All I Want.

The sound of a knock at door pulled Niall’s attention from the film and he pulled himself off the couch and padded through the living room to reach the door. When he opened it, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to find his best friend Krystal standing there with a bag of liquor in one hand and Chinese take-out in the other.

She didn’t wait for an invitation before she pushed past him and stepped inside the London flat, immediately finding her way to the couch, where she set everything on the coffee table and settled into the couch. She glanced over and found Niall still standing by the door with a slight frown.

“Are you going to let all the heat out, or are you going to shut the damn door and come sit on this couch?” She pursed her lips slightly, more than ready to get this night going. Niall shook his head with a smile before he shut the door, locking the bolt and making his way over to the couch, where he fell into the pillows beside her.

“What’re you doing here?” Niall’s melodic Irish voice asked as he took in her appearance. Her dark curly hair was wild, contrasting perfectly against her tan skin, which was free of makeup, and she’d opted out of contacts that night, instead outlining her hazel green eyes with her pair of black rimmed frames. She was completely au natural tonight, and that was exactly how Niall loved her.

Krystal scoffed at his question, not believing he could ask a question that had such an obvious answer. “You really think I’d leave you to a night alone when your girlfriend just broke up with you?” Krystal shook her head gently, dropping her hand to his knee and giving him a soft pat. “Come on, you have to know me better than that.”

Niall nodded, knowing her words were true. She’d never been one to leave him to drink on his own when it didn’t work out with a lass. He’d always been so thankful for Krystal; she’d gotten him through a lot; when things would start to get shitty, she was always there to lift him up and toast a pint. She was the best mate a guy could ever have. “But still, Krys, you didn’t have to come all the way out here, I’m fine. The breakup with Amy was mutual.”

“Niall,” Krystal narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips once more. “I live down the street from you. It’s not exactly going out of my way. Now stop being such a whiner and dig in. I brought your favorite.” She pulled the contents out of the plastic bag and Niall could hear his stomach rumbling just at the sight. He instantly grinned, turning and placing a kiss on Krystal’s cheek once everything was set out for them.

“You’re the best,” Niall breathed, before grabbing one of the plastic forks and bringing the carton of orange chicken to himself before digging in, a small moan of approval slipping past at the taste.

Krystal laughed at her best friend’s behavior over the food, which was nothing unusual and reached forward herself, opting for the beef fried rice as the two settled further into the couch. She turned to face him and dropped her legs onto his lap as her light eyes watched him eat feverishly. “So, you gonna tell me what happened?”

Niall groaned, feeling her watchful eyes and he turned to face her, his mouth full. “Come on, Krystal. It’s not a big deal.” He didn’t hadn’t chewing before he shoved another forkful into his mouth and Krystal rolled her eyes.

She ignored his lack of manners as she merely scooted closer, her legs now falling off the couch as her bum connected with the side of Niall’s leg. “You know I’m not going to drop it, so you might as well tell me now before I have to force it out of you.” She smiled sweetly as she batted her eyelashes.

Niall grimaced, remembering the last time she forced it out, which resulted in a bruise on his arm so big, he had it for a week. He took a few more bites of his chicken before he sighed and rested his head back against the pillows. “I don’t know, I thought everything was going so well. She’d come out to a show or two whenever she was free from school, and I’d spend time with her whenever there was a break. She seemed happy, never a complaint, or even an ounce of discontent,” he knotted his fingers together as he dropped his eyes to his lap. His left leg was tapping softly, a sore sign that he was upset.

“But then she just called me and had me meet her at her favorite little café. I thought she just wanted see me, you know? But when I got there, she had this look on her face, like she was utterly heartbroken and I was to blame. She told me that she liked, she really did, and she’d never been with someone who treated her so well, but she just couldn’t deal with the fans.” He let out a small, humorless laugh. “She said when we were just friends it was fine, because the fans didn’t pay her that much attention, but now, she can’t handle the threats, the nasty comments, or even go out without someone recognizing her and saying something hateful.” Niall bit his lip, his brows furrowing. “It’s worn her down, and I didn’t take the time to notice.”

Krystal lifted her head off the pillow on the couch, her green eyes watching Niall as he sat hunched over, so obviously torn up about his break from Amy. It was clear that he wasn’t fine like he insisted, and Krystal dropped her hand onto his bicep. Niall looked up from his lap to meet her eyes and the way she was looking at him, like her own heart was breaking for him, it made him feel just a bit better.

