Our Little Secret {n.h}

chapter 9

"Niall," I breathed out as he attempted to unzip my jacket, his lips on my neck. "Niall."

"What?" He said, coming to face me. "What's wrong?"

"What are we doing?" I wondered and he gave me a confused look. "I mean, we," I stumbled over my words and Niall cracked a small smile, letting me sit up.

"I like you, Ari." He said and I looked over at him.

"Did you plan for this to happen?" I motioned to the bed and he shook his head.

"I'm not gonna lie, I thought about it." He said and I took a deep breath. "But, Louise was telling me that you were really nervous about this festival thing and going with me so I didn't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable being here. Last night just went a different way than I thought it would. Not that I'm complaining." I laughed a little at the last part and nodded. "So the question is, do you like me too?"

"Hmmm," I joked and Niall laughed, pushing me back onto the bed to hover above me.

"Admit it, you like me." He laughed, holding himself up by his forearms and I laughed, shaking my head. "C'mon."

Before I could reply, his hands had moved to my waist and Niall began roaming his fingers over my stomach and waist, making me burst into giggles. I tried to grab his wrists and stop him, but Niall pinned my hands above my head with his free hand. I was begging him to stop in between laughs and Niall just smirked and shook his head.

"Okay, okay!" I laughed and he smiled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." He joked and I was still in a fit of giggles.

"I like you." I got out and he finally stopped, letting me push my shirt down. "There. Happy?"

"Very." He smiled and ducked his head to give me a kiss. "Wanna go get dinner?"

I nodded and sat up, Niall following suit. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and rubbed my eye out of tiredness before standing up and popping my back. I adjusted my jacket and shorts, putting my combat boots back on. I grabbed my phone and bag before following Niall out of the hotel room and down to the elevator. We went down to the lobby and out the doors, to Niall's car, me getting in the passenger seat.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as Niall grabbed my hand from across the center console, intertwining our fingers. He pulled out of the parking lot and made his way through traffic to get wherever we were going. He finally stopped at a small restaurant, claiming that it was really good and he had been there before. I just went with it and went inside with him, getting a booth.

"How long have you worked at the magazine?" I wondered after we had ordered and Niall took a drink of his beer.

"I started interning when I started uni and then got an actual job. So like four years." He said and I nodded, sipping on my Mountain Dew. "You excited to start working there?"

"Yeah, it just sucked leaving my other job." I said and he smiled a little, leaning back in his side of the booth.

Niall and I made mindless conversation as we ate and I couldn't help but smile at the thought of how I hadn't laughed like that in a while. I picked at my food and didn't even eat half of it. I suppose Niall noticed because he kept looking from my plate to me but I ignored his stares and continued to sip on my drink. I forced Niall to let me pay because he bought my festival ticket and he reluctantly agreed, putting his wallet away.

We left the restaurant and just wandered around the streets, looking in shops and other little places. Niall drug me to a candy store and I laughed as he started picking stuff out. He found Milk Duds and I smiled, following him to the check out. Niall spent twenty dollars on his candy. We left and made our way back to Niall's car, only to sit on the hood, munching on candy.