Lost in London

"Doesn't it get hard?" Reilly asked. She was sitting on Louis' living room floor with Cara the day before the boys were due to return home, painting her toe nails. The two girls had been practically inseparable since Cara had arrived.

Cara just shrugged. "I guess, but we make it work. We've always been apart a lot, since the very beginning," she said.

Reilly looked up from her feet at the brunette sitting across from her. "How did you two meet? I don't think either of you ever mentioned it," she said.

"His sister is a friend of my friend's sister. She and I were going out one day, and we had to drop her sister off with Louis' sister, and he was there. He chatted me up for a few minutes, and then before we left he asked for my number. We talked, and would see each other when we could. I don't even know when we went from being friends to being a couple. It just gradually happened, like it is with you and Niall," she said.

Blush covered Reilly's cheeks and she looked back down at her toes as she swiped the nail polish brush across a nail. "There's nothing happening with me and Niall," she argued.

Cara stopped what she was doing and stared at Reilly for a minute, trying to read the expression being obscured by the pink tint on her face. "That's what you think now. But you'll wake up one morning cuddled against his chest because you fell asleep on his couch watching movies, and you'll look up at him sleeping peacefully and you'll think to yourself, yeah, this feels right. And everything else will be history," she said.

Reilly shook her head, dismissing her friend's notion. "Is that how it happened with you and Louis?" she asked.

"No," she said. "We would speak on the phone a lot, and see each other when we could. We would go out places. And at first he would let me pay for my dinner, or my ticket at the cinema. But slowly he started paying for me. He would catch my hand when we were walking together. Cuddles got longer. He started kissing the very corner of my mouth when he would say goodnight. I started getting more and more excited to see him. It just happened naturally."

"But what about the media?" Reilly asked, going back to the topic she'd brought up before. "And the fans. They're," she paused, trying to choose her words carefully. "Intense," she said.

Cara laughed softly. "Intense is a fantastic way to describe the fans. Some of them are quite wonderful. And the others I guess I just ignore," she said with a shrug. "As for the media and all the rubbish they print, I just don't read it. They're always going to try to spin everything into a scandal. Like, that thing with you, for instance," she said, but didn't go into further explanation. Reilly knew exactly what she was talking about.

"When Louis and I first started seeing each other I would always ask him, every time he left, if he was sure he wanted to be with me, because being with me meant only me. And every time, he said yes. I finally stopped asking when I realized that his answer wasn't going to change." She shifted her focus from painting her toe nails to Reilly's face, trying to read what was underneath her neutral expression. "If nothing is happening with you and Niall, why are you so curious about how difficult a relationship with one of the boys is?" she inquired.

Before she had a chance to answer, Reilly's phone vibrated on the floor next to her and then dinged, indicating a new message. She reached over and pressed a button to turn on the screen.

"Speaking of Niall?" Cara questioned.

Reilly shook her head. "It's Harry. He likes to update me on what they're doing every so often. He says right now they're at the airport trying to get an early flight back because he misses me too much to be away from me any longer," she said. "Gag."

Cara giggled. "Harry is an interesting creature, don't you think?" she asked, and Reilly nodded. "Huge heart, though," she continued.

The day turned into evening, and evening turned into night. After painting their nails, the girls had danced around the house, watched movies, eaten too much food, and ended up passed out on Louis' big, comfortable bed. Cara had been sleeping there since she'd arrived, while Reilly had all but moved into the guest room.

Reilly jumped when a hand nudged her in the small of her back, and a voice quietly urged her move over. The bed shifted under the weight of another body and an arm reached over her to gently rub the arm of the other girl on the bed.

"You've got to be kidding me, Louis," she groaned and rolled over to face him.

He smiled brightly at her, though he looked exhausted. "You don't have to get up. Just move so I can lie down," he said softly in an attempt to not wake his sleeping girlfriend.

She shook her head and sat up. "It's fine. I'll just," she paused and grabbed her phone from next to the pillow, "go."

Louis quietly called something after her as she was on her way out, but she couldn't hear him. Her mind wandered as she walked down the hallway, stopping just outside the guest room. Maybe it was because she was tired, but the fact that Niall was so close after two weeks of being so far tugged at her insides. She tried to push the feeling away, and put her hand on the doorknob. But instead of opening the door, she let her hand slip off and continued on down the hallway to the front door.

