[h.s] smut collection

3.

You've been in this position before, perched on a barstool next to Niall and halfway to drunk, but the air feels different tonight. The way Niall's eyes land on you feels different.

It isn't that you never thought of him in that way, in fact you have done so more times than you'd like to count; Niall is fun and funny and sweet in his goofy, down to earth way, and it would have been very difficult to know him as long as you have and not occasionally thought of being kissed or felt up by him. But did you ever think something would actually happen? Of course not. He's a co worker, a friend, an occasional drinking buddy, not a potential lover. It would make things weird.

And you had seen the girls he went out with, the ones he had his arm around when leaving a club or giving a goodbye kiss before breezing into work, and you couldn't easily place yourself in that group.

No, things were much more comfortable, much more reasonable, as they were, with you and Niall yelling at the sports match on the tv and laughing at juvenile jokes.

So why was he looking at you like that?

"Do you wanna get outta here?" He leans over suddenly, breath hot and whiskey flavored on your skin. You blink, disconcerted by his sudden and unexpected proposal. He had specifically asked you earlier if you wanted to go get a drink and watch the game with him, and he didn't mention any other activities. Your gaze skitters away from him as you think it over.

"The game's not over yet." Niall is shrugging your excuse away before you even finish your sentence.

"We're losin' anyway, and we can turn it on at my place besides." The way he licks his lips makes your blood feel particularly hot under your skin, and you have to focus hard on telling yourself not to read too much into it. Those blue eyes are very intent on you, waiting batedly for your answer, and with no valid excuse to say no, you finish the last of your drink and take his hand, letting him help you down off the stool.

--

It's a quick walk back to Niall's apartment that he shares with his roommate and friend Harry who you've also grown comfortably acquainted with, and the first few minutes of it are full of the usual banter and casual conversation, but then it lapses into that same odd and heavy silence you'd felt back at the bar. He keeps glancing at you when he thinks you're not paying attention, and a couple of times you thought he was on the edge of blurting something out, but he stayed quiet.

"Okay, what is it?" you finally ask him, having had enough. Niall looks at you suddenly, looking for a moment like a deer in the headlights, before his face relaxes and he quirks a brow at you.

"Whatcha on about?" You roll your eyes. Of course he'd play dumb.

"You keep looking at me weird...and you're kinda quiet. You've been doing it all night." Niall doesn't say anything to that, only stuffs his hands in his pockets and quickens his pace until you're struggling to keep up with him. If you didn't know any better, you'd say he was running away from you. He can't run very far though, because after only another block or so, you've arrived at his building. You're a little out of breath and annoyed more than that as you come up on his back while he fumbles with his keys, calling his name with no reply.

He holds the door open for you, so at least he's not planning on completely ditching you, but you're growing increasingly worried now that it's become clear that whatever he's going to tell you needs to wait until you're in his apartment. By the time you get there, you've gone through fifty scenarios in your head, from him telling you he hates you to revealing a life threatening illness, and your nerves are driving you crazy as he clicks his door shut behind the two of you.

"Okay, what? What is it?" You round on him. "Niall, please, you're scaring me-"

"You look really fuckin' beautiful tonight and I wanna kiss ya."