Under My Skin

Nearly everyone in the office notices that Niall is giving Brooklyn the silent treatment – one that she believes she doesn’t deserve at all. Brooklyn thinks it just shows how they like to stick their nose in someone else’s business. Good thing none of them has the audacity to question her why. But then again, she’s pretty sure they already know. News – or rather, gossips – travel fast in that office.

“You can’t blame them,” Suki says as she takes her and Brooklyn’s coffee from the barista and thanks him. She hands one to her friend and takes a sip of the drink before continuing, “I mean you two are pretty close so it’s weird, y’know, to see you not talking to him.”

“He’s the one who’s not talking to me,” Brooklyn argues.

Suki pushes the door open and steps aside to let Brooklyn walk out of the coffee shop. She follows suit before she turns to her friend and asks another question. “Well, have you tried talking to him?”

No, she hasn’t. Brooklyn refuses to be the first one to break the silence or in another words, she doesn’t want to lower her ego. Besides, Niall’s the one who started it so he should be the one to end it.

“He won’t even look at me, Suki,” she says before quickly adding, “And in case you’ve forgotten about it, he’s the one who made a dramatic exit.”

Brooklyn keeps telling herself that it doesn’t bother her, that she doesn’t care if he doesn’t want to talk or look at her, but him doing so is beginning to interfere with her work. He’s always helped her when she’s stuck on something or when there’s a word on the tip of her tongue and she fails to retrieve it from her memory, he’s there to help her. Now, when she finds herself unable to write her article, she can’t simply look up and ask for his help.

“Just talk to him,” Suki suggests, to which Brooklyn lets out a groan because she’s been told to do so by Harry as well. “I’m sure he’ll look at you then.”

Brooklyn shakes her head. Although there’s a part of her that wants to believe Suki, she’s not sure she’s willing to do that. What if she talks to him and he doesn’t even bother to look up? That’d be embarrassing and it would wound her ego.

“Or are you too proud to do that?” Suki questions. Brooklyn lets out a ‘how dare you say such things’ gasp.

“I’m not too proud,” she argues rather weakly as she can’t think of an explanation to go with her point. But that doesn’t mean she’s not going to try and convince her friend. Looking straight into Suki’s eyes, she enunciates each word that leaves her mouth, “I’m not, okay?”

Brooklyn’s statement is met with a shrug. Suki doesn’t believe her – she doesn’t blame her, really, because that’s a weak argument. She blames the lack of caffeine in her system and the lack of sleep she got last night.

“Then you should have no problem talking to him,” Suki says suggestively, one corner of her mouth tugging upwards, before she quickly adds, “If you’re not too proud, that is.”

Brooklyn opens her mouth only to close it a second later. Suki’s right; she is too proud to break the silence between her and Niall. She’s not going to admit it, though, but she’s sure her silence indicates that she agrees with her friend.



Niall is not at his desk when Brooklyn arrives at work. But then again, it’s not a surprise considering that he’s always late.

Brooklyn puts down her bag on the edge of the desk and it falls down a second later. Everything spills out, scattering all over the floor. Brooklyn looks at her belongings, a displeased look written all over her face. The fact that her bag chooses to fall down right now feels a lot like the universe trying to mock her.

“Seems about right,” she mumbles to herself as she kneels down to pick up her things. She lets out a groan as she gets under her desk to retrieve her hand cream and whilst she looks around for more of her possessions, she hears footsteps coming her way. She would’ve immediately gotten out of her desk but when she hears Harry’s low voice, for reasons beyond her knowledge, she decides to stay hidden.

“Are you still not gonna talk to her?” Harry asks Niall, who simply hums his answer – she assumes Harry’s talking to Niall because who else could it be? Right now, there’s only one person who refuses to speak to her. Brooklyn hates herself for eavesdropping, but she’s curious. She needs to hear his answer especially for Harry’s next question: “Is it cos of what happened between her and Louis?”

The silence stretches on for about five seconds before it is interrupted by the sound of her mobile phone ringing out of nowhere. She curses to herself – how could she forget to mute her phone? – as she quickly retrieves the device from the pocket of her jacket and puts it on a silent mode. On the screen, it shows that Oliver’s calling her, but before she can decide whether or not to answer it, the phone call ends. Weird. Oliver must have something important to tell her or else, he would’ve just texted her. Whatever it is, she’ll think about it later.