“You gotta stop picking these girls who don’t give a shit about you.” Niall’s eyes widened in confusion at her words. That look of sadness was wiped clean in a second and instead she had a frown on her lips as she watched him.

“What-“ Niall didn’t get in more than a word before she cut him off, continuing her rant.

“If they agree to get into a relationship with you in the first place, they know full well what comes with dating a superstar.” Krystal rolled her eyes, annoyed at the thought of his previous girlfriends. ‘Every single of them does this same thing to you, one way or another and it’s bullshit. You have to find yourself someone better, someone who actually understands all this.”

“Like who?” Niall asked, a frown settling on his own lips. “If you remember clearly, I did date Demi for a bit, and she would know about what comes with fame more than anyone, and we still didn’t work out.” Niall groaned, tossing his head back against the couch. “It’s just me, maybe I’m just not meant to have someone.”

Krystal reached out, gently slapping Niall’s arm, causing him to lift his head and look at her. “Don’t say stupid shit like that, Niall, because it’s not true. You deserve someone who loves and understands you more than anyone else I know.”

“Well, then who exactly am I supposed to go after? Because I can’t seem to pick the right girl for shit.” His voice raised slightly, meeting Krystal’s brash voice.

“Well,” Krystal’s voice was at a normal level this time. “You need someone like me.” She closed her eyes for a moment, lifting her head up slightly, giving the appearance of an Uptown girl from New York.

“Someone like you?” Niall questioned, straightening up. “How do you figure?”

“Well,” she shrugged her shoulders gently, green eyes locking onto baby blues. “You need someone you can sit down with and a have a pint while you watch the football match, or go out to dinner and eat whatever the fuck they want because they don’t give a shit about how a lady should act. You need someone who cares about you for you, not simply because you’re Niall Horan, one fifth of One Direction, but still understands that you come with the territory and that’s the way it has to be. You need someone who’s been in love with you so long, she doesn’t even know how it’s gotten to the point where all of her thoughts are consumed by you.” She slowly let out a breath, realizing just how close they were in that moment. She hadn’t realized that she’d been moving closer with each word that she spoke and now their faces were centimeters apart. His lips were slightly parted and he was watching her so intently she felt she could melt under his gaze.

“I’m all you think about?” He whispered hoarsely, his breath fanning across her face as his eyes darted down to her plump pink lips.

“I never said the girl was m-“ she was cut off by the feel of Niall’s full lips pressing onto hers and his hands immediately finding her waist.

Krystal instantly shut her eyes and kissed him back fiercely, pulling her legs off of Niall’s lap and she sat up a bit as he pulled her closer to him, his tongue darting out and swiping across her swollen lips for a second before she parted them and their tongues immediately found one another.

Her mind was hazy as she tried to process that she was actually kissing Niall, that those were his calloused hands running underneath his shirt and gripping her warm flesh. This was ten times better than how she’d imagined it and she never wanted to pull away.

When Niall finally did pull away, his pressed his forehead to hers, their flushed cheeks matching as they both breathed a bit heavily as they watched one another. A grin broke out onto Niall’s face and Krystal knitted her eyebrows together. “What?” she asked breathlessly.

“I knew you always fancied me.” He said softly, accompanying his words with a wink.

Krystal felt her cheeks heat up from his words and she rolled her eyes and gave his chest a soft push. “Shut up.” She couldn’t help but smile when he busted out into laughter at her blushing cheeks.

“Don’t worry,” Niall assured her, coming forward and kissing the corner of her lips. “I always fancied you too.”

The confession ignited the butterflies in Krystal’s stomach and she couldn’t help but grin stupidly as she looked up into Niall’s gorgeous eyes. This had to be a dream. There was no possible way that this was really happening, that she’d been able to snag Niall after these years of being the ultimate friend zone.

“Feel like watching the football match?”

Niall smiled, his pearly white gleaming as he nodded his head vigorously. “You read my mind.”

The two fell back into the couch, relaxing comfortably as Niall cracked open two beers and handed one over to Krystal as she set the TV to the correct channel. Instantly, they both let a groan of protest when they got a look at the score on the screen, seeing their team was behind by quite a few points.

If this was a dream, then this was the best damn dream Krystal ever could’ve imagined.