Under My Skin

It’s a dream – that’s the first thought that pops into Brooklyn’s head when she opens her eyes the next morning. She is sure of that because there’s no way last night was real. She wouldn’t say she’s a pessimist, but it’s impossible for so many good things to happen to a person in one night especially to someone like her.

So the only explanation she can think of is that everything that happened a few hours ago didn’t happen.

Brooklyn blindly reaches for her mobile phone that’s on the nightstand to check on the time – her alarm hasn’t rung yet, which is strange because she feels like she’s gotten enough sleep – and she’s surprised to see a couple of text messages from Niall. She blinks her eyes once, twice, to make sure she isn’t imagining them. When the texts are still there, she opens them.

I forgot to tell you that I had a good time with you soooo I had a good time with you, Cooper .

Oh shit didnt realise its late ,sorry !

Now she has proof that last night did happen. Staring at the screen of her phone, Brooklyn tries to wrap her head around that.

The date happened and so did the kiss. Brooklyn still can’t believe that she and Niall kissed last night – twice. She finds it even harder to believe that she initiated the first kiss. She becomes fearless when she’s with him, taking surprisingly bold risks like doing so is a walk in the park. And now she’s about to take another risk.

Glad to know that. Was worried the kiss made you change your mind.

After sending the rather risky text and turning off her alarm, Brooklyn puts down her phone and makes her way to the bathroom. When she stands in front of the mirror, she’s taken aback by the reflection she sees in the mirror. She has a huge smile adorning her lips, which is a rare sight because as much as she loves her job, she’s never woken up with a massive smile on her face and butterflies in her stomach.

It hits Brooklyn that she’s both nervous and excited to go to work – that’s a puzzling combination. When she steps under the shower, questions after questions start flooding her mind.

She ignores most of them, except for one: will things be different at work? She hopes not because she likes how things are between them – the constant teasing, the ridiculous jokes and most of all, the meaningless conversations they share whilst they’re doing their work. She didn’t know how much she values them until the prospect of losing them is in sight.

Before she knows it, Brooklyn ends up making up scenarios and overthinking things whilst she’s getting ready for work. It’s hard not to because she and Niall have just entered an unfamiliar territory, a territory that they have been avoiding these past few years, and whilst that thought terrifies her, she has a feeling that it’ll be worth it.

Besides, worrying about it is beginning to tire her. Maybe it’s time for her to just go with the flow, see where this thing with Niall will take her – she owes that to herself especially since she spent years repressing her feelings for him. She doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life thinking of the what-ifs.

Brooklyn’s the first one to get into the lift and she presses the button to keep the door open whilst she waits for other people to file into the lift. She smiles at everyone who makes eye contact with her, something that she hardly does because her eyes were always glued on the screen of her phone. In her defence, she didn’t do that on purpose because she’s usually checking on her emails to make sure that she didn’t miss any.

Once she’s sure that no one is going to come barging into the lift, Brooklyn pulls her finger away from the button. That’s when someone suddenly slips inside, a couple of seconds before the door closes.

The scent. That’s what Brooklyn recognises first, followed by his smile. When her eyes meet his, a smile curves her lips. The way he barges into the lift takes her back to the first time she met him and if the glint in his eyes says anything, she’d say he’s thinking of the same thing.

When they’ve reached their floor, Niall steps back a little to make way for her. She doesn’t even want to get started on the warmth she feels spreading across her chest at the small gesture. Brooklyn’s read enough articles to know that once you’ve realised that you like someone, you begin to notice every single thing, including the tiniest details about that person or the smallest moves that the person does.

Right now, Brooklyn notices the slight curve on his lips when he looks at her and the way his eyes wander around the office like he’s looking for something. It turns out that he’s making sure that there aren’t people around them. Arm wrapped around her shoulder, he pulls her to his side. The unexpected move knocks the air from her lungs, but it takes her only a second to melt into his touch.

He presses his lips on the top of her head and Brooklyn can’t fight the smile any longer. It almost splits her face into two when she gives in to it.

“How’d you sleep last night?” He asks as they make a stop at the empty break room.