“Brooklyn?” Harry kneels down in front of her desk and squints his eyes at her. Humiliation washes over her and she wishes the ground would open up and swallow her whole. “What’re you doing down here?”

Cheeks catching fire, Brooklyn clears her throat twice before she looks around and picks up a pen that’s on the floor, waving it around. She didn’t notice that pen before but in an attempt to come up with an excuse to explain why she’s under her desk, she picks it up anyway knowing full well that it’s not hers and it’s dirty. She nearly cringes as that thought crosses her mind.

“I was looking for my pen,” she articulates as she waves that pen again as though to prove a point. She hopes to God he won’t point out how weird it is that he found her kneeling down on the floor. Brooklyn quickly gets out from under her desk and brushes her palms against her jeans whilst making a mental note to wash it as soon as she gets home later.

“Oh,” Harry replies, seeming unaffected by what he saw earlier like it happens everyday and she lets out a relieved sigh. She turns around and notices that Niall is not at his desk nor is he standing nearby. “He’s at the break room,” Harry mentions like he knows what’s going on in her mind. Then, before she can tell him that she’s not looking for Niall and that she doesn’t care where he’s at, Harry’s already walked away.

This is her chance to prove to Suki – and herself – that she’s not too proud to break the silence and talk to him. In her head, it sounds simple. All she has to do is walk into the break room, tap him on the shoulder if he’s not facing her and say something to him. But what should she say? She hasn’t a clue.

Hi? Good morning? You’re overreacting, do you know that?

The last one sounds like something she would want to say to him, but she decides against it. In fact, she decides not to go to the break room and talk to him altogether. If he wants to give her the silent treatment over something that she considers so trivial, so be it. She can handle it.

Except, she can’t. Because when Niall returns to his desk a few minutes later, she finds herself casting glances at him every two minutes, wondering if he’ll question her about it and start talking to her. It’s not the brightest idea she’s ever had, but she can’t possibly be the one to end the silence that has stretched from one day to three days and now three days and two hours?

“Niall.” His name rolls off of her tongue before her brain can finish processing thoughts on whether or not she should just put aside her ego for once.

Shocked, Niall looks up from the screen of his computer and kinks an eyebrow at her. “Yeah?”

Brooklyn could’ve sworn that she could feel relief spreading across her chest when she realises that he’s not ignoring her. But she’s also panicking because she’s expected him to pretend as though he didn’t hear her so now she doesn’t know what to say next. She didn’t think she’d get this far.

“Fuck,” the curse word slips past her mouth.

“What?” Niall asks.

She’s not sure why her brain’s not working. Why her brain can’t come up with a string of words to say to Niall, who’s now looking at her expectantly.

“Can I borrow your pen?” is what she says after what feels like an eternity of silence. Niall’s brows are pinched together, but if he’s confused as to why she’s asking for his pen when she has hers – four of them – he doesn’t point it out. He simply reaches for his only pen and leans forward to hand it to her. “Thanks,” she says with a small smile. He nods and returns to his work.

Stupid – that’s what Brooklyn is. She’s the stupidest person in this office. She’s always prided herself as someone who’s good with words but right now she can’t even form a sentence even if it can prevent her from embarrassing herself.

So, she decides to keep her mouth shut and focus on her work. Luckily, the mortification doesn’t get in the way of her getting her work done by lunch time which is also when Niall asks for his pen back. He needs to write something down and seeing that he has only one pen, he needs it back. Brooklyn’s quite sure that he would’ve let her keep it if that isn’t the case because Niall’s pretty adamant about this silent treatment thing.

And honestly? She’s tired of this whole ordeal even though she’s told herself over and over that it doesn’t bother her. Who is she fooling? It does bother her, but there’s nothing she can do about it.

After giving Niall his pen back, Brooklyn makes her way to the break room. Once she’s seated on one of the chairs, she dials Oliver’s number. He picks up on the second ring.

“Why’d you call me?” The embarrassment from being caught eavesdropping earlier today returns and taints her cheeks with the colour red. Harry might not have said it out loud, but she knows he knows that’s what she’s doing under the desk.

