The next week, as Niall got out of the car, he actually was kind of excited to be there. The previous week, he and Edie actually started to sort of connect. He had told himself it was just his imagination, though, so as to not begin thinking that their faux partnership was beginning to turn into a real one but when they were joking around making the brownies, it was like they had created their own little secret between them. Well, besides faking it, although he no longer believed they were.
He didn't initially see Edie but as he walked up the stairs, he heard a whispered but harsh, "Psst!"
He turned around and saw her standing there, hiding behind the door to a different floor. She indicated she wanted him to follow her but raised a finger to her mouth to show she didn't want him to obviously veer off. He looked around him and when the coast was clear, he snuck through the door.
"What's going on?" He whispered.
"Ssshh, follow me." She had a small mischievous smile on her face.
She took a look around and ducked into one of the family restrooms, Niall followed and she locked the door behind them.
"Umm, Edie, why are we in here?" Niall asked.
"Because I brought a little something for you," she continued to whisper as she pulled a bag of brownies out of her bag.
"Brownies?" Niall asked, skeptically.
"Yes, dummy, brownies." She leaned in, still whispering, "Our own special pot brownies."
Niall's eyes widened with surprise, "Seriously?"
"Yes, stupid. I made them, for us." She took one out and handed it to him while she popped one into her mouth. "I may have already had one earlier." She said, giggling a little.
"Are we really going to go in there high?" Niall asked after he had swallowed his first brownie.
She just smirked at him, which gave him the answer that he already knew. They each had one more brownie before she peeked her head out into the hallway and they both made their way to the room where everyone else was sitting down.
They were about to sit down when Charlie announced they were going to do another trust exercise. "This time around, we are just going to be paired up with our partners and go back and forth in falling back," she said.
Niall stood up, a big grin beginning to appear on his face. It had been awhile since he had had a good brownie. It's effects were starting to kick in. He looked over at Edie but he couldn't tell how she was feeling.
"You go first, Niall," Charlie said as she passed the two of them.
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Niall said, giving her a salute. She just kind of looked at him oddly but smiled and went on her way.
He could hear Edie giggling behind him. He turned to see that she had let down her scarf just enough for him to see a peak of her smile. She had a gorgeous smile. The light in the bathroom they had been in wasn't great, and neither was it here, but the fact that there was even a hint of smile on her face made him smile. Even if he had nothing to do with it. She looked at him as she raised her finger to her mouth. He turned around and closed his eyes, he knew she would catch him, he trusted her.
As he fell, the brownie he had eaten really began to kick in so he felt like he was falling slowly but as soon as he felt her hands and arms loop under his arms, he knew he'd landed where he belonged. He opened his eyes to see hers staring into his, her scarf had fallen a little more to where her mouth could be seen and she was making this pursed lip, wide-eyed expression that sent him into a fit of giggles. This, in turn, sent Edie into a fit of giggles.
Everyone turned to see what they were laughing about but they couldn't figure it out and went back to what they were doing as both Niall and Edie got up off the floor.
"Alright, switch places," they heard Charlie say.
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Edie stood in front of Niall, crossing her arms over her chest. She calmed her nerves a little, feeling the effects of the THC in the brownies she had eaten. She had had two before she left the house and then two more in the restroom. She hadn't been this high in awhile and she was getting dizzy. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and fell backwards.
Her body momentarily felt weightless before she landed in Niall's arms. Unlike the first time she had to do this, she didn't flinch. She knew he would catch her. She kept her eyes closed for a moment as she inhaled whatever cologne he was wearing. He smelled warm. He smelled familiar. He smelled safe.
When she opened them, she looked into his dilated pupils. There was a small rim of blue around them which she had never noticed. Then again, she hadn't spent much time looking into his eyes or his face long enough to noticed what color they were.
He smiled at her as he lifted her back up to a standing position. She got a head rush from it and got quite dizzy. Dizzy enough that she started to fall and as she did so, she grabbed a hold of Niall to try to steady herself. But he hadn't been paying attention and instead, he lost his footing and they both landed on the floor. And they both erupted into giggles, this time everyone else joined in as they had witnessed the incident.
At the fifteen minute break they went outside and sat on a stoop across the street so no one would hear them.
"Charlie seems alright, but some of these people are fucking weird," Niall was saying.
"Like that girl who is always so happy?" Edie said, turning to him.
"Yes! Oh my god, she scares the shit out of me with all that happiness."
"Me too! Like, doesn't her face