“Great,” Brooklyn answers. Before she can pick up the cup she always uses, Niall beats her to it and hands it to her. She thanks him before asking, “You?”

“Didn’t sleep until it’s almost 3-“

“-Ah, that explains the texts.”

Niall lets out a chuckle, a look of guilt crossing his face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise it’s gotten late.”

“S’fine. It obviously didn’t wake me up,” she reassures him as she pours coffee into her cup. “I’m surprised you’re able to show up early.”

“Let’s just say I’m excited to go to work today,” he says with a smile on his lips. His hand drifts into his trouser pocket, his eyes dart from Brooklyn’s face to the doorway.

“You’re always excited to go to work,” Brooklyn points out. That isn’t a lie. Niall proves to her that there is someone out there who loves their job so much that they come to work with a smile on their face everyday.

Niall rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Do I?” She kinks an eyebrow as she looks at him disbelievingly. Sometimes Brooklyn thinks Niall’s annoying habits have rubbed off on her. She supposes that ought to happen when you spend an awful lot of time with someone. When Niall gives her a pointed look, she continues to play dumb. “I really don’t know what you mean, Niall. You have to tell me.”

Niall reaches for her and pulls her to him until her back meets his front. A yelp escapes her throat when she almost spills her coffee, but luckily nothing slips through her hand. It blows her mind how perfectly they fit and how effortless everything feels with them right now. She expected awkwardness and silence, but so far she’s proven to be wrong.

“What’re you doing?” Brooklyn asks Niall.

Instead of answering her question with words, he leans forward to capture her lips. But before he can do so, someone walks into the break room and they jump apart from each other, taken aback by the new company. Their colleague, Trent, darts his eyes from Niall to Brooklyn. A suspicious look is written all over his face. Brooklyn looks at Niall just as he looks at her. She hopes he knows what to say because her mind is drawing a blank.

In an attempt to wipe that look off of his face, Niall clears his throat. “Morning, mate. Brought sandwich today?”

Trent chuckles. “Yeah, but this one’s a special one so I can’t share it.”

“Bummer,” Niall sighs. “Was just about to ask ya if I could have some.”

“No can do,” Trent replies with a wink before he puts his sandwich in the fridge. When he turns to face them, his eyes land on Brooklyn. “Is that your first coffee or the fifth one?”

“First.” Brooklyn replies as she rolls her eyes – nearly everyone in this office knows how much she loves coffee and that’s all because of Niall. He can’t keep his mouth shut.

“You gotta keep an eye on her, mate,” Trent says to Niall. He raises an eyebrow questioningly. “Read on the Internet that it’s not good to drink too much coffee.”

Niall lets out a laugh. “Think she’ll bite me head off if I tell her not to drink coffee.”

“I’m right here, y’know?” Brooklyn grumbles before she nudges Niall in the rib. He winces in pain and that puts a smile on her face. Sometimes it scares her that inflicting pain on someone makes her happy.

“See?” Niall says as he rubs the sore spot.

Trent shakes his head, laughing. “On a second thought, Brooklyn, what I read is probably wrong. You can drink as much as coffee as you’d like.”

“That sounds about right,” Brooklyn replies. “You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet, Trent.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Trent chuckles. He takes out a bottled water from the fridge before he heads for the exit. “Well, as much as I love to stay here and chat with you two, I have pictures that need editing.”

As soon as their colleague has left the break room, Brooklyn turns to face Niall. Before she can say anything, Niall voices out the exact thing that’s on her mind. “That was close.”

“I know,” Brooklyn breathes out. Her heart is thumping against her chest so she sucks in a few deep breaths to calm it down.

“We’re lucky that wasn’t Harry,” Niall adds. She cocks an eyebrow at him, confused. Surely Harry knows what happened last night because he and Niall share everything. “I, uh, didn’t tell Harry that we kissed. I mean he knows we went on a date last night but I spared him the details.”

“Oh.” She didn’t expect that. “Oh okay. That’s… That’s good, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t have to worry about him pestering us, then.” Brooklyn says.