“Good afternoon, Bee.” Oliver says instead and Brooklyn can see his older brother’s stupid smile on his face right now. “Did I catch you on a bad time?”

“You have no idea,” Brooklyn lets out a sigh. “But anyway, you didn’t answer my question.”

“We’re having sushi for dinner tonight,” he replies. “At the usual.”

Which is the sushi place fifteen minutes away from her office. Beck’s the one who stumbled upon that restaurant and they’ve been there a number of times. A few of the workers there recognise them – how could they not when the Cooper siblings always come together.

“Okay,” Brooklyn nods even though her brother can’t see it. She knows he can feel it, though. “Anything else?” As soon as those two words leave her mouth, Niall walks into the break room. They make eye contact briefly – three seconds to be precise – before she breaks it by looking away.

“Bring extra cash,” Oliver jokes – she hopes. She’s not exactly broke right now, but she’d like to save some money.

“Well then I’m not going.” Brooklyn’s eyes return on Niall who has his back on her. He’s looking for something in the fridge – he’ll be disappointed to find out that there’s only a few bottles of mineral water and someone else’s sandwiches.

“Jesus, just kidding,” Oliver chuckles on the other end of the line. “See you after work?”

Brooklyn wants to tell him yeah he’ll see her after work, but Niall who suddenly pulls out a chair next to her distracts her. She mumbles incoherent words and before she ends the call, she can hear Oliver’s laughter ringing in her ears.

“Hi,” Niall says when she’s put down her phone on the table.

She looks at him, dumbfounded by his move. “Hi,” she replies and he shoots her a smile. She doesn’t reciprocate it because she has no idea why he’s here so she’d rather not show her emotions.

Niall rubs the back of his neck and the silence only thickens the tension in the room. Brooklyn’s glad that no one decides to walk in because she’s sure they would be able to feel it. The last thing she needs is for one of her office mates sticking their nose in her business.

Finally, he clears his throat and says, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” She hears him, but she’s not sure if she’s hearing him right. Did he just apologise? She doesn’t know. Maybe she does, but she needs to hear him say it again.

He looks at her and she can see the sincerity in his blue eyes. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted when you told me that you and Louis are dating,” he says in one breath. He clears his throat before he continues. “I’m happy for you and him,” he states and Brooklyn shoots him a ‘are you really?’ look. She just has to do that to be sure. He chuckles and nods. “Yeah, I really am. I guess I was just upset that I wasn’t the first person to know about it considering that I was the one who introduced you two to each other.”

Brooklyn rolls her eyes at his statement, one that she knows is going to be something that he holds over her head for as long as she and Louis are dating. “Apology accepted,” she tells him with a nod. A smile takes over his face and she feels her lips quirking. “Also, I’m sorry for not telling you about it.”

“No, no, you shouldn’t be apologising,” he shakes his head, making her confused. She’s pretty certain she plays a part in this whole no talking to each other thing. “What happens in your love life is yours to keep. I don’t have the right to get upset because you refused to share it with me.”

“Now you’re making me feel bad,” Brooklyn says as she hits his shoulder.

His eyes widen in horror. “No, God no. That’s not what I’m trying to do,” he replies. He takes a deep breath, then, and adds, “All I’m saying is I’m happy for you and Louis and that I’m sorry for the way I reacted.”

“You’ve apologised for that just now,” Brooklyn points out.

“I know,” he chuckles, cheeks heating up from embarrassment.

“That was a pretty dramatic exit you did the other day,” she reminds him and that only makes his cheeks turn a brighter shade of red. His ears have turned red as well and laughter escapes her mouth.

Niall looks at her, a smile on his lips. She gives him a ‘what?’ look and he simply shrugs. “Just happy that we’re talking again,” he says.

“Good to know that not talking to me makes you miserable,” she jokes and he lets out a scoff.

“As if you’re not miserable too,” he replies. She kinks an eyebrow at him. “I saw you looking at me every five seconds-“

“You’re exaggerating.” Brooklyn interrupts him as she throws a tissue paper at him.

“I’m not,” he counters with a laugh.

“Ah, looks like you two are good now,” Harry says as he walks into the break room with Suki behind him.

