fine line

𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎

"Do you think Niall's mad at me?" Taylor asks out of the blue. She's sprawled on Harry's bed, staring at the ceiling. Harry is looking blankly down at his notebook, which is open in front of him. His legs are crossed and his pen taps against the duvet, making muted sounds.

"Why would he be mad at you?" Harry wonders, looking up and squinting in confusion. Taylor sits up and mirrors Harry's sitting style, shrugging.

"Not sure. He went to do a couple of home shows in Ireland and he's been ignoring me."

"Maybe he's just busy?" Harry offers, but he knows that's unlikely. He himself had been getting texts from Niall almost every day in the week since he's been gone.

Taylor pinches the duvet between her thumb and pointer finger and then smoothes out the wrinkle it creates. "I don't know. It's weird. Have you talked to him?"

And, shit, Harry doesn't want to lie, but he doesn't really want to tell the truth, either, because he knows it'll hurt her. He shuts his eyes tightly and simply says, "Yeah."

"Oh," is Taylor's response. Harry opens his eyes. She's not looking at him; her gaze is fixed on her leg, where she's now pinching the fabric of her sweatpants.

Harry sighs. "Okay, what's going on with you two?"

Taylor's head snaps up and her eyes widen. "What do you mean? There's nothing going on. We're friends," she says definitively, but it sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than Harry.

He rolls his eyes. "Right. Yeah. Friends who make out, never address it, and fight half the time, then look like you want to eat each other's faces the other half. Very believable."

Taylor looks genuinely scared. "How did you know?" she whispers. Harry resists the urge to roll his eyes again.

"I accidentally saw you, like, a year ago. I figured we were all kind of drunk that night anyway, so I didn't think anything of it, and you didn't say anything, so I didn't either. But, I mean, come on. The tension between you two is so obvious."

Taylor sighs and her shoulders drop. "It's not going to work," she says quietly. "We're both too stubborn and jealous."

"Oh yeah, I saw how Niall reacted when you were talking about that hot friend of Selena's new beau."

"Zayn?" Taylor asks, looking confused for a second.

"That's the hot guy?"

Taylor shakes her head. "No. I mean, yes, him too, but no. Zayn is the one I tried to set Selena up with. Apparently it didn't go anywhere, but they're still friends. The hot guy I was talking about is named Liam. He's in love."

"With you?" Harry wonders, still hopelessly lost.

"No! With Zayn!" Taylor starts laughing, and it startles Harry so much he almost falls over.

He tries to process. Taylor tried to set up her friend with this guy called Zayn, who has a friend called Liam who happens to be really hot but is also in love with Zayn.

"I don't see how any of this has to do with you and Niall," Harry observes.

"You asked questions and I answered them," Taylor dodges.

"Yes, but originally we were talking about Tiall."

"Tiall?" Taylor says incredulously. "Seriously? What kind of a ship name is that? Even Naylor would be better."

"Naylor it is, then," Harry decides. "But please, enlighten me. What exactly is the deal with you two?"

Taylor goes quiet. "I don't know if I can tell you," she says finally. "It's not just my secret. Just...I don't know. I really like him as a person, and I love him as a friend, but then he's also, like, really good in bed—"