They both know that Harry will give them shit if he finds out that they kissed. He’d probably say the most hated four words – ‘I told you so’ – and take the credit for being the one to make Niall and Brooklyn realise that they like each other. She can also foresee him bragging about it for the rest of his life.

“He’ll still pester us about the date.”

“Well, if I can handle you, I think I can handle him.” Brooklyn remarks.

Niall gasps as he places his hands on his chest, an offended look crossing his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I mean,” Brooklyn rolls her eyes at him as she brings the cup up to her mouth and takes a sip of the warm coffee.

“Do I?” Niall quizzes, to which she shoves him away from her. Stumbling back a little, he laughs when Brooklyn gives her the middle finger.

He likes how their dynamic hasn’t changed because he knows how much Brooklyn worries about that. He worries about it too. But judging by how they are around each other last night and this morning, they realise that they have nothing to worry about – except for when other people find out, that is.

When his laughter has died down, Niall looks around to make sure that no one is about to walk in before he takes Brooklyn’s hand and squeezes it. “Last night was amazing, Cooper.” He smiles and it takes her only a second to reciprocate it. She nods her head, agreeing. “Kept thinking about how much I’d appreciate an encore of it.”

Brooklyn opens her mouth to tell him that she feels the same way, but realisation dawns on her and she sees an opening to tease him. “Is this… Is this your subtle way of asking me out on a second date, Horan?”

A slight blush spreads from his cheeks to his neck. Rubbing the back of his neck, he asks, “If it is, what would your answer be?”

“I knew I’d found you lovebirds here,” Harry interrupts as he barges into the break room. Both Brooklyn and Niall roll their eyes at him and groan when he drapes his arms over their shoulders. “So, will there be a second date?”

“That’s none of your business, H.”

Startled by his friend’s answer, Harry squints his eyes at Brooklyn. “What have you done to him?”

Brooklyn elbows Harry’s rib and takes a few steps back from him. “Hey, I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, she didn’t do anything,” Niall backs her up.

Harry’s eyes dart from Niall to Brooklyn. “You know, I can feel a shift in the air. Something definitely happened between you two last night.” He taps his chin thoughtfully, then, and Brooklyn’s scared to hear what he has to say. “I’m gonna assume you two kissed.”

Niall lets out a loud scoff and shakes his head.

“So what if we do?” Brooklyn asks. Niall shoots her a questioning look, confused as to why she’d say that. He thought she prefers to not let Harry know anything about last night.

“If you two did kiss, congratulations are in order,” Harry replies. There’s a glint of mischief in his eyes. “And I believe I also have another thing to tell you-“ the dramatic pause gives away what he’s about to say next and Brooklyn has prepared herself for that. And yet when those four words do leave his mouth, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “-I told you so!”

A smug grin takes over his face. She can tell that he’s very pleased with himself, happy that he’s finally able to say those words out loud. She can imagine him practicing that line in front of the mirror several times and the mere image of that makes her laugh.

“The fact that you two aren’t denying it tells me that I was right,” Harry continues before he pulls Niall into his arms, hugging him tight. “I’ve waited years for this to happen.”

Brooklyn doesn’t know why Harry is so invested in their relationship and honestly, she doesn’t even want to figure out the answer. She’s learned that some things are better left unsaid and this is one of those things. So as those two best friends continue hugging, she slips out of the break room and makes her way to her desk.

The first thing she does when her computer is turned on, she logs into her email account and checks on the emails she recently receives. Her eyes fixed on the screen, she fails to realise that Niall has taken a seat in front of her. It’s when he clears his throat that she finally looks up and sees him at his desk.

“So… you haven’t answered my question.” He points out.

“You’re right,” Brooklyn nods. Wearing her thinking face, she taps her chin. She already has an answer, but she likes to keep him on his toes. “I have one question.”

“Ask away.”

“What do you have in mind for the, uh, second date?”

“I was thinking we could have a night in,” he suggests. Brooklyn likes the sound of that. “But no Grease will be involved. Wouldn’t want you to fall asleep on me again.”

