Under My Skin

On a Sunday morning, Brooklyn wakes up feeling restless and agitated. She knows straightaway that her plan to stay in bed until it’s late in the afternoon is out of the window so after she’s finished scrolling aimlessly through her Instagram, she climbs out of her bed.

After making her bed – Brooklyn can never leave her bed unmade no matter how lazy she gets – she brushes her teeth, washes her face and puts on her running attire. She hasn’t gone for a run in a while and she hopes to God her stamina won’t fail her this morning.

She’s in the middle of tying her shoelaces when Beck stumbles out of his room, rubbing his eyes with the pad of his hand. “Bee?”

“Hey.”

“You’re up early,” he remarks.

“I’m going out for a run,” she tells him as she gets up and pulls her hair into a ponytail. Beck looks at her like he’s trying to figure out if she’s lost her mind. Who’d want to spend a Sunday morning running around a park? His twin sister, apparently.

“Well, take care,” he comments before disappearing into the kitchen. Brooklyn wants to ask what’s he doing up so early, but when she hears the sound of a mug breaking – that’d be the third one he breaks in the past month – she picks up her iPod, one that she’s had for years, along with its earphones and heads out without saying anything else. She needs to get rid of the tenseness before it takes over her.

Brooklyn goes through her music playlist and stops at ‘one for the run’. She made that playlist a few months ago when she decided that she needed more upbeat songs in her music library. She clicks play and begins her warmup exercises. Once she’s sure that she’s not going to pull her muscles or anything, she starts running. Slowly at first, but her speed increases to the beat of the songs she’s listening to.

The loud and heavy music flows through her body like a ripple of energy as she focuses on her next step and nothing else. Her breath has moved from controlled inhaling and exhaling to uncontrolled gasps and spurts. When every single ounce of her body is poured into propelling her forward, leaving her committedly focused on her steps, she can feel everything that has been bothering her melts away. Tension drains out of her body and she no longer feels like the universe is against her.

That is, until someone tugs at her earphone, pulling the left one out of her ear. Shocked, Brooklyn lets her reflex takes over as she pulls her arm back and punch the person who scares the life out of her. She’s read enough news to know that people these days aren’t afraid to harm you even in the public. Luckily she learned how to punch someone from Oliver and her trainer back when she used to go to the gym regularly.

A victorious smile touched Brooklyn’s lips when she hears that bloody idiot winces in pain. It disappears immediately, however, when she turns around and sees that the person who’s just plucked her earphone out of her ear is-

“Niall?!” She shrieks as she walks up to him. He’s covering his eye with the palm of his hand and whilst Brooklyn feels bad for him, she can’t stop herself from laughing.

“What?” He frowns at her.

“You sort of deserved that,” she tells him. He shrugs. “What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking, obviously,” he mutters as he makes his way to the nearest bench. Brooklyn follows him and once he’s seated, she pries his hand away from his face and tries to take a look at his eyes. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

Brooklyn squints her eyes a little and lets out a sigh. “You’re gonna have a black eye for a few days, that’s for sure.”

He groans. “Tell me I look cool.”

“Too soon to tell,” she replies as she inspects his eye once more. Taking a few steps back, she says, “As for now, you still look lame.”

He gives Brooklyn a displeased look, one that earns him another laughter from her.

She offers him her hand and he stares at it, confused. “C’mon, let’s get some ice on your eye.”

“Might have to carry me, Cooper,” he replies, lips twitching a little when she shoots him a ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “Can’t see.”

Brooklyn scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Don’t be an ass.”

“Jesus, you really do hate me, don’t you?”

“Been trying to tell you that for years.”

“Ouch,” he places a hand on his chest, “now you hurt my eye and my heart.”

“Come off of it,” she swats his arm before she begins walking. When she doesn’t hear Niall’s footsteps following her, she glances through her shoulder. “What’re you waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Eager to take me to your home, aren’t you?” He teases her as he catches up to her. She shoots him a glare and he immediately mimics an action of locking his lips.

The walk to Brooklyn’s home is filled with… silence. Brooklyn has never felt this awkward as they walk side by side. Well, except for when she’s trying her hardest to convince herself that she didn’t have a crush on Niall back then. Once she got over her crush, things are hardly awkward for them.

“What-“

“I’m-“

Brooklyn lets out a small laugh whilst Niall chuckles to himself when they both speak at the same time.

“You go first,” Niall says to her.

“What’re you doing at the park?” Brooklyn asks.

“I went for a walk,” he answers. “I was about to head home when I saw you.”

“And you thought it’s a good idea to pull at my earphone while I was running?” Brooklyn arches an eyebrow at him and he nods sheepishly. “You’re lucky I didn’t kick you or summat.”

He laughs, the sound putting a smile on Brooklyn’s face.

“So, what were you gonna say?” She quizzes, curious.

He looks at her and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he says. For some reasons, she feels like that’s not it. “And I, uh, was wondering if we’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Brooklyn asks, brows furrowing in confusion. When Niall shoots her a pointed look, an ‘oh’ leaves her mouth. Cheeks catching fire, she tries to come up with something to say. A part of her thinks that this whole crush thing will be something that they will never talk about. Something that they will pretend never happened. Niall has a different plan. “I-It’s all in the past, right?”

After his crush for her was revealed, everyone was quiet. Niall’s cheeks and neck turned red and he struggled with words whilst Brooklyn refused to look at anyone even though she could feel her siblings’ eyes on her, all of them wanting to gauge her reaction.

To say that the next twenty minutes of the dinner was awkward would be an understatement. Everyone ate in silence except for Louis, who for some reasons didn’t feel the palpable tension around the table. Every now and then he would point out how delicious the sushi was and how shocked he was that he didn’t discover this place sooner.

Niall left before everyone else did with an excuse that he had some work to do. Louis did five minutes later because he had an early shoot the next morning and when Brooklyn was left alone with her siblings, questions after questions flew out of their mouths.

Apparently Beck wasn’t surprised that Niall used to have a crush on her. Nadine, on the other hand, thought that it’s a loss her sister didn’t know about this sooner because she could totally picture the two of them together. Oliver refused to share his view on this whole thing, simply shrugging it off by saying that he’s happy if Brooklyn’s happy.

Ever since then, no one mentions what were spoken during the dinner.

“Mhmm, it’s in the past,” he answers after what feels like an eternity of silence. He looks at her, then, scanning her face in a way that makes her feel self-conscious all of a sudden. “So, we’re cool, yeah?”

“Of course,” she nods. “I used to have a crush on you and you used to be all consumed by your passionate love for me.”

“Pretty sure it’s the other way around, Cooper,” Niall counters, to which she shakes her head, denying that statement.

As the two of them burst out laughing, things are no longer awkward between them. The heaviness she felt on her chest since that dinner is gone, replaced by relief. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to talk about this. Now that it’s out in the open, they could joke around about it without wanting the ground to swallow them alive.

When they arrive at Brooklyn’s house, she tells him to take a seat on her couch whilst she gets some ice from her fridge. It turns out that there’s no ice but what she does have is a pack of peas, which she thinks is good enough. When she returns to the living room, she hands it to him and occupies the empty seat next to him.

Pressing the pack of peas against his eye, he lets out a hiss. “I’m really sorry for punching you in the face,” Brooklyn apologises. Seeing him in pain makes her feel so guilty.

“S’fine,” he waves her off with his hand. “I deserved it.”

Brooklyn laughs. “You did, but I still feel bad.”

“Don’t be,” he tells her as he pats her knee.

Beck decides to come out of his room at that exact moment and when Brooklyn’s eyes meet his, she’s pretty sure she sees the glint in his eyes. He almost tiptoes back to his room to give them some privacy, but she calls him out.

“Beck, hey! You’re up.”

“I-I’m going back to sleep,” he replies but stops when he sees Niall’s eye that is beginning to swell. He quickly makes his way to them. “Holy shit, mate. What the hell happened? Did you kick someone’s arse?”

“I wish,” he chuckles as he shakes his head. “Bee punched me.”

Beck glares at his twin sister. “Why’d you do that?”

“I-“

“S’not her fault,” Niall interjects. “I caught her at a bad time.”

Beck lets out a low whistle. “Never mess with Bee.”

Niall agrees with a nod.

“Just so you know, I was the one who taught her how to throw a punch.”

Brooklyn punches Beck in the arm, causing him to wince. “You never taught me that!” She exclaims. “Ollie did.”

“I’d like to think that those wrestling matches we had when we were kids taught you how to defend yourself,” Beck says, still attempting to get some credits from his sister.

What he does get is an eye roll. Brooklyn gets up from the couch and begins to make her way to the kitchen. “I’m making pancakes, anyone wants one?”

“Two please!” Beck orders. “No, make it three. I’m starving!”

“Niall?”

Niall glances through his shoulder. “Oh, I can’t-“

“Nonsense!” Beck interrupts before he can finish his sentence. “You deserve at least two of Bee’s pancakes after what she did to your eye.”

Niall darts his gaze from Beck to Brooklyn before finally deciding to stay for breakfast.



The lift door is about to close when Niall squeezes himself in. Instinctively, Brooklyn looks at her wristwatch.

“You’re not late,” Niall remarks.

“You’re… Early?” Brooklyn is truly shocked. The last time he was early, it was because his clock was set an hour earlier and he thought everyone was pranking him when he arrived to an empty office. She turns to him and pokes his cheek. “Is this really Niall Horan?”

Niall presses his lips together, pretending not to be annoyed. The look on his face makes Brooklyn laughs so she stops.

“What makes you come to work early?” She asks.

He shrugs. “Woke up early, couldn’t go back to sleep so I got ready for work and here I am.”

“Huh,” is the only reply Brooklyn can think of. The lift door opens and she steps out, followed by Niall. The two of them make their way to their desks and after putting down their stuff, they head to the break room.

As Brooklyn pours a cup of freshly brewed coffee into her cup, Niall looks around the place. “So this is what it feels like to come early.”

Bringing the cup up to her lips, she takes a sip of the much needed caffeine before replying, “Good, innit?”

“Kinda like it better when everyone watches me walk to my desk,” he says matter-of-factly.

Brooklyn rolls her eyes and scoffs. “You’re a narcissist, do you know that?” Niall simply grins and shrugs. “How’s your eye?”

Niall has decided to wear his glasses today, one that he usually puts on when he’s reading something or working on his articles, and it does a pretty good job at concealing his black eye. If you don’t stare at his face for longer than three seconds, that is.

“Better,” he answers coolly. Brooklyn makes a face at him, not quite believing his words. Physically, it doesn’t look better. “Okay, fine. It still hurts. A little. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Of course, you’re the strongest,” Brooklyn replies sarcastically, which makes him laugh.

Pulling out a chair, Niall sits with her as she drinks her coffee in silence. He takes out his mobile phone and checks his email. Brooklyn decides to do the same.

“Good morning, my favourite people!” Harry announces as he walks into the break room. He’s about to take a seat next to Niall when he suddenly gasps. “No. What happened to your eye?”

“Cooper punched me,” Niall tells him.

Harry’s eyes widen as he looks at Brooklyn, who immediately holds both hands up. “Before you accuse me of anything, you should know that he deserved it.”

“Niall is the nicest person I know, no way he deserves a punch in his beautiful face.”

“Thank you, Harry, but Cooper’s right.” Niall admits before proceeding to telling the whole story to Harry who listens intently.

“But… But you’ll have that thing tonight.”

Niall’s brows furrow in confusion. “What thing?”

Harry drops his voice to a whisper and Brooklyn pretends not to be interested as she sips on her coffee. Truth is, the fact that Harry doesn’t want her to hear what he has to say piques her interest. Instead of straightaway asking them what they’re talking about, she chooses to scans Niall’s face. Right now, he doesn’t look too happy.

“Shit.” He groans. “That’s tonight?”

Harry nods. “So, should I cancel it?”

“No, no.” Niall shakes his head. “Don’t… Don’t cancel it.”

“Okay, what’re you two on about?” Brooklyn quizzes as she puts down her cup.

Harry purses his lips together, his eyes darting from Brooklyn to Niall. She’s pretty sure that’s his silent plea for his friend to answer the question instead.

Niall lets out a scoff as he straightens up and says, “Harry set me up for a date tonight.”

“That’s good!” Brooklyn chirps. She’s a bit taken aback by that piece of information, but it takes her less than five seconds to wrap her head around it.

Niall looks at Harry as though to prove a point and says, “See, I told you.”

Brooklyn’s brows are pinched together as she finds herself once again confused. Maybe she needs to hang out with them less often; it’ll do her head good. “You told him what?”

“Harry thought it’d be weird to talk about this in front of you given that… Well, you used to be in love with me.”

An innocent smile touches Harry’s lips when Brooklyn looks at him. Under the table, she kicks Niall’s foot. “It’s not weird at all,” she clarifies, her eyes fixed on Harry as her lips stretch into a reassuring smile. They land on Niall a few seconds later and she comments, “Also, I never said the word love.”

“Pretty sure you did,” Niall argues.

“Nope,” Brooklyn shakes her head in disagreement.

“So you two are cool with each other dating other people?” Harry asks, needing a confirmation. The way they’re looking at each other right now makes it seems like it’s necessary for him to ask that question. After all, the last thing he wants to do is stand in the way of them getting together.

“Of course!” Niall replies.

At the same time, Brooklyn says, “Yeah, totally!”

Instead of immediately believing their words, Harry takes a few more seconds to scan their faces. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he wishes they’d take back what they just said. But he’s promised to Niall that he’d stop trying to make him and Brooklyn happen so he decides to let it go.

“Okay then,” he replies with a shrug. “You two could’ve been something great.”

Niall glares at him. Brooklyn refuses to meet his eyes.

“Just saying,” he adds as he taps the table with his fingers and gets up from his chair.

“It wouldn’t have worked out,” Brooklyn finds herself saying. Beside her, Niall agrees with a nod. “It’d be Ray and Eva 2.0 – no one wants that.”

“Yeah, no one wants that,” Niall repeats Brooklyn’s words as he gets up from his seat as well. Pushing the chair back to the table, he asks, “You coming?”

“Go ahead. I’ve to finish my coffee.” It’ll only take her one sip to finish it, but she needs some time alone before she gets back to her desk and starts her work.

As soon as Niall’s out of the break room, Brooklyn checks on her phone. She realises that Louis hasn’t replied to her ‘good night’ and ‘good morning’ texts, which is weird because so far, he’s never failed to reply to any of it even though it might take him hours before he has the chance to check on his phone.

Now that she’s thought about it, she hasn’t talked much to Louis since that dinner and she hasn’t seen much of him either. He keeps telling her that he’s busy with photo shoots and being a person who usually puts her work first, she gets it. But something in her gut tells her that the lack of communication between them these past few days has something to do with what were spoken during the dinner.

Maybe the fact that she used to like Niall bothers him even though he doesn’t show it. She’s learned a while ago that men are pretty good at hiding their feelings – she wrote something about that last year and it was a hit, not that she’s bragging or anything – and at times, it can get really irritating. Men are confusing, probably more confusing than women – a fact that nearly all men can’t accept.

Right now, Louis confuses her. Brooklyn wouldn’t consider herself a clingy person. She understands it if someone is unable to reply to her text messages immediately or answer her calls, but seeing that she and Louis are a couple, she expects more from him. Which she’s beginning to think is a mistake – expecting more from someone.

But because she doesn’t want her assumptions to cloud her mind, she composes a text message to be sent to Louis: dinner tonight?

It’s a simple text, but the way he replies it might give her an answer. But instead of waiting around for the reply to come in, Brooklyn washes the cup and returns to her desk. It isn’t until she’s turned on her computer that she finally checks her phone.

Can’t.

She can feel her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. That text confirms Brooklyn’s suspicion: her and Louis aren’t okay.

Niall raises an eyebrow at her as though to ask if she’s okay, which she responds with a small smile. She’s glad Niall doesn’t ask more questions. It’s like he knows she’d rather not talk.

Okay. Cool. Was just wondering.

Brooklyn knows that’s not the best reply she can come up with, but she hits send anyway. She puts her mobile phone away after that, intent on not checking it at all for the rest of the day. She takes a deep breath and counts to three before she starts her work.