Just Consider It

On Saturday afternoon, I was catching up on some homework. I liked to get ahead on my assignements, get them out of the way so I didn't have to cram at the last second. Maggie was passed out on her bed, so I had my headphones in, trying not to disturb her. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately, staying up late to study, so weekends were her only time to rest.

Suddenly, Niall opened the door and barged inside. "Hey, guess -" he started to say, but I shushed him and nodded towards my sleeping best friend. I guess I didn't really have to worry, though, because when Maggie was out, she was out - the girl slept like the dead.

Still, I didn't want to risk it, so I got up and tugged him outside into the hallway. "I didn't want you to wake her," I explained. "What's up?"

His eyes were shining brightly. "We should go out tonight."

"We?"

"You and me. We should go out." I must've had a strange look on my face (I actually did feel like my heart was about to stop) because he added, "You know, to a club. Remember last week you said you'd go with me?"

"Oh. Right."

"So, whaddaya say?" He looked hopeful and excited, like an earnest puppy, and I just couldn't say no. I was a peasant among a king, sue me.

"Okay. Fine."

"Yes!" Niall lifted me up in a big hug, squeezing me tightly. "I haven't been out in a while. This is gonna be fuckin' awesome, H, there's some shit clubs 'round here but you've also got the occasional good ones and when you find them it's great, I promise."

"Cool," I agreed halfheartedly. "What time should I come over?"

"Come 'round ten of eleven. It's only fun when you go out late."

"Okay," I said, sighing. "I'll be there."

"You don't seem very excited." His whole face deflated a little, and I felt bad. As dumb as it was, I wanted Niall to be happy. And even though I had a feeling tonight was probably going to suck, if it meant he had a great time, then so be it.

I did my best to smile. "No, I am. I'm just, uh, nervous. About, you know . . . meeting new people." I tried to grasp at straws, make it seem like it was still about Tyler.

His face got very serious after I said that. Then, he reached over and gripped my shoulders, bending his face very close to mine. "I know. I get it, don't worry. But we're gonna have a hell of time tonight, I promise. I'll be your wingman." He grinned.

"Oh, that definitely reassures me," I said sarcastically. "Great."

He laughed. "I'll see you later, okay? Wear something hot." He kissed my forehead and skipped away and I really, really wanted to die.

* * *

I had to admit, I'd been pretty skeptical about the night, but it wasn't turning out to be that bad. The club had been pretty packed when we got there, but not so much you could hardly turn around without someone's ass grinding on you.

As soon as we arrived, Niall headed straight for the bar and bought us drinks. "You can't get laid if you're not at least buzzed," he explained. "Buzzed brings out the best in you."

"Right," I agreed, taking a sip.

A couple drinks and a few more shots later, I was successfully at that state. Everything was pleasantly blurry and the music was booming in my ears and I could feel the bass all the way inside of my chest, thrumming around in there. A couple guys had offered to dance with me, so I'd humored them, letting them put their hands on my waist and tell me how hot I looked for a song or two.

My only issue was that every time I looked back at them, they didn't have soft blond hair or bright blue eyes and that infectuous grin I'd come to love. So after a while, I got tired of it, and retired to the bar again. "Some other time," I said to the guy I'd been dancing with, who had asked if we were going to go back to his place. No, we definitely were not.

A few feet away, I heard a loud, boisterous laugh that I would probably recognize anywhere. I looked over, squinted, and saw Niall sitting at the bar, drinking a beer and talking to a girl with long, curly red hair. He had his back turned, but I could see he was saying something very animatedly, waving his hands and gesturing wildly. The girl looked mildly interested. She had killer eyebrows, though, and I didn't like that.

I made my way over to them, trying to be nonchalant, acting like I didn't see them. Niall didn't even notice as I stood next to him, buying myself another drink. It wasn't the fruity ones that he'd kept getting us; I couldn't remember the names of those. I settled on plain scotch, like the kind my dad drank at Christmas.

I took a sip and made a face. It tasted like what I imagined dinosaur pee would. I sighed. The night had gone from fun to not fun in less than a minute, all because stupid Niall had decided to talk to a stupid girl.

Suddenly, like magic, he glanced over his shoulder and saw me. "Hey, H!" he said loudly, and his face lit up in a huge, lazy grin. "Look! This is Rina. She's a model." He pointed at the girl with the red hair, who merely surveyed me and didn't say anything. I recognized this; she was sizing up the competition, making sure she was prettier than me. Girls were such bitches.

