Be My Mascot

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Bailey's POV

Niall leads the way, walking down the oak staircase. He grips on to the railing when his body stumbles forward on one step. I try to stifle a laugh, but it's hard. Niall's head twists around to stick his tongue out at me.

I'm not sure where exactly he is headed, but Niall walks straight into the living room. I follow after. He looks over to my parents, who are conversing with each other. They look up to Niall, muting their voices.

"Sorry to interrupt.." Niall whispers. "Um..it was very nice to meet you all, I'll be getting out of your way now. Have a nice Christmas break," he politely smiles.

"You're leaving now?" My mother asks.

"Yeah..better get back to the dorm room. My roommate will be looking for me," Niall lightly laughs.

I cringe at the thought of Chase. I always knew there was something up with him, I just never thought he didn't like me.

"It's Christmas break, son. Aren't you going home?" Dad chimes in.

"Oh...no."

There is a change of tone to Niall's voice. My father thankfully doesn't push the question any further with his blunt answer.

"Driving back to university may not be the best of ideas." Danny abruptly walks into the living room. "The snow storm has picked up. Almost all of the roads are closed. It's far too dangerous to be driving."

I peer over to Niall, and I can tell he is trying to decide what to do. He scratches the back of his neck, looking down to his feet.

"I'll be fine..." He tries to assure us.

"Oh, don't be silly, you can stay with us. We have plently of extra rooms for you to stay in," my mother smiles.

Niall looks over to me, as if asking for my permission. I don't know how I should feel about this. Niall staying in my house for Christmas? I should be thinking about our relationship and if it's mendable. We just kissed for god's sake. It's the only thing I can think about right now. I shouldn't have done that. The kiss has now made both of us think that I am going to come crawling back to him. I have to think about all of this without the distractions of Niall.

"Yeah..we woudn't want you to get in an accident," I blurt.

I feel like smacking myself for caving in.

"Thank you, Mr and Mrs Thomas, but I don't want to be a bother."

"You aren't, sweetie. Come on, let's get your bed made," my mother chirps, stepping forward and taking Niall's hand.

She leads him out of the room, and upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms. I stay where I am, sitting down on the sofa next to Danny. He wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me closer.

"I like him," he admits softly.

"Me too," I whisper so quietly that Danny doesn't hear me.

No matter how many times I try to change my opinion on Niall, I do like him. Just like Niall with Charlotte, he will always hold a place in my heart.

I spot the packages of gifts that I dropped earlier at the sight of my brother. I stand up from the couch and trudge over to them. The bags are picked up and I head upstairs to my room. I need to put them away before anyone has a peak inside. The guest room three doors down from mine has its door opened, so I assume that is where Niall will be staying.

(Niall's POV)

When Bailey's mum opens the guest room door, I practically gape at the size. This house is massive. It must be quite old too, I can tell by looking at some of the original wood work. It was most likely built in the late 1800's. Large bay windows expose the back garden. An over-sized desk sits in the corner. A flat screen tv is hung on the wall in front of the four-poster bed.