Taste of a Poison Paradise

A latte with no foam with a double shot espresso plus Niall and I's craving for cookies was the reason we left the bus around eight o'clock and went on a mission to find a local starbucks.
 
"Did you uh, 'member what Phil said for directions?" he asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
 
The streets were beautiful really and I didn't know exactly where we were since we'd done a lot of driving in the night but I did know we were still in the UK, east I think. There was a light hue on all of the small shops, a pink tone on everything from the rising sun. We walked slowly, taking our time since the schedule required us to be on the road at 12:30 and we wouldn't take that long, even if I was marveling at every single thing I passed by, wishing every second that I had bought my camera from my suitcase.
 
One thing that stopped me for a while was a gorgeous fountain in the center of the streets, big enough so that you could see it from afar. It was made of smooth, white marble and captured a woman and two small children holding her hand. The placard was missing but that didn't stop me from standing there for a few moments and taking the sight in.
 
"It's beautiful, right?" his voice sounded through the comfortable silence.
 
I nodded, smiling reaching forward and letting the cristal clear water run through my fingertips. It was cold, almost chilling, the kind of water that you find at a beautiful beach.  "I'd take a picture but my phone's camera is some crap," I admitted.
 
"Would you like to take a picture? I have my phone, I can text it to your phone," he offered,  his braces glinting as it caught the early rays of the sun.
 
"Sure, I'd like that," I said before I added, "But take it with me," I requested, my shoulder brushing against his accidentally as he reached into his pocket for his phone.
 
"Okay," he said and positioned the back of his iPhone to face us as I held up my fingers in a peace symbol.
 
"Wait, one more," Niall laughed as he scrunched up his nose and stuck his tongue out,  wrapping an arm around my shoulder  and tilting the camera on his phone. I tried not to think about the close proximity of our faces but of course it couldn't be helped - so not my fault on this one.
 
I made a silly face as well, using my best thinking/serious face. I heard the click of the camera and couldn't help but laugh.
 
"You look cute," he told me, his eyes on the picture as his finger swept across the pictures and flipped through them.
 
"You look better," I replied almost instantly with a small little smile on my lips. Did I believe him? Just a little bit. Were my insides on fire? Painfully so.
 
"Do you mind if I tweet this?" he asked, his fingers sheepishly running through his hair. I bit down on my lip, listing pros and cons immediately in my head, a habit I'd developed. I followed him myself so I knew how many followers he had but then again, why not just live?
 
"I don't have to if you don't want me to," he said hurriedly, probably noting my hesitation.

"Not, it's okay - just tag me @therealrileypoo," I said, not able to supress the small giggles that spewed forward. Holy crap, I just hoped I remained at 74 followers. My tweets were average at best and I didn't need to be held anything stupid that I said. "Can you text me the pics?"
 
"Ah sure. Your number?" Niall asked, a small little smirk suddenly appearing on his features.
 
Smooth, babe, smooth. I told him my number and I felt my back pocket vibrate, instantly  jumping a little bit as a reflex. I pulled out my  blackberry, covered in a little painting in the back and small dinosaur stickers, courtesy of my little brother.
 
"Is that your little sister?" he asked, seeing the picture of me and my six year old sister as my wallpaper, as soon as I opened up the text message containing  7 pictures.
 
"Yeah," I smiled, a small pang going off my chest when I realized the miles between us. I wasn't regretting coming on the tour since this was all funner than I'd thought it would be but I couldn't help but miss home at the same time. Wow, only been two nights away from home and I'd facebooked my little brother and skyped my mom, and I was still home sick.
 
While I was daydreaming a little bit, I heard a click of a camera button and I found him impishly grinning at me as he held up the phone and showed me the picture that he'd just stolen.
 
He cheekily added, "I needed a prof. pic for you," he explained.
 
My lips were slightly parted and the fall breeze had caused my curls to stray and blow into my face. There was a slight sun bleed but it made the picture to looked edited and clear of any face blemished I had. It wasn't the worst picture, but it wasn't my best either.
 
"That's not fair," I pouted, as he laughed a little bit loudly.
 
"Do you want a picture of me?" he offered, willing to compromise since he was set on keeping that picture of me. The thought of him wanting that picture made my stomach feel all sorts of queasy but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. He probably just liked having pictures for his contacts.
 
"In fact, that's nice," I said, already fiddling with my touch screen to decrease the light before taking a picture of Niall with a small smile. His hands were shoved in his pockets and the angle that I'd caught him in was amazing. With his back to the sun and his blonde hair shining, his eyes staring straight at me.
 
"Smile!" I ordered playfully seeing him hesitate before he gave me a toothy grin that made me feel weak at the knees.
 
