. The tingles I felt were so strong, it was like I was standing naked in a pool of cold, mushy snow. And the best feeling, the smile that was struggling to escape my lips, was a smile I remembered giving The Bitch after I lunged at her. The scratches and marks she had on her skin from me was a fantastic sight to see, a sight that was forever imprinted into my brain because it was definitely a sight I did not want to forget any time soon. For some reason, violence and being kissed by Niall Horan gave off the same type of pleasure, but I was fine with that.

I was more than fine for that.

By the time he pulled away, the room was silent. An elephant could have stomped by and no one would have noticed, because every single pair of eyes had their attention focused on me and Niall.

“Yes, we kissed,” I said impatiently, desperately trying to cover up the fact that I enjoyed the kiss between Niall and I way more than I should. “Does that mean Nialler gets to dare someone now?”

“You have a nickname for Niall?” Louis sneered. “How cute.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, but ignored his words as I turned to Niall and prodded him on. “Dude, it’s your turn.”

“Right,” he nodded, looking around the room. The boys and Angie, minus Louis, had familiar smirks on their faces as he turned to me. “Can I dare you to ask you something?”

I shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Why were you in jail?” Louis butted in, seemingly taking the words right out of Niall’s mouth.

Angie laughed. “You never told them?”

“They never asked,” I said, a little bit defensively. I knew I shouldn’t be, but I was a teensy bit proud of what I did. I mean, that bitch deserved it!

“You didn’t do anything bad, did you?” Niall asked worriedly. “Because if I paid your bail for something that you might be likely to do again, I …”

I giggled along with Angie. “I might do it again,” I told him honestly. “But considering I’m in the UK and not in Australia, I don’t think it’s going to be happening any time soon.”

“So what did you do?” Harry prompted. “Steal a cookie from the local bakery? Shoot someone?”

“If she shot someone, she wouldn’t be going to jail for only one day, mate,” Zayn pointed out to Harry as the rest of us burst out in laughter.

When the laughter began to die down, I finally told them. “I attacked someone.”

All of the boys’ eyes widened in shock, except for Harry’s, who merely grinned. “Feisty, who was it?”

“My brother’s girlfriend,” I explained. “She’s a conniving bitch who’s ruining my brother’s life and my family, although they don’t seem to see it. I just lost my control, that’s all.”

“If you want to lose your control in the future, don’t hold back from doing so,” Niall muttered so quietly I had to strain my ears. My cheeks instantly heated up at his words, but I tried to keep calm so none of the boys would notice.

None of the other boys did notice, but Angie had, and she mouthed ‘tell me later’ when she saw my cheeks. I nodded quickly in reply.

The boys continued to ask about the way I ‘attacked’ the Bitch, whether I had punched or kicked or just simply attacked her with whatever I could. Amused, I answered all the questions to the best of my ability and laughed when Harry and Liam attempted to re-enact the situation.

After a few more dares, which consisted of Louis getting on the hotel roof, screaming “I love Harry Styles!” (no doubt there would be photos on Tumblr in the next hour or so), Liam calling his girlfriend Danielle on Skype and pretending he was going to dump her for Niall, which made Angie and I cry from laughing so hard and Zayn dancing to “Sexy and I Know It” – I had taped him dance, so I could use it against him later on – Angie and I were going to share a bed together while the boys were to sleep in their usual beds. After we bid each other goodnight, we headed to our respective rooms.

“So what did Niall say to you?” Angie asked as we sat comfortably on the bed, both of us not ready to sleep yet.

Very quietly, as to not let the other boys hear my words, I repeated what Niall had murmured to me earlier. Angie squealed, and she squealed so loudly that less than a minute later, all the boys but Liam – who was currently Skyping Danielle, invaded our room and climbed into bed.

Yes, you heard me right. They climbed into bed with us. I couldn’t help but think how jealous teenage fans would be if they knew Angie and I were sleeping with four other members of One Direction.

There goes my dirty mind…

“Are you guys right there?” I asked them. They all popped their heads out from under the blanket and gave Angie and I stupid little grins.

“Get into bed, girls,” Zayn flirted, smiling from ear to ear. I couldn’t exactly deny that Zayn was hot, but Niall’s smile right now was all the encouragement I needed to cuddle between him and Zayn. Angie climbed in too, with her at the end next to Harry, Louis next to his boyfriend, followed by Zayn, me and then Niall.

“Night losers,” I muttered, facing Zayn’s side. A chorus of “night Australians” and “good night jolly swagmen” spread through the room before I faced Niall. My heart was beating wildly, and I knew there was only one thing to stop it beating so fast.

I leaned in and kissed him on the forehead, so gently it was more like a peck than anything. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to be so affectionate all of a sudden, but it could have just been the way his hand enveloped mine and lightly traced patterns on my skin.

“Night Cassie,” he whispered with that thick Irish accent of his before we all fell into a deep, slumbering sleep.