Eight Ways To Say 'I Love You' (Niall Horan; Coming Soon)

Prologue

Prologue/Teaser

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Eight Ways To Say 'I Love You' by R. McKinley

1. Spit it into her voicemail, a little slurred and sounding like the shot whiskey you downed for courage. Feel as ashamed as you do walking into work in last night's clothes. Wake up cringing for the next few days, waiting for her to mention it.

2. Sigh it into her mouth, wedged in between teeth and tongues. Don't even let your lips move when you say it, ever so lightly, into the air. Maybe it was just an exhalation of ecstacy.

3. Buy her flowers. Buy her chocolate. Buy her a teddy bear, because that's what every romantic comedy has taught you. Take her out to a nice restaurant where neither of you feel comfortable and spend the whole night clearing your throat and thugging at your tie. Feel like your actions are more suitable to a proposal than the simple confession you've always known.

4. Whisper it into her hair in the middle of the night, after you've counted the space between her breaths and are certain she's asleep. Shut your eyes quickly when she shifts towards you in askance. Maybe you were just sleep whispering.

5. Blurt it out in the middle of an impromptu dance party in the kitchen, as clumsy as your two left feet. When time seems to freeze, hastily tuck on 'in that shirt' or 'when you make your award-winning meatballs' or, if your are feeling particularly brave, 'when we do this'. Resume dancing and pretend you don't feel her eyes on you the rest of the night.

6. Write her a letter in which the amount of circumnavigating and angst could rival Mr. Darcy's. Debate where to leave it all day - her pillow? In her coat pocket? Throw it away in frustration, conventiently leaving it face up in the trashcan, her name scrawled on the front in your sloppy handwriting. Let her wonder if you meant it.

7. Wait until something terrible happened and you can't not tell her anymore. Wait until she almost gets hit by a car crossing Wabash against the light and after you are done cursing at the shit-for-brains cab drivers in this city, realize you are actually just terrified of living without her. Tell her with your hands shaking.

8. Say it deliberately, your tongue a springboard for every syllable. Over coffee, brushing your teeth side-by-side, as you turn off the light to go to sleep - it doesn't matter where. Do not adorn it with extra words like 'I think' or 'I might'. Do not sigh heavily as if admitting it were a burden instead of the most joyous thing you've ever done. Look her in the eyes and pray, heart thumping wildly, that she will turn to you and say, 'I love you too.'

As soon as I was done reading the piece of paper that indicated "Eight Ways To Say 'I Love You' by R. McKinley" and has bold, italic letters of the 'ways' to say the three words, I passed it back to Liam, who suggested I should read it due to the high amount of help that I needed.

I frowned at how cliche all of it sounded, constantly shaking my head, my blonde fluff that has brunette strands on their roots shaking from left to right..

"Uh-uh." I scoffed, "no, no, no."

"Come on, Ni." Liam smiled, passing the paper back to me. "You need it."

"Just listen to Liam, Niall," Harry added with a cheeky smirk playing across his plump lips, "it'll help you, I swear."

"I don't need any help." I protested, frowning at them then looked at Zayn, hoping he'd support me. But I was wrong. Instead, he smiled and nodded at Liam and Harry.

"We're only trying to get that lump outta your throat." He smiled at me before lighting up a stick of cigarette and heading out since no one could smoke in the studios.

"Come on, mate," Louis laughed, "just take the damn paper, follow the steps, and you'll be set! That girl will be all yours."

"Think about it." Liam smiled and tossed the piece of paper on the table in front of me, motioning both Louis and Harry outside, subliminally telling them to give me some 'lone time'.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, now annoyed, murmuring, "I don't need this damn thing."

Louis and Harry just looked at each other with sharp smirks, rolling their eyes before following Liam outside. I sighed heavily, trying to think things through.

Did I really need this? Do I need this ways? Isn't saying 'I Love You' an easy thing to do? Three words, eight letters, three syllables. That's all it is, really. I know I'm ready to tell her that I love her, but the problem is...how do I say it without sounding like I'm joking or I'm the biggest idiot in the world or sounding so casual, like the phrase barely means anything? It means everything to me. She means everything to me.

I picked up the paper again, observing the glossy object, scanning the 'ways' word by word. I nodded after rereading the eight ways, sighing to myself.

I'm doing it. Though I'll hate how stupid and cliche and cheesy this sounds, I'm doing what it takes to get her to be mine. I'll probably kick myself later for this, but I needed to tell her. I need to tell her how I feel - that I love her, from the beginning, I've always loved her. And I'm going to do whatever I have to do just so she could see that. Just so she could feel that.