She was barely two steps outside and into the cold December night when Harry appeared next to her. "Going for a walk at this hour? In your pajamas and no shoes?" he asked, taking in her attire. "Or maybe you're going to see a certain blond boy who went on a mysterious trip to your hometown while we were away," he said.

Reilly looked up at him and wanted nothing more than to wipe the shit eating grin off his face. "You never answered earlier when I asked if you were coming back to London a taken man, Styles," she said. "Don't even try to act like you didn't go to Boston to see Lexie."

Harry put his hands up in surrender. "You got me," he said. "Listen, I just don't want either you or Niall to get hurt. If you know what you're doing by going over there, then, please, go. But we've had a long journey today, and you're clearly not even all the way awake right now, and I would hate for any mixed signals to be sent, and for him to have another meltdown. Or you, for that matter," he told her, a look of concern taking over his face.

"I just want to talk to him," she said.

"It can't wait until the sun's come up?" he asked

Reilly shrugged. "I don't know," she replied.

He stared at her for a long moment before finally taking a small step toward her and wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Alright. Go. Just make sure you sleep in the guest room," he said and she rolled her eyes as she started to walk away. "I mean it, Reilly. Sleep in the guest room," he said again. Without turning around, she raised one hand in the air to imply that she'd heard him.

When she reached Niall's door, she didn't hesitate in ringing the doorbell. Her heart started to beat faster in the few seconds it took for him to open the door. He had wasted no time getting comfortable in the short amount of time he'd been home. He stood in front of her wearing only a pair of jersey shorts. His hair was a blond mess flopped across his forehead.

"Didn't expect to see you yet," he said, pulling the door open so she could go inside. She took a few steps toward him and reached up, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms tightly around his neck. He returned the embrace, his arms circling her waist as he lifted her small frame off the ground. Her legs wrapped around him to help keep them balanced, and she buried her face in his neck.

Neither knew how long they stood there in that embrace, with the door wide open. Neither particularly cared, either. Butterflies erupted in Reilly's stomach and her entire body tingled against Niall's. "Thank you for what you did for me," she said quietly her lips ghosting over his skin. Her warm breath tickled his neck as she spoke.

He tightened his hold on her for a moment and then let out a soft sigh. "I think we're really pushing those boundaries we set," he said quietly.

Reilly nodded against his neck, but clung to him like she was hanging on for dear life. He felt like the closest thing to having a home right then, and she wasn't ready to give that up. Finally he kicked the front door shut and awkwardly walked them both to his bedroom. He kicked that door shut as well and sat on his bed, with Reilly straddling his lap, her arms still tight around his neck.

"You alright, Darlin'?" he asked quietly and she nodded again. After a long moment he reached up and unhooked her arms from behind his neck. His hands traveled down to hers as he brought her arms forward, and she pulled back to look at him. "You look knackered. You want to sleep here?" he asked her.

Without giving a verbal response, she crawled off his lap and up to the pillows. He followed suit, laying on his side so he was facing her. Immediately he reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers. They were still pushing the boundaries, but neither cared.

"Missed you," he said quietly, his gazing locking on hers.

"I missed you, too," she mumbled. She didn't want to admit it to herself, much less to him, but there was something about the way he was looking at her that made the words come out. "Thank you for what you did for me," she said again.

A tiny smile played at his lips, and his cheeks tinted redder than normal. "I would do anything for you, Reilly," he said. "I mean it when I say that." He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

She inched closer to him, untangling their fingers as she did so, and gently pushed him onto his back and rested her head against his shoulder. "Is jetlag going to keep you awake?" she asked quietly, as her eyes fell closed.

"Don't think so." He stifled a yawn. "Don't really see how it could at this point," he said, looking down at her. "You going to wake up at the arse crack of dawn like you always do?" he asked.

A small giggle escaped her. "Probably," she replied honestly.

"You going to wake me up when you do?" he asked and she shook her head against his shoulder. He laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay if you do," he said, but she shook her head again.

They laid in silence for a long time and finally Niall reached up and turned off the light next to his bed. Reilly scooted a little closer, snuggling into his side even though she had previously claimed to be unable to sleep that way. Niall smiled to himself as the memory of that conversation crossed his mind and let his eyes fall shut.

The last thing he remembered before drifting off into dreamland was Reilly's soft, sleepy voice saying, "My mom would have really liked you."