Under A Paper Moon |N.H|

10

I keep asking myself why I'm nervous that Niall is coming over. I wasn't too nervous for our other dates, but this one feels different.

Are my nerves because I still feel like he's a stranger, and inviting a stranger into my home would be a lot? Is it because I like him? Is it because it's Niall? Is it because he's my first guest now that my place is decorated?

I have so many questions and not a single answer to ease them.

Niall kept texting me consistently throughout the day, making sure we were still set for our plans. It made me happy to see that he cared so much about meeting up that he thought to ask twenty times for good measure.

I had been sitting on my couch ever since he texted that he was on his way, anxiously waiting for him to get here. The buzzer rings through the room, and I jump up and head for the door when I hear it.

"Hey, it's me," he says into the speaker.

I press the button that opens the building door for him. "Come on up."

I pace the length of the room; back and forth and back and forth, trying my best not to chew on my nails despite how much I want to out of nerves. I just painted them a gray color. I don't want them to chip. To relieve some of my anxiety, I tug on my bottom lip, filling that need I have without damaging my appearance. A knock at the door causes my hand to fly down to my side.

I impulsively tend to my hair, like it could have been affected in the last minute and a half I spent waiting on him, and as if he would care if there was a hair misplaced. I don't think he would even be able to notice.

I let out a deep breath before reaching for the door handle, pulling it open and finding Niall on the other side, a smile on his face and what I hope is a welcoming smile on my own.

"Hi," I say. I should have said something better.

"Hi."

My eyes drop to his hands, focusing this time on what he is holding in them.

"What's—"

"Oh, I got you these." He interrupts me, knowing exactly what I'm wondering. He lifts a bouquet of flowers into my view, although they had already captured my attention before he thought to raise his arm a little higher, so they sat just below my chin. White roses. "You said you just decorated the apartment, and I thought you might like some lively flowers to add something. But I see you already have some plants going in here." He makes this observation by peeling his head behind me, noticing the few faux plants I have scattered through the room, ranging from little potted plants to bigger ones that sit on the floor and travel up the wall by my window.

I take the flowers into my own hands, overwhelmed with this gesture. "Niall, these are beautiful. You didn't have to do this."

"A welcome to New York City gift, if you will," he shrugs. "A housewarming gift. It's nothing."

I pull the door open more, inviting him inside as I walk towards the kitchen, trying to find something to put the flowers in. A nicer cup, a miracle vase because I know my chances of having that are slim to none, but I can't find anything better than a reusable water bottle. I fill it with tap water and unwrap the flowers from the plastic they are tucked into, placing them inside the metal container and setting it by the sink as a temporary home.

When I turn around, Niall is standing in the living room, looking out the window to my balcony.

I stand in place as I watch him, speaking up behind him. "Can I get you anything? Water, or something?"

He turns around, furrowing his eyebrows. "Or something?"

"I have lemonade. It's really only that or water."