Lost in London

"I can't believe you gave that to your sister in front of your mother."

Reilly was laughing as she and Harry walked into Louis' on Monday morning. She and Lexie had stayed up late talking about hundreds of different things before they fell asleep on Louis' couch. As always, Reilly woke up early and, not wanting to disturb anyone's slumber, went for a walk. She stepped outside at the same moment Harry did, and they walked together just like they had before her family came to London.

"It was a joke gift! I thought my mum would get it, but she freaked out. For good reason, I suppose. Not the brightest idea I've ever had, but it makes a good story, no?" Harry replied.

Reilly nodded and headed toward the living room. Lexie was awake, but it didn't look like she'd been that way for very long. "Some things never change," she said. "You too?" she said to Harry.

"Me too, what?" he asked, confused.

"Early riser," Reilly clarified, and then turned to Lexie. "Only sometimes. But hey, we brought you coffee," she said, walking over to her friend and handing over a cup.

Lexie smiled and took a drink. "You are a goddess among women, Reilly Quinn," she said.

Reilly giggled as she sat next to her friend on the sofa. Harry followed suit, squeezing in the between the two girls though there was plenty of space on the other side of Lexie. Both girls grumbled and scooted opposite directions to make more room for him.

He turned to Lexie with a grin. "You look beautiful," he said.

Lexie rolled her eyes and ruffled her long, messy hair. "Shut up, Styles," she said, taking another drink of her coffee.

Harry threw his hands up in the air, nearly hitting Reilly in the face. She moved in time to narrowly avoid his large hands. "I don't know why I talk to either one of you. You just tell me to shut up," he said to Lexie, "and you always laugh at me," he said to Reilly.

Reilly gave him a little push. "It's out of love," she told him.

"Right," he said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what've you two birds got planned for the day? And don't try to act like you didn't stay up all night planning the next week. I know this one too well to believe otherwise," he said, motioning to Reilly.

Blush overtook Reilly's entire face. He was right. They had spent a good amount of time the night before talking about all the things they wanted to do during Lexie's stay, though nothing had actually been set in stone.

"Well," Lexie said, "We actually didn't plan anything for today, since it's New Year's Eve and a little birdie informed me that Louis is throwing a massive party. We'll probably just head back to Reilly's place and spend ridiculous amounts of time getting ready. You know, just being girls," she said.

"Are you joking?" Harry asked. "It's New Year's Eve and you want to spend the entire day in Reilly's flat getting ready for a party that doesn't even start until late tonight? That's absolutely ridiculous," he said.

Lexie raised her eyebrows. "You got a better idea, Styles?" she asked.

"Matter of fact, I do," he said. "But I'm not going to tell you what it is. You'll just have to trust me and agree to come along."

The girls looked at each other across Harry. Their eyes and facial expressions shifted as they communicated without words. Finally, they both shrugged and nodded, mirroring each other almost exactly.

"Okay," they said at the same.

Harry looked back and forth between them like they were a two headed monster. "That was weird. What just happened?" he asked.

"We talked about it," Lexie said.

"No words were exchanged!" Harry exclaimed. The girls just giggled. "I don't know if I can handle the two of you all day. Reilly, you should see if Niall would like to join us," he said.

With a shrug and a slight nod, Reilly stood and walked out of the room. Louis was coming down the hallway as she was headed for the door. She stopped to greet him cheerfully, but a scowl remained on his sleepy morning face.

"You girls were so fucking loud all night," he grumbled.

Reilly blushed, but flashed him a sweet smile and apologized. She gave a wave and headed out the door and over to Niall's. It was still early enough that Niall probably wasn't awake yet, but not so early that she would feel bad for waking him. She knocked on the door, and after a few moments when she didn't hear anything, reached for the doorknob. To her surprise, it was twisted in her hand, and she let herself in.

Outside his room, she gave a soft knock before pushing that door open. Niall was fast asleep, twisted in the blankets. She walked over and carefully climbed onto his large bed, kneeling beside him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, and she hated to rouse him. His outstretched arm looked like an invitation, and for a moment Reilly almost considered laying down and curling up into his side.

Her eyes flicked to his face. His expression twitched and he exhaled heavily, eyes opening into tiny slits. "You know," he began. Between just waking up and having come back from spending a week in Ireland, his accent was more prominent than usual. "Seein' your beautiful face first thing makes wakin' up much less unpleasant."

Heat rushed to her face and she dropped her head, letting her dark hair hide her embarrassment. It didn't matter, though, because Niall knew. He let out a tiny laugh and reached out to gently rub her arm, letting his hand fall down to hers. He squeezed it gently before letting go.

"Whatcha doin' here, Darlin'?" he asked, reaching up to rub his eyes.

Reilly ran her hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. Her cheeks were still tinted, but the color was fading away slowly. "Harry wants to take me and Lexie on some secret outing today, but he's too scared to hang out with just the two of us. I can't imagine why. So, we thought we'd see if you want to come with us. You know, as moral support. For Harry," she said.

As she spoke, his expression turned from sleepy to extreme amusement. He let out a laugh that came from deep in his stomach. "I'm not sure I'd want to be up against the two of you on my own either," he said and sat up. He stared at Reilly for a moment. A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Of course, I would love to spend the day with you, Lexie, and Harry," he told her. "I'm going to make meself some food. You can go ahead and use the shower first. You still have some clean clothes here."

