Daytona Baby [N.H]

12

Olivia Campbell

Niall and I started walking along the busy sidewalk in silence. I didn't bother to assess whether it was comfortable silence or not, just letting my mind wander. I was internally cursing myself for how quickly I caved to him, deciding only a few hours ago that I wouldn't bother trying with Niall anymore. That lasted all of five minutes, considering how we are currently walking back to his place to fuck, which he disguised to his friends as 'setting up for the party.'

Maybe I should've made him work a little harder for my forgiveness, but I'd rather just move on and not spend time dwelling on something so trivial as ignoring my texts. He didn't owe me anything; we just met a few days ago. I need to settle myself down and stop acting like this means something. I've been there before and it never ends well.

After a few minutes, I was dragged from my spiral of thoughts by the pleasing aroma of food. I stopped walking, Niall taking a few more steps before realizing I wasn't beside him anymore and turning back to me.

"What's wrong?" Niall asked, quickly glancing behind me warily.

"That food smells so fucking good." I stated, now realizing that I haven't eaten at all today and we are already into the afternoon. "We should go in." I nodded towards the diner behind me.

"I've got something you can eat at my place..." Niall quickly deflected, obviously eager to get back to his apartment.

"Oh, let me guess. Vodka, coke and Oreo's?" I jabbed before trying to persuade him further. "C'mon, Niall, aren't you hungry?"

"I mean... I am, but—" He started to say.

"And doesn't a basket of fries sound really good right now?" I insisted further.

"Well, yeah, I just—" I cut him off by grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards the diner with me. He sighed, mumbling a 'fine' under his breath before following me inside.

We grabbed a booth by the window, each of us ordering a milkshake and fries right away. The wait wasn't too long, considering how busy this place is around lunchtime, so within fifteen minutes Niall and I were digging in. We spent a couple minutes silently stuffing our faces; he seemed to be just as starving as I was, even after he protested this idea so much. But I found myself sneaking a glance at him, only to see him dipping his fries in his milkshake.

"Um, what are you doing?" I questioned him skeptically. He meets my gaze and notices the slight disgust in my tone.

"You've never tried it?" He asks, dipping another one and putting it in his mouth.

"You do realize you're essentially putting potatoes in chocolate..." I explained, wondering how anyone could come up with something like that.

"Yeah, and it's fucking amazing." Niall proceeded to repeat the action before bringing the milkshake coated fry to hover in front of my mouth. "Just trust me." He grinned slightly, amused at my hesitancy to try it. I figured it wouldn't kill me, so I leaned forward a bit to take it from him into my mouth. I couldn't hide the shock on my face when I was pleasantly surprised.

"What the fuck, that's actually so good," I tell him honestly.

He let out a lighthearted laugh at my change of attitude. "Right? Changes the game."

"Best food combo, hands down." I agreed.

We continued to eat and I couldn't help the small smile on my lips. Something about this felt so natural, so domestic. Like we've known each other for years and this was a casual weekly lunch date. I noticed that Niall seemed a little lost in thought, tapping his fingers to a silent beat on the table. Suddenly he stopped and looked up to me.