“Oh good,” Suki adds. “No more ‘he won’t even look at me, Suki’ talk.”

Brooklyn’s eyes widen at the revelation. Niall, on the other hand, seems pretty pleased by it. Of course, he is. He likes knowing that people talk about him, thinks that it’s cool people would take the time out of their day to talk about him – be it about something good or bad.

“So it did make you miserable, Cooper,” Niall boasts as he pokes her arm. She refuses to look at him, knowing that he has that stupid smile on his face right now. So she continues to glare at Suki. “Just admit it. C’mon.”

“Sod off,” she says as she gives him the bird. He simply laughs as though receiving a middle finger amuses him.

“Whilst I appreciate the banter and would love to witness more of it,” Harry interrupts, rubbing his stomach. “I’m hungry. Lunch?”



Throughout the lunch, Harry kept on making comments about how they haven’t hung out in a while. Each time he did so, he’d look at Brooklyn and she knew he’s trying to tell her that it was because of her. So, wanting to shut him up, she told him that they all could join her and her siblings for dinner. They wouldn’t mind, she’s sure. If they do, then Harry, Suki and Niall might have to sit at another table.

But, five minutes before they can leave the office, Harry and Suki told Niall and Brooklyn that they won’t be able to join them.

“I feel like you’re doing this on purpose,” Brooklyn says as she squints her eyes at Harry who doesn’t crumble under her intense gaze like she wants him to. He simply shrugs and tells her again that he’s promised to grab dinner with his sister. Suki, on the other hand, can’t come because she suddenly remembers that she has an urgent matter to attend to. It sounds way too vague for it to be true, but Brooklyn doesn’t want to question her. “Fine, your loss then.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a next time,” Harry says confidently. Lowering his voice a little to make sure Niall wouldn’t hear him, he wiggles his eyebrows at Brooklyn as he says, “Besides, I wouldn’t want to be a third wheeler. You and Niall just made up so you deserve some alone time with him.”

Brooklyn looks at him and gives him her middle finger. At this point, she doesn’t even bother to tell him to stop talking nonsense. That’s what he does and what she can do is ignore him. “Whatever,” she tells him instead, her voice as lower as Harry’s.

“What’re you two whispering about?” Niall inquires nosily as he gets up from his chair and makes a short walk to Brooklyn’s desk.

“None of your business,” Brooklyn answers way too quickly. Niall kinks an eyebrow at her and her face flushes a bit.

Harry lets out a chuckle and shakes his head. “I was just telling Brooklyn to have fun at dinner,” he answers the question for the both of them. She doesn’t know why he’s not telling the truth, but if she has to guess she thinks it’s for selfish reasons. Like how he doesn’t want Niall to nudge him in his rib – he does that a lot to Harry – or like how he doesn’t want Niall to tell him that he’s mad.

“Are you not joining us cos you’re having dinner with Suki?” Niall questions. Harry’s body stiffens at the mention of her name and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. Niall gasps. “You are, aren’t you, you little shit.”

Brooklyn kicks his shin. “I can’t believe it,” she says. “Dinner with sister, my arse!”

“Is that what he told you?” Niall asks Brooklyn, to which she nods. “Getting pretty good at lying, aren’t ya?”

“Anything for Suki, isn’t it?” Brooklyn sings. Seeing Harry’s face turning red is entertaining to say the least.

Harry takes a few steps away from Niall and Brooklyn. “Okay, you two ganging up on me is not fair,” he says before he turns on his heels and leaves before those two can taunt him for a second longer.

Brooklyn and Niall laugh, amused by the way Harry behaves the moment someone mentions Suki’s name. It’s both cute and funny. “Didn’t think it’s true, ya know?” Niall admits once Harry is out of their sights. “And didn’t think it’d be that easy.”

“I know,” Brooklyn agrees with a nod. Harry’s poker game face is weakening and she thinks it has everything to do with the fact that his crush is now out in the open. He doesn’t have to hide it, at least not in front of them. Looking at Niall who’s still lingering near her desk, she asks, “You’re not gonna bail too, aren’t you?”

Brooklyn texted Beck twenty minutes ago, telling him that Niall would be joining them for dinner. Beck, of course, took only seconds to reply with two eyes emojis. Brooklyn gave him two middle finger emojis and she told him that Harry and Suki would be joining them as well. She still hasn’t told him that those two can’t come.

