Black Ink || Harlena a.u.

5.

I almost felt like a creep in my own home as I patiently waited for Anne to return- I was sitting in the dark, scrolling through Pinterest. There was no choice but to tell her about what Liam said, it wouldn't be fair if I kept silent; I'd tell Anne and then she would be the one to decide what to do.

An hour later, the door knob rattled before Anne pushed through it. The lights flickered on and I blinked rapidly, adjusting to the sudden brightness of the room instead of the small screen in my hand.

"Hey," I greeted. "How'd it go?" My eyes followed her as she put her phone and keys down, jumping on the couch next to me.

"Amazing would be an understatement," a dreamy sigh left her lips. "He was so sweet-" she looked at me. Her wild eyes flickering to tell me more. "And he totally made the night about me, like, he would put me before he put himself- throughout the entire night!"

I couldn't help but smile at her excitement. There wasn't a small fraction of me that would have the will to tell her about Liam anymore, not after seeing how happy she was- at least not tonight. I couldn't dampen the night for her, not after being so down about said guy, but remembering how torn Liam was made it extremely diffult to follow through.

"I'm really happy for you, Anne." At least that was true.

She frowned, her giddiness slowly dropping as if she sensed that something was wrong. "... But...?"

A wave of panic washed over me, I scrambled for my brain to send me something, anything, to cover up my horrible lying skills. Truth was, it was hard to lie to her.

"But did he kiss you?" I almost high-fived myself as I watched her lips smile wide.

She nodded, "We were in his car," she began. "And he was hesitating to tell me something and then was like 'you know what... I might not be able to tell you... So I'll just show you... if that's alright with you' and then he leaned in slowly after brushing my cheek and- "she looked down at her lap. "BAM!" She clapped, making me jump before she went into a fit of giggles.

"Damn you, Anne!" I laughed.

"Sorry," she breathed out. "But yeah, he kissed me and it was such a soft and gentle kiss. It was so Niall."

There was a look of serenity on Anne, and for a second, I was jealous. I missed being so calm, knowing that there was someone who thought of me like that. Who looked at me the way Niall looked at Anne and know that there was nothing more soothing that being in someone's arms, breathing them in and tangling in a web of emotions.

But that wasn't something I saw happening anytime soon. Good things don't come in a blink of an eye and I knew too damn well that it would be some time before I ever fell in love again. I pushed the thought back, "You know, now that you're back, I'm kind of hungry. I think I'm going to the grocery store to get some snacks and lunch for tomorrow," I said as I got up.

"Oh, um. Just get some for yourself," she smiled sheepishly. "Niall and I are going out again tomorrow."

I smiled, nodding as I put my shoes on and grabbed Anne's jacket from the hanger by the door. "I'll be back in a bit."

My hands felt around my jeans for my phone before realizing I left it on the couch. I also went back to get my wallet from the coffee table and then headed out.

"Bring me some chips though!" Anne yelled as I shut the door behind me.

Chips it is.