habits of my heart (h.s.)

fourteen

"Hey, is that new Oceans movie out yet? The one with Mindy Kaling in it?"

I glanced up at Niall from my spot on the couch. His head was peeking out of the fridge, where he was currently searching for leftover cake from the other night. I didn't have the heart--or rather, the guts--to tell him that I'd finished it earlier today. "Yeah, I think so," I said after a minute.

"I heard it was pretty funny," Niall said. "And, hey, I'm really in the mood to go the cinemas. Why don't we go?"

Harry and I exchanged a look. "Um....right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Niall said. "Why, you busy?" He chuckled as if the thought of me actually doing something was amusing. Which, I guess, judging by my lackluster social life, it was.

"I mean...I have a big test coming up that I have to study for," I lied.

"You're always studying. It's so boring," Niall frowned. "Harry'll come out, won't you, mate?"

"Can't," Harry said smoothly. "I'm meeting up with someone."

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from blushing. More like, the two of us had planned on hooking up when Niall went out. It had been a few days since we had initiated our friends with benefits arrangement, but so far, we hadn't gotten in much more than a spare kiss here and there. Living with two other unsuspecting roommates was proving to be a lot more difficult than I had expected.

"Oooh, like a date?" Niall grinned. "That's romantic."

"It's not romantic," Harry rolled his eyes. "Just sex."

Don't blush, Aly. You can do it.

"Are you saying that you'd rather have sex than go out and see a movie with me?"

Harry nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Wait a second, so who is this girl?" Niall paused for a moment before asking cautiously, "You're not back with Anna, are you?"

"No, Christ, no," Harry said quickly, but I caught the expression that flashed across his face at the mention of her name--he wasn't over her. I wondered how it might feel to have that much power over a boy, to have him so smitten that just the sound of your name was enough to completely shake him.

"Well, if it's not Anna, then who is it?" Niall asked.

"You don't know her," Harry lied, skillfully avoiding all eye contact with me.

"How old is she?" Niall continued. "Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty three....I know you like those cougars."

Harry rolled his eyes before saying, "Actually, she's younger."

I shoved my face in my textbook to hide my expression. I was not as good of a liar as Harry was, that was for sure.

"Younger!" Niall crowed. "Shit, that's a first for you. She hot?"

Harry shrugged. "Mm, she's alright."

I coughed loudly.

"I'm kidding," he smirked. "She's actually dead sexy. Hard to control myself around her sometimes."

I couldn't decide if I was going to kill myself or him, for saying all of this stuff in front of Niall. It was getting harder and harder to hold my blush. Plus, hearing Harry call me sexy made me want to do things to him--things that I couldn't do in front of Niall.

"I'm actually in a similar situation myself," Niall explained. "I mean, we're not hooking up yet, but I think it could happen soon." He paused for a second before finishing, "She works at the cinema."