Dirty Laundry

Ten.

"Would you like to stay with me tonight?"

I'm pretty sure I've never been so embarrassed in my life. Niall is just standing there outside my door, dumbfounded. I can't even look at him I'm so embarrassed. I should have known he doesn't want to stay with me.

"Are you sure?" Niall says once he seems to have realized I'm being serious.

"I mean I... we don't... don't have to do... anything really. I just h-had such a good time tonight an-and I... don't want it to end." I manage to stutter out.

"I... yeah I can stay." Niall says and my head shoots up from the floor so fast I might have heard something crack in my neck.

Niall is stepping closer to me with a smile on his face. He puts his hands on my hips and places a light kiss to my forehead. Before he speaks again,

"I'm gonna run up to room real quick though and I'll be right back down okay? Gonna get sweats and my toothbrush. I'll be right back."

I nod in response and close the door once he steps away. I'm actually glad for the couple minutes to myself to try and figure out where my head is at. Do I want to do this? Am I even ready? I've never done this before, ever. Niall seemed nervous too so maybe nothing will happen. 

Oh who am I kidding I'm not ready! I don't give it up this easy! We only just kissed for the first time I'm not ready to go that far. Niall isn't even boyfriend yet!

I run all of this through my head as I take the time alone to change out of my dress into pajama shorts and a big t-shirt. I walk into the bathroom and start to wipe off my slightly smudged makeup when Niall knocks and pokes his head in unlocked door.

"Hey! In the bathroom" I smile at him as I wet my toothbrush.

Niall joins me with a light hip bump and his toothbrush. We stay like that, bumping elbows and making faces at each other as we try and brush our teeth at the sink. Niall being left handed and me being right handed made for most of the elbow bumping. 

Niall has on simple grey sweat pants with the school name down the leg and a white t-shirt and what look like slippers he's been wearing for years. His hair is still done up, a little looser and messier than earlier in the night but some of that is my own fault. I smile at the memory as Niall awkwardly stands next to my bed looking like he doesn't know what to do with his arms.

I decide to put him out of his misery and hop on my bed, leaning on my pillows tapping the spot in front of me with my foot. Niall takes the hint and hops up with me leaning on the wall with his feet hanging off as he kicks off his slippers.

"Those things look like they're about to fall apart." I say, laughing lightly, trying to lighten the air in the room

"Hey! I love those things, mos' comfortable things I own." he defends his ratty slippers.

We both let out a little nervous laughter at the silence that follows. I tried and I hide a yawn but fail miserably, leaning back and propping my legs up on Niall's lap. He runs his fingers lightly in patterns along my shins while he looks around at walls of my room. I could watch him do nothing like this for hours.

"Are you tired?" he asks, his question fading into a yawn of his own.

I nod and hop down off my bed, hitting Niall's legs, "Scooch your butt." I tell him as he hops down too wrapping his arms around my waist as he stands behind me while I pull down the bed. I make Niall take the inside of the bed, up against the wall and then climb in next to him.

He places a hand on my lower back as we face each other with what little space we have between us thanks to the standard dorm sized mattresses. 

"Um... I really like you Emily and I don't want you to take this the wrong way but I don't think we should..."

I cut his off with a hand on his chest, "No Niall it's fine really that's not really what I had in mind when I asked you to stay but it...uh... did sound like that but I'm not ready for that yet so, really, it's fine." I say assuring him he is doing nothing wrong and that I still want him here. 

"Okay good, now come 'ere." Niall says puling me into him as I let out a giggle into his chest and he places a kiss to my hair.

"This is perfect." I say after some silence between us. I just feel Niall nod next to me and I tell he's falling asleep. So I close my eyes and feel myself start to drift off as well to the feel of Niall's slowing heart beat.

****

I wake up slowly, feeling warm. In my morning daze I forget about Niall until I try and roll myself over only to find it impossible. I'm met with a solid body that groans at my movements. I may have just kicked Niall awake. Oops.

Niall lifts his head, utters one word, gravely with morning, "No" and pulls me closer, tighter in and nuzzles his head down into the space between my shoulder and the pillow.

I respond the same way, "No, you" I croak out. Clearly we're not morning people.

I must have fallen back asleep because now I'm waking up again to a light touch on my shoulder. I'm able to roll over this time and I'm met with a pair of creased eyebrows and blue eyes, half hidden by the blanket. 

"Hahaha, good morning grumpy" I say poking him in between the eyebrows.

"Mornin' pretty girl." Niall replies bringing his hand out from under the blanket revealing a smile and putting some stray hairs behind my ear. He moves to prop himself up on his other elbow and lean over me kissing my forehead. He starts to move away but I don't let him. I grab the front of his t-shirt and pull him down to kiss his lips. It's short but time is the only thing it's lacking. There isn't any reall pull-away just a pair of smiles that separate our lips.

"Sleep well?" I ask once Niall has flopped back down next to me.

"Yeah you?"

"Yeah I guess, I mean, I did have to share with giant space heater." I joke

"Hey, you asked for it." Niall retorts and throws his whole body weight on top of me.

"Ooophh, okay okay, yes I did, and yes I slept well." I say getting used to the weight.

Niall settles there laying on me, using my chest as a pillow when I hear his stomach growl

"Hungry?" I laugh

"Mmmhhmm but, few more minutes here." Niall says with his face buried in my cleavage.

I just laugh and shove him over to his side and climb out of bed cracking my shoulder, hips and knees like I do every morning.

"Ew, why do you crack so much." Niall says looking at me with the same face as when I had told him I had never played soccer before.

"Well I've been a softball pitcher for thirteen years and that takes it's told on your joints."

"I mean I got a bad knee but I don't crack like that!" Niall says in mock horror and I just laugh going to brush my teeth before we make our way to the dinning hall for breakfast.

****

After breakfast Niall grabs the few things from my room and heads back to his room to shower and do homework, kissing me goodbye, short but slow like this morning. After  he leaves I get in the shower and re-run everything that happened last night over and over.

We hadn't made any plans or even said we'd get a hold of the other but I have a feeling I'll be hearing from Niall very soon.