Fake (N.S)

41.

Harry's POV

Never in my life would I have ever expected to know that Niall Horan was in love with me. The thought honestly sent shivers down my spine but in the best way possible. It was almost as if it wasn't real, but it was. Niall Horan was my boyfriend and he loved me.

Things seemed too good to be true.

Almost.

Liam, Zayn and Perrie seemed to think that the news was the best thing to ever happen to me and considering I was practically a sex-crazed and arrogant prick when I didn't have Niall in my life, I couldn't necessarily blame them. 

The four of us were sat in my living room, Liam insisting that we watch some football game in which I really didn't have much interest in. Thankfully, Perrie also seemed to have zoned out from paying attention after the first ten minutes. 

I could vaguely hear the conversation shift to mine and Niall's relationship, which was something I was more inclined to pay attention to. After zoning back in, I was able to hear the three of them seemingly invested the topic of me and Niall. 

"You're good together. I'm proud of you," Liam grinned, causing me to roll my eyes in a rather playful manner. 

"Yeah," I let out a sigh, feeling happier than I think I had ever felt. 

"I can't exactly say that I'm surprised," he added when I didn't say anything else. 

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, wanting him to elaborate when I saw the look on his face. 

"You know what I mean. You've practically been in love for ages. You've been inseparable for months. Nearly a whole year at this point," he shrugged. 

"My guess was a lot longer than that," Perrie shrugged. 

I frowned at her, watching her lips curve up into her familiar smile, her eyes practically glowing as she looked at me with an almost knowing look. 

"Well, there's always been this tension surrounding you both. The whole time I've known you, you just seemed to gravitate towards each other in a way that I've never seen before."

"What, you mean back when we hated each other?" I questioned, my frown deepening as she nodded. 

"Well, regardless of how long you've been pining over each other, you've been in a relationship for a while now, and even after separating for a little, you've made your way back. I'd say that's a sign," Liam cut in. 

"Oh...right. We weren't actually together at the start," I admitted, blushing when Liam frowned. "We were kind of fake dating for a while. Niall had this weird plan to annoy his parents and well...here we are," I added awkwardly. 

Zayn let out a laugh, not seeming even the slightest bit shocked or confused. 

"I've know that since the start," he explained, grinning almost smugly in response to my questioning look. "I spoke to Niall about it ages ago. Told me that the whole relationship was fake but I guess I knew that you both had these weird unexplained feelings for each other."

"He told you?" I frowned. 

"Well, he didn't actually need to. I figured it out for myself. Sorry to tell you...but you're both rubbish at acting."

"I believed it," Liam frowned. 

"So did I," Perrie added, looking between me and Zayn with an adorably confused expression. 

"So did everyone else. Zayn's just a stalker with a little too much time on his hands," I rolled my eyes. 

"Yeah, well. You're just annoyed that I'm smarter than you give me credit for," he grinned.