Under My Skin

Brooklyn spent her night searching for jobs on the Internet.

Although Oliver has assured her again and again that Dominic isn’t the kind of person that would use a piece of information to jeopardise someone’s career, she’d still like to be safe. It feels wrong to be looking for another jobs but she’d thank herself later if her fear comes true and she has a safety net to fall back on.

The thing is, Brooklyn doesn’t want to work at a place where Niall isn’t sitting in front of her and constantly teasing her. As much as she refuses to admit it, seeing him at work is one of the things she looks forward to. It makes her weekdays bearable and sometimes, it even makes her weekdays enjoyable.

“You have nothing to worry about,” a deep voice startles Brooklyn whose eyes widen in horror and whose heart jumps in her throat. Instead of feeling apologetic, he simply chuckles and shakes his head as he picks up a cup and pours some coffee in it. “Fantasising about Niall, huh?”

“What the hell- When did you walk in?” She asks, a confused expression crossing her face. Has she been so deep in her thoughts until she isn’t aware of her surroundings?

“Y’know even though he’s my best friend you can share it with me.” He teases her as he wriggles his eyebrows at her and bumps her shoulder with his.

Brooklyn moves away from the coffee pot and takes a seat on one of the chairs in the break room. As she brings the cup up to her lips, Harry pulls out the chair in front of her and sits.

“Niall told me what happened at the dinner,” he mentions and she winces.

She hopes her boyfriend left some details out because whilst she thought what she did last night was a brave move, this morning she woke up thinking it was a reckless and foolish move – not that she regrets the kisses, though, because they were amazing.

“I don’t really know Dominic so I can’t say if he’d blab about you two or not but I do know that if it does get out, you or Niall won’t lose your job.” He says it with such confidence and Brooklyn wishes she could have some of it. “I’ve asked Mr Storm, remember? And he told us that there are no rules against employees dating one another.”

“What if he makes an exception for us?” Brooklyn quizzes, allowing her paranoia to take over for a moment. “What if he makes new rules and this one states that employees can’t date one another?”

Harry shakes his head. “I doubt that.” Again, Brooklyn wonders if she can have a bit of his confidence. “Besides, 90% of this office is rooting for you two – believe it or not.”

“Not,” Brooklyn replies. Harry gives her a pointed look. “I don’t believe you.”

“Do you want me to make a poll so I could prove it to you? Because I can definitely do it. I can start right now.”

Brooklyn shakes her head. God, that’d be embarrassing.

“No, there’s no need for that.” Harry grins, knowing that he’s won this time. She sighs. She can’t believe she’s about to do this. She’s going to vent to Harry, the person she used to label as enemy #2 – enemy #1 was Niall, of course. “I don’t know, Harry. I just… I’ve never dated anyone from work before and most of the articles I’ve read said it’s dangerous to date your co-worker. There are more cons than pros.”

Harry scoffs – loud. “You need to stop believing those articles.”

“Hey,” she kicks at his foot, offended that he’d say such a thing. “We write articles for a living, remember?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he tries to backtrack. “You and Niall – you aren’t Ray and Eva, and you aren’t those people who didn’t make office romance work. You two are…” he trails off as he tries to think of something to describe Brooklyn and Niall. His face lights up when he remembers what he’s going to say. “You two are Jim and Pam although you weren’t engaged to anyone.”

Brooklyn thinks she’s heard of those two names before and she’s pretty sure they’re from a television series. Her suspicion is confirmed when Harry tells her that they are from a series that he’s been binge-watching the past few weeks. He’s only seen it until season 4 so he doesn’t know what happened to Jim and Pam afterwards, but that’s not the point.

“Anyway what I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t worry too much. You can’t base your relationship on someone else’s. Not every relationship works the same way – you should know that since you’ve talked about it a lot in your articles.”

For someone who writes about relationships and other things that revolve around it, Brooklyn sure is bad at her own relationship. If her readers ever find out about this, she’s positive they’d stop reading her writing and stop believing her altogether. How is it that she can give advices to other people but she can’t seem to practice what she preaches?

“Also, don’t you think it’s better if people find out about you two from you or Niall instead from Dominic, who’s only been here for a couple of weeks?”

