Maddie’s POV
It had been a day after Y/N and I had met for a drink, and as soon as I left, she ran into Niall. Typical. She told me everything earlier this day, and I was beyond confused with the way Niall was acting, just like she was. The running after her, the kiss, all those things were contrary to his previous behavior. If he wanted nothing but sex, he was sending some fucked up mixed signals. I had to have a proper talk with Louis.
After the party at his bandmate’s house, Louis and I started hanging out every now and then. It was nice, it was casual, I liked being around him and he seemed to like being around me, too. It was as simple as Y/N’s and Niall’s relationship was fucked up and complicated, but I hoped we’d change that.
I asked Louis to meet me for a walk around the park, informing him I would want to talk about them. He agreed, saying he wanted to talk about it with me, too; and now I was waiting for him where we’d said we’d meet, my eyes spotting him not far away, my lips curling into a smile.
“Louis, could you please tell your friend to politely fuck off or should I do it myself?” I said as soon as he approached me. He didn’t even blink. “Which friend exactly?” he questioned, the smirk on his face telling me he knew very damn well I was talking about Niall.
“The one who likes to lead girls on when he only wants one thing from them.”
“You haven’t really narrowed my choices” he laughed and I smacked his shoulder, fighting off a grin. We started walking down the street, and I turned to him.
“I’m serious” I told him, looking him straight in the eyes, “Tell him to leave her alone. She needs to get over him and he’s not helping by running after her and acting like he cares when he obviously doesn’t.”
Louis was quiet for a few seconds before he turned to me. “But what if he does?” he questioned, his head tilted to the side and his brows knitted together.
“He does what?” I asked.
“He does care, Maddie.” The way he said it, his voice low and earnest, made me almost believe in it.
“No he doesn’t” I snorted. Louis just looked at me, his gaze steady and sure.
“He does. In his own Niall Horan way. He won’t say it, but me and the boys know him too well. He’s been quiet and yesterday he even said he wasn’t feeling like playing footie. I got worried, to be honest.”
“Wow” I laughed sarcastically, “I really don’t know how you didn’t send him to see a psychiatrist!”
He fought off a smile, shooting me an unamused look. “I’m telling you, that’s a big deal when it comes to Niall.”
“Then why didn’t he call her? If he cares so much?” I challenged.
“Maddie, I said he likes her, not loves her. And he’s not really aware of it yet, so…” he drifted off. That got me thinking. Another short silence fell upon us before I looked up at him. “Louis?”
“Yeah, love?” he said, reaching for my hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.
“Has he ever mentioned her?”
“Yes, a few times” he replied, nodding.
“Well, what did he say?”
“It will seem like it’s not much, but you have to consider the fact that Niall rarely talks about any girl he’s been with. He said she was proper fit, a challenge, fun to be around… but I think he said like, 13 times how she has the ability to piss him off within a second” he laughed lightly. An idea crossed my mind. Maybe…
