corporate affairs [Niall Horan AU]

T H I R T Y T H R E E

{unedited also sorry this chapter took so long but i rewrote the whole thing and am so much happier with it. enjoy}

T H I R T Y  T H R E E 

He jumps up too, startling me. His eyes are unreadable, and I am reminded of the ever present distance between us. I abandon the glass in my hands, letting it fall back to the table as I peel away from him and sit back in my seat. Katherine picks up the glass as I sit flush faced, trying to avoid everyone's eyes. 

"So," Zayn starts, drawing everyone's attention away from me and my spilled wine. "There's a new club that just opened a few blocks from here. I'd love to go check out. Anyone game?" 

"I don't know," Katherine says with a sideways glance at me. "I'm pretty tired, maybe I'll stay." 

"Aw, I think we should go, might be our last chance." Harry whines with a smile.

"You can't really tote around the baby around a club, can you?" Calinda teases.

"Yeah, we should go. I'm in the mood for dancing." I speak up, forcing a smile on my face. 

"Let's dance with hot guys!" Katherine cheers as she jumps to her feet much too fast. She sways for a moment and Harry reaches out to steady her, his strong arm wrapping around her waist. 

"Woah there, preggers." He teases, pulling her into his lap.

"I was only kidding. Elouise is the only one who can dance with the Greek hotties now." 

"You're hilarious," I tell her, poking my tongue out at her. 

"We can all meet back here at ten," Mark instructs as we all scatter from the table towards our respective rooms. I feel a pair of eyes on my back as I follow Zayn past the patio and upstairs to our room. 

Zayn looks ridiculously good in a pair of tight black jeans and a simple white t-shirt. I slip into something a little nicer since it's our last night in Greece, a tan slip dress and a pair of strappy open-toed heels. Zayn gives me an appreciative smile when I emerge from the bathroom and I roll my eyes.

"Who do you look good for? I thought Hugo was back in London."

"Myself." I tell him, combing through my sea-salt washed hair. It's wavy from the ocean and I decide to brush out as much of the frizz as I can before I leave it be. I wipe away the smudged eyeliner and touch up my mascara before I decide it's as good as it'll ever be. 

"Finally, Christ, I thought you two were never going to come down." Harry says as Zayn and I appear at the top of the stairs. I hold onto his arm to steady myself, feeling very unbalanced in my tall heels. 

"It takes a minute to get cleaned up, Styles," I quip as we make it to the bottom step. Katherine is wearing a very loose maxi dress that almost hides her bump, while Calinda is wearing a tight Herve Leger dress that Liam can't keep his hands off of. All the guys are dressed similarly to Zayn, looking far more casual in jeans and sneakers. I try to ignore how handsome Niall looks with his hair mussed and his tight jeans with rips at the knees. We make our way to the Uber Mark had called, separating into two groups. The couples don't want to split, so of course by some curse Niall and I end up in the same car, our knees almost touching.

The driver shuts the door and we're suddenly consumed in the darkness. It's as if an electric current has been turned on on the surface of my skin. Niall makes no effort at conversation except for the occasional "sorry" when the car turns sharply and we are knocked together. His skin burns against mine with even the faintest brush and something deep inside me is ignited. The street lights reflect off his eyes and they look as if they're glowing in the dark, making the deep burn low in my belly intensify.