Niall's Girl

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty Eight

"You're going where?" Ben shot up to his feet from where he'd been sitting on the sofa next to me.

"America, with Niall." I admitted sheepishly, repeating what I'd told him just seconds before.

"It was a rhetorical question, Em, I heard you the first time." Ben scowled at me angrily. "I can't believe this... You barely even know him! What are you thinking?!"

I stood up too, facing him and pointing menacingly. "Don't even try that, Benjamin. You know how well I know him. This isn't just some random, not-thought-out decision!"

Ben sighed then, all the anger gone from his face replaced with...sadness? "I'm sorry." He sat back down on the sofa and hugged his knees up to his chest, looking just like the young boy I'd met seven years ago. "I'm happy for you. I know how much you like him." I opened my mouth to argue but he shot me a 'shut up' look. "I just thought we were going to hang out this summer. You know, me and you, best friends. It's the last summer we have."

I almost started bawling. I sat down next to him and forced his legs down so I could swing my own over his lap. I cuddled up to him and laid my head on his shoulder. "Ben..." I sniffled, wiping away the tears that had dripped down my face. I felt like I was letting him down. "You're my best friend, you always will be. This isn't our last summer together; we have next summer and the summer after that. Just because we won't see each other every day doesn't mean we won't still be best friends."

I felt Benjamin's chest lift up and down as he breathed. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me even closer. "I didn't mean to make you upset," he whispered. "I'm just jealous that Niall gets you all summer and I don't." He joked, poking me in the ribs.

We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. I felt terrible, I really did. And if it was anyone else, I would have told them nah, I'd rather stay at home and spend the summer getting wasted with my best friend. But this was Niall, and this was an opportunity of a lifetime. And I knew that Ben wouldn't really want me to stay. He would be spending as much time as he could with Matilda, anyway.

"You know what?" Ben spoke up and I hummed in response, almost falling asleep in his familiar arms. "I really don't like him." That woke me up. It was obvious he was talking about Niall.

I lifted my head from his shoulder and pulled away a little so I could read his face. "Why?" I frowned, a little confused. "I mean, I know you didn't at first. But you got on pretty well last time he was here."

"Oh yeah, he's a nice guy." Ben said, totally contradicting himself. I raised my eyebrows so he continued. "It's just, no offence Em, but your friendship is weird. You're so close, you're basically dating just without the nice benefits." He winked and I rolled my eyes. "Either he's too much of a coward to admit his feelings for you or he's stringing you along. And either way, I don't like it."

I needed a minute to let that settle in. Could it really be possible that Niall liked me? I almost scoffed at the thought. Yes, it was something I liked to imagine when I was lying in bed at night, but I knew it would never be a reality. Especially when he could pick from any girl anywhere in the world he wanted. And Ben said the other possibility was that he was stringing me along? Did Niall know of my feelings? Had I been too obvious?

But then, my worries were gone almost as soon as they had appeared. Because, to be honest, why should I worry? If either of Ben's theories were correct, why should I care? Either way, Niall and I had the perfect friendship, I was the happiest I had ever been when I was with him or just talking to him over the phone. There was no point me losing sleep over it if I would never know so it didn't really make a difference.