Like Before (Niall Horan)

Chapter Six: Foolproof Desserts

I pulled into my driveway and turned my car off. Tia was the first one out of the car and to the door. She loves these boys a bit too much. "Steph, behave." I scolded her.

"I'm not ten." Steph glared at me. I rolled my eyes at her and the three of us grabbed our bags and walked to my doorstep. Here goes nothing. 

I opened my door and led Jaesin and Stephani into my house. It wasn't like they hadn't come over already. Before Sarah moved back in, they were here most of the time since we really had no one to answer to here. They knew I put Tia first and they respected that so we hung out at my house a lot. That had changed since Sarah got here. She was too uptight to let them come over very often so we mostly stuck to weekends. 

When we dropped our bags by the stairs, we had four sets of eyes on us. Harry had already been captured by Tia and was playing. I sighed and looked at them. "Guys, these are my friends, Jaesin and Stephani." I told the boys. "Thats Louis, Zayn, Niall, and Liam." I pointed out for Jaesin's benefit. "And Tia is playing with Harry." They all waved at each other and Steph went right over to the end of the couch by Louis and sat on the arm. I rolled my eyes at how easy that was for her, and immediately Zayn and Louis were in a random conversation with her. Jaesin sat in the chair next to the other end of the couch by Liam and they started talking. Niall still watched me.

I walked into the kitchen to grab a drink. "You never texted me back." I heard an Irish accent behind me. I closed my eyes while holding my glass of water in front of me. Maybe if I just pretended he wasn't there, he'd go away. "Alix?" Niall questioned. I turned and looked at him, not spilling my water. 

"No, I didn't. And I think I had a perfectly good reason not to." I glared at him and rested my hip against the counter.

"Which was?" He asked coming to stand right in front of me. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't need to explain to you." I was looking up at him now, he was standing too close to me. He was a few inches taller then me and his blue eyes were staring at me, waiting for a real answer. I took a sip of my drink, Niall still watching me. "I don't know why it matters so much." I said trying to step by him but he got in my way. I sighed. "Do you want to know why?" I asked and he smiled. "You're a jerk, thats why." I gave him a sarcastic smile. He raised his eyebrows.

"Me?" He asked pointing at his chest. "Why? I don't know what I did. All I said was you didn't listen to Sarah, which is true, and you overreacted."

"Overreacted?" I asked, my voice louder then I expected. Setting my cup down, I crossed my arms over my chest. "You have no idea what actually happened here, so you have no right to tell me I'm overreacting!" I snapped.

"Then tell me so I understand." I honestly didn't know what to say to him. Tell him? I couldn't. He cocked his head to one side and I bit my lower lip, blinking a couple of times. "Go on then." I stared at him, he was completely serious. I shook my head.

"I don't answer to you." I sighed, grabbed my drink, and pushed past him to the living room. I heard him groan in frustration but I kept walking. I stopped in the doorframe and saw everyone watching me. I blinked again and turned around to go to the stairs and walked right into Niall. I ran my fingers through my hair and walked around him, grabbing my bag and bringing it upstairs. I sat down on my bed, someone had made it, and collapsed onto my back. 

I heard someone clear their throat in my doorframe and I groaned. I looked and saw Niall. "Can I come in?" He asked.

"I'd rather you didn't." I glared at him.

"Alright." He put his hands up and then sat down at the door. I sighed at him. He just sat there, watching me watch him. He was frustrating, I sighed again.