I set it as the picture for a new contact and couldn't help smile at how nervous I'd been yesterday and somehow his smile just made me forget at how anxious he made me feel and how my palms had felt damp the minute I'd laid eyes on him in person. And let's not forget what happened in the bus the other night. Truth or Dare, and apparently he thinks that I'm hottest. What is even the definition of 'hottest'? Hot is just another word for heat-and great. Now he had me reading into his words.
 
"Weren't we getting something?" he asked, his eyes never leaving mine.
 
His gaze was strong, I couldn't bear to stand it so I found myself looking anywhere and everywhere but him. "We were looking for some coffee and cake for the group maybe," I said, nodding to a small little shop with the words, 'La Cafe,' proudly painted on the door. It wasn't Starbucks but it was worth a try since every word that Phil had told me was wiped and Niall was the only thing left in the 24 hour frame of my mind.
 
"Cool," he said, walking over to the short distance. I trailed after him before he opened the door and let me in before him.
 
The atmosphere was calm and quiet, hardly a soul in sight. The girl with an apron looked bored and her voice was monotonous. Niall ordered his coffee and I ordered my strawberry frappe and we both decided to split money after a brief little debate.
 
"Stop being stubborn!" he whispered
 
I guess I was being a little bit stubborn but money was a little bit of a touchy area for me and I liked to prove that I could be independent even if I was shy.
 
"Split?"
 
He nodded and we were able to get out of the little shop. Niall had a gleeful expression pasted onto his face as he sipped on his coffee. "Split the cookie?" I offered, loving how warm the cookie was in my hands.
 
"Yay!" he laughed, the drink nearly half-way finished in the three minutes that it had taken us to walk around and back to the road that led to the bus.
 
We were walking toward the historical site of the city and I couldn't help but notice that there were a group of girls standing by the fountain where Niall and I had taken out pictures. They seemed to be a festive bunch and they were dressed to impress, I even found myself admiring one girl's crop top since she definitely had the figure to rock it. One girl's face lit up as she saw the two of us and I had to repress the urge to turn around and wonder if it really was us that they were staring at but then again.. it was probably more of Niall who'd be getting the staring.
 
"I don't think they know I'm-" he began as he looked back for a second after we'd walked past them, the motion causing his hoodie to fall and reveal his gently tousled blonde hair and baby soft features. Alarm defined his jaw as he tried to whip his head back but alas, it was too late.
 
Niall was cut off when there was a shriek calling out his full name and a few bodies collided with ours, causing the warm liquid to spill all over my shirt and scald my skin, the bottle falling to the ground before I could snatch it out of the air. I involuntarily let out a loud whimper and found that I was being pulled away from the Niall, hands clawing at one of my arms. Great. The day I decide to wear a sleeveless top too. I was saved ironically, by the one who was the cause of this hysteria. Looking back, my feet furiously hitting the gravel as my arms swayed by my side, knees raising as high as I could reach them. Soon enough I was the one pulling Niall along, one hand wrapped around his and one hand still miraculously holding onto a giant vanilla chip cookie.
 
"Where are the rest of the boys?"
 
"I love you!"
 
"Niall! Niall can I have an autograph?"
 
"Can you sign my tits?" the same voice screamed before they all started screaming more obscene things, one girl even describing sex positions she'd like to try out with him. The voices soon faded away and before they could even think of catching
 
I wasn't too out of shape but hell, it was still around 8 a.m. and I was still tired - Louis thought it would be funny to keep us up and perform shenanigans in front of people who weren't his bandmates or driver, leaving only us girls to keep him entertained. Liam and Reece had been away for a while and I was happy to say that Reece seemed less upset after Liam pulled her back in. Even if she did ignore us all when she retreated to her bunk, I didn't want her to be crying.
 
"Don't let go!" Niall's voice jolted me to the present as he grabbed my hands in his palm and pulled me into a small little cornerstore that I had failed to notice. He went down the short aisles and came to the check-out, reaching a middle-aged man who only raised his eyebrows.
 
"Excuse me, do you have a bathroom, sir?"
 
The cashier pointed down a hall, where there was a sign that said, 'lavatory.' Niall nodded his thanks and this time jogged over to the sign, his hand now at the small of my neck before opening the door and walking in. I couldn't help but push myself on a wall and slowly slide down, needing a few minutes to slow down my heart rate. I'd been completely taken by surprise by those girls and I didn't think I needed my inhaler (which was safely tucked in my back pocket, just in case) just a little bit time.
 
I counted to ten and saw that he wasn't affected at all, just crouching down besides me.
 
"Are you okay now?"
 
"Yeah," I said moving to get up when a slightly calloused hand was placed on my elbow and helped me up. "I"m fine," I said, suddenly standing close to him, my Funny, he'd never seemed so tall in the videos or pictures but he had a good inch on me and that just played in his favor. I couldn't help but step away and toward the mirror with the sink below it. Looking down I realized how bad it really was.
 
