lonely hearts club | zianourry au [COMPLETE]

five

niall is nervous. harry claimed dibs on taking him on the first date, and niall honestly couldn't be more nervous about it.

"stop biting your nails," calum frowns, smacking the back of niall's hand. ironically, niall picked the habit up from calum, as he bites his nails when he's nervous. "you're gonna be fine."

"he wants me to date him and his three other boyfriends!" niall is freaking out.

"niall," calum says firmly. "niall," he says again, and niall manages to stare at his best friend with panicked eyes. "you are going to be just fine. okay? you're going to be okay. you're gonna go on this date, and you're gonna have fun. if you need an out, just text me 'level 9' and i'll make up an excuse and call you and get you out of there, okay? i don't think you'll need it, but it couldn't hurt. deep breath." niall inhales deeply and exhales. "can you do this?"

niall takes another deep breath. "yes," he answers. he's not used to being nervous like this. "yes, i can do this."

"do you want to do this?"

niall blushes. "yes," he mumbles shyly, half-expecting calum to make fun of him for this. calum doesn't, though -- he wouldn't, though he knows niall would make fun of him if the roles were reversed. he just nods.

"then you can do this," calum responds. he sees harry walking down the hall towards them, and he wraps niall up into a hug. niall clings desperately to the back of calum's shirt. "you're gonna be okay. i love you. call me afterwards if it goes well, yeah? otherwise call me if you need anything." niall nods, and calum kisses the side of his head before leaving.

"hey," harry's voice greets him, and niall turns and smiles shyly up at him.

"hi," he says.

"you ready to go?"

"uh-huh." he shifts his backpack higher up on his back and follows harry out of the school.

- - -

"i don't like this," harry frowns as he drives down the highway.

niall, who had been looking out the window, turns back to face harry. "huh? you don't like what?"

"your personality's totally shifted. where's the snark? the sass?" harry is smiling as he says it.

niall rolls his eyes. "you haven't unlocked that level yet."

harry laughs. "ah, i see."

niall laughs, too. "i'm sorry," he admits, "i know i'm acting weird. i'm just nervous, i guess..."

"don't be," harry says gently.

"i'm trying," niall responds, "it's just...you guys seem so sure that you want to...add me in, i guess. and that sort of scares me."

"we've done this a lot of times before," harry laughs. "well, they have. i suppose adding you will be my first addition as a part of the relationship. but i know it's scary -- i was scared, too -- but i don't want you to worry so much that you don't think you can be yourself with me."

niall chews on his lip. "okay," he mumbles out.

"okay." harry grins at him. "so i was thinking for our first date and i had the perfect idea."

"and what was that?" niall questions as harry puts the car in park.

harry just grins. "i am going to kick your ass in every arcade game they have in here," he laughs, and niall peeks out the windshield to see that they're parked in front of an old-timey arcade.

a wicked grin takes over niall's face. "oh, you're so on."

"ready to lose?" harry asks as they make their way inside.

"if by lose you mean win, hell yeah."

harry just shakes his head, chuckling, and follows niall into the arcade. "what do you want to do first?"

niall hums and makes his way through the arcade, carefully eyeing every game so that he finds the perfect one. "ooh! dance dance revolution!" he gasps, and runs to it. "this one!"

harry raises an eyebrow. "you have got to be kidding me."

niall mirrors the raised eyebrow. "you scared, punk?"

"did you just call me a punk?" harry chuckles, and niall laughs, too.

"i don't know, it felt right," he laughs. harry just shakes his head.

"okay," he sighs, "let's just play this dumb game." so they play dance dance revolution, and niall wins the first round. harry stubbornly demands best two out of three, which niall wins as well.

"in your face!" niall shouts, giggling with pride.

harry rolls his eyes. "my turn to pick," he says, and he chooses a racecar game that niall also wins.

niall stares at him suspiciously. "are you letting me win?"

harry just grins. 

"tell me!" niall whines, but harry shakes his head. they play a few more games, three of which niall wins. harry wins one of them but that's only because harry started tickling him in the middle of the game and he couldn't focus. "i still think you let me win," niall states as they exit the arcade, niall clutching the stuffed dragon he won with his tickets.

"and why is that?"

"because you thought it would make me fall oh-so-dramatically into your waiting arms," niall says dryly, and harry laughs.

"well...it doesn't look like you're falling for me just yet," harry says back, and that shocks niall into silence, cheeks pink. "did you have fun?"

"yeah, i did," niall replies, sounding somewhat surprised. he honestly hadn't expected to enjoy himself as much as he did. "i had a lot of fun."

"good," harry murmurs back. they're both smiling, and harry reaches over and takes niall's hand. they ride the whole way home like that, niall's tiny hand trapped in harry's larger one, and for a second, niall is embarrassed by the thought that he could see himself dating harry.