“And miss an opportunity to have sushi for dinner?” Niall asks, an incredulous gasp leaving his mouth. “Never.”

Brooklyn lets out a laugh. It sure feels nice to be able to talk to Niall again – she’s not going to tell him that. What Suki said earlier was enough to inflate his ego, he doesn’t need another reason to boost his already humongous ego.

Brooklyn’s phone vibrates again as another text message from Beck comes in: can’t wait to see Niall!

She can’t help the scoff that leaves her throat. Beck is somewhat obsessed with Niall and she doesn’t even want to know why. Besides, it is not something new that someone is head over heels for Niall – nearly everyone in this office is in love with him.

Good thing, she’s immune to him and his charm.



Brooklyn can feel Beck’s eyes on her when she walks into the sushi place with Niall. He has an impressed look on his face when Niall holds the door open for her and she simply rolls her eyes. Beck loves to tease her. Come to think of it, everyone that she knows loves to tease her. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to rile her up or maybe because they don’t have anything better to do with their lives. She’s going to go with the latter.

Before they reach their reserved table, Brooklyn stops walking and turns to Niall, “Are you sure?”

Niall chews on his bottom lip as his eyes dart from her face to her siblings. He looks slightly nervous, but there’s a smile on his lips. “A bit nervous, but anything for sushi, yeah?”

Brooklyn has to roll her eyes at that because as much as she hates to admit it, he’s good under pressure. And he’s good with people – not that she isn’t but she knows people would much prefer to be around him than her.

“Well, if you’re sure, then c’mon.”

The two of them make their way to their table and as soon as they reach it, Beck jumps up from his seat to pull Niall in for a hug. Brooklyn could’ve sworn she sees tension draining out from his body almost instantly. But when Beck returns to his seat, Niall tenses a little. Brooklyn gives him a reassuring smile. “Everyone, this is Niall. Niall, these are my annoying brothers and sister.”

“Hi, Niall,” Nadine grins and waves from her seat. If Brooklyn can describe her little sister based on emojis, she’d say she’s the heart eyes emoji. It’s embarrassing. “I’m Nadine.”

“Hi, Nadine.” Niall smiles.

“The one squinting at you right now is my older brother, Oliver.” Brooklyn says with a smirk. Oliver shoots her a glare but a smile takes over a second later. She looks at Niall and pretends to whisper to him, “He likes to pretend that he’s cool and all that, but deep inside he’s just as lame as Beck.”

“Hey!” Both Beck and Oliver exclaim at the same time.

“For your information, Niall,” Oliver straightens up a little, a knowing smile on his lips. “Bee’s the lamest.”

“I concur,” Nadine interjects before giving their older brother a high five. If they weren’t in public, Brooklyn would’ve thrown something at them. Honestly, will they ever get tired of teasing her? Brooklyn doesn’t think that day will ever come.

“You can still run if you want to,” she whispers to Niall, completely ignoring her siblings.

“Nah, I’m good,” Niall says as he shakes his head, to which she frowns at him. It’s either he’s gone mad or he’s got a kink for annoying siblings. Either way, he’s going to regret staying – she’s quite sure of that.

“Alright then,” Brooklyn replies. If he wants to stay, then that’s on him.

Brooklyn moves to pull out a chair next to Beck, but before she can take a seat, her twin brother stops her. “What?”

“No offence, Bee, but I kinda want Niall to sit next to me.” Beck grins when she shoots him a glare.

“And this is why, Beck, you’re my favourite twin,” Niall declares as he takes a seat on the chair next to Beck. He looks at Brooklyn, then, and says, “Sorry, Bee.” He doesn’t sound sorry at all. In fact, he seems very pleased that Beck has chosen him over her – everything’s a competition to him.

The fact that Brooklyn doesn’t tell Niall not to call her Bee doesn’t go unnoticed by Oliver and Nadine, who are now looking at her with a puzzled look on their face. Normally, she doesn’t like it when people other than her siblings call her that. It’s a nickname reserved for them and only them, but maybe she’s changed her mind.