Niall continued to stare at Reilly before finally swinging his long legs over the side of the bed. He didn't bother to grab a shirt on his way out of the room, even though he perpetually kept his place slightly on the cold side. Reilly remained on the bed after he was gone and drew in a long, slow breath, trying to slow her heartbeat to a normal pace, but it did little to help any time she was in close proximity to Niall.

She let out the breath and headed into the bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as it would go. She needed something to try and calm the nerves Niall had a tendency to stir up in her without even trying. The room filled with steam and she stepped into the shower. The scalding water turned her skin pink almost instantly. She sighed to herself as the water hit her body, wishing that everything she felt for Niall would just go away. Wishing that it could really be as easy as they were both pretending it was.

Her entire body was an angry red when she finally turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel, skin hot to the touch. She pushed open the bathroom door and let the steam escape as she stepped into Niall's room and opened the top drawer of his dresser. Several articles of her clothing were folded neatly inside. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a tshirt just as Niall was walking back into the room.

"Oh, sorry, Darlin'," he said, and she just shrugged at him. It wasn't like she'd never been undressed around him before. "Did ya leave any hot water?" he asked, taking note of tone of her skin.

Reilly rolled her eyes despite the giggle that escaped her throat. "Yes," she said. "I wasn't in there very long."

Without another word, Niall disappeared into the bathroom. Reilly dressed quickly and went to the guest bathroom to dry her hair. When she finished, she wandered down the hallway and into the kitchen, where she proceeded to watch the few dishes Niall had used to make his breakfast. It wasn't long at all before Niall came down the hallway, wet hair flopped across his forehead, proclaiming that he was ready whenever she was.

They walked side by side over to Louis'. Their hands brushed lightly and Niall took hold of Reilly's firmly, but let it go the second they stepped inside. Everyone knew, from the pictures splashed across the internet, that it was something they did, but they never did it around the rest of the boys.

All eyes were on them when they walked into the the living room. Reilly and Niall looked at each other and then back at their friends, wondering if they'd been talking about them just moments before. "What?" Reilly asked finally.

"Just took you awhile, is all," Harry replied. "Something come up?" he asked nonchalantly. He and Lexie both managed to keep a straight face, but Louis couldn't keep his cool. A snicker escaped first, followed by a childlike giggle before her erupted into a full on fit of laughter.

Reilly rolled her eyes as her entire face turned the color of a radish. She looked over at Niall, whose face was only a shade or two lighter. He had an expression she couldn't read. It wasn't quite embarrassment, or maybe it was but it was mixed with something else. His demeanor shifted slightly as he glanced down at her for a brief moment and then looked back to the curly haired boy across the room.

"Don't be so rude, Harry," he said. "There were two of us gettin' ready. Takes longer than only one person."

"Sure" Harry said with a nod, a trace of a grin playing at his lips. "Well, if everyone's ready, we're on a bit of a time schedule, since these two have big plans to spend too much time getting ready for tonight's festivities."

With that, they were on their way. Being out and about in London with any combination of members of One Direction can be a challenge some days, but on this day it proved to be somewhat simple. People seemed to be minding their own business for the most part. Maybe it was because it was New Year's Eve, and everyone was saving their energy for whatever plans they had for the evening.

Whatever the reason, they managed to get on a guided tour bus without a hitch and took in some sights. The tour was guided, but most of the commentary the girls heard came from Harry. Niall had been uncharacteristically quiet since they'd left Louis', and a little stand offish toward Reilly, but was being his normal, happy self to Lexie.

When they hopped off the tour in one of the shopping districts, Niall and Lexie walked a few steps ahead of the other two. Harry nudged Reilly as they walked side by side, and she looked up at him. "You alright?" he asked. "You've got this look, like something's bothering you," he said.

Reilly just shrugged, staring at the back of Niall's head as he chatted animatedly with Lexie. There was a lot of noise surrounding them, so she couldn't hear what he was saying, but she heard Lexie's unmistakable giggle every now and then and she tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy she felt. It was stupid, and she knew it. But what she didn't know was what she'd done to make Niall suddenly upset with her.

"He's just being Niall," Harry said, as if reading her thoughts. She snapped her head in his direction and gave him a quizzical look. "For someone who claims to want to just be his friend, you always get mopey when he gets the slightest bit weird. He's probably mad about what I said earlier and is taking it out on you," he explained. "But he'll get over it. He always does. Until then, let him get to know Lexie a little bit. I think they'll get on."

Instead of giving a verbal response, Reilly only nodded at him. She linked her arm with his when he offered it to her, and the two walked down the street wordlessly. They passed several shops before Lexie and Niall ducked into one, and Reilly and Harry followed close behind. It didn't take long at all for them to separate, each going in the way of items that interested them.

Not surprisingly, Reilly's interests lined up with Niall's, and she found herself only a few yard away from him. Sighing quietly to herself, she wandered in his direction, heart pounding a million miles a minute, until she was next to him.

"I thought we said we weren't going to do this anymore. So could you just tell me what it is I've done to make you so mad at me?" she asked. There was a slight edge to her tone, but Niall wouldn't look at her. They stood there in tense silence for almost a full minute before Niall finally drew in a sharp breath.

"You told Harry."