Harry has a great point. If people were to find out about them from Dominic, her and Niall would end up being the gossip of the week. Everyone would probably wonder why they wanted to keep things secret. They would speculate and speculate and speculate until the fiction becomes fact and fact becomes fiction – that wouldn’t end pretty.

But if she were to tell or show to her colleagues that she and Niall are together, she has a feeling they would brush it off rather quickly. They’d probably tell them that they’d seen it coming, that they knew they’d end up together and by the end of the day, they’d probably forget about them.

And it’s a bonus that she won’t have to lie about her relationship anymore after this because she hates lying about it. It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth and a sharp twist in her stomach.

“Besides, my mum always told me that you shouldn’t hide something good and you really should listen to my mum. She’s a wise woman. I’d get her on the phone to talk about relationships if you’d li-”

“No,” Brooklyn shakes her head. “That’s fine.”

“Good,” Harry grins. “Because you’d never be able to get her off the phone once she starts talking to you.”

“She sounds like an interesting woman,” Brooklyn muses. She’s seen pictures of Harry’s mother several times on Instagram and has heard a few stories about her but she’s never actually met her in person – the same goes for Niall’s mother. “But you’re right. I should… Niall and I should just come out with it. It’s better if it comes from our own mouth than someone else’s.”

“Exactly.”

Brooklyn exhales, feeling as though tonnes of bricks have just been lifted from her shoulders. She didn’t realise how much this whole thing has been weighing her down. Lying sucks, especially when its consequences hurt your significant other.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Harry looks at Brooklyn, scanning her face as he puts down his cup on the table. “I’m kinda scared to hear what you have to ask but… shoot.”

“Why are you invested in our relationship? I mean, you’ve been trying to get Niall and I together since the day I started working here. Why? And why me? It could’ve been anyone else in this office but, I don’t know, instead you wanted Niall and I to happen. And don’t give me that best mate’s intuition excuse.”

Harry chuckles to himself as he mutters ‘shit’ under his breath. “How about this: I knew from day one that you two would be great together.”

“Now you’re just paraphrasing,” Brooklyn tells him.

“I knew you’re great for him?”

“No, I’m not.” If anything, Niall is great for her.

“Y’know, sometimes you do this thing where you underestimate yourself.” Brooklyn is about to open her mouth to protest but he won’t let her. “You’re an amazing person, Brooklyn, and Niall admires you. If you could hear him talk about you, you’d think he’s talking about the queen or something. He’s placed you so high that no one can ever compete with you.”

Cheeks heating up, Brooklyn shakes her head. There’s no way Harry is telling her the truth. It’s too good to be true. Her name and queen don’t belong in the same sentence. “You’re lying.”

“Jesus, Brooklyn, you need to stop doubting me so much. It’s beginning to hurt.”

Brooklyn scoffs, unsure if Harry’s joking or if she’s really offended him. She doesn’t get to dwell on that for long as Niall walks into the break room, surprised to find his girlfriend and best friend in there. Well, she doesn’t think he’s surprised to see her because the break room is her second favourite place in this office, the first being her desk because Niall is in front of her and all that.

“What’re you two talking about?” Niall asks as his eyes dart from Brooklyn to Harry, a suspicious look written all over his face. He pulls out the chair next to Brooklyn and takes a seat.

“I’m just giving Brooklyn some relationship advices,” Harry answers, sounding a bit too proud of himself.

Niall cocks his head to the side like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. Brooklyn can’t either. “Relationship advices?”

“Mhmm,” Harry nods.

“Are they any good?” Niall looks enquiringly at Brooklyn, who shrugs her shoulder.

“Hey!” Harry exclaims, offended.

“They’re great,” Brooklyn says. She figures that since he has helped her a lot today, she should take his side for once. Niall’s eyes widen in surprise. “I know. I’m as shocked as you are.”

“You’re lucky I’m not assigned to write articles about relationships, Brooklyn, because you don’t stand a chance against my wisdom.” He gets up from his chair after that and after tapping the table once, twice, he turns to Brooklyn and says, “Remember what I told you.”

With that being said, he leaves the break room, claiming that he’s got to get started on the article that he’s been putting off for days. It’s obviously an excuse. He just wants to leave her alone with her boyfriend, which she appreciates because she and Niall do have something to talk about.