Once everyone is seated, they place their order – it turns out that Beck and Niall like the same sushi and that gives Beck more reasons to love Niall even more. “I think God messed up and gave Bee as my twin instead of you,” Beck states, which earn him laughter from Niall and an eye roll from Brooklyn.

“So, Niall, how long have you been working for the company?” Oliver asks, casually changing the subject.

“5 years,” he answers. “I did my internship there and they decided to hire me as soon as I graduated.”

Brooklyn didn’t know he did his internship there. She did know that he started working there after he graduated, but that’s it. So, she turns to him, brows furrowing. “You interned there?” She asks. He nods. “Huh, you never told me that.”

He laughs, nudging her shoulder with his as he says, “Gotta keep you on your toes, ya know?”

Now, Brooklyn can feel her siblings’ eyes on her. She knows they’re going to be talking about this in their group chat later on, but there’s a tiny part of her that’s hoping they’ll forget about it by the end of this dinner.

Oliver, Beck and Nadine take turns in asking Niall some questions – are you really from Ireland? How’s it like living there? How’s Bee like at work? Do you have a girlfriend?

Brooklyn has to stop her siblings the moment the last question is asked. They’re being really nosy and that’s embarrassing. “You don’t have to answer that,” Brooklyn tells Niall.

“It’s fine,” he replies with a shrug. He turns to Nadine and answers her question, “No, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Nadine claps her hands excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. “Do you have a crush on someone?”

“Nadine, please, that’s such a high school question,” Beck interrupts. Nadine gives him a middle finger. “What we should be asking is-“

“No one’s asking Niall anything anymore,” Brooklyn tells them. Both Nadine and Beck pout. Oliver, on the other hand, chuckles to himself as he takes a sip of his green tea.

“Boo, you’re boring,” Nadine boos and Brooklyn ignores that.

Good thing, their food come a second later because that shuts everyone up. As they enjoy their dinner whilst having small talks – Nadine and Beck can’t seem to shut up even with their mouths full – Brooklyn comes to a realisation that Niall has, once again, succeeded in charming people who he’s meeting for the first time, except for Beck. She can’t help but wonder what can’t he do?

Brooklyn doesn’t get to wonder long because before she can eat the last of her shrimp tempura, someone walks up to their table. The way Nadine’s eyes widen makes Brooklyn turn in her seat and that’s when she sees him.

“Louis?” She’s so confused. She didn’t tell him that she’s having her dinner here. Which could only mean one thing. She turns to Nadine who has an apologetic look written all over her face. Nadine must have reached out to Louis and invited him here. Why would she do that? Brooklyn doesn’t know, but she’ll find out later.

“Hi,” Louis smiles as he waves at everyone around the table. He leans down and presses a quick kiss on Brooklyn’s cheek. His eyes land on Niall after that and if he’s shocked to see him there, he covers it quite well. “Hey, mate.”

Much like Louis, Niall covers his shock with a smile. “Hey,” he replies.

Beck’s eyes dart from Niall to Louis then back to Niall. When he diverts his gaze to Brooklyn, he looks amused and she can tell he has something to say. And she’s right. “This would’ve been way awkward if Brooklyn still has a crush on Niall.”

“What?” Both Brooklyn and Niall say at the same time.

Horrified, Brooklyn can feel colours draining from her face. Both Louis and Niall are looking at her, but she can’t bring herself to look at either of them. Her eyes are fixed on the sushi in front of her whilst everyone waits for her to say something. She should deny that, should tell Beck that he’s mad and that he’s talking nonsense, but when she opens her mouth, nothing comes out.

She looks at her siblings for help and luckily, Nadine steps up. That’s the least she can do considering that she plays a part in this mess. “Louis, I didn’t think you saw my message on your Instagram.”

“I did – in the last minute actually,” Louis admits. “Was about to go home when I saw it, but told the driver to take me here instead.”

“Oh,” is the only response Nadine can think of. “Well, we’re glad that we got to finally meet you.”

“Likewise,” Louis says with a smile. He turns to Brooklyn and says, “So, you had a crush on Niall?”

“I-Uh, yeah,” she confesses sheepishly. She scans his face, searching for any signs of anger or betrayal, but she sees none of it. But he does look like he suddenly remembers something.

“Huh. Niall used to have a crush on you.”