Lovely

Who To Trust

Niall and I stared at each other for a few moments. I blushed as I looked down at Niall's lips. Should I...?

"I guess I should get the door," Niall whispered.

I blushed beet red. "Yeah." We slowly got up and I sat on the couch while Niall opened the door to find the boys, Audrey and Blair.

"Hey guys!" Niall said.

"Merry Christmas mate!" Liam called.

I stood up from the couch. "Hey guys! Come on in!"

As all seven of them came inside, I stood up and looked at my appearance. While I was embarrassed to be standing in my duck pajamas, I remembered that these people were my best friends that I should be comfortable with.

Blair and Audrey ran over to me. "Merry Christmas!"

"I'm so glad you guys came!" I smiled as I embraced them both. "Are you excited that the boys are here?"

Blair squealed. "Liam surprised me this morning by coming in through my back door. I almost threw my shoe at him, but then I realized who he was. It was so cute of him!"

Audrey nodded. "Yeah! Blair and the boys came to my house and took me. My little sister looked jealous that five boys were taking me somewhere, but as for my mom, she couldn't have been happier!"

"There's some food in the kitchen if you want it!" Niall called. The three of us made our way there to find all five boys hovering over a hot plate of cinnamon rolls.

"Calm down, you vultures!" I said as I playfully shoved them away. "Let me frost them first!" On purpose, I started to slowly drizzle on the thick, gooey frosting, and dying of laughter as the boys started drooling.

"Hurry up, Pepper!" Zayn whined. "I'm hungry!"

"Go faster!" Harry pouted.

"Chill out!" I snapped with a grin as I smothered the creamy stuff onto the rolls. After I declared to be finished, the plate would've been consumed if it weren't made of metal.

"Those were so good!" Niall cried out.

I laughed. "You've got a bit of a frosting mustache."

"I do? Where?" He started to get a napkin.

"No, no," I said as I pulled Niall closer to me. "I've got it." I then kissed his lips, receiving cat calls all around. I felt my cheeks heat up and Niall smiled. When we pulled away, all the boys and Audrey were grinning and laughing, but Blair looked ticked off. I brushed it off and suggested that we moved to the living room.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming for Christmas?" Niall asked.

"Well," Louis explained, "we were afraid that if we told you, you would tell Pepper. And since she's good friends with Audrey and Blair, that she would tell them, hence ruining the surprise."

"Why would I tell?" I asked.

I saw Blair whisper something to Audrey across the room, which made them both smile, and to be honest, it made me uncomfortable. Again, I brushed it off.

"Like Louis said," Zayn remarked, "you and Audrey and Blair are, like, best friends. Best friends don't keep secrets from each other."

"Except for when it's supposed to be a surprise for your best friend," Niall mumbled loud enough to be heard. Everyone laughed.

Pretty soon, everyone started breaking up into their own conversations. I turned to Niall and smiled.

"This is by far my favorite Christmas."