Possibility

Chapter 11 - Blur

I took that as my cue to properly acknowledge him and replied with a quiet 'hi' along with a smile. The nickname was one I'd grown fond of, and it was especially nice to hear him say it after so long.

"Is everything all right?" Niall asked, almost seeming a bit concerned. Perhaps my quietness wasn't something he was used to with people. It hadn't really been very prominent over texts either, so it would make sense. He should have noticed it over Skype though, but perhaps I had been even quieter today than during those occasions.

"Yeah, I'm all good." I replied as I refocused my attention on the ground, where our legs were.

The first thing I noticed was how close our legs were, Niall's only a few inches away from mine. They were so close that if one of us just slightly moved our legs, they'd be touching. I wasn't quite sure why I noticed, why exactly that thought popped into my mind right then, but it did.

I assumed it was due to the attachment I felt towards him, considering he was the only one on this trip that I felt somewhat comfortable with. For some reason, the boy sitting next to me had really grown on me over the last month. Even despite the lack of direct contact, due to the fact that most of our interaction had occurred through technological devices.

I got a little lost in thought, but knew that a few minutes had passed in silence before he spoke again. "You don't really say a lot, do you?"

"So I've been told." I told him and looked at him once again, scrunching my nose slightly and smiling timidly. I had never particularly enjoyed it when people pointed out that I was a quiet person; they made it seem like a flaw, and I had eventually come to believe it was one.

Niall withdrew his gaze and nodded slowly in response, seeming in thought. For a moment, his lips tilted upwards, but then his expression grew serious. His eyes gave him away though; the immediate seriousness was clearly just an act.

"I've heard serial killers are quiet, you're not by chance one of those?" Niall didn't even look at me as he said it, and my best guess was that he knew he wouldn't have been able to keep a serious face if he did so. He was just that kind of person.

I sure wasn't able, the smile on my face was evidence enough, but then again I didn't try either. I did, however, try my best to keep my voice as unresponsive as possible when I replied to him. "Why, you want anyone taken care of?"

To that, he only laughed, the sound somewhat reassuring and comforting. "I think you'd be more of a stalker." He then stated, almost teasingly. "They're pretty good at hiding their stalkerness at first." Niall looked at me then, a smile burning on his lips.

"Stalkerness?" I asked him amused and raised my brows. As far as my vocabulary was concerned, that wasn't an actual word. I wasn't the kind of person to, normally, point out a minor thing like that, but he was practically asking for it. Accuse me of being a stalker, and I will most certainly use your own words against you. Even if that is just by pointing out how silly you may sound.

"Whatever, you get what I mean." Niall said with a roll of his eyes as he broke our eye contact. Nonetheless, he was still laughing, though it had become more of a chuckle by now.

"I think you seem more like a stalker than me, considering you suddenly turned up at my door and all." I defended jokingly.

"Well, I wasn't the one chasing after me." Niall then defended, a triumphant smile taking up his face. At a loss for good arguments due to his statement having some truth to it, I huffed and shook my head slowly as I diverted my eyes from him.

"No, you're cool Harris." Niall reassured and kicked my foot lightly. It was a nice little gesture, though I'm sure he didn't even realize it. A cold breeze swept over the mountain plateau then, causing me to shiver, and a desire to scoot closer to Niall grew stronger. I did, however, stay put, because even though the warmth was tempting, I didn't want to seem clingy.