"Man," I said, holding the t-shirt away from my body. When I looked up, the door was closed and Niall was holding some napkins in his hands. The shirt was nearly soaked with coffee, the previously white shirt now a dark tan matching my skin color. It was still hotter than warm, the scorching feeling from the coffee never leaving my skin. When I lifted the shirt away from my skin, just holding it away, I felt the cool touch of air and breathed a sigh of relief. My fingers pressed against the slightly red and agitated skin against my skin and my reaction was to smile at the contrast of my cold hand against my heated skin. I caught Niall looking for a quick second at my stomach but he didn't say anything. The blood rushed to my cheeks and I let the shirt fall back against my stomach, glad that my flower print shorts hadn't had any of the drinks. I pushed the large cookie in.
 
"I'm sorry about all that - hopefully, you won't be caught in another stampede. Our fans are usually really cool and I love them all, really but some of them can be a little bit uhm, scary," he babbled, a rosy color catching on his tan skin.
 
"It's okay - I guess it's part of the deal." I took the napkins from his hand, whispering a thanks before wiping lightly at my shirt before noticing that the napkins were useless, they'd already soaked up a little bit of the coffee and were completely filled. I let out a small sigh It wasn't that the shirt was that important to me - I'd packed a little bit on the heavy side - but it was just that I didn't want to walk around with a wet and stained shirt.
 
Niall must have read my mind because the next thing I knew he had thrown away the napkins in the small little bin by the sink and was taking off his sweater. He held it out to me, his tongue sweeping over his bottom lips before words left his mouth. Just the sight of him - standing there in dim lighting and being so sweet, was enough to send my heart beating even faster than it had all day - being chased by fans included.
 
"Are you sure? You won't be cold or anything?"
 
"It's not even winter yet. Don't be stubborn, Riley," he chuckled, pushing the pink Jack Wills sweater.
 
"I'm sorry - thank you, I really appreciate it Niall," I said, wondering what that fleeting expression was since I hadn't managed to figure out what the emotion had been. Was he sweet as fuck or what?
 
"It's all right. I'll be outside, I'll wait for you," he said before stepping out so I could change.
 
I didn't feel like keeping him waiting so I quickly threw the shirt off my body and slipped on his looking to the door before turning away from it and burying my face in the hoodie. Creepy? Yes. Worth it? Most definitely. He smelled like Armani, chocolate and something else that I couldn't quite place but smelled amazing just the same. His scent sent my senses alive and made my stomach tingle again, but not as much as he did when he held my hand - even if that was to keep me up with his running.
 
I stepped out of the bathroom and let the door fall behind me, pulling out the cookie that I'd kept safely in my pocket. 
 
"That's not fair at all," Niall muttered once I stepped out, the words so low I almost didn't hear it.
 
"What?" I questioned curiously, breaking the cookie in half and handing him one of the sides.
 
"Nothing," he said, brushing off my question before along before walking besides me, so close that if I moved only five inches to the side, we'd touch and I'd probably catch on fire as his hands wrapped around mines again. Instead, he slipped on his sunglasses as the sun became even more apparent and I pulled my, well Niall's hoodie up to hide my hair. Just in case, of course. 
 

 
"Well, finally you guys are back," Harry said as soon as we stepped in, immediately cutting himself off when he started staring at my chest. I almost asked him what he was staring at when I realized that of course I was still wearing Niall's sweater. Since I'd seen no hope for the coffee stained shirt, I'd thrown it away in the trash can in the bathroom of that cornerstone. "What happened, Riley?" Alex asked, her eyebrows raising and lowering in a suggestive manner. "You guys left before we were even awake."
 
"I got... hungry," Niall stuttered out, making a strained face as he failed to find another excuse. He face palmed briefly, seeing.
 
"Time differences kind of make me uh,  wake earlier?"
 
"U-huh," they all chorused. 
 
"Yeah, we ran into some people. Glad to see you guys didn't get into any crazy shenanigans," I teased, moving the attention away from Niall and I before tucking a stray curl behind my ear and asking Niall a question. "Do you want me to go change or-"
 
"No, don't worry, I can take it later, you can keep it on if you'd like?" his last statement coming out more of a sheepish question accompanied by a small smile.
 
I could feel eyes on the back of my head but I ignored who I'm pretty sure was all of the boys and the girls. "Yeah, don't worry I'll give it back - it's just comfy is all," I explained, grinning widely, still tasting the cookie we'd shared on my tongue.
 
The taste of the vanilla almost made me wonder how he'd taste against my lips. I could feel my cheeks warm with the thought so I sat down on one of the couches and pulled my knees up, resting my head against my knees, trying to erase the fantasy taste of vanilla, iced coffee and the jolting sensation that would occur if his lips pressed against my own. 
 
No, Riley! Stop fangirling! There is no way that anyone on this bus could like you.
 
There was not much privacy on the bus so Liam was talking to Danielle in the bathroom. While the car was moving as we headed to France, Niall sat down next to me and started up a conversation about everything and nothing.