Settle Down

Harry was out at meetings all day today, so I had the day to myself. Since I was in an unfamiliar city, I called up Niall to help guide me around. The elevator opened to reveal Niall, holding a pair of sunglasses and taking his hoodie off. “Sorry, the paps were everywhere, I had to dress incognito.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows when he said incognito. I laughed, grabbing my purse and throwing on a jacket. “So, what are some basic places I should know how to get to in New York?” I asked.

“Well, I’ll show you the grocery store, the pharmacy, and where some of the clothing stores are. Let’s just walk so we can see what shops there are nearby.” He explained as we walked into the grand lobby of the apartment.

“Good afternoon.” The doorman called out as he opened the door for us.

I smiled at him as we made our way outside. I was clutching onto Niall’s arm as we wove through the crowd of people walking in the opposite direction. He put up his hood and sunglasses, slouching over considerably as we walked. “So, here is the famous central park.” He motioned over to the greenery across the street.
“Ooh! Could we go in?” I begged, tugging on his arm slightly.
“Well, I guess-“
“Great! Lets go!” I cut him off, bouncing across the street and up to the park.
“Do you know your way around here?” I asked as we started down a path.
“Yeah, we used to come here lots for shows and tours and promotional things like that. I always loved it here; but not as much as Ireland.”
“What’s it like in Ireland?”
“Its amazing. I love my town, I know everyone so well, and they’re all so kind. Its nice to be known by your name when you’re out and about and not just as a random person.”
“Not that you were ever not known by your name, being Niall Horan.” I remarked.
“Yeah, I suppose your right.” He finished. “Do you see that?” He asked, pointing to a paparazzo hiding in a bush. “The damn things are everywhere.” He frowned, noticing a cluster of them by a bench.

“Let’s get out of here.” He turned around, and began walking quickly out of the park. I looked behind us, noticing a few of them were following, taking pictures of us.

“Niall, there taking pictures.” I mumbled, clutching his arm tighter.
“Let’s hail a taxi.” He suggested, lifting his arm up and signaling to a cab driver.

“NIALL? IS THAT YOU?” one of the paparazzi yelled, furiously snapping pictures.
“Horan! Horan! Isn’t this HARRY’S girlfriend that you’re out cuddling up to?” Another threatened as we jumped into the cab.

“Cover your face.” Niall whispered into my ear, shielding me. “Just take us just ‘round the corner. Drive.” He told the cabbie as I shrunk down into my seat, leaning into Niall and burying my face in his shoulder while the paparazzi took pictures through the glass.

“Hey, its ok. There gone now. Let’s just get you home. You can go grocery shopping another day.” He smiled, rubbing my back.
“I know, I just really hate seeing myself in those damn gossip magazines.” I muttered, sighing deeply.

We were home in no time, riding the elevator back up to the apartment.

“Harry?” I called out, walking into the room with Niall close behind.
“Yeah?” He replied, walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of cheerios.
“Mm cheerios.” Niall mumbled, making his way into the kitchen.

“How was your day?” I asked, kissing him on the cheek.
“No kiss on the lips?” He mock gasped, taking another bite of cheerios.
“Not while your eating, no.” I grinned. “So, what did you do today?”
“I met up with Simon, he invited the three of us out for dinner tonight, are you up for it?”
“Of course, but what am I going to wear?” I fretted, dashing into the bedroom and searching through the closet.
“Why don’t you just go out and purchase a new dress?” He asked, leaning on the doorframe.
“Harry, I can’t go out and buy new clothes every day, I’ll be broke. Plus, the paps are all waiting outside, Niall and I had a bit of a run-in with them.” I frowned as Niall walked up, holding his own bowl of cheerios.
“Put it on my card.” He said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.
“Harry, no. I don’t want you going off and spending money on me. I must have something I can wear for tonight.” I pushed the wallet away, shaking my head.

After waiting an hour for the paps to leave, I headed out to pick up a dress and some makeup. I settled on a floral bustier-style top and a high waisted black skirt. I added some nude pumps to go with it and some very simple jewelry.

Link- http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=68850252

“Ready, love?” Harry knocked on the door. I checked the clock. I had five minutes. I swept on a light coat of mascara and opened the door, revealing the two men sitting on the bed, chatting.
“Ah! She finally appears!” Harry exclaimed, standing up and kissing me.
“Close your mouth mate.” He chuckled, leaning over to Niall and closing his mouth. Niall blushed, standing up and bouncing up and down nervously.
“You look nice.” He complimented before we all walked towards the elevator.

“I was thinking of stopping dying my hair, keeping it brown.” Niall said, looking at his hair in the mirror.
“I think it would look good brown. Just let it grow out and see if you like it. You can always change it back to blonde if you like.” I smiled at Niall as Harry laced his fingers through mine.

Niall’s POV

She looked stunning. With her light, natural makeup and natural wavy hair she look effortlessly beautiful. It was if she hadn’t tried at all. I couldn’t stop glancing at her every few seconds as she smiled at Harry. My eyes trailed from her feet all the way up her long legs. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, thinking of non-sexual thoughts. Like the way food always got stuck in-between my aunt Layne’s dentures, and she would take them off in the middle of dinner and keep them sitting beside her on the table. There, that worked. I opened my eyes again as we stepped out of the elevator and towards the car that was waiting for us.

“Evening Mr. Styles and Mr. Horan.” The driver said, smiling us through the mirror.

I slid into the car after Olivia, shutting the door behind me.

“So, Niall. I’ll keep an eye out for any girls for you tonight. It may be a good distraction.” She whispered the last part, placing her hand what she must of thought to be reassuringly on my thigh. Too close, too close. I thought miserably to myself as I pictured aunt Layne in my mind once again. “Yeah, sounds good.” I choked out, leaning towards the window and shifting my leg so she would move her hand. Thankfully she did, and I managed to get myself out of what would have been a terribly awkward situation.

A fifteen-minute car ride later we arrived at the restaurant, filled with well-dressed men and women. We wove around to the back, where Mr. Simon Cowell himself was sitting, reading something on his phone.

“Simon!” Harry greeted him. We both shook hands with him before he turned to Olivia.
“And who’s this?” He smiled, shaking hands with Olivia.

“Simon, this is my girlfriend Olivia, Olivia, Simon.”

“Nice to meet you.” She beamed as Harry wrapped an arm around her small waist.
“Sit down, sit down.” Simon gestured to the table. I sat down beside Simon while Harry and Liv sat across from us.

Contrary to what I was expecting, it wasn’t the most unbearable dinner ever. I kept my eyes on either Harry or Simon the whole time, managing to not stare at Liv for too long. It felt like every time I looked at her face my eyes slowly trailed downwards to the neckline of her dress. After Harry catching me staring once I stopped looking at her altogether and focused on the glass of wine in front of me or my napkin that was sitting in my lap. In one extremely awkward case, I had to excuse myself to one of the private washrooms to- er, take care of business. It was ridiculous what this girl could do to me by just making eye contact.

They dropped me off at my apartment, and I rode the elevator up alone. I walked into my empty apartment, looking around before collapsing onto the couch, my head in my hands. I thought of Olivia, and the way she was always missing a sock, or how she had one piece of hair that stuck up on the side of her head. Or the way she covered her mouth when she smiled, as if she didn’t realize how beautiful she was. I thought about all these things and realized something.

I was truly, madly, deeply, irrevocably in love with my best friends girlfriend. And there was nothing I could do about it.