all friends - a one direction story

18

A/N: this part will have 3 POV's. please give me feedback on whether this is good or whether it's difficult to keep up with for future books of these please 😊

*Niall's POV*

I rubbed my eyes, feeling groggy after my night spent at Ruby's house.

I heard the door of Ruby's bedroom open and then came a loud knock on my bedroom door. "Breakfast!" She called.

I groaned again as I realised the time. 8:10AM. My sleep had been broken, leaving me tired, and it was because Ruby's reassurance that the walls were soundproof was false.

I rolled out of the bed, pulling on my t-shirt and joggers from yesterday, before pulling the corners of the duvet back up to the top as an attempt in making the bed.

I opened the door of Ruby's guest bedroom and made my way into her kitchen, where Zayn was sat at the table and Ruby was stood by the counter.

"Hey, sleepy," Zayn greeted.
"Toast?" Ruby offered, sipping on a Red Bull.
"Sure," I nodded, sitting down next to Zayn at the table. "You got Nutella?"
"Yeah," she replied, turning back to put more slices of toast into the toaster.

"So, the walls weren't soundproof after all," I scowled at the pair of them, "I didn't sleep much. And neither did you two apparently."

Zayn immediately laughed. "Sorry, mate. I think we've adjusted to it."
I held my hands up, "it's fine."

Ruby slid me a slice of toast on a plate with a ramekin of soft butter and a jar of Nutella, before sitting down opposite me with her toast which had jam on it.

As I took my first bite, my phone chimed, and I immediately picked it up.

SAFFRON
hey!!! Ruby said you stayed there last night are you still there now?? xxxx

"Who's that?" Zayn wondered aloud.
"Oh, it's Saffron asking if I'm still here," I told him, as I began to text back to tell her that I was.

"What's going on there?" Zayn asked. It was impossible to not notice Ruby's expression changing into a curious one as she subtly narrowed her eyes and began listening more carefully.

"Uh, I don't know really," I honestly answered, "we've flirted a lot, but, you know, it hasn't really progressed further than that. I, uh, don't know if it will."

"You like her, right?" Zayn checked.
"Uh, yeah. She's really lovely," I felt a considerable amount of pressure as Ruby stared at me.

"But what about Marley?" She questioned. I could've guessed that she would.

"What about her?" I responded. Ruby was staring so intently about me that I was intentionally avoiding her eyes meeting mine.

"Do you like Marley? I know you did."

"I mean, it wouldn't matter if I did," I shook my head, "she's literally hardly spoken to me all week, she's completely distanced herself from me. I don't know why. We kissed, we flirted, and now... I guess whatever could've been is over and we're just forgetting about it. It's cool."
I took a sharp breath realising how much I'd rambled. A simple 'no' would've sufficed. But it was undeniable for me that I had missed Marley for the past week.

"You didn't answer my question," Ruby shot me a suspicious smile, one that made me unsure whether she was about to start shouting at me again or not. "Do you like her?"

I knew that Ruby's interrogation was because of how much she wanted to protect Saffron, and I remembered how angry she could get about it, so I knew what to answer.
"No, no. I think Marley and I are strictly friends."
Whether I was sure I believed myself when I said it was a different matter.