Pen to Paper [N.H.]

Chapter Two: Immersion - Over

Niall's POV

After driving her to her flat, I call Conor to see if he wants to hang out. A short moment after I get home, he and Marty show up.

'So! How was your date?' Connor teases me.

'I'm gonna kill you! You got into my head and I messed everything up!'

'Mess what?' Marty asks.

'Niall has a crush on the French girl who's writing his book.'

'Would you stop calling her that! She has a name! Just call her Chloe.'

'So what happened?' Marty asks again.

'So at the beginning, I was so awkward and I couldn't come up with things to talk about and there was this awkward silence.'

'Yeah but you're always awkward when you're with a girl you like at the beginning.' He points out.

'Yeah, but I didn't think about it like that until this idiot got into my head just before I saw her!'

'Hey, all I said is that she's pretty, she's your type and you kinda like her. None of which is wrong. Besides, you said at the beginning. So then after that, it was fine? I don't see how a short awkward silence "messed everything up!" What are you fussing about?' 

'It's not just that. Something else happened.'

I pause, go to the kitchen to bring beers for me and the lads and then go back to where I was sitting previously.

'So?' They both urged me.

'Well, we had a moment.'

'What kind of moment?' Conor asks me.

'Umm... Well... The thing is. She's shy and she's the kind of person who doesn't really make eye contact? And I don't know why it started to really annoy me by the end of the night. I felt invisible to her. So I tried this exercise with her, to make her more comfortable and used to look me in the eyes. And then I got carried away.'

'You kissed her!' Marty shouts excitedly.

'What? No! Of course not!'

'Stupid.' Conor mumbles.

'I just got so lost in the moment that I unconsciously held her hand-'

'Oh my god! You're so boring! Are you serious with me right now? That's it? What are you 5?' Conor snaps.

'Well, when she looked away, it felt like a slap back to reality and I kinda freaked. I stood up a bit too quickly and called it a night. The drive to her flat was silent. We didn't even turn on the radio. And then when I told her good night, she called me Niall.'

'What?' Marty asks confused.

'Well, at least she didn't call you by another guy's name. That is Horrible!' Conor comments.

'No, you don't get it. She's supposed to call me Ni, it's her thing. She does that. And now she hates me! And now probably is gonna write bad things about me. And she won't want to be friends with me, and I'll hate myself forever.'

'Okay, one, you're gonna approve of anything she writes before it's published, so that's not an issue!' Marty starts.

'True, and I'm sure you're overreacting! I'm sure it doesn't mean anything that she didn't nickname you. It happens. It doesn't mean she hates you or she's mad. You're overreaching.'

'He's right. You're thinking way too much about this. Just call her tomorrow, meet up, and then you'll know. If she's mad, you apologise. If she's not, then you forget about it and you continue like nothing happened.'