1944 [n.h]

chapter seven

Did he truly say no? Had he actually thought saying no was a suitable answer? Maybe things were different where he came from. Maybe etiquette and manners weren't a big deal. Perhaps respect wasn't a big deal.

Well it was where I lived.

I was not going to let Niall disrespect me, first by pulling an act like making Ruth leave and then by refusing to move from my side. I was nothing special, he had no need to sit beside me.

Within thirty seconds of him repeating no a second time round, I was up and walking out of the crude pub and walking down the street, my flat shoes flapping against the pebbled floor. If I'd have been Ruth I wouldn't have been able to walk here, her heels would have caused her to stumble.

This was one of the rare occasions I was glad that I wasn't Ruth, it gave me an easy escape.

"Lilly would you wait?!" Niall bellowed, chasing after me as I lifted my chin in to the air and continued to walk. I wasn't letting him think he was in a safe zone with me. "Lilly?!" He yelled again. If he yelled any louder, anyone from the village could've heard and presumed the worst of me.

"I need to go home!" I called back, turning a sharp corner before Niall grabbed my arm gently. I spun around due to his force and glared at him as best I could, it was hard not to melt at the sight of Niall and at this moment in time I needed to stand my ground and I needed to show him that I was more than what he obviously thought.

"Then I'll walk you home." He whispered, and I knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

So I padded alongside Niall silently, hoping my silence would somehow show my anger towards him, considering the fact I couldn't fathom up together a sentence in my head that seemed angry enough to tell him off.

"You're angry because I wanted to sit beside you?" He asked quietly. He sounded hurt and upset, not at me but at himself as if he'd messed up. Which undoubtedly, he had.

I didn't respond.

"You're my friend, I have a right to want to sit beside you." He carried on, speaking his thoughts.

I remained silent.

"You're being ridiculous." He huffed as a last resort, my silence irritating him as he tried desperately to get a reaction out of me. Niall had a thing, he loved fighting with me, not because he liked making me angry but because he knew I was stubborn, and when he did mess up and we got in to an argument, it amused him to see me blow off and get so angry.

But once again, not a word escaped my lips. It made me smile knowing how easy it was to irritate Niall.

I stopped outside my front door and went to walk in. before I could, Niall took my wrist and pulled me to him. He stared at me for a second and I was wildly aware of his lips lingering only inches from mine.

Niall stared at me, almost through me. I could see confusion and angst in his eyes as he looked at me, trying to find an answer for a question that wasn't there.

And then he kissed me.

His lips pressed up against mine and he dropped my wrist, moving his hand to the back of my neck and holding me there, as if he were afraid I were going to run away. I wasn't.

Niall was kissing me.

Shock ran through my body as he kissed me deeply and meaningfully, this was the first time I'd ever been kissed, let alone made to feel like this. My knees went weak and my hands travelled to his hair and gripped it for dear life.

I couldn't believe he was kissing me.

After all this time, all the moments that had passed where he could have kissed me, he chose this one, this completely out of the blue moment in time.