“Thought you wanted an encore of last night?” She cocks an eyebrow at him and he lets out a chuckle.

“We could do that, but I don’t think you’d want to watch that movie for the second time unless…” Brooklyn shakes her head profusely. The thought of having to sit through Grease again is enough to horrify her. “Thought so. Anyway I did my grocery yesterday before the date so my fridge’s pretty full right now so I was thinking that we could have dinner at my place.”

Brooklyn’s eyes widen in surprise. “You’ll be cooking for tonight?”

“Don’t look so surprised,” Niall comments. “You’d think I’d survive living on my own if I eat outside everyday?”

“I thought you eat ramen every night,” Brooklyn replies jokingly. She knows Niall isn’t a fan of instant noodles.

His nose crinkles in disgust, looking so repulsed by her assumption. “You’d be surprised at how good I am at cooking.”

“’Course,” Brooklyn mumbles under her breath. Is she surprised that he can cook? Yes. But if knowing him for years has taught her anything, it would be that he’s good at everything he does. It’s annoying, really, that one man can be good at so many things.

“So does a night in with cooked meals entice you?” Niall brings the question back to the table.

Brooklyn places her chin on her laced fingers and with a serious face, she says, “After careful consideration and much thought I’m pleased to tell you that what you’re offering does entice me.”

Niall lets out the breath he’s been holding and chuckles to himself because for a split second, he thought she was going to say no. He’s heard of that particular line before, but it usually ends on a distressing note like when he was applying for an internship position and wasn’t accepted to the company because he didn’t meet their standard criteria.

“Great.” Niall grins from ear to ear. “Can’t wait to charm you with my food.”

Brooklyn rolls her eyes and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth to prevent a smile from splitting her face into two. Niall doesn’t need to know that he’s already charmed her.

&&

“Are you going somewhere?” Beck asks as he leans against the doorway. He just got home from work and she’s surprised that he doesn’t head straight to his room – that’s what he usually does. Unlike Brooklyn, Beck isn’t a fan of his job as he constantly complains about how draining his work is, but the pay is good so he stays. At least until he can find a new job and has enough money to get back on his feet.

Brooklyn nods. “You?”

“I was supposed to have a drink with Clara just now but she got held up at work so that and our dinner are cancelled,” Beck says with a slight pout. It’s obvious that he’s into that girl because if he weren’t, he wouldn’t get upset over cancelled plans. “Anyway, where are you going?”

“I’m, uh, gonna have dinner with Niall,” she tells him sheepishly.

Fashioning a surprised expression, he kinks an eyebrow at her. “Second date already?”

“Yeah,” Brooklyn answers as she unplugs her mobile phone from its charger and check on the time. She should leave now if she doesn’t want to be late. “Why?” She asks defensively.

Beck shrugs, unsure if he should really say what’s on his mind. When his sister continues to look at him, he knows that he can’t get away with keeping his mouth shut. “I don’t know, Bee. People usually wait for a few days before the second date and you just had your first date last night,” he says. “But then again, you and Niall have waited years for this to happen so…”

“You think we’re moving too fast?” Panic starts to trickle in. Relationships that move too fast hardly end well – she’s aware of that because she wrote an article about it last year.

Upon noticing the panicked look on Brooklyn’s face, Beck makes his way to her. “Hey, you and Niall are different. You two have been friends for years and things are normally different for friends, yeah?”

“I don’t know,” she replies. “Should I cancel the date?”

“No,” Beck answers quickly. “No, don’t do that. You should talk to him, tell him you want to take things slow – if that’s what you want?”

Brooklyn nods. Taking things slow is the best thing to do. She doesn’t want them to burn out so quickly – that’d be unfortunate. “I’ll talk to him,” she says, more to herself rather than to Beck. She keeps her phone in her bag and once she’s sure that she hasn’t left anything, she turns to Beck. “I should get going now.”

“Have fun,” he grins. “But not too much fun.”

Brooklyn rolls her eyes at that. When she reaches the doorway, she glances through her shoulder and says, “Thanks for the advice, Beck.”