“So, what’s that all about?” Niall asks. “And wait, before you get angry, I didn’t tell him everything that happened last night. I only told him that Dominic knows about us now – that’s it.”

“I’m not angry.” Brooklyn tells him as she places her hand on top of his and gives it a squeeze. Instead of letting it go quickly like she always did when she remembered that they’re at their office, her thumb moves in circular motion against the skin between his thumb and his pointy finger.

“You’re not?” Niall quizzes as his eyes land on their hands, a confused expression overtaking his face.

A few days ago she wouldn’t touch him or stand too close to him whenever they’re at work because she feared someone might catch them, but now she couldn’t even be bothered by it.

Harry’s right; there’s no point in hiding something good. She’s done hiding – it’s a stupid thing to do.

“Harry talked some sense into me,” Brooklyn admits with a slight blush in her cheeks.

“He did?” She nods. “What did he say?”

So Brooklyn tells him everything that Harry said to her.

“Jesus,” Niall blushes furiously when Brooklyn gets to the part where Harry revealed something he probably shouldn’t: the way he talks about her when she’s not around. “He can’t keep his mouth shut, can he?”

“Hey, I think it’s cute,” Brooklyn says to make him feel better. “I mean who would’ve thought that you’d talk about me like I’m the queen but it’s super cute.”

Niall groans as he runs a hand – the one that’s not holding Brooklyn’s hand – down his face. The embarrassment doesn’t stretch long because that’s not what he should be focusing on. This is: “Wait, so we don’t have to hide our relationship anymore?”

“If that’s what you want?” Brooklyn asks because whilst she has changed her mind, there’s a possibility that Niall hasn’t changed his. Maybe he still wants to keep them a secret. “If you still want to—“

Niall shakes his head no before she could finish her sentence – he knows what she’s going to say and he doesn’t want to hear because that’s not what he wants. What he wants is to finally kiss her in the break room, the place they both spend quite an awful lot of time in and he does it. He leans forward and presses a chaste kiss on Brooklyn’s lips.

When he pulls back, a smile tugs at her mouth, happy that they’re both on the same page.

“Holy shit,” a voice pops their bubble. It’s Trent and he isn’t alone. Fred is standing next to him, jaw hanging open and eyes widening. “So you two are together.”

Trent doesn’t look too surprised. He was, at first, but not anymore. He walks over to the fridge, keeps his sandwich inside and makes his way to them. He pulls out a chair before calling out to Fred who’s still standing by the doorway, unblinking.

“Jesus, Fred, you’ve never seen people kiss before?” Embarrassed, Fred clears his throat and takes a seat next to Trent who then turns to the couple. “I knew there’s something going on between you two.”

“You did?” Brooklyn asks.

Trent nods. “Yeah, I can sense something like this.”

“What, you’re a cupid now, Trent?”

“Love doctor, actually.” Trent corrects him with a chuckle. When no one seems to believe him, he adds, “Hey, I’ll let you know that that was my nickname back in high school and the first year of uni. Don’t ask what happened after that.”

“Love doctor,” Niall repeats the words. “Pretty lame don’t you think?”

Trent ignores that remark with a shake of his head. “Anyway, I think there’s a bet going on in the office on you two. Think it’s between, uh,” he pauses and turns to Fred for an answer. “Is it between David and Michael?”

“Yeah.” Fred nods. “David bet that you and Brooklyn would hook up eventually and Michael bet that it wouldn’t happen at all.”

“Oh yeah, I remember it now. I was there when they made the bet,” Trent adds as an afterthought. He chuckles to himself. “Michael’s gonna be devastated when he finds out that he owes David twenty quids.”

“When did they make this bet?” Niall asks, still hasn’t gotten over the fact that two of his colleagues placed a bet on his relationship. “And where was I when that happened?” Niall has been a part of almost all bets that happen in this office so it’s impossible that he misses out on one and it so happens that the one he misses involves him and Brooklyn.

“A few weeks after you announced your bet with Brooklyn,” Fred answers. He must’ve been there as well because he knows as much as Trent does.

