Drowning || niall horan au

nine

It was difficult for Niall to give Hannah space considering the fact that Christmas was right around the corner. Spending his time trying to figure out the likes and dislikes of the girl had to be postponed since his calls went unanswered, and he could never seem to find her at the places he expected her to be at. Marisa hadn't had the slightest clue of what was going on either, which meant Hannah was true on her word about wanting to be left alone.

No doubt in his mind he knew she wasn't planning on getting him a Christmas present. Not that it mattered anyways because Niall wanted to get something for her. He didn't want to be traditional with the diamond necklaces and other luxuries. As much of a romantic he was, in the terms they are currently in right now, the jewelry just looked like he was begging for forgiveness.

His eyes have been glued to his phone the entire time, looking up ideas on the internet that he completely forgot he had company over.

"Are you still seeing that one girl?" Zayn spoke up to get Niall out of his trance.

The blonde's head lifted, looking around the room to find who asked him the question. When his eyes caught Zayn, who was looking at him impatiently, Niall slid his phone into his pocket and sat up straighter in the computer chair.

"I hope so." He shrugged.

"You hope so, lad?" The dark haired friend smirked incredulously. "You either are or you aren't."

"Yeah, I guess," Niall sighed, leaning his elbows on his thighs. "She just hasn't talked to me since management pulled that damn fake girlfriend crap on me.

"Ya know what's really funny?" He abruptly questioned, sitting up in the chair again, eyebrows furrowing from his own confusion. "She shows no signs of wanting more than a friendship, but there she was, pointing fingers at me saying that I was cheating on her. I was just too lost to see that...that it didn't even make any sense!"

"It's probably an indirect way for her to show that she likes you."

Niall scoffed. "Good one, Zayn."

Zayn watched at his band mate shift in the computer chair for the hundredth time since he arrived at his flat. He knew that the blonde one was frustrated, and as much as Zayn hated to see that, he still let out a soft laugh.

"No, really, Ni, I bet she doesn't like to show her emotions. Isn't that how all girls are?"

Niall shrugged again, unsure how to answer this question.

"Oh yeah, because I'm a big expert on that," He stated sarcastically.

"Hey," His interjection got Niall's attention. He could tell the situation as a whole with this girl was bothering Niall a lot more than he led on. "You'll figure this out, mate. Just let her know it's all a misunderstanding. Why did management set Barbara up with you anyways?"

"They told me they were gettin' skeptical about Hannah and wanted to have something for me to bounce back on to keep a 'positive' image. They're already assumin' I have poor judgment before they get to see it." The blonde ruffled his hair with both of his hands, sighing exasperatedly. Afterwards, his gaze was kept to the ground as he continued to talk. "Things were finally on good terms with her, and now management had to go behind me back and ruin it."

He finally stood from the chair and strode to the kitchen to find himself a drink. Zayn didn't wait too long to follow him in. His brown eyes glistened with an idea that left Niall to raise an eyebrow at his friend while sipping a glass of water poured from the sink.

"Why don't some of the boys, you, and I give the proper judgment?" He offered. "We could get Louis or someone else and take her out to dinner. Only you know her the best, and by getting our approval, maybe management can lay off."