“What? Like together?” Greg’s confused yet slightly disgusted voice continued to say throughout the night. After that Greg grabbed Leila’s hand and stormed the followed Niall. Derby found Niall sitting out near the garden later that night; it would have been pitch black if it wasn’t for the garden lights. “Niall?” Derby asked unsure of what he would do. He looked up at her trying to hide his red eyes “Derby…please, just leave” he said. She was offended, all she wanted to do was comfort him and offer some help.
It wasn’t until the next day when Derby finally realised what had happened. Greg and Leila had camped in the backyard because they couldn’t sleep in the same house as their parents and Niall had slept in his garage. Derby awoke at the smell of toast, walked downstairs half asleep only to find Bobby and her dad having breakfast together downstairs. She walked straight out the door and approached Niall’s garage “Niall, can I have breakfast with you?” she asked trying to patch things up from the night before- there was no answer. Greg came out of the house; he and Leila must have woken up before her. “Here, come have breakfast with us Derbs” he gestured to come inside. The smell of pancakes lingered through the house, and she could hear milkshakes being made. She followed Greg to the kitchen as they approached it she heard a quiet version of Leila’s voice with a reply of her boyfriend’s short reply.
Derby made awkward eye contact with Niall and quickly diverted her sights to the hot stack of pancakes near the stove. She shuffled towards them, got a plate and started to pile my plate. Suddenly I felt Niall’s warm arms wrap around my waist. Derby wasn’t expecting it at all “I love you Derby” his accent made those words sound 100x better than it was supposed to. He kissed her on the neck and stole a pancake from her plate.
As Greg, Leila, Niall and Derby were eating breakfast they heard Bobby and Jeff come in. We all stared at them, but Greg pretended not to see. “Let’s go to the mall after breakfast, ay?” he offered, Leila and Niall nodded but I said “Oh, I was just going to practice my guitar for a bit, I play better when I’m upset” Derby replied. She didn’t mean for it to sound depressed but it sort of did, you could tell Niall felt bad for her. “I’ll stay if you want” he offered wrapping his arm around her; but Derby really craved some alone time “No its fine, just bring me back some Nando’s?” Niall nodded and smiled; he was looking at her lips the whole time, but pecked her on the cheek instead.
When they left, Derby grabbed some food and a water bottle and locked herself in her room with her guitar. She didn’t want to deal with anyone right now, but all she could think about was Niall. Derby was flicking through her songs and replayed Teenage Dream by Katy Perry over and over again. It reminded her so much of Niall so she decided to learn the acoustic version.
When Niall returned he asked her what she was learning, but she refused to tell him. He actually did bring her home some Nando’s; it was some peri peri chips and a burger. She was starving! She had been practicing for 3 hours straight! But Niall managed to steal most of her chips. “XFactor auditions are coming up soon Niall,” Derby pressed “What song are you singing?” Niall looked at her with a full mouth of chips and swallowed. “I don’t really know” he said half laughing. Derby loved his laugh so much, it was the cutest thing ever. “What about Hey there Delilah?” Derby offered, but Niall shook his head “Nope” he sounded like it was something he had been thinking about. Derby pondered, she couldn’t think of anything- what she really wanted him to sing was the song he wrote about her, but he would never do that. She thought of all the songs he had sung to her and remembered the very first song- So Sick by Ne-Yo. She was so captivated by his voice, she had to suggest it “So Sick” Derby said, like she made a conclusion. Niall nodded, “Seems okay,” he said “I didn’t really want to play my guitar- I’d rather focus on one thing at a time!” he laughed as he finished and Derby couldn’t help but smile. “Derby,” Niall said, looking a bit unsure “can you do it with me?” Derby was at first a bit surprised, he looked a bit scared for once. “What do you mean?” she asked confused. He nodded and continued “Like, can you audition as well? I won’t be able to do it without you.” Derby’s heart melted. “No Niall, I can’t! I’m not a good…” she said stuttering, but Niall continued. “DERBY! Never say that! You are a great singer!” he looked a bit frustrated as he said it.
