Half Awake

a/n: it's like 2am and I couldn't sleep so I wrote this. inspired by that vine of harry where he's sitting by that bunk? it's the cover photo because I can't explain things okay enjoy.

warnings: fluff, mostly dialogue.

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"Niall."

silence.

"Niall."

silence.

"Niall." Harry's voice becomes louder and more urgent each time.

there's a muffled groan from inside Niall's bunk.

"Niall, I can't sleep."

another groan.

"Niall, please."

there's a shift in the bed, followed by silence.

"Niall don't ignore me."

"'m tryin' t sleep." Niall's voice is heavy with sleep, and it's obvious he's only half awake.

"Niall, I wanna cuddle."

"'arry.."

"Niall, please. I'm lonely."

There's another shift in the bed, followed by more silence. Harry gets up to go. He was stupid to think that Niall would want to cuddle with him because it's three in the morning and he's gone and woken him up. Besides it's not as if they're dating or anything, so Niall doesn't have to say yes but there's always been something /more/ between them. At least to Harry. Thats the reason why he couldn't fall asleep; too many thoughts about his and Niall's 'relationship'. So he went off to find Niall because he needs to know what they are /now/.

"'arry. c'mere." Niall's moved over so there's just enough room for Harry. Harry climbs into the bed and underneath the covers, thankful that Niall said yes.

He shifts onto his side; wrapping his arms around Niall and resting his head on his shoulder.

Neither of the two say anything for awhile, and Harry thinks that Niall's fallen back to sleep, so he takes this as the perfect time to ramble, because Niall can't hear him, and even if he can it's worth a shot.

"hey Niall." he whispers softly. "first, I just wanna tell you how great you are, like, you're really great. you let me cuddle you whenever I want, even if it's three in the morning. so thanks for that. you're also really funny and your laugh, don't get me started on that. everyone and I mean /everyone/ loves your laugh. next, you're extremely good looking. you have boys /and/ girls falling at your feet. I wish you wouldn't doubt yourself so much, because you're one of the most beautiful people I've met, inside and out." he takes a break to look at the blonde sleeping beside him, and feels his face break into a smile.

"I don't know what you'd call us. we're not officially together, but it's not as if we don't already do all the things couples do, minus the sex. and sex doesn't necessarily make the relationship. I like staying up all night with you watching dumb movies. I like throwing popcorn at you when you're not looking. I like it when I make you laugh, because /I/ made that noise come out of your mouth and that makes me so proud. I like it when we cuddle under the same blanket and share secrets. I like stealing glances at you when you're not looking, or when there's this giant grin on your face. I like it when we dance to a song on the radio and you'll randomly just grab my face and kiss it. I like those kisses the most; the ones I don't see coming. we don't kiss a lot, and it's usually not on the lips. but when we do and you blush that makes me giddy. most of all, I like /you./"

pause.

"niall, I don't even know what we are. whenever we go out and people don't know who we are, they just assume we're dating. remember that really small town we stopped in because our bus broke down? and there was that small diner? what was it called.. Sally's? the rest of the boys went off to go find another place but we decided to sit in that dirty diner on the side of the road because it'd be an adventure. the waitress was really nice and in the end, d'you remember what she said? she said we made a lovely couple. and then you rushed to tell her we weren't dating and we were just friends and she got really flustered and ran off. I remember that day like it was yesterday. even the fans think we're dating. sometimes I do too. niall, you're not even awake. I'm so dumb. /you/ make me dumb. I like you so much, but you're so oblivious to the looks I give you. sometimes Zayn will pull me aside and say I'm giving you the puppy-dog look again, and I'll shove him off. but it's true. I'm crazy for you. I just wanna be something more, but whenever someone brings it up, you quickly say we're just friends."

there's another longer pause.

"I think I love you, niall. like, proper love you."

then it's silent for a moment and harry swears he can hear his heartbeat.

"you're asleep.. I knew it. stupid of me to think you'd be awake and this'd be like a fairy tale or something. g'night niall."

Harry kisses the top of Niall's head gently before shutting his eyes.

"'arry, I love you too." Niall says barely audible.

but Harry's already fallen asleep.