Matching Rings [h.s]

66

POV: BAYLIN GRIGGS

"How long has she been coming into the back yard?" I ask as I bend down beside Niall to pet the large fluffy dog.

"Since I first moved in." Niall answers, getting up as I was kneeling to tangle my hands in her long soft fur. "Maybe even before, but who knows."

This is the first time I'm formally meeting Bunny, I always see Niall playing with her while Jim isn't around, but I've never actually come down to see her.

Niall told me that the neighbors who own her don't give her that much attention, it's not like they neglect her or anything, they just don't love her like she deserves to be loved.

"She's gorgeous." I say in the cute voice I always use to talk to animals. Bunny responds by rapidly licking my hand that I was petting her with. She's a very energetic dog, I've been with her for a whole five minutes and I already love her to bits. "Do you know what kind of dog she is?"

"I'm almost positive she's a samoyed, but I always thought she had some husky in her too." Niall says, standing back from me and the dog.

I stood up from kneeling and the second I was on my feet Bunny took off and started running in circles around me and Niall, looking so joyful and happy.

"Do the neighbors know she comes over here?" I ask, watching the ball of fluff leap around the yard.

"Probably not."

Bunny trails the trim of the pool, making me nervous that she'd fall in since she was getting dangerously close. She leans over the edge and drinks from it, to which Niall was quick to yell and tell her to stop, when she listened she ran straight back to us.

"Alright pretty girl, we have to get going." Niall talks to the dog like she understood, but in a way I think she did.

Niall bends down and massages her face one last time, I give her a short scratch behind her ear and she begins running straight towards the gate she came from— immediately jumping the high distance and getting back to her real home.

"I'll never get use to seeing her do that." I say in regards to the dog jumping over the fence that's at least six feet tall.

Niall chuckles, "Yeah, it still scares me."

Niall and I started walking back to the house so that we could get going. He's agreed to drive me to Harry's so that I could work things out with him.

For obvious reasons I'm still upset with Niall. But like I've said a million times, he's not as big of a problem as Harry.

For some odd reason, Bunny seemed to have eased a lot of the hovering tension between Niall and I. I know he understands to still keep a distance from me, but slowly we'll eventually make it back to how it was before.

The drive to Harry's apartment was short, mainly quiet. We played some low music just to fill the silence. I was all too nervous to spark a conversation, nor was there anything to talk about.

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Niall asks as he pulls up to the front of Harry's apartment building.

"No it's okay, I don't know how long this'll take." I murmur, shoving my phone into my back pocket. "If it goes well I'll probably end up staying, and if it goes bad..."

I really hope this doesn't go bad. I'm still furious at him, but I love him. It's not like the bet is such a huge deal to the point where it would make me want to break up with him. If this was only based on the bet, I'd probably go easier on him like I did with Niall. But this is a lot bigger than just a bet, it's a stacked up problem and keeping things from me that's making this a huge deal.