I returned her gaze before I said, "Whaddaya think dinosaur pee tastes like?"

The girl, Rina, gave me another weird look, but Niall was contemplating it. Even if he was totally sober, this was still probably a question he'd answer seriously. "Probably a little like that drink you've got," he said slowly, "mixed with pond water, and some of that juice that's in the bottom of the vegetable bin at the grocery store."

I nodded. It made sense. When I looked past him again, Rina was gone. Niall noticed, too, but didn't seem that upset. "She was pretty," I said after a moment.

He glanced at me. "Was she?" I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just looked at him, but he grinned, almost like we were sharing an inside joke. "Hey, you wanna do shots?" he asked abruptly.

I glanced around before shrugging. "Sure."

We did shots, and if I was drunk then, I was definitely drunk now. But I didn't even mind; the music was even louder and everything was even better because I was sitting next to Niall.

The current song ended and another one started playing, some Chris Brown one, the beats thwacking like balls in a batting cage. Chris Brown's voice began to croon, take it off, I wanna love you, and everybody wanna touch you, you movin' right, wanna see what's up under and I didn't know it, but apparently a lot of people did, because a loud whoop went through the club as soon as it began.

"Hey," Niall shouted. "I love this song." He paused, and then he said, "Wanna dance?" The heat made his hair stick up, and his cheeks were flushed. He was grinning at me wildly.

Niall is hot, I decided. "Yeah!" I shouted back, and he took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. As soon as we did, he pulled me so my back was against his chest. "What are you doing?" I asked, laughing. I could barely stand..

He was laughing, too. "I'm gonna grind on you, okay?"

"Okay." And then things turned really serious after that. He put his hands down on my waist and we danced like that for a while among all the other sweaty, drunk, and horny couples like us.

After a couple songs, he mumbled into my ear, "I thought you were gonna hook up with that guy from before." His voice was husky.

I grinned. "I thought so to."

"What happened?"

Normally I would've lied, but the alcohol was making me bold (and horny). I looked up at him. "I'd rather hook up with you."

And suddenly, the music stopped and the entire world slowed down and disappeared until it was just me and him, watching each other, waiting for the next move to happen. He swallowed, and I could see his Adam's Apple bobbing in his throat.

Then, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the club, pushing through the crowd until we were outside in the cold night air. I made a small sound of protest that quickly died when Niall gently backed me up against the wall of the building, his arms on either side of my face.

We looked at each other for what seemed like forever, until he said, "Don't make me fly blind here, H."

"You piece of shit," I exploded. "I just told you -"

And then there it was, like an explosion at the end of a mile-long fuse, because the gap that had been between Niall and I was now nonexistent because Niall had moved in and kissed me soundly on the mouth and all I could think was yes and God and Niall and finally.

Niall kissed with intent, with purpose, like every moment in his entire life was leading up to this. It was sloppy and drunk but I didn't care because Niall was kissing me Niall was kissing me for the love of God Niall was kissing me.

And suddenly he wasn't, pulling back and looking at me. People were milling in and out all around us but I didn't care. "Jesus," he rasped, and it was my turn then, crowding into his space, standing on my toes and threading my fingers through his hair and just kissing him after all these months of unconciously wanting to.

"Hero -" Niall gasped against my lips. "I want - now."

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Yeah, okay. Come on." I grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the streets, stumbling every few steps, and I could hear him laughing behind me as we made our way back onto campus. "Where?" I asked.

"My room. Closer. Empty."

"Okay."

"Now." His voice had a rough edge to it, and I swallowed.

We made it to his dorm, and I waited for him to get his key. He fumbled with it before sticking it in the doorknob and turning it. As soon as he did, I pushed him against the door, attacking his mouth again. He made a noise of surprise as the door fell open, almost sending us falling over, before wrapping his arms around my waist and backing into the room.

All I could think about was this moment right here, feeling his mouth on mine, his tongue urgently swiping over my bottom lip, his hands everywhere - and then we were bumping into something solid and falling back onto his bed.

I paused for a minute, and we looked at each other, breathing hard. His hair was messed up and his pupils were blown and his cheeks were flushed and his collar was lopsided but he was grinning at me wickedly. "You want this?" I asked.

He leaned up and captured my lips again, mumbling, "I've wanted this for so long . . . you have no idea how long . . . go." I started working at the buttons of his shirt, undoing them frantically while mouthing at his jaw and his neck. He groaned. "Keep going. Keep going."

So I did.