Crooked

Niall was going on a date after the boys’ show tonight, which meant I had a few hours to tell Niall of my feelings. I also had to apologise to him, because I’d let him believe that I’d only wanted sexy time with him – which had been my original intention, but then I had fallen for him and all hell had broken loose inside my mind from there.

Unfortunately, I was told that some radio shows wanted the boys to call up individually and hold a few interviews, but some ran overtime and between having lunch and getting the boys to the O2 for their London show, I knew I wasn’t able to get Niall on his own until after the show. So until then, I had two options. One, to keep myself distracted and figure out what I was going to say to Niall before he went on his date, or two, find a way to ruin Niall’s date so he could return home and into my arms.

I was keen on the second option.

“I’m not sure why I’m being brought into this,” Angie grumbled as I tugged on her arm, pulling her behind a bush with me.

“Because I look less weird if I bring an accomplice with me,” I explained. “And besides, following me around on my wacky plans is much more fun than doing whatever you planned on doing. Studying, was it?”

Angie sighed. “Unfortunately, you have a point.”

Niall was taking that stupid bitch model to a restaurant – that much I had found out from Paul. As part of my assistant duties, I made it my duty to find out which restaurant that was, and I also made it my duty to make sure Niall wasn’t going to make himself seen and be part of a media spectacle.

Actually, that was the excuse I told Paul and the boys, but I think they all knew what my real intentions were. I think they were trying to spare my dignity, which I had to give them credit for. I knew that Liam would have fought hard to keep the boys in check.

“Well-”

“Shh,” I hissed, smacking my hand over her mouth as I nodded in the direction of Niall and the model. They were walking out of the restaurant, hands not held (yes!) but they were walking very closely together. Surprisingly, there was no media or paparazzi in sight. The model was laughing at something Niall said, and Niall was grinning along with her. I pouted, wishing that Niall could give me that sort of smile to me.

“Is there a point to this stalking?” Angie muttered.

“Shh!” I elbowed her in the ribs, and she fell out of the bush with a loud thwack. Almost immediately, Niall stopped walking and began to spin his head around for the noise. My eyes widened and I yanked Angie back into the bush with me, the both of us holding each other tightly, daring not to even breathe in the fear that Niall would find us.

Fortunately, Niall seemed to think that he hadn’t heard a thing and kept walking with the model.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Angie’s hand and carefully pried ourselves out of the bushes, making sure to hide behind a nearby wall so Niall couldn’t see nor hear us. “This date is going too well. I don’t like it.”

Angie raised an eyebrow at me. “And what do you suggest we do?”

I bit my lip in thought, wondering how the hell I was able to ruin their date in a subtle way that Niall wouldn’t suspect me in it. Looking around, there was nothing available to throw at the date, but I did have my phone on me, so…

“Cassie,” Angie said curiously as I took my phone out of my pocket and began to dial Niall’s number. “What are you doing?”

“You’re going to find a way to distract Niall so I can talk to the model,” I whispered. “Make something up, say his car’s on fire or something.”

Angie gave me a weird look but I couldn’t concentrate on that, I had to keep my eye on Niall to make sure he wasn’t going to walk off with the model and I’d lose them both. What type of spy would I be if I lost my victims?

“Hello?” Niall’s beautiful Irish accent filled the speaker, and there was a silence on Angie’s part before she began to speak.

“Mr. Horan?” Angie disguised her voice with a ridiculous Indian accent that was going to make me keel over and die from laughter if we were in a different situation. “Please come to the car park behind Pail’s Restaurant immediately. There has been a terrible accident.”

There was a silence on Niall’s part before he spoke again. “An accident?”

“Yes,” Angie confirmed, her accent wavering slightly. “There has been a…fire. Big one. It has ruined the interior of your car and we were able to salvage only some of it. Please come now.”

I peeked around the wall, realising that Niall and the model had disappeared completely. What the hell? I had to investigate the situation. Nodding to Angie so she’d know what I was doing, I jumped out from behind the wall and began to walk casually around the area, my eyes scanning for a cute blonde and a skinny model type. A stupid, annoying model, but a model nonetheless.

“Looking for me?” A familiar voice spoke. I jumped about what felt like ten feet in the air before turning around and hitting Niall in the shoulder.

“What was that for?” Niall yelped, rubbing his arm where I had hurt him.

“Was it really necessary for you to scare me like that?” I muttered accusingly. “I could have died from shock, y’know!”

“Was it really necessary for you to follow me on my date?” Niall mocked with his eyebrows raised and arms folded. “Did you really think I didn’t notice you at the restaurant, with you and Angie sitting on the other side of the place and giggling behind your menus? Or hiding in the bushes? Or when you found a random Indian man to lie about my car?”

“Actually, the Indian man was Angie,” I said matter-of-factly. “And how do you know we weren’t lying?”

Niall gave me a deadpanned stare, and I knew that I had to admit what I was doing before he yelled at me. But I wasn’t sure I could submit myself to telling him that yet.

“Where’s the model?” I questioned, realising that she was nowhere in sight, and come to think of it, neither was Angie.

Niall shrugged, sticking his hands into the pockets of his straight-legged jeans. “She went to my car to see if it was on fire. The girl’s dimmer than I am.”

“Says the guy who thought the Indian man was real,” I teased, my insides warming up when I heard Niall’s chuckle. The moment was short lived however when he stopped, crossing his arms once more.

“That doesn’t explain why you were following me,” Niall said, his voice rising slightly with each word. “Why are you trying to ruin my date?”

“You just said that the girl was dim,” I pointed out, trying to skim around the situation. “I was saving you, Niall. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you for making me miserable?” Niall scoffed. “For hurting my feelings? You already did that. So thanks.”

I could feel my face fall at his words. Part of me wanted to sulk and complain about Niall hurting my feelings, but I knew I had to tell him how I felt.

“Wait.” I grabbed his arm. “I have something to say, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make any hurtful comments or whatever. Okay?”

Niall sighed. “Fine. Say what you want to say, then.”

“Right.” I let go of his arm and felt my gaze drop from his eyes to my feet, wondering how the hell I was supposed to tell Niall that I had actual feelings for him. Usually, I’d just say it straight out and be blunt, but this was my feelings I was dealing with. What if Niall didn’t say it back – what if he rejected me?

Like you rejected him? A snide voice in my mind pointed out, and I sighed, finding myself unable to speak. “I – um…”

“I knew I was wasting my time,” Niall said quietly. I felt my heart tighten and my throat close up, but when he began to walk away, the words that were stuck in my throat came out like word vomit.

“I’m in love with you, you idiot!”

Niall stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly, his mouth open in shock and eyebrows raised, clearly surprised at my words.

“Can you say that again?”

I rushed up to him and grabbed his hands in mine. “I’m sorry that I used you for my personal satisfaction and teased you, and okay yes that was my initial use for you but then I started having feelings for you and I didn’t want to admit it to myself because your teeth are crooked like the devil bitch known as my brother’s girlfriend and that is a turn off but besides that you’re sexy as hell and sweet and kind and I just want you and –”

“Cassie,” Niall interrupted. He gently tugged his hands out of my grasp and placed them on my hips, pulling me closer to him. A smile began to form on my lips as I realised what he was doing. He cupped my face and touched my forehead with his, looking so deep into my eyes I felt like he was burning my soul. “I’m in love with you too.”

There were no words for the intense feelings I had for Niall at that particular moment in time, so there was only way I could properly express myself – in the form of the longest and sweetest kiss between Niall and I – who was mine, all mine.