Troublemakers

"Ow! Shit!" He hissed as he brought his finger up to his mouth and sucked gently.

I cackled at the sight and he pouted over at me. "That really hurt."

He was cooking dinner for me at his flat before we had to be at rehearsals. I was suppose to be interviewing him to get more insight on his story for the book, but we hadn't managed to do anything but pull faces and laugh our asses off. In the mist of some story he was telling me about his older brother, Greg, he touched the side of the boiling pan.

He pulled his finger out of his mouth with a scowl on his face, shaking his hand back and forth. "It's going to scar!"

"Don't be so over dramatic, come here." I smiled and waved him towards me. He walked over to where I was perched on top of the counter before stepping in between my legs. I took his hand in mine to asses the damage, but the only thing I could see was a small line of red flesh. I glared playfully at him and he smiled cheekily at me. I placed my finger over the irritated flesh, so he couldn't see it and thought of how my mother always made my cuts and burns heal.

"A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you." I recited from memory looking up at him briefly before I placed a chaste kiss to the burn. "All better."

His cheeks tinged pink as he looked at me, but I ruined it as always. "Next time don't be such a puss."

He laughed before kissing my forehead and returning the noodles that were boiling on the stove. I watched him as he busied himself with stirring or adding salt. I knew that I was poking a sleeping dragon when it came to Niall, but I couldn't stop myself from being around him. He kept my mind off of the trouble I had already gotten myself into, and he never failed to make me laugh. When I was around him we just had fun and things were easy. I knew the feelings I was developing for him needed to be ignored, but when all you can think about when someone is around is shoving your tongue down their throat- you kinda can't ignore it.

"Almost done darlin'." He called from over his shoulder, winking at me.

"Good I'm so hungry I could eat a cow." I sighed, rubbing my stomach for effect.

"I don't think you could fit a cow in there, V." He grinned.

"Oh shut it." I laughed. "You know what I mean."

He just nodded and turned the stove off, before straining the noodles and adding the spaghetti sauce on top. "It's me mother's recipe- so if you don't like it yell at her."

"I'm sure it will be fine." I shot him a small smile and slid off of the counter. "There's something I need to do first."

He looked down at me curiously and I smiled, draping my arms around his shoulders. He placed his hands on my hips and gave me an uneasy grin. "What's that?"

"Kiss the cook." I smirked tangling my fingers in the blonde locks that met above the nape of his neck, before pushing myself up on my toes and pulling him down towards me. When our lips met he pulled me further into him and I smiled. The warmth in my chest engulfed me and I was lost in all the things Niall Horan was capable of making me experience.

When we pulled away he was breathless and his cheeks immediately turned pink. I bit my lip as he rested his forehead against mine. "Guess I need to cook for you more often."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes to the ceiling. He gave me cheeky grin that caused me to shake my head back and forth at him. He kissed my lips one more time, before pulling away. "I could do this all night, because I swear I've been waiting for a while to do it, but we have to get going soon."

I pouted, but knew he was right. If we showed up late the boys would never let either one of us live it down. He handed me a plate and I thanked him, before making my way to his living room. He had promised we could watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back while we ate, so I was looking forward to it.



"Niall, Tori!" Zayn called throwing his arms out in excitement.

"Zayn!" I yelled back, dropping Niall's hand and running straight for the dark haired boy.

He laughed as I pounced up and into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Why are your eyes closed?"

I pulled one of the open at a time and let out a breath of relief. "I didn't think you were going to catch me."

He chuckled and placed me down on the ground. "You pretty much caught yourself."

"Big rush of adrenaline, that was!" I cheesed.

I plopped down on the sofa and pulled out my tablet in order to continue taking notes. I waved a hello at Liam, Hazza, and Louis. Louis just glared and wrapped his arm around Eleanor a little tighter making her smirk in my direction. I shrugged, whatever.

"So how'd Nialler's interview go?" Harry asked as he sat down next to me and gave me a weird side hug.

I looked up at Niall with a smirk on my face and he smirked devilishly back. "I'd say it went pretty well, wouldn't you babe?"

He chuckled. "Definitely."

Harry looked curiously between the two of us, but it was Liam that butted in. "Uh-oh. I know that look Niall."

When my eyes found Liam's brown ones I couldn't contain the giggles any longer. He had this look of horror written across his face and it was just to precious to go unnoticed. A light bulb must have went off in Zayn's head, because he smirked over at Niall and punched him in the shoulder. "You dog!"

I shook my head and brought my blue eyes back to Niall's. He licked his lips and shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno what you guys are on about."

"You fucked him, didn't you?" Louis blurted out causing us all to burst into laughter.

"Honestly Louis, only yer brain would jump to that conclusion." Niall cackled. "Get yer mind out of the gutter lad."

"This is Victoria we're talking about here." He shrugged. "It's easy to jump to that sort of conclusion."

The laughter ceased as everyone in the room trained their eyes on the boy clad in his usual stripes. I didn't say anything, because I figured he was right. That was the way things were with the two of us, so he had every right to assume that I was just that kind of girl. The way he made me out to sound like a whore was rather offensive, but I didn't feel as if I could defend myself. He was setting me up for an argument, baiting me, and I didn't know why.

It was Harry who took control of the situation, oddly enough. "That was uncalled for, Lou."

The curly haired boy shook his head back and forth in disbelief, his mouth set in a grim line. Zayn and Liam looked back and forth at each other as if they were having some silent conversation, but I couldn't figure it out. I watched Niall carefully, unsure of what his move would be. I was shocked when he pulled me up from the couch and wrapped his arm around my waist. He pulled my back into his chest and rested his head on my shoulder as his thumbs rubbed at the patch of skin just above my jeans. Louis opened his mouth up to speak, but Niall glared at him. "I think you've said enough tonight, don't you?"

I watched as Louis' shoulders sagged and my heart sunk. He nodded his head and looked down at his feet. Eleanor was trying to comfort him, but he just shrugged her off and glared in her direction. The ends of my lips twitched up briefly, but I tried not relish in that small victory. When Louis finally looked back up he trained his eyes on mine and what I saw there was enough to make me cross the room and take him into my arms.

But I didn't.

"I'm sorry." He chocked out, as if he didn't ever apologize much and the words were new to him.

"It's whatever." I shrugged him off and relaxed into Niall's arms. A brief look of pain flashed across Louis' eyes before he completely shut himself off. Niall kissed my temple and signaled for rehearsals to begin. As I sat back down on the couch I was unsure of what my next move would be. I was suddenly unsure of everything that had happened in the past couple of days and I didn't know what to do. Guilt was definitely an emotion I was getting tired of feeling.