Tension Like This

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

*Harry's POV*

It's been almost a week since the... incident... Niall is still acting strange whenever we are alone. We've gone to a couple interviews, and once we're in public he acts completely fine. He jokes around with all of the guys, even me. When it's just the band all hanging out together he acts pretty normal, besides for the fact that he won't really look at me unless he has to. But any time that we are the only two people in the room he won't look at me at all, he only replies in one syllable words, and he tries to leave the room as fast as he possibly can. I don't understand why. 

"Harry if you're not going to pay attention to the show let me pick what we watch!" Zayn whines from the other side of the couch. 

"No way! You'll just pick some stupid show like Jersey Shore or something and I don't want to have to get up!" Zayn has the absolute worst taste in television shows that I've ever seen.

"Well can we at least watch something other than the cooking channel? I can feel my manliness leaving as we speak." 

"Cooking is extremely manly, if anything it should raise your pathetic amount of manliness. If you don't want to watch it leave. Besides, this one has an extremely fit girl that helps." I lie, I really just enjoy watching these people take ingredients and transforming them into masterpieces. It's amazing. Zayn doesn't have the patience to stay and see if there really is a cute girl anyway.

"Whatever Harry. I think I'm going to go take a nap." I knew he would leave.

Finally left alone with my thoughts, I try to think of ways to get Niall to not feel weird around me anymore. Maybe we could go to the shops together or something. Yeah! I could take him on like a 'friend day' We could go to shops, get something to eat, and then maybe come back here and watch movies or something. It would be fun, and we could get over the awkwardness that has constantly surrounded us for the last week. I'll go up to his room later and ask him if he want's to go on a 'friend day' 

You mean a date? That stupid voice has been bothering me all week. No not a date. Just two friends hanging out. People do it all of the time. Sounds a lot like a date to me. This time I just ignore it. I mean it's only a date if two people are interested in each other sexually. Right?

*Niall's POV*

I feel like I've spent a week in hell. Not a fiery, passion filled, burning hell. But a cold, icy, completely emotionless hell. I don't feel whole, I feel as if an important part of me has been ripped out and now there is a giant gaping hole where it used to be. 

I think Harry and Liam are the only ones that suspect anything is off about me. Zayn and Louis are too preoccupied with other things, they both have girlfriends, and they both are just generally unobservant. From Liam I just get sympathetic glances, ones that are filled with curiosity at what exactly is upsetting me so much. 

Harry keeps trying to talk to me, tries to get me to pay attention to him. He has absolutely no idea exactly much attention I give him when he's not looking, when we aren't even in the same room. He's all I can think about these days, when I'm awake, and even when I'm asleep. The last couple night's his eyes have filled my dreams. 

How his eyes look when he's happy, or sad, or angry, or disappointed. The way they filled with disgust the night my entire world changed. And the way they were empty when he tried to 'set things right' the next day. But mostly, I dream about the way his eyes can be full of lust and passion, the way I saw them for just a few brief seconds before he started backing away. 

"Niall?" I'm startled out of my day-dreaming state when somebody knocks on the door. 

"Yeah Liam? You can come in." He walks through the door, closing it behind him. Crap, he probably wants to talk about something personal, like the way I've been avoiding Harry the last couple of days. He sits down at the edge of my bed. "Ummm, I came in here to tell you that next week we have interviews on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, so don't make any plans for those mornings."