under my skin || n.h. au

two: it starts with a picture

Much to her dismay, Brooklyn finds herself going to the pub with Niall and Harry almost every day after work. Harry hasn't behaved weirdly since that evening and things are now back to normal. By normal, she means Niall is back to teasing her at every chance he gets and Harry is back to supporting his best friend no matter what. She can't believe that's her normal.

Brooklyn takes a sip of her beer as she sneaks a peek at the screen of Harry's mobile phone. She doesn't mean to be nosy, but the light of his screen is so bright – he needs to lower the brightness or he might have to wear glasses soon – that it catches her eyes. So, Brooklyn looks at his phone and oh my God.

"You're stalking Suki," she blurts out.

Harry immediately locks his phone and turns to look at her, horrified. If she weren't as shocked as he is, she would've laughed at the look on his face when he realises that he's just been caught doing something he probably should have done in private.

"Shit," the word slips past his lips. His ears turn bright red and soon enough, his face does too. "I, uh, I wasn't stalking. Her picture came up and I, uh-"

"Clicked on her profile and looked at all of her pictures even the ones from years ago?" Brooklyn finishes Harry's sentence for him with a raised eyebrow. When he doesn't say anything, she laughs and shakes her head. "I have a lot of question for you but first, have you ever accidentally liked her picture?"

Instead of answering her question, he swigs at his beer, avoiding eye contact with her. Brooklyn doesn't have to push him to know that yes, he's accidentally liked her picture before. But for his sake, she's just going to think that he immediately disliked the picture so Suki wouldn't get the notification. She knows how embarrassing it is to be caught stalking someone's Instagram profile. She's been through it a lot of times, which is why she is very careful when it comes to this matter.

"Next question, do you have a crush on her?" Brooklyn asks out of pure curiosity. She can't help herself. Suki is one of her closest friends so if someone has a crush on her, Brooklyn feels like she needs to know about it. Maybe she is nosy.

She could've sworn Harry goes rigid for a couple of seconds before he slumps his shoulders. He's still avoiding her eyes, but there's a hint of a smile on the edges of his mouth. She's pretty certain that the smile is a result of his drunkenness because otherwise, Harry wouldn't have given away his answer that easily. He could be a little bit of a sillyhead sometimes, but when it comes to secrets especially his, he's very good at keeping them. So, it surprises her when she sees him smiling, confirming her suspicion.

But before she can taunt Harry about it, Niall appears from the men's room. "What're we talking 'bout here?" He asks as he throws an arm over Harry's shoulder.

Brooklyn glances at Harry, whose face has turned bright red now. He's giving her a look that probably says 'don't you dare...' but she ignores it. She looks at Niall and says, "We're talking about Harry's crush."

Niall doesn't look surprised at all, which makes Brooklyn believe that he's known about it all along. Of course he knows, she realises, he's his best friend after all. "Harry's crush on Suki?" Niall quizzes with a raised eyebrow. Harry lets out a groan and mutters something under his breath, something that sounds like wanting to be swallowed by the ground. "I can't believe you've never noticed that. You'd make a terrible detective, Cooper."

Brooklyn rolls her eyes. How's she supposed to notice it when Harry walks away as soon as Suki comes around, or when Harry becomes so quiet when Suki joins them, or when he- oh. Oh.

"Speaking of crush-" Niall pauses as he pulls a chair and places it between Brooklyn and Harry's chair. Harry drags his own chair away from Niall's, giving him some space. Niall thanks him before finally continuing his sentence, "-I know someone who has a crush on you."