Rekindled --ON HOLD--

04

"What on earth do you mean?!" I exclaimed. Then my brain began functioning properly, and I added, "Never mind, that's probably too personal. Forget it. Sorry." It is deemed as rude for someone, who turns up at your doorstep because she can't sleep at her own house, due to a shadow, to demand questions about your personal life.

He bit his lip for a moment and then turned his attention to the TV, putting an arm on the head of the sofa, right behind me, taking me off guard. The scent of his manly cologne entered my nose, but wasn't too strong, like the guys at school's did. The scent comforted me, and made me aware that I wasn't here on my own. It made me feel safe, it made me want more, and I liked it.

If he was any where as panicked about our close proximity as I did, he didn't show any of it. Instead, he settled comfortably, his arm brushing the back of my head lightly, sending shock waves all through my body and he placed his phone down on the table in front of us. "Carol..." he began, studying me with those blue, blue eyes of his. I glanced at him. "You can talk to me you know." he finished.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, looking at him closely. I scoffed sarcastically at him. "Back atcha, buddy. I don't remember you talking to me either, you know."

"Well we are talking now, right" He looked at me, waiting for me to affirm. Nearly about to roll my eyes, I nodded slowly. "Then that is progress, "he said, glancing at the TV, the scene where Kevin has realized his parents have left him. Then it hits me how similar the scenario is right now. Both of us, me and Niall, have been left behind by our parents. It was a good idea to pick this film.

Maybe it was a mistake coming here, I admitted to myself, in my brain. Before, I thought things would work out between Niall and myself, but of course, things change over time. After years of ignoring each other and pretending not to notice the other, maybe it was a bit difficult for us to just pretend we were friends. Time does something to people, you know.

But it is weird how we went from being best friends in our childhood, to this. We used to be inseparable, no one could split us up without having to face a crying 5 year old, and now, we were complete strangers. Teenage life transforms people into someone you never would've expected and makes them different.

Maybe, I should've seen it coming though. We turned 13 and suddenly, all the girls were now interested in all that the boys did, and secondary school did not treat Niall unkindly. While most of the guys had to face acne, braces and weird haircuts, Niall never had a problem with that. The girls found a dream guy, and I lost my best friend.

I met Tippy later that year, and things improved. School wasn't exactly filled with happy memories, however having a friend really made it that much easier to cope with. To be very honest, losing Niall didn't really bother me too much. It's not like we left on bad terms; just that we went our separate ways. 

The only time Niall and I ever had to correspond anymore was when our families would invite each other over to the other's house and we would have to awkwardly exchange hellos before going off and ignoring each other.

"Maybe it wasn't a mistake," Niall countered in reference to my comment, staring at me strangely, though there was a mysterious glint in his eye that puzzled me. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I had said my first thought out loud. I'm so embarrassed.

"We're really not friends, Niall, let's be real. Look, I can go. . ."

"No," he argued quickly. I cocked an eyebrow at him and blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

He coughed. "I just mean that you came over here because you didn't wanna sleep at your house, and I'm not going to make you go back. You know what? Let's just start over. You in?"

I sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, starting over sounds good. Let's do that."

"Cool," he replied, nodding his head.

"Yeah," I responded quietly, looking around his living room at all the little Christmas decorations that were perched in their respectful places, basking in the homey feeling that Noel's house encompassed. "Cool." We both watched the movie in silence for a few minutes until I decided to disrupt the moment of silence again. "So would you wanna care to tell me how your house smells so good? Do you have a secret passion for vanilla scents, or . . .?" I stared up at him playfully, awaiting further elaboration on his end.

He chuckled. "That's all my mom. She has those vanilla scented plug in air freshener things in like every room and she has probably a hundred vanilla scented candles sitting around the house. You already know my mom and her candles." He waved his hand dismissively.

I smiled. "I like your mom though. She has a really good taste in decorations and stuff. Plus she's really nice."

He bit his lip, looking like he was refraining from commenting on this and instead shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so," he mumbled.

Deciding to change the subject, I said, "Isn't it so weird that Christmas is five days away? It feels like it was just New Years, and now the year is almost over. It's like time goes so much faster when you're older."

"I know," he agreed. "Time flies."

He lounged back against the cushion of the couch and I allowed myself to relax, settling into the corner, my arm propped on the armrest and my head propped on my arm as we both transfixed our gazes back to the wide television that was still playing the movie, the noise purring comfortingly in the background. I closed my eyes dreamily, basking in the comfort that Niall Richardson somehow had managed to deliver.

It was almost like we were friends again, just like old times. And maybe that was one of the many good traits about Niall: even though it had been years and things had been left on a bit of an awkward note, he still had no problem being friendly and offering his services to me.

Although I didn't see us becoming anywhere near as good of friends as we used to be, maybe something positive was to come of this one night that Niall and I had managed to not only acknowledge each other and stay cool, but almost treat the other person like a friend or good acquaintance. And despite Niall and I both changing over the years and no longer being as similar as we used to be, I knew he was still a good guy. Even with all the popularity and friends and exciting sports events that surely had gotten to his head, he was still the same Niall that used to chase me around our gardens, jump in leaf piles with me, and run to get help when I fell off my bike and scraped up my leg. That Niall still existed somewhere inside.

And for the first time since middle school, I was actually quite interested in discovering just how many layers you had to peel back until that side of Niall would be revealed.

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1262 words guys!! And they're now on good terms! I'm double happy!!

I have a cast, so check that out please, Olly will be playing the role of Niall and Jennifer playing as Carol. Oh and I will be updating more frequently coz I realized how much my updating ability sucks. 

khoula xxx