She leaves as soon as those words leave her mouth because she doesn’t want to stick around and hear Beck gloating about it. Besides, she’s supposed to leave seven minutes ago.

Brooklyn doesn’t know what’s gotten into her brother recently because it seems like he’s suddenly matured. She wouldn’t say he’s not wise before this, but he’s certainly a lot wiser now and knows more about relationship than she does – not that she considers it a competition. She might have written and read a lot of articles about relationships but that doesn’t mean she knows what she’s doing with her own love life.

Alas, thanks to Beck, she knows what she needs to do next.

“Hi, so sorry I’m late,” is the first thing Brooklyn says when Niall opens his door. He lets out a startled laugh and leans forward to press a kiss on her cheek before ushering her inside. “It smells amazing in here.”

“That’d be the chicken curry,” Niall tells her. Placing a hand on the small of her back, he leads her to the small dining table where the plates are already set up. He pulls out a chair for her to sit, to which she thanks him bashfully. “I’ll be right back.”

Niall makes his way to his open kitchen and transfers his curry to a bowl. Brooklyn watches as he wipes the brim with tissue, his meticulousness evident as he inspects the bowl twice before bringing it to the table along with rice. “You do eat curry, yeah?”

“Yep,” Brooklyn nods. “I eat anything that smells good.” When Niall raises an eyebrow at her, she adds, “Anything edible, that is.”

“Good to know,” he chuckles as he fills Brooklyn’s plate with food, followed by his. Then, he pours chardonnay into their glasses. “I read on the Internet that this wine goes well with curry.”

“How’d you manage to do all this?” Brooklyn asks, impressed. She’s usually too tired to even think about cooking when she gets home – unless she’s craving for something – and the fact that Niall managed to cook curry and rice within a couple of hours astounds her.

“Did the research at work, bought Chardonnay on the way home and started cooking as soon as I got home,” he reveals, chuckling when Brooklyn gapes at him. “Shall we start eating?”

“Yes, but first I’d like to make a toast to you,” Brooklyn says as she picks up the glass and holds it up. “I didn’t really congratulate you when you won the bet-“

“You did.”

“Shh, let me talk.” Chuckling, Niall pretends to zip his mouth. “Anyway, I wasn’t really upset about not winning the bet, I was upset that once again my article didn’t make the cut. But I know you and your article deserve it, and I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations, Horan.”

“Thanks, Cooper,” he smiles sheepishly. “I honestly thought you’d win because you’re a brilliant writer, Bee, and I assure you that your article will be in the special issue next year.”

“You sound confident,” Brooklyn notes. He shrugs. Something suggests that he knows something she doesn’t, but she refuses to delve into it at the moment. Raising her glass once more, she says, “To us?’

“To the amazing Niall and Brooklyn,” Niall grins, clinking his glass with hers.

After they’ve taken a few sips of the drink, they put the glass down and start eating. Brooklyn shouldn’t be surprised that his meal tastes amazing but when the curry and rice hit her tongue, she understands why he’s so confident when he said he’s good at cooking. He has every right to brag about it because if it were up to her, his meal could win awards – she might be a bit biased but that doesn’t change the fact that his food taste amazing.

“Your silence scares me,” Niall comments with a nervous laughter. Pointing at her plate, he asks, “What’s the verdict?”

“So good I could eat this everyday,” the words slip past her mouth before she can stop them. She wants to tease him, tell him that she doesn’t like it, but when she sees how happy he looks upon hearing her compliment she knows telling him the truth is the right thing to do. “You’re good at everything, aren’t you?”

“What?” Niall sounds surprised. “No, I’m not.” Brooklyn scoffs. “I mean I’m glad that you think I’m good at everything but that’s not true.”

“Since when do you know how to be modest?” Brooklyn teases him.

“Hey, I’m the humblest person you’ve ever met.”

“Riiiight.” That’s not how Brooklyn would describe him, but she doesn’t want to get into that. “Anyway, I have a more pressing question: how and when did you learn to cook?”

