Smile at a Stranger (1D/ Niall)

Arrogant to my flirting

Chapter 8

Niall's POV

She races up the stands.  I step aside once she gets to my side.  She works her magic and the door opens.  I walk in behind her.   Slowly I build up the courage to talk. 

"You can't avoid me."  She looks up from the stereo and right into my eyes.  She almost looks stunned that I said that.

Then her eyes go past me.  "Niall."  She sighs.  "You closed the door."  She says with more anger.

"What?"  I turn around and see the door closed. 

"I don't know how to open it from the inside."  She complains and walks over to the door.  She tries multiple ways to open it with force.  "Ugh!"  She kicks it.  And surprisingly enough it slowly opens.  She laughs.  And I laugh along mostly because I love her laugh.  I miss not being able to make her laugh.  Can't wait until she laughs at something I do, so she will stop holding back her laughter.

She starts walking back over to the stereo.  "You're avoiding what I said."  She looks at me again with more guilt in her eyes. "You can't avoid me."

"That wasn't part of the rules."  She says frankly.  A small smile seeks on my face.  I love how she plays hard to get, even though she isn't trying.

"Well it's not fair that I don't get to see you."  Just telling her that much of my feelings make my hands sweaty.

"Niall."  The way she says my name gives me butterflies.  She is just giving me a 'don't be ridiculous' look.   Then without another word she goes back to figuring out the stereo with Louis' phone attached to it. 

I look around the room awkwardly.  I don't think she got what I was implying.  I mentally sigh.  For being so smart she seems to be arrogant to my flirting.   Not necessarily flirting.  It's just me trying to get closer to her and being cheeky or trying.  Ok honestly I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

My eyes land on a tall blonde starting to climb the stands.  "Summer we have company."  I warn her.   I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to be in here.

"Crap."  She grabs my arm and drops to the floor.  Out of sight of the window.  She tells me to hush. 

"The music."  I say quickly.  The music is still blasting within the stadium. 

"Crap."  She hastily reaches up and rips Louis' phone out of any wires it was attached to.   The speakers make a slightly unpleasant noise but turn silent in a second.  But Louis' phone is still playing the music out loud. 

She tries to unlock it, but Louis keeps a pass code on his phone.  She hands it to me, but I don't know it.  I shove it into one of my pockets.  It mutes it slightly. 

There is a small knock on the door.  Summer starts to get up.  "Hey.  Let me take the blame."  She holds her hand up and looks at me like I said something stupid. 

"What? No."  She almost laughs it off.  But doesn't laugh.

She stands up and goes to the door. 

"Hey Summer.  What are you doing here?"  The girl sounds like Summer's age.  She looked like it when I saw her coming. 

"I could ask you the same thing."  She says playfully.  Summer must know her.

"Had to drop off papers at the trainer."  I vaguely hear Louis' phone start playing I Should've Kissed You by the lads and I.

"Oh.  I was just getting my phone.  I put music on because I was working out."  Lied right through her teeth.  But she is able to keep her cool well.  I notice she crosses her feet when she lied.

"You know there are these things called earphones right?"  She sassed her, but Summer just laughs.

"Yes I know."  I'm sure Summer rolled her eyes.

"Ok, well I'm going to go.  See you Thursday for practice."

"Hey, look at you remembering when practice is."  I can catch she is kidding in her voice.

"Shut up."  The girl's voice sounds more distant. 

"Bye!"  Summer stands there for another second or so.  "Ok she is gone."  She mumbles obviously towards me. 

"Good."  I stand up, but of course forgot there is a hard surface above my head.  My head bangs it with a loud thud.  I let out an involuntary "ow."

I see Summer squatting down with a worried look on her face.  "You ok?"  There is almost a small smile on her face.   She looks really sweet and loving.  Which makes my heart skip a beat.  And I gulp harshly.

"Yeah."  I rub my head, but in reality it hurts a little.  She giggles a little then scoots under the table next to me.  "Hey."  I say in realization.  "You laughed." 

Her stare looks straight at me blankly.   It was like she just froze.  She breathed in, but hasn't breathed out.  Her mouth pinches together a little more.  She wrinkles her nose somewhat.  Ok she let the breath out.  She takes her eyes off me while saying, "I guess I did."  She is obviously pissed at herself.

"So what's my surprise?"  I try to ask with playfulness in my voice. 

"It's a surprise." She looks at me with a smile.  Which makes me smile.  But that look she is giving me just makes me laugh.  And after a second she laughs with me. 

 She puts her arm around my shoulder and leans into me.  I put my arm around her lower back as she rests her head on my neck.  It fits perfectly filling me with what I can only describe as warmth.

"I love that you can make me laugh."  I can practically hear her smile.  And I know I'm smiling widely.  That sentence was just perfect and what I needed to hear. 

She looks up at me.   Her stunning coffee colored eyes captivate me.  Those adorable freckles of hers make my heart flutter.  It's too cliché, but for whatever reason it's the perfect way to describe it. 

"Am I outta time?  Is your heart breaking? How do you feel about me now? I can't believe I let you walk away when, when I should've kissed you.  I should've, I should've oh, I should've kissed you."  The song from Louis' phone suddenly seems like the loudest thing in the room.

All of a sudden she closed her eyes, and I feel her soft lips tenderly kiss my cheek.  It makes my cheek tingle.  And I feel all my blood rush to my cheeks.  God I wish I wasn't blushing. 

When she opens her eyes, I know she can see how shocked I am on my face.  But she smiles anyway.  "That was the most cheesy thing I've ever done."  She giggles at herself then gets up from under the table.  My eyes just follow her, but at the moment I'm not sure what to think.