Act Like You're in Love {Niall Horan}

Chapter 20: John Stays

~Niall's P.O.V.~

I kick the couch leg in frustration. What does Mariah see in John? I mean, I know he acts so much nicer around her, but she's a smart girl. The only reason why I think she wouldn't figure out that he wasn't so friendly anymore is if she could only see good in him because she likes him.

Pain sears through my foot after kicking the couch leg a second time without thinking. This time the boys look up from their phones (in Liam's case, a book).

"What's up, Niall?" Liam questions me, tilting his head slightly to one side.

"I was just thinking," I reply vaguely.

"About Mariah," Harry says flatly, putting his phone down.

"And John," Zayn adds. Then he looks at me to confirm his suspicions. I guess my face reveals it because he smirks.

"C'mon, just tell us what's wrong," Liam tries. I just stare at the hard couch leg.

"You're the only one that has something against him, mate," Louis tells me seriously. "Now tell us why."

"Yeh," Zayn agrees. "At first we thought -"

"We thought?" I repeated in a question, pretty pissed off. "So now you guys talk about me?"

They all look at the floor guiltily like they have nothing to say. Liam speaks up first. "We just wanted to help you, Niall. We knew Mariah was special to you, and you were upset because of her. We were just trying to help."

I relax in my seat a bit and lean on the back of the sofa. My palms cover my eyes as I bury my face in my hands so that I don't have to look at anything outside of my personal bubble.

My voice is muffled when I tell the story since I keep my hands covering my face. "When he first came, I was in her apartment because we kind of go into each other's flats whenever we feel like it. Then she walked in with John and wasn't expecting me to be in there, so she got scared and so John held her close to him."

At this point I remove my hands from my face just because it's a little hard to breathe. My voice now sounds clear through the air compared to before. "Then I was stupid. I blurted out that I was dating her, and then I added I just meant publicly so just keep it cool with the affection thing."

I look around at their faces. All four of the guys are expressionless, so I just continue.

"I left to change into sweats because we were going to watch a movie. That was when I saw the pictures of her almost kissing John, so I got upset. When I came back, Mariah was staring at John who was finishing up the process of pulling his shirt off."

This time I see shock on their faces, but it quickly flickers away. I sigh quietly to myself and just keep talking.

"I got mad, but then Mariah calmed me down a little bit. Then she said that John and I could pick the movie while she went to change. She left, and then John started taunting me about our band and stuff like that."

"That bastard," Harry growls, rising from his seat.

Louis grabs his wrist and pulls him back down. "Chill, Harry."

"Go on, Niall," Liam says, ignoring everyone else but me.

"Well, I resisted from punching him. And then I left," I finished up. "That's really all there was."

"That bastard," Harry growls again. It would be funny if I wasn't pissed off myself.

"Well, at least now we know you have a pretty decent reason," Liam grimaces, looking through the large window. The sun is shining very brightly outside. Light bounces off the glass of the window, easily lighting the whole place.