Pen to Paper [N.H.]

6.3 - Intermission - Late Night

Chloe's POV

I took Izz' advice and went out to discover the city on my own while Niall was busy. It's been three good days. But tonight Niall is free and tomorrow he has nothing planned. Which means he's taking me to some pub or bar of some sorts.

We've been drinking for a while now and I guess due to the amount of alcohol in his system, his inhibitions are lowered and he's become cuddly. Usually, I don't mind, but the fact that we're in a bar in the middle of West Hollywood changes things. The whole night I've been feeling like I'm being watched. But I don't say anything because Niall seems to be having fun and I don't want to ruin his night.

After getting us more beers, he sits back in the booth, sliding closer to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He leans in and whispers so that I would hear him over the loud chatter around us,  'What's wrong?'

'Hmm?'

'You look a bit uncomfortable.'

'Honestly, I feel like I'm being watched. What if they picture us together? And then the rumour would start... I don't want to cause any problems.'

'It's nobody's business but our own. They can say whatever they want. We'll just ignore it. There won't be any problems.'

'Okay if you say so.'

He kisses my cheek, 'Would you rather we continue this at home?'

'It's up to you. You want to be here, we can stay till you're done.'

'Alright, we'll finish our drinks and then go home.'

I feel bad, it's not even 10 PM yet and we're home already.

'Even though your little pout is adorable, you really shouldn't feel bad. I don't care where we are. All I care about is hanging out with you. And there are drinks here. And it's less loud. And we can put some nice music.'

He takes his phone, and a few seconds later a slow song started playing. He walks closer to me.

'And we don't even have to be careful. There's no one else but you and me here.' He continues.

But just to tease him, instead of letting him catch me, I turn around and quickly go down the stairs to the sitting room and lay down on the black comfy sofa. He chuckles lightly, following me, and then sit next to me.

He turns around to face me, but he has a sudden serious expression on his face. So I sit straight up and turn as well to see him better.

'Can I be honest and ask you a question?'

'Of course! What's up?'

'Remember when we watched that movie? The one where the girl let some guys treat her like shit?'

'Yeah, what about it?'

'Well, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But I would like it if you opened up to me. I felt like maybe you relate a lot to her. And it made me wonder if you had it that bad. Like her... or I don't know worse.'

'Oh, no no it's nothing like what you're thinking of. Don't worry, it's not that bad. Everything I did was my decision. You know all the screwing around. It was my decision. I thought that it would be better than letting myself be vulnerable to someone again. I was still reeling from a breakup and just moved to a new city. It was a stupid decision. And until I started battling and doubting that decision, and until I started hating myself for making that decision, I just kept going. What brought this up though? We've watched that movie a while ago!'