Niam Horayne - Love in a Boy Band

7 - Ignoring your best friend...easier said than done

Liam's pov

We were just settling into our suite in the hotel, when someone

knocked on the door of the room that Niall and I shared. It was the

brunette with the long ponytail from the front desk holding a pile of

magazines. She told me that our management had instructed the hotel to

bring every tabloid they could find about One Direction up to our

rooms daily. I politely thanked the sweet girl and walked back to sit

on my and Niall's bed to look through them.

Niall stood up from where he was unpacking my suitcase and scootched

next to me, supporting himself with one hand on my thigh as he leaned

over me to look at the magazines. --Shit! What would I do if his hand

moved just a little further north, towards the area of my...y'know...

Shit shit shit! Stop thinking about that, Liam. Think about

grandma...and grandpa...with spoons, lots of spoons. C'mon, you can do

it.-- After that stressful situation had been avoided, I tuned back to

real life.

"Li? What's wrong? Why is your face scrunched up like that? You know,

if you do that too much, it'll stay that way," Niall's concerned yet

playful voice pierced through my thoughts and big, rough, fingers

smoothed out the wrinkles in my forehead. His light touch traced my

face and he tilted his head curiously, leaning in to bump my nose

against his, his ernest gaze holding mine. My senses were heightened.

I held my breath, trying to enjoy his warm breath on my lips while it

lasted. I felt my heart pound heavily in my throat and I knew that if

the blonde boy in front of me didn't stop this soon, I would have a

problem, and a VERY awkward problem at that.

"I gotta go," I blurted out and leapt from the bed, stumbling

backwards. "Umm...bathroom. Have fun with the mags," I offered up as

my feeble excuse, practically sprinting out of our bedroom.

***

I had been sitting on the cold, white tiles of the bathroom floor with

my back against the door for about an hour now. Over that time I have

concluded that I am too vulnerable and awkward around Niall. My plan

to make him fall for me was ridiculous, I couldn't flirt for my life

(that's Harry's job). I was kidding myself if I thought someone as

perfect and carefree as Niall could ever fall for someone as boring

and responsible as "daddy-direction," especially if I got flustered

whenever he touched me. My best shot at a normal life, was to hope

that no one noticed my feelings and that I could continue denying

them, just as I had successfully managed to accomplish over the past

two years. For now, the best thing I could do was ignore Niall as much