“I can’t believe they made a bet on us.” Niall says, more to himself rather than to other people. He really does look like he’s having a hard time wrapping his head around that idea, Brooklyn notices, and she finds that to be rather amusing so she has to press her lips together to prevent herself from bursting out into laughter. It must have never occurred to him that one day he’d be on the receiving end of something he does quite often.

“Hey, mate, you’re the one who started this whole bet thing. Everyone’s starting to catch on.”

Brooklyn watches as Niall opens his mouth to protest but he changes his mind in the last minute. Instead, a pleased smile touches his lips like it gratifies him knowing that he might or might have started a tradition in this office.

&&

By lunchtime, everyone already knows about Brooklyn and Niall including the people at HR. She wasn’t kidding when she said that news – read: gossip – travel fast in this office, which is why she wasn’t surprised when she received an email from Bernice to come upstairs for a brief talk. She was, however, curious as to how the news about her and Niall travelled to HR.

Whilst the company has nothing against employees dating one another, they do have a set of rules that the couple must follow. Brooklyn doesn’t mind about that because rules have never been a problem for her. She knows they’re there for a reason.

“So we can’t kiss for longer than five seconds,” Niall recalls the first thing Bernice from HR told them when they took a seat in front of her – she didn’t even warm them up or anything; she went straight to business. Her actual words were: “there should not be a public display of affection that lasts for longer than five seconds” but they all knew what she really meant. “Who’d be counting anyway?” asks Niall as he pushes the lift button so they can return to their office.

“Bernice from HR apparently,” Brooklyn answers with a shrug. She didn’t mean to be funny but the laughter that leaves Niall’s throat makes it seem like she’s just said the funniest thing ever and that puts a smile on her lips.

“Y’know when someone tells me I can’t do something, I want to do it even more,” Niall admits once they’ve stepped into the lift and the door has closed.

Brooklyn lets out a chuckle, thinking that he’s just joking. But when she looks at him, she realises that he isn’t. He’s being serious because there’s that familiar glint in his eyes. The glint is only there when he’s about to kiss her and if she doesn’t say anything in the next three seconds, the kiss will happen.

“If you want to have a new desk partner by the end of the day, then go for it,” Brooklyn challenges as she kinks an eyebrow at her boyfriend who immediately dismisses the thought he had earlier.

“Right,” Niall clears his throat, putting some distance between them. “I forgot all about the… consequences.”

His attempt at impersonating Bernice makes Brooklyn laugh. If she were to close her eyes she’d think it was Bernice talking to her and not Niall – that’s how good he is. He really is the best at impersonating people – she wonders if he’s done an impression of her.

“Had you not known me, I think you’d end up like her,” Niall jokes as he bumps her shoulder with his. She didn’t realise that he’s erased the gap between them.

“Why, thank you for befriending me, Mr Horan.” Brooklyn does a little bow and rolls her eyes when she straightens her back as they’ve reached their floor. She’s about to step out when Niall speaks up.

“Okay, that’s kinda unfair.” Niall says suddenly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. Brooklyn glances through her shoulder and cocks an eyebrow at him. “Is it weird that it kinda turns me on when you call me Mr Horan?”

Brooklyn shakes her head but not because she doesn’t think it’s weird, it’s because she thinks he’s weird. She steps out of the lift and makes her way to her desk, leaving Niall’s question unanswered.

She halts in her tracks when she sees Dominic at her desk – her heart plummets whilst worry seeps into her. He must have something rather important to tell her because if that isn’t the case he wouldn’t be waiting around at her seat.

“Hey, what’s wr—Oh.”

Brooklyn swallows the lump in her throat. Although she and Dominic arrived at work around the same time earlier this morning, she hasn’t talked to him since then. She was relieved when he didn’t try to talk to her either because she’s not really in the mood to deal with the awkwardness that has been dancing around them since the moment she left the sushi place to run after Niall.

Beck told her that things would’ve become a lot more awkward if Oliver didn’t swoop in with stories from when he and Dominic used to hang out together everyday – Brooklyn is bummed that she wasn’t there to hear the stories but she’s thankful that her brother tried to salvage the situation. He didn’t have to, but he did and that’s why she texted him late at night to thank him. They ended up talking until 2 in the morning and that’s how he knew she’s looking for a job because she was scared that Dominic might sell her out.

