Between The Lines

Niall awoke the next morning feeling happier than he’d ever been. He watched as the girl beside him slept peacefully, his face was nestled into the crook of her soft neck whilst his arms were wrapped around her waist. All he wanted to do was stay like this forever.

“Hey Niall, Have you seen-oh” Harry burst into the room, but stopped once he saw that Niall wasn’t alone.

“Shh” Niall whispered, sitting up. Harper stirred slightly at the absence of Niall’s arm, but didn’t wake.
“You little devil” Harry said, a smirked plastered on his face. He winked at his band mate before closing the door. “Oi Louis it’s alright I found Harper, Niall’s been keeping her company all night long if you catch my drift”

Niall sighed as he lay back down next to Harper, wrapping his arms back around her, bringing her body closer to his. Harper felt the warmness of Niall’s arms return to her side, her lips turned up into a small smile. She could stay like this all day. Turning her body she faced Niall, his hair was sticking up in all directions and he had slightly dark circle under his eyes but he couldn’t have looked more perfect to Harper.

“Morning” Niall said, placing a kiss on Harper’s forehead.

“It’d be nice if we could stay like this all day” Harper said.

“We can if you want”

“Then that would be a waste of a perfectly good day, we’ve only got one day off while we’re here”
Harper slipped out of Niall’s grip, much to his dismay, and slipped Niall’s shirt on over her bare body while Niall just watched her. Letting out a laugh, Harper threw Niall his jeans from the floor as she gathered up her clothes.

“Better put some pants on Ireland”

“Spoil sport” Niall said, grabbing Harper’s hand and pulling her on top of him. A small squeal escaped Harper’s lips before they were pressed against Niall’s. They stayed like that for a few minutes, laughing at each other. “So does this mean you’ll admit your feelings for me?” Niall asked, wanting to know where they stood.

“Yes” Harper said, placing a small kiss on his lips. “I fancy you Niall Horan and I’m sorry I was too stubborn to realise this sooner”

“That’s what I like to hear”

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a shower and get changed”

“Mind if I join you?” Niall smirked.

“In your dreams Blondie”

With one final kiss, Harper then quickly dashed out of Niall’s room and into hers without being spotted by any of the others. Harper felt more relaxed as the warm water ran over her body, a smile broke out on her face as her thoughts slipped to last night. Once dressed she made her way down the hallway, but stopped short when she realised the boys were all trying to get details out of Niall.

“So are you two dating now?” Louis asked.

“No, we’re not”

“And why the hell not?” Harry’s voice sounded like a mother scolding a child, Harper had to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. “You’ve bloody shagged her twice, the least you could do is take her out on a date”

“Are you insane Harry?” Niall told him. “Our relationship is only supposed to be professional; I’d get her into a lot of trouble if we were to go public”

Before their discussion went any further, Harper decided to make an entrance into the room “Morning boys” she said to them all in a cheerful tone, a smile still present on her face. Five sets of eyes followed her as she walked into the kitchen to make herself a coffee. As the kettle boiled, she turned around to find the boys all staring at her. “I’m not saying anything to any of you so don’t even think of asking about it”

“All I wanted to know was now that you and Niall have made up, can I take your room and you just bunk with Niall?” Harry said cheekily. “I’m sure neither of you would mind”

Harper looked at Niall who just shrugged, clearly it was fine with him “Sure whatever”

“Right lads, I say we make the best of this day and go check roam this town” Liam announced, everyone giving a cheer or a simple nod in agreement. No one wanted to spend their day off in the confines of the hotel.

With nothing but expensive sunglasses, hoodies and beanies to “conceal” their appearance from the paparazzi, the group set out to enjoy their day under the clear blue sky. Of course, everybody knows One Direction is currently in LA so the boys were pretty easy to spot.

Harper trailed a little bit behind the energetic group of boys lost in her thoughts. She’d spent the last few years shielding her emotions from others, never letting herself get too close to anyone and avoiding a certain four-lettered word. Now it was all different because of Niall. She did like him, she knew that, but all the feelings were too foreign.

“If you frown anymore you’re going to get a permanant line on your forehead” the familar irish accent brought her out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked up at Niall who had a warm smile on his face.

“What?” She was slightly confused as to what he meant.

“You looked as though you were doing some serious thinking” Niall said with a laugh, falling into step beside her as they walked along the busy streets of downtown LA.

“Oh right”

Niall stopped walking and grabbed ahold of Harper’s arm. He looked at her, the smile was no longer on his face, replaced by a serious expression.

“What’s the matter?” He asked her, concern laced with his words.

“I’m not have second thoughts if that’s whats’s going through your mind right now, it’s just...” Harper stopped. How could she explain what she was feeling when she didn’t even really know herself?

Niall lifted Harper’s chin so she was looking into his ocean blue orbs “It’s alright, I understand. I promise I’ll take things slow with you if that’s what you want. I really like you Harper and I wouldn’t want to ruin things between us because you’re uncomfortable with the pace of things”

Placing his hand at Harper’s cheek, Niall leant down and placed a quick kiss on her lips. Before he could take it any further than a peck, Harper pulled away from his touch. They were out in public and she didn’t want anyone to see them in such close proximity together.

“Niall we can’t, what if someone sees?” Harper’s voice was barely audible. She wanted nothing more than to be able to kiss Niall whenever she wanted, but for now whatever they had together was to stay between her and the boys of One Direction.

Nodding his head, Niall offered Harper a smile, but it was forced. Even though he had told Harry this morning no one could know about him and Harper, he was beginning to feel a change of heart. When they returned to New York, he’d go to Harper’s mother, Eleanor, and tell her. That way they could do what they pleased in public.

“Come on” Niall said “Let’s go catch up to the others”.