Niall’s face lights up even before he opens his mouth to answer her question. Brooklyn knows straightaway that he’s going to launch into his story of how he possesses a cooking skill and she doesn’t mind at all because she’s positive it’s an interesting story.

And she’s right.

&&

Their conversation moves from the dining table to the couch. Niall places two coasters on the coffee table before he puts down their wine glass, and Brooklyn feels the need to comment on that. “You’re Monica.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Monica from Friends. You’re her. You can’t stand mess.” Brooklyn elaborates, though that’s not the best elaboration she’s ever given.

“Uh, I guess?” Niall rubs the back of his neck. “Let’s just say I’m partially Monica. I’m not obsessed about cleanliness, but it puts my mind at ease when things are well organised and when there’s no spill on my furniture.”

“So… Monica?”

Niall throws his head back, letting out a peal of laughter. “Monica Horan,” he sticks his hand out to shake Brooklyn’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Monica Horan.” The absurdity of their conversation makes her giggle. “Do you mind if I look around your place?”

“Not at all.”

Brooklyn gets up from the couch and walks over to the shelf placed next to his television. Several books are placed on the top shelf and whilst she’s curious to know what books he usually reads, the picture frames that are on the second shelf catch her attention.

One of those frames holds a photo of her, Niall, Harry and Beck from the Halloween party a few years back. Beck wasn’t wearing a costume in that picture because he was supposed to just rescue her and take her home, but he ended up staying at the party for a couple of hours. Beck’s smile in that photo reminds her of the talk she needs to have with Niall but the problem is, she doesn’t know how to bring it up. She can’t straightaway tell him that she wants to take things slow – there has to be an opening before she goes into that.

Brooklyn glances through her shoulder and meets Niall’s gaze. “You got it framed.”

“Yeah,” he admits sheepishly.

“Have you ever thought about going blond again?” Brooklyn asks as soon as that random question pops into her mind.

Niall moves to stand beside her and shrugs. “I’ve been told that I look more mature this way,” he runs his fingers through his hair as his eyes are fixed on their picture, “but I do miss the blond hair sometimes.”

When Brooklyn tilts her head to look at Niall, she finds that he’s already looking down on her. His eyes drift to her lips and she lets herself do the same. Niall leans down a little and she meets him halfway. His hand makes its way to the back of her neck as he deepens the kiss whilst she pulls him closer until there’s no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

The idea that they could do this whenever they want is… surreal. It’s too good to be true.

“This still feels like a dream,” Niall says as he rests his forehead against hers.

Brooklyn lets out a breathy laugh, agreeing with a nod. “It does, doesn’t it? To think that a few days ago we were just two co-workers who had a secret crush on each other… it-it’s crazy.”

“Crazy is right,” Niall replies. “But crazy can be good, yeah?”

Now would be the right time to talk to him, Brooklyn thinks. So before she can chicken out, she clears her throat and says, “I want to talk to you about something.”

A look of concern furrows his brow. “Okay, should we sit?”

Brooklyn’s eyes dart from the couch to his face. “Yeah sure.”

Niall leads her to the couch and once they’re seated, Brooklyn picks up the wine glass and finishes the drink in one swig. Niall’s eyes widen in shock before worry settles on his face. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Brooklyn nods as she swallows the lump in her throat. She needs that drink for a boost of confidence and now she has it. “I think we should take things slow. It doesn’t mean I like you any less, it simply means I don’t want us to jump into something too fast and maybe regret it in the future.”

“You’re right,” Niall agrees. Brooklyn didn’t think he’d agree immediately. “We should take things slow. Wouldn’t want us to become Ray and Eva 2.0, would we?”

Brooklyn lets out a laugh. “I got into your head, didn’t I?” He nods, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “So you’re okay with taking things slow?”

“Absolutely. I waited three years for this to happen, I don’t mind waiting another three.”

“Is that so?” Brooklyn kinks an eyebrow at him, to which he responds with a chuckle. “You are aware of how cheesy that line sounds, right?”

“Wished I could take it back as soon as they left my mouth,” he admits. “But I meant it, Cooper.”

“I know.”