Two Against One

Chapter 15

I get up and walk to the door that someone had just been knocking on. I open it and see that Niall's standing there, a worried look on his face. "Can I come in?" he asks. I nod and give a weak smile, stepping aside to let him through and closing the door once he is.

"Why are you always the one to come to my rescue?" I ask him as I sit back down on the bed. Niall smiles and sits down next to me.

"Because I care about you," he says.

"I appreciate it, Niall," I tell him as I shift into a more comfortable position. "That's what I need right now with this stupid situation with Harry. I mean, I'm over reacting but-" I'm cut off by Niall interrupting.

"You weren't over reacting Tabitha," Niall says. "What Harry did was wrong and selfish. You liked him and all he seemed to do was get your hopes up then dump them once you were on cloud nine. He didn't do anything to stop the girl at the club and he should have known you would've come looking for him." I give a small smile and laugh quietly.

"Thank you Niall," I say to him. "It means a lot to have a friend like you." I see him wince when I say 'friend' but he covers it with a cute smile of his own.

"I know," he winks at me. Suddenly his expression turns more serious and he takes my hands in his, looking me straight in the eye. "I've been wanting to talk with you alone for a while, actually, and I think now is probably a good time," Niall says.

"Yeah, I don't think there's anyone around," I joke to cover up the fact that I'm getting more and more nervous every second he doesn't start explaining himself.

"We've been friends for a while," Niall starts.

"Twelve years," I add. He chuckles softly.

"Yes, twelve years. And ever since I've layed eyes on you I couldn't help but think of you of more than a friend. I know you've always just seen us as best friends but I've always liked you more than that. I care about you with all my heart and it's taking all my guts to say this because of how much our friendship means to me. But would you please consider being my girlfriend?" Whoa... definitely didn't see that coming. I look at the ground then back up at Niall who's looking at me nervously yet hopefully. I can tell that he'd be heart broken if I said no, and I can't do that to him.

"Yes," I say smile. "Of course, Niall." I give him a hug. Niall's been with me through all my tough times and I care about him a lot too. It might not be in the same way he cares about me but I couldn't bring myself to put him down by saying no. He's been here for me and any girl would be lucky to have him.

"So," Niall says, "why don't we go tell the others?" The others included Harry... No, Tabitha, don't think that. That'd be using Niall and he doesn't deserve that. But think of the look on Harry's face... No, no. The look on Harry's face doesn't matter. Niall's you're boyfriend now! Think about that.

"Let's go," I tell him as I grab my purse and walk out the room, deciding to grab his hand as I do so.

**

"You're dating?!" Jenna yells, pretty much to the whole restaurant that we're sitting in, waiting for supper. The other four were still out doing whatever they were doing so we decided to go out for supper, just the five of us.

"Yup," I say as happily as I can muster, laying my head on Niall's shoulder. I know I'm playing it up but the look on Harry's face is priceless. I also know I said I wouldn't use Niall, but who said a bit of over-dramatic romantic gestures would hurt? I look over at Harry and give him an innocent smile. Didn't see that coming did you Harry? Suck it.

"It's not official until you actually go on a date," Harry tells us. I roll my eyes.

"Thanks for the tip, Harry, we plan on it," I retort.

"Aww," Liam says as he puts his arm around Jenna. "They're almost as cute as us, huh Jen?"

Jenna laughs. "Almost," she says teasingly and digs her head into Liam's shoulder, getting comfortable. We're all sitting at a large oak table, Niall and I sitting next to each other and same with Jenna and Liam on the opposite side, as Harry sat at the end of the table by Liam and Niall. I couldn't help how alone he looked. Ha.

After we order our food and talk for a while, I have to go to the washroom.

"I'll be right back," I inform them as I get up and walk to the washroom. The washrooms have their own hallway, the lady's on one wall, men on the other and the family washroom at the end. I'm about to walk into the lady's washroom when a hand grabs my arm and pins me against the wall.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Someone growls into my ear.

"Nothing," I tell Harry nonchalantly as I try to get free of his grip. "Stop being so jealous, we're done now."

He gives a dark chuckle. "No you're not. You still like me just as much as you did before, you're just using Niall to cover it up. When he asked you out you thought it'd be the thing to make me realize what I did wrong."

I shake my head. "Actually no," I say in strain, his grip still tight on my arm, "that's not it. I thought I'd give Niall a chance becasue I knew he wouldn't break my heart like you did. Now let go, you're hurting me." Harry loosens his grip but doesn't let go.

"I tried apologizing and all you did was throw it back in my face. I told you the truth, I didn't do anything wrong. Don't use Niall like that, he'd be less hurt if you'd just said no." Harry hisses into my ear.

"You don't think you did anything wrong? You just sat there and let her kiss you which is a hell of a lot worse. You barely apologized and I'm not using Niall either. Just get over the fact that you and me don't have a chance anymore!" It takes me all my strength not to scream out in frustration from how much he's pissing me off.

"Oh really? Fine. You want to play it that way?" Harry lets go of my arm and takes a step back. "Game on," he breathes into my ear sending shivers down my spine before walking back to our table like nothing had just happened. Game on? There's no game. I'm giving Niall a chance because he's a nice guy and he won't go and snog with other girls. And definitely not because I want to make Harry jealous, right Tabitha?