Possibility

Chapter 16 - Sunshower

Harry was quick to let go of my arm once his eyes landed on Niall, whose face wore a grim expression. It was unlike the Niall I knew, and it worried me. I tried to capture his gaze, but as soon as Harry's hand was back where it belonged, his interest in the situation vanished and his eyes turned elsewhere.

I turned to Harry and gave him a questioning look, to which he simply responded with a small nod in Niall's direction and a pointed look, as if telling me to speak with him.

Then, he stood up and left me there. It was obvious he didn't care much for the situation either. But it also seemed like he knew more about it than he let on.

I turned my focus back on Niall, but to no avail; he didn't even give the slightest glance to acknowledge me. It was obvious that something had ticked him off, and if he hadn't been so unresponsive, I might have tried to ask him. It was rather frustrating, not knowing whether I was to blame or not. Especially, when everything seemed to indicate I was.

I sighed, burying my head in my hands during a moment of frustration. How was I supposed to figure out how I had done Niall wrong when he seemed to have absolutely no interest in talking with me?

"Something wrong, Payson?" I heard Liam ask, and instantly sat up straight, just then realising that there actually was someone who did pay attention to me.

"Eh, just a bit tired." I replied sheepishly, knowing this wasn't something I either could or wanted to talk about openly with everyone. I gave him, and the others who had now turned to look at me, a smile and a small shrug, trying to brush it off and thus not be everyone's focus.

"Didn't sleep well then?" Louis suggested.

"Oh, no, I slept great when I eventually fell asleep." I replied, smiling for a second at the thought, and then realising how it might have sounded to Niall. My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks heat up, as I lowered my gaze towards the ground, as the rest of them obliviously continued talking about how they all had slept.

I calmed down quickly, arguing to myself that it might not have sounded like anything to Niall. It wasn't like the statement was bad, in any way, but with Niall acting the way he did, I wasn't sure how he'd take anything.

Only seconds had passed when I decided to subtly look at Niall and noticed that the end of his lips were tugging upwards. The expression on his face had softened, and he seemed more relaxed now than earlier. Still, he refused to smile.

I gave up on trying to understand him and turned instead my focus on the others and the conversation at hand; a discussion about today's agenda.

Eleanor and Sophia seemed very set on starting the day by playing kubb, a lawn game the boys had discovered somewhere on their tour, whilst Zayn was more keen on spending the morning fishing.  

Most of the others gathered around the idea of playing kubb, whilst only a few of us decided to join Zayn. So whilst the others went one way after breakfast and various morning routines, four of us headed towards the pond. 

I had chosen to join Zayn, because Niall already had; I was hoping to find out why Niall was being so distant all of a sudden. I suspected Harry had decided to join us for my sake, though he claimed to be incredibly stoked about going fishing. Still, I had to admit I was relieved to have him tag along; just in case Niall decided to stay cold towards me.

"We should probably split up." Zayn suggested when we came to a halt by the pond. "Four fishing rods in one place will probably scare of most fishes."

"So, we should pair up and find each our fishing spots." Harry concluded, then glanced at me before his gaze landed on Zayn. "Za-" Harry started, but was abruptly cut off by Niall.