Crooked

perfect. [chapter four]

"Thanks for meeting me," I stuttered nervously, toying with the white gem ring that was worn on my right hand. I didn't know why I was nervous; the sight of Crook - I mean, Niall - didn't usually have an effect on me.

Although this was the first time I was seeing him alone, without Louis or anyone else that may be there.

I hadn't been waiting for him long. After I called him and asked if he could meet up with me, Niall replied instantly, telling me he was planning to go out to grab a bite at Nando's. Currently, we were sitting in a booth away from prying eyes as he ordered what seemed like half the menu. I had a medium size of peri-peri chips, which Niall graciously offered to pay for. Instead of protesting like I generally would have, I simply accepted it, mainly because I had a limited amount of money on me.

"How are you doing?" Niall asked me, politely I might add. He was very nice and polite; making it harder for me to be rude. "Done anything worthy enough to land yourself in jail?”

Not only was he polite, he was funny too. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing. I was a sucker for bad jokes.

"Actually," I started, "I wanted to thank you. For paying for my bail, I mean. I don't know why you did it because you don't even know me but it was really nice of you and-" I stopped abruptly, feeling Niall's warm hand over mine. His touch made me shiver, and inwardly I cursed for allowing myself to feel such things towards Niall. He had paid for my bail, and nothing else.

If only I could tell that to my hormones.

"I did it because you looked like you needed it," Niall interrupted, "when I saw you sitting in the cell with Louis you seemed upset and -" he paused, shyly smiling, "I don't like seeing pretty girls upset."

It was a cliché' line, but it didn't stop the imploding fireworks in my heart go off. I willed my brain to make it stop, but they kept exploding as the blood rushed to my cheeks. I pulled my hand away from Niall's and gave him a half-smile, attempting to control myself.

"Thank you then," I mumbled.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while; eating our food. Well, I was eating it and Niall was scoffing it down. I watched him for a moment as he took a bite of his cheeseburger and slurped on his drink simultaneously.

When he noticed me staring, he blushed. "Sorry," he muttered, sending me another crooked smile. Damn that smile, it was doing things to me I didn't want to happen. "I don't usually eat so pig-like. I'm pretty hungry."

"Liar," we both looked up to see Louis, who sent an attractive grin down my way. Standing next to him was a curly haired guy, who looked a little younger than Louis and had the cutest dimples I had ever seen in my life.

"Niall's a pig," Louis informed me, as he slid next to me in the booth. I blushed when his thigh touched mine briefly. "Eats like this all the time. You get used to it after a while."

I grinned; this was the perfect opening to announce my idea. Before I could speak up, the dimpled boy spoke. "Hello, I'm Harry, nice to meet you." He flashed me a smile and to my relief, he had a beautiful smile with shockingly white teeth. His dimples were more pronounced as he grinned at me.

"Cassidy," I introduced myself, "Cassie for short. Just call me Cassie."

"So we finally learn the jail girl's name," Louis announced, resting his arm around my shoulder. "I'd been trying to figure out your name in the last few days."

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you come up with?"

"Horrible names," Harry replied, smiling again. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen him before, but I shook the thought out of my head. "Marnee, Christine, Roberta..."