One. || h.s.

Seven.

...

"This is weird," Niall says out of the blue.

I look over at him to find he's watching me with a small smile on his face. He looks quite comfortable, slouched back into the sofa and his feet rested on the coffee table beside mine. The bowl of chips I had placed on his lap only minutes ago is already empty and I'm not surprised.

"Why is it weird?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I don't know, it's just been so long since we've seen each other and now I'm back at your place hanging out like old times," he shrugs. "Earlier you declined my offer to go to coffee, yet here I am," he adds with a cheeky grin. "Are you coming on to me already?"

I reach for the pillow sitting between us and hit him hard in the chest with it. He laughs as he clutches his chest, over exaggerating the pain. He literally acts like I just hit him with a brick instead of a pillow. I can't fight the smile that comes to my face from watching him. He is still the same funny, charming boy that I knew. Why he used to hang out with guys like Harry is beyond me.

"Hey, what was that for?" He questions innocently.

"You know what it was for, don't play dumb. You and your little cheeky comments will not be tolerated," I tell him in the most serious tone I can muster without breaking into laughter.

"What cheeky? Who's being cheeky, because I'm not," he says sarcastically, faking an appalled expression.

"Oh shut up," I laugh, shaking my head and giving him another smack with the pillow.

We sit in silence, both still quietly laughing to ourselves. Being here with Niall isn't weird to me, just different. It's hard not to remember all the times we were in stitches laughing together. I miss those times when I could laugh whenever I felt like it. I haven't laughed this much in a long while, and I mean when the laugh was not forced. He seems to be a stress reliever for me right now and if that's the role he is going to play in my life, then so be it. I do like having a familiar face around who isn't judging me, nagging me or yelling at me.

I move my attention from the dragging soccer game to the laptop that is sat on my legs. I skim through numerous apartments that are for sale in New York that are close to Parker. Since I don't have a car I'll need to walk or take the subway so I need a place near by. I've only been searching for fifteen minutes and I'm already frustrated because everything is over my budget. The only thing that is in my limited price range is a small apartment that will hardly fit my bed.

I let out a frustrated groan and Niall leans over to look at the laptop screen.

"What's this for?" He asks furrowing his eyebrows. I cover my face with my hands and Niall pulls the computer off my lap and starts scrolling though the pages himself.

"For me," I say and let out a sigh.

"You want to move out?" He asks as he continues to scroll through the listings, crinkling his nose at some and raising his eyebrows at others.

"Hell yes, I do," I almost laugh. It's an understatement to say I want to move out, it's more like I am desperate to move out and have a place of my own.

"Hmm..." He brings a hand to his face and purses his lips as he strokes his chin. "These listings aren't the greatest. You know, a lot of people don't list online. I think you're better off getting a real estate agent or asking around."

"I don't even want to think about that right now. I just got home and I'm already stressing myself out. I want to move out as soon as possible so I guess that's what I'll have to do," I groan, holding my head in my hands.