“Hi,” Dominic says with a nervous smile on his lips. “Harry told me you two were called up to HR and I hope things went okay.”

“Yeah,” Brooklyn replies. “It was… okay, I guess. Bernice was just telling us the do’s and don’ts.”

“Oh,” he breathes out. “That’s great.”

Out of desperation, Brooklyn turns to Niall, hoping that he could lessen the awkwardness. He – bless his heart – doesn’t waste a second to step in. “Hey, Dominic? We’re sorry for how we left things last night.”

Dominic’s eyes widen. “What? I mean, no, mate. I’m the one who should be apologising,” he says, chuckling to himself. It sounds more like an embarrassed chuckle than an amused chuckle. Niall’s eyebrows almost disappear into his hairline. “I didn’t know you two were together and Jesus, I thought back of the things I said to Brooklyn and let’s just say I wasn’t proud of myself.”

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault,” Niall tells Dominic as he pats him in the back. “You didn’t know.”

“I could’ve guessed,” he counters. “Anyway, I’m really sorry for the way I behaved. Had I known that you two are a couple I wouldn’t have… I wouldn’t have said everything I said. I’d never go for someone’s girlfriend, just to be clear.”

Both Niall and Brooklyn nod, unsure of what to say. Really, what do people say when someone apologises for flirting with your significant other because that person didn’t know that you’re in a relationship in the first place?

Dominic turns to Niall, then, and adds, “I’m surprised you didn’t punch me or anything because if it were me, I wouldn’t have appreciated it when another bloke tries to flirt with my girlfriend.”

Niall simply shrugs like it’s a no-brainer that he didn’t punch Dominic and honestly, Brooklyn can’t foresee that ever happening. She’s known him for years and she’s never seen him get angry. Frustrated, annoyed, irritated? Yes. But he’s never gone full on angry, which leads Brooklyn to believe that he’s a master at concealing his emotions.

“Violence doesn’t solve anything,” Niall says.

“Right. You’re right,” Dominic agrees with a nod of his head. “Well, I should get back to work.”

Once he’s left their desks, both Brooklyn and Niall turn to look at each other. They don’t have to say anything because they know what’s going on through the other’s mind. That was… awkward.

“What was that about?” Suki asks as she stands at the same spot Dominic was standing at a few seconds ago.

“Hey Suki,” Brooklyn greets her friend whom she hasn’t seen much of this lately. They talk through text messages frequently but it isn’t the same.

“Hey you,” she smiles. She turns to Niall, then, and her smile intensifies, “Congratulations on making it official.”

Brooklyn would’ve said ‘you’re welcome’ but when Suki wriggles her eyebrows at her, she ends up rolling her eyes. She knows what that look means; she’s seen it a number of times especially when they’re talking about Niall. It’s like everyone is aware of their feelings for each other, except for them.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen much of you lately,” Brooklyn mentions, smoothly changing the subject into one that isn’t about her or Niall or her and Niall.

“Well, that’s the second thing I wanted to tell you,” Suki says. Brooklyn kinks an eyebrow at her. “So I got called for an interview a few weeks ago and they finally reached out to me this morning. I got the job.”

“That’s great. Congratulations!” Brooklyn exclaims as she gets up from her seat to give her friend a hug. “Have you told them you accepted the job?”

“I… haven’t. I was going to but I saved the email to the draft.”

She doesn’t sound as ecstatic as Brooklyn expects her to be – normally people would be happy if they get a job – so she tilts her head to the side and asks, “And?”

“And I don’t know. It’s a great opportunity, really. Apparently they’re working on a new column – a fashion column – which will start next month and they wanted me to write for them. They’ve read everything I’ve ever written and they think I can execute the vision they have for the column.”

So far, Brooklyn doesn’t see the downsides of that new job. Everything sounds great and she knows that if she were to get the same offer, she’d take it although there are risks to be considered. But then again, you’d get nowhere if you don’t take risks every now and then.

“I know what you think,” Suki says. “Why don’t I sound excited, right?”

“Yeah,” Brooklyn admits sheepishly.

“You feel bad, don’t you?” Niall chimes in. Suki turns to look at him. “I mean you’ve worked here for a few years and you feel like you’d be turning your back on this company if you take the new job.”

Suki gapes. “Exactly. Did you just read my mind?”

Niall shakes his head. “Went through the same thing last year.”

“What?” The question slips past Brooklyn’s mouth before she can stop it. She clears her throat and composes herself before asking another question, “What do you mean you went through the same thing last year?”

“A company reached out to me and told me that they wanted me to write for them,” Niall says with a shrug like it’s no big deal that he got offered a job that is possibly better than the one he has right now. “They even told me that I could become the editor-in-chief within a year.”

“And you turned it down?” Suki quizzes, confusion written all over her face. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity so it doesn’t make sense that he’d turn it down.

“Yeah,” Niall answers – short and simple.

He’s being weirdly vague about this so Brooklyn decides to ask: “Why?”

Niall looks at her and shrugs. “It didn’t feel right to me.” Whilst that does sound like the truth, she has a feeling he’s not telling her the whole story. Niall might not be as thorough as her when it comes to making a decision, but she knows that he’d weigh the pros and cons before he reaches a conclusion.

“You should do what you think is right for you,” Niall says to Suki who then nods her head. “Brooklyn and I would support you in whatever you choose to do and I know Harry would too.”

At the mention of Harry’s name, a small smile touches her lips. Last Brooklyn heard, they’re still taking things slow. She reminds herself to ask her friend about them later. “Well, I’ll think about it. I should tell them that I’d decide by the end of the week.”

“Sounds like the right thing to do,” Niall replies. Suki thanks him and after telling Brooklyn that they should have lunch together tomorrow, she returns to her desk.

Brooklyn hasn’t said a word since Niall told her that he didn’t take the job because it didn’t feel right. It’s just something that she’s having trouble digesting. How could you turn down a job that could get you a promotion within twelve months? Like she said earlier, this just doesn’t make any sense.

“You alright, Bee?” Niall asks, interrupting her train of thoughts. Brooklyn blinks her eyes once, twice and nods. “You’re thinking about what I said just now, aren’t you?”

“I-Yeah, of course I am,” Brooklyn sighs. Niall can read her like an open book so there’s no point in lying. “Why’d you turn down that job?”

Niall doesn’t answer her question straightaway. He drags his chair to her desk and since they have nothing to hide anymore, he reaches for her hand and takes it in his. “Truth is, I didn’t take the job because I don’t want to work at a place where there’s no you. And the offer couldn’t have come at the worst time.” He chuckles to himself like a funny thought has just crossed his mind. “The first year you’re here, you only talk to me when you have to or when you’re bored—“

“That’s not true.” Niall gives her a pointed look. “That’s half true?”

“S’fine. Anyway, the first year we were painfully just colleagues. And then the second year, the year I got the offer, things started to change. You scoffed when I made a bet with, uh, David, I think? Yeah, it was David. Normally you wouldn’t even say a word about my bets but that day you scoffed and you rolled your eyes at me. I thought that’s a progress because fucking finally, I could get through the impenetrable Brooklyn Cooper.”

“The impenetrable Brooklyn Cooper?”

“Mhmm,” Niall nods. “You hardly laughed at my jokes, Bee, you had no idea how much it hurt.”

Brooklyn fakes a pout. “Please do entertain me on that.”

“See, this is what I love about you. You give me shit.”

“You like someone who gives you shit?” Brooklyn quirks an eyebrow at him. He’s being ridiculous. “You’re weird.”

“So I’ve been told,” he chuckles, referring to the same thing she said to him yesterday.

“So you didn’t take the job because of me?” She still can’t quite wrap her head around that. Would she have done the same if the role were reversed?

“Amongst other reasons, yeah. I love working here, the pay is good, I have Harry—“

“Everyone loves you,” Brooklyn interjects.

He grins. “That is actually one of the reasons.” Brooklyn rolls her eyes. He sure loves the attention.

“But seriously, did you regret not taking the job?”

The answer comes almost immediately. “Nope,” he shakes his head. “And I won’t regret it in the next two years or four years or ten years – if that’s what you’re wondering. You’re worth the decision, Bee.”