Great Things Take Time (discontinued)

Chapter 9

Hi everyone, thank you for reading my story! I know it's probably not as good as the first one, but I am kind of still getting to know the characters myself, so we'll see where this is going. I hope you enjoy this chapter, nevertheless. It will most likely be the last thing I'll write for at least a week as I am going on a bit of a holiday tomorrow and then have to write two essays during the second half of the week. All the love, as always, Summer xxx

I was lying in my hotel room wrapped up in my duvet with a cuppa tea on my nightstand next to me. Almost everyone had used the chance to go out and explore the nightlife that Vancouver had to offer, but after getting hardly any sleep the night before I had decided to stay in and watch some friends episodes instead. With a content sigh, I snuggled deeper into my sheets and chuckled at the awkward tension between Monica and Chandler on screen. 

A knock on the door made me jump. Slightly confused about who would knock on my door at ten pm at night, I reluctantly slipped out of my warm and comfy bed and made my way over to the door. To my surprise, Niall was standing in front of me, a shy smile on his face. "Hey, what are you doing here? I thought everyone had gone out?" I asked him and took a step back to allow him entrance to my room. He swiftly stepped inside and looked around, before he replied. "I wasn't feeling up for it, so I decided to see if you'd like some company instead." he explained with a grin and I chuckled and climbed back into my bed.

"Sure, why not? You okay with watching friends?" I asked him and patted the spot next to me. His eyes darted towards the screen were Monica and Chandler had just woken up next to each other and nodded with a grin. "Always." He carefully sat down on the bed next to me, but left a little bit of space between us. Harry's words from this morning came back to me, but I pushed them aside and instead scooted a little bit closer to Niall and layed my head on his chest. "I don't bite, you know?" I mumbled and I felt his chest vibrate underneath me, before he slipped under the duvet as well and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You're very comfy." I commented a couple of minutes later and snuggled closer into his chest. "Why thank you, love." he replied in an amused tone and I felt him press a light kiss to the top of my head. He gently started running his hands through my hair and I let out a happy sigh and closed my eyes for a few seconds, just enjoying his gentle touch. "Abby?" he asked quietly and I opened my eyes again and looked up at him. "Can I kiss you?" he asked timidly, a look of uncertainty in his blue eyes. Instead of replying, I shifted around on his lap and pulled him down to me until our lips met.

We kissed for a bit, both completely forgetting about the TV which was still playing in the background. Our kisses became more heated with every passing second and I found myself straddling Niall's lap with both of my hands buried in his blonde hair. One of his hands was running up and down my thigh, while the other slipped underneath my top. In that moment I realised what I was doing and pulled away from him. 

"I'm sorry, Niall, but I can't do this right now. Not tonight." I apologised and tried to ignore the look of hurt and rejection on his face. I swiftly climbed off his lab and pulled my top back down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him run a hand through his messy hair, his chest rising and falling with every breath he took. "I'm really sorry Niall." I apologised again and finally dared to look back over at him. 

"No, you should never do something you're not a hundred percent comfortable with, Abby. I'd rather wait, than do anything which you would regret later, alright?" he reached over and gave my hand a light squeeze, before he got up and walked over to the bathroom. "I'll be back out in a bit." he said with a smirk in my direction and I let out a nervous chuckled and buried myself deeper in the sheets, desperately trying to get my pulse and my breathing back to normal.

What had stopped me from sleeping with Niall when I had just slept with his best friend a little over two weeks ago? It was definitely not Niall's fault because I did like him, maybe even a little bit more than I was supposed to. But something inside of me was stopping me and I had to figure out what it was. Nonetheless, this situation had just confirmed to me once again what a great guy Niall was. He had obviously been hurt by my rejection, but he had completely accepted it and didn't try to push me. 

When Niall reemerged from the bathroom, I had turned friends off, no longer in the mood for it. "Would you mind staying the night?" I asked him when he had sat down next to me. "No, of course not, but only if you're comfortable with that." He gave me a questioning look and I reached over and gave his hand a light squeeze, before pushing the duvet off my legs. "Of course I'm comfortable with that, Ni. I'll just brush my teeth really quickly, do you wanna use the spare hotel toothbrush?" I offered and he followed me into the bathroom with a light grin on his face, his eyes lingering on my bare legs for a bit too long, until I cleared my throat.

"My eyes are up here, Mr Horan." I said in a teasing tone and he chuckled and winked at me, before he 'accidentally' touched my bum as he leaned over me to reach for the toothpaste. "Ooops." he grinned with a mock innocent look on his face, however the mischievous twinkle in his eyes gave him away. "I guess SOMEONE is sleeping on the floor tonight." I said with my toothbrush in my mouth and smirked at him, my eyes catching his in the mirror. "You are aware that I can always go back into my room, you know?" Niall countered and raised an eyebrow at me.

Unable to come up with a good come back, I just huffed and continued brushing my teeth which made him laugh. "You're adorable." he said quietly into my ear and gave my hip a light squeeze, before he rinsed his mouth and wandered back into the bedroom. I could hear him whistle, as I quickly took off my make up and when I returned to the room, he was already lying in the bed with a pleased look on his face."Move over." I halfheartedly pushed his shoulder a little bit and he generously scooted over a few inches so that I could slip underneath the sheets next to him. 

"You okay, love?" he whispered into the darkness, a couple of minutes after we had turned off the lights. "I'm fine, Niall." I reassured him and intertwined our fingers underneath the sheets. "I'm really glad Harry brought you along with us." he mumbled quietly into my ear and pressed a gently kiss to my shoulder. I let out a happy sigh and pressed alight kiss to his chest in return. "Me, too, Niall, me, too."

I woke up in the early hours of the morning, feeling like I was going to throw up any second. I gently tried to slip out of Niall's tight grip, but he only groaned and pulled me closer to his chest. "Niall, you need to let me go. I'm not feeling well." I urged him, my voice shaking slightly. His eyes flew open and he immediately released me from his grip and said up. Not able to wait any longer, I jumped out of bed and dashed over to the bathroom, where I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

Niall was by my side within seconds and held my hair back, before he helped me over to the sink to rinse my mouth. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry you had to see this. I don't know what happened." I panted and rinsed my mouth for a second time, before I swayed a bit and had to hold onto Niall who instantly wrapped an arm around my waist and steered me over to the toilet where he made me sit down, before he got me a glass of water. 

"Here, drink this." He handed me the cup and crouched down in front of me, placing one hand on my thigh, while the other one rose up to my face and gently brushed a few loose strands out of my face. "Thank you." I thanked him quietly and handed him the empty cup back which he placed on top of the counter next to the sink. "Did you eat anything weird last night?" Niall asked me concerned and helped me up and back to the bed.

"No, not that I'm aware off." I shook my head, pulled the duvet up to my chest, and happily leaned my head against Niall's shoulder. "Abby, you can't be... you're not... you know... pregnant?" he asked carefully and I abruptly sat up and turned around. "No, no,no, no way! I, um, I had my period last week." I protested and felt myself blush a little bit. Niall visibly relaxed at my words and started to draw random patterns on my arm. "Alright, then it has to be something else. Maybe you should go and see a doctor, if it doesn't get any better." he suggested and pulled me back against his chest. I hummed in response and closed my eyes, simply enjoying the feeling of his gentle touch against my skin.