under my skin || n.h. au

eleven: we could be gigantic

The morning rain has thrown Brooklyn's plan to go for a run out the window. She's looking forward to it and now she's stuck in her room with her mind that refuses to stop replaying every detail of yesterday. The mortification that she felt last night has slowly dissipated, but she knows it'll make an appearance at work tomorrow. But for now, she's going to enjoy some peace and quiet before the storm.

Suki's text messages remain unanswered since last night and she figures now's the right time to type her responses. It's still fairly early so she's surprised when she sees the three dots appearing on the screen as soon as she clicks send.

Brooklyn tells her friend that yesterday was fun, that Niall charmed almost everyone and that she had a good day. She left out the major event of the evening because she's still trying to process it all. She can't believe she did that. Can't believe that she did something that she normally wouldn't do: wear her heart on her sleeves.

So are you like in love with him already??

Brooklyn can't tell if her friend is teasing her or if that is a genuine question – there's no way of telling when it's in the form of a text message. So instead of answering it, she tells Suki that she'll talk to her at work tomorrow. After receiving three thumbs up emojis, Brooklyn puts down her phone and leaves her room to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

Beck stumbles into the flat a few minutes later. He must have not expected Brooklyn to be awake because when he walks into the kitchen and sees her leaning against one of the counters, he gets the shock of his life. Hand clutching his chest, he lets out a breath when he realises that it's just his sister.

"Jesus, Bee, I thought you're still asleep."

Brooklyn takes a sip of her coffee, suddenly feeling like a mother who's about to chastise his son for not coming home last night. "Where were you?"

Beck arches an eyebrow at her. She reciprocates it. "I stayed at a friend's," he answers as he takes out a cup and pours freshly brewed coffee into it.

His answer isn't convincing enough. Considering that he went on a date last night, it's possible that he spent the night at the girl's house. It shouldn't bother her because his sex life is his to keep. God knows she wouldn't like it if Beck starts questioning her about it. So she decides to cool it with the questions.

"Where were you last night?" Beck asks after he's taken a sip of his morning coffee. He's fashioning a suspicious expression, which makes Brooklyn confused.

"I was here," she says matter-of-factly.

Beck doesn't look convinced. "How do I know you didn't spend the night at Niall's?"

"What're you talking about, Beck?"

"Rick saw you and Niall at the wedding." Of course he did. He was there – Brooklyn almost forgot about that. It's easy to forget about everyone else when she's with Niall. Wriggling his eyebrows, then, he adds, "Said you two seemed cosy."

"Just because someone saw us, Beck, that doesn't mean I was gonna spend the night with him." Brooklyn lets out a scoff. What kind of logic is that?

"He thought you two were a couple."

Brooklyn rolls her eyes at that. She's not surprised that Rick thought she and Niall were a couple. Almost everyone at the wedding thought so too. Brooklyn had to tell them a lot of times that they weren't until eventually she gave up. She didn't know why she bothered with that. It's not like she's going to see them again.

"Well, he thought wrong." Brooklyn finishes her coffee and washes her cup in the sink. Before she can leave the kitchen, Beck's question halts her in her tracks.