Inked Armor (Punk Niall)

Chapter 24

I was sat at the breakfast table as Niall rummaged through some drawers to find his favorite tea, spilling contents onto the clean countertop and making a mess of the room. Frustratingly running his hands through his sleep-mussed hair he cursed that Zayn might have drunk it all, which was obviously not the case, Zayn, really anyone for that matter, knew not to touch Niall’s things or so help them.

Niall’s torso was bare, other than the tattoos that stained his porcelain skin and glistened against the sun. I watched him move around the room, admiring how the black heart and scribed words folded and danced around his skin like they were somehow part of his bones too.

I smiled, because even though it was annoying that Niall always had to barge in and untidy everything leaving Zayn or me to clean it up, he was so undeniably adorable doing it. And when he hit his knee against the fridge and cursed at the sky about how his ‘bloody fuckin’ knee isn’t good for shit’, I couldn’t help but laugh.

I looked down in my mug, watching the liquid splash against the sides and fall back down again. It reminded me of the coffee shop where I admitted my feelings to Niall like an impulsive idiot, how conflicted my emotions were and the thought that nothing of a relationship would come out of someone as flawless as Niall.

But here I was. And here he was.

Chewing on my lip I thought about the inevitable topics of discussion that needed to be said. It was starting to eat away at me, all the questions that I needed to ask Niall but at the same time have him not know that I broke into his flat and stole a letter that was obviously not for me. I still felt like I didn’t know everything about Niall and his past life. I was curious, but I had a feeling if he hadn’t told me than he didn’t want me to know.

Niall probably had questions of his own about Cale. I mean he still hadn’t heard the whole story, and it’s not like I could hide out here with Niall forever. I’d have to confront my dilemmas, but even that thought made me groan.

“I’m so relieved Christmas break is in a few days. Just get past these exams and then we’ll get to sleep and eat as much as we want.” Niall stated, blue eyes savoring the thought and excitement in his smile. I mimicked a small smile and took a sip from my mug, mind obviously elsewhere and telling myself not to interrogate Niall yet, it wasn’t a good time.

“Niall, what were you doing with Zayn?” My mouth moved before my mind could object.

There goes that.

“What?” Niall looked puzzled, turning around from the cupboard like a deer in headlights, but his muscles tensed and his cheeks went red.

“Don’t act so oblivious, Ni. I just want to know where you were.” I tried to sound patient, but there was no hiding how curious I really was.

Niall turned back around and shut the cupboard, waiting a few moments before speaking up. “Do we really need to talk about this?” His voice was gravelly and deep, spooking me a bit and making me question why I brought up the topic in the first place.

“I feel like I deserve to know where you were, no big deal. Right?” Niall’s silence put me at the opposite of ease, because who knows what the boy was doing? My mind couldn’t help but conjure up scenarios of the possibilities as to why he was gone so suddenly, it could have been a harmless holiday with Zayn. Although that didn’t seem quite right.