Climbing the Walls (a Niall Horan love story)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

*Niall's P.O.V.*

"Haley. Haley wake up, we're home," I gently shook the delicate, snoozing body whose head was resting in my lap. She mumbled something incomprehensible, not opening her eyes. "It's wake up or be carried," I threatened, knowing how much she hated being lifted. I was surprised when instead of protesting, she wrapped her arms around my neck. Pleasantly surprised. I climbed out of the van carefully, with Haley in my arms. She was so easy to carry. And not just because she was so light, the way she fit perfectly into my embrace. I know, it sounds stupid, but it was true. I walked through the ajar front door and into the living room. "Are you going to wake up, or do you want to nap?" I asked her.

"Nap, please," she answered into my shoulder. Her head was on my shoulder, and I was praying she couldn't hear how fast my heart was beating. I wasn't exactly sure how strong my feelings were for her, but I knew they were there. And another thing I knew was that I was holding the most beautiful girl in the world in my arms right now. But I didn't think she'd like me, plus I wasn't sure what Harry would think of me dating his cousin. I carried her up the stair case and was hit by the wonderful memory of carrying this gorgeous girl up these stairs in the dark a few nights ago. I entered her pink room and lay her carefully on her bed. She cuddled up into her pillows and blankets, and, making sure none of the boys had followed me upstairs, I smiled at her. She was so cute when she was sleeping. She looked a lot younger, too. The sixteen year old seemed thirteen.

"Ahem," Harry's voice interrupted my thoughts and made me spin around embarrassedly. I stood up, blushing.

"Sorry, I wasn't- I mean I didn't- I was just about to-" I stumbled on my words, humiliated that Harry had caught me staring at his cousin like a creep. But Hazz just smiled and cut me off.

"Niall, the boys and I need to have a little talk with you," he said teasingly. I gave him a confused look, but followed him down to the living room where Liam and Zayn were sitting on the couch, Harry joining Louis on the loveseat. Was this an intervention or something? I sat down in the recliner, my four best mates smiling at me.

"So?" Liam asked, "What's going on between you and Haley?" His question caught me off guard. Nothing was going on between us! Well, ok, not nothing... But I didn't know exactly what was going on between us. I mean we just met, but we did kind of act like a couple sometimes... I remembered Jacob assuming she was my girlfriend and wishing so badly that she was. But she wasn't. She was just my crush. Well, for now...

"Nothing," I answered hastily. They all gave me the same look, making it clear they didn't believe me. "Well, yet..." I mumbled, making them smile.

"So you fancy her!" Louis exclaimed excitedly. I shushed him.

"She'll hear you!" I scolded, blushing. They all cheered and tackled me, and I rolled my eyes. What was it with these boys? Oh well, I loved them. But unfortunately, I had to kill their excitement with the truth.

"But it doesn't matter, she wouldn't like me anyway," I said from under them. They all got off of me and looked at me like I was the world's stupidest man. Louis even smacked me across the back of the head. "Owe!" I exclaimed. "What the bloody hell was that for?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head.

"Are you an idiot?" Louis asked. I just gave him another confused face. "Haley-"

"Yeah?" a sleepy feminine voice came from behind us. I froze. Had she heard that whole conversation? No, no she didn't sound like she had heard... Dear god I hoped she hadn't heard.

"Is pretty!" Zayn exclaimed, flashing her an over-enthusiastic smile. She just rolled her beautiful, golden eyes and sat cross-legged on the red loveseat.

"Aww," she replied sarcastically with a smile. I smiled then remembered what she had said about our "system", which made me smile even more. She was so beautiful. Uh-oh, I had it pretty bad, didn't I? Well, it wasn't every day for me that the most breath-taking girl I'd ever laid my eyes on walked into my life and completely swept me away. I remembered her saying she believed in love at first sight, how my heart jumped with joy at that statement. "So what's for dinner?" her melodic voice snapped me back to reality, and I stopped myself from staring at her from my position on the floor.

"Eh, I was thinking of just ordering pizza," Harry answered lazily. We all smiled and agreed. He went into the kitchen to call the pizza place, and Louis followed him. Zayn asked Liam to "help him with something upstairs", but I knew they all just wanted Haley and I to be alone. Which I was fine with, I wanted that too. She smiled at me tiredly and patted the seat next to her. I happily obliged, accepting the invitation and taking the seat next to her. She immediately rested her head on my shoulder and I put an arm around her. This was one of our weird moments where we acted like a couple even though we weren't. Oh how badly I wished we were.

"You're a good pillow," she said. I chuckled, making her body shake as well. "No laughing," she ordered, making me laugh even more. "Hey, bad leprechaun!" Haley scolded, poking my cheek. I just laughed again, enjoying her company so very much. It was a shame I knew she didn't feel the same way.