dissolve. nh

Chapter 32

I sat in my car, Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’ blaring through the speakers as I tapped my fingers on the wheel. The windshield was beginning to fog up, so I was hoping he would hurry up and come out of the gym. He told me he would meet me here at four, so here I was, waiting on him…no where in sight. I huffed, thumping back against the seat and turning up the radio, closing my eyes and bopping my head along to the music. Then my phone started to ring in the cup holder, and I simultaneously turned the music down while I answered it. 

“Hello?” I asked, knowing it was Niall.

“Hey, are you here?” He asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for like, ten minutes.”

“Oh, sorry. Nixon needed me to do something. I’ll be right there.” He replied, and I pursed my lips.

“You better be.”

“What are you gonna do if I’m not?”

I could hear him smirking, taunting me. A smile twitched at my lips, and I spoke without missing a beat.

“I doubt you wanna find out.”

“Oh, I dunno…I think it’d be fun.”

“Niall…” I warned, and he answered with a laugh.

“Alright Babe. I’ll be out there in a minute.”

“Mm, take your time, hurry up.” He laughed again, and we said our goodbyes. 

Sure enough, a minute later on the dot, Niall came trotting out, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie and his hair protected. His big black gym bag was thrust into my car after he’d opened the door, his body appearing a second later. “Hey, Darling.” He said, leaning over the console to press a kiss to my lips. It was just a peck, but when we pulled apart I was dizzy, and he was grinning like a fool.

“Alright, your place or mine?” I asked after I‘d recovered, shifting into reverse.

“Oh, mine. I want to get a shower before I take you to dinner…and I need my car.” He said, and I nodded before pulling out of the parking lot. 

“So how was work?” He asked, and I shrugged.

“It was alright. We’ve been really busy at lunch this past week, I don’t know what that’s about.”

“Hm, have you worked more dinner shifts?”

“Nah, but Cassie told me not to worry because it took her months before she was allowed to work dinner. She just prefers lunch.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Yeah. How’s your work?” I asked, looking over at him for a moment, noticing how he grinned.

“Well, you’ll never guess who came in the other day?”

“Really? Who?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“Cara. The girl from the diner.”

“What?!” I asked, and he laughed.

“Yeah, that was our reactions. Nixon had invited her, and, uh, I don’t think that this was the second time they’ve met.” His eyebrows rose, and I quirked one at him in question. “Yeah.” Was his only response. 

I pulled into his driveway, putting it in park and cutting the engine before taking a breath. We both grabbed our bags from the back, giving each other looks that blatantly said neither one of us wanted to run out into the rain. “Ready?” I asked.

“On three.” He replied, then began the countdown.

“Three!” We said together, opening the door and darting out of the car. I was screaming and trying to click the lock button on my keys, Niall rounding the front of my car.