Screaming Color
twelve and a half
“can i skip dinner and go right for dessert?”
“i don’t care, niall, i’m not your mum,” cole says over her shoulder to niall as she pulls open the door to the dining hall. niall’s picked up the habit of racing her to the door so that he can hold it open for her, but today she beats him to it.
a rush of cold wind follows them inside, chilling cole’s bones as she unbuttons her coat. niall swings an arm around her shoulder and weaves his cold fingers into her hair, brushing her neck. cole shivers, because of the temperature, of course.
“so whaddya say, cole?” niall asks, guiding her toward the menu board. "dessert for dinner? look, they have ice cream sundaes!“
niall sounds practically giddy, but cole wrinkles her nose at the idea. "ice cream? ni, it’s freezing out!”
“don’t worry, i’ll keep you warm.” niall squeezes her shoulder and then drops his arm away. he strides purposefully over toward the ice cream station, glancing over his shoulder just once at cole to make sure that she’s following.
which she is. of course she is. since new year’s eve, cole has surrendered herself to the wiggly feelings in the pit of her stomach that try to exit through her mouth every time niall’s around. she’s been holding them in, holding in i love the sound of your laugh and why haven’t you kissed me yet? and the nearly undeniable urge to run her hand through his hair when he’s yawning with sleep.
“cole!” niall shouts across the dining hall. "do you want hot fudge or caramel or both?“
cole crosses her arms across her chest and glances around to make sure no one’s staring at her as she walks quickly towards niall. no one seems to have found anything particularly interesting about her, fortunately. niall, meanwhile, is bouncing up and down on his toes as he watches the server put scoop after scoop of ice cream in his bowl.
"god, niall, how much are you having?” cole asks as she steps up beside him. the server looks up and meets her eyes with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and cole smiles back and shakes her head, as if to say, yeah, i know. and she does know: niall’s the kind of person to eat two bowls of ice cream on a freezing winter’s day, but cole doesn’t think she’d have him any other way.
“just, ya know,” niall mutters, turning to her with his big grin, the one that always causes fireworks in her stomach. "what do you want?“
cole doesn’t want to look away from niall’s smile to decide. "whatever you’re having,” she says, but what she really means is you.
“i don’t care, niall, i’m not your mum,” cole says over her shoulder to niall as she pulls open the door to the dining hall. niall’s picked up the habit of racing her to the door so that he can hold it open for her, but today she beats him to it.
a rush of cold wind follows them inside, chilling cole’s bones as she unbuttons her coat. niall swings an arm around her shoulder and weaves his cold fingers into her hair, brushing her neck. cole shivers, because of the temperature, of course.
“so whaddya say, cole?” niall asks, guiding her toward the menu board. "dessert for dinner? look, they have ice cream sundaes!“
niall sounds practically giddy, but cole wrinkles her nose at the idea. "ice cream? ni, it’s freezing out!”
“don’t worry, i’ll keep you warm.” niall squeezes her shoulder and then drops his arm away. he strides purposefully over toward the ice cream station, glancing over his shoulder just once at cole to make sure that she’s following.
which she is. of course she is. since new year’s eve, cole has surrendered herself to the wiggly feelings in the pit of her stomach that try to exit through her mouth every time niall’s around. she’s been holding them in, holding in i love the sound of your laugh and why haven’t you kissed me yet? and the nearly undeniable urge to run her hand through his hair when he’s yawning with sleep.
“cole!” niall shouts across the dining hall. "do you want hot fudge or caramel or both?“
cole crosses her arms across her chest and glances around to make sure no one’s staring at her as she walks quickly towards niall. no one seems to have found anything particularly interesting about her, fortunately. niall, meanwhile, is bouncing up and down on his toes as he watches the server put scoop after scoop of ice cream in his bowl.
"god, niall, how much are you having?” cole asks as she steps up beside him. the server looks up and meets her eyes with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and cole smiles back and shakes her head, as if to say, yeah, i know. and she does know: niall’s the kind of person to eat two bowls of ice cream on a freezing winter’s day, but cole doesn’t think she’d have him any other way.
“just, ya know,” niall mutters, turning to her with his big grin, the one that always causes fireworks in her stomach. "what do you want?“
cole doesn’t want to look away from niall’s smile to decide. "whatever you’re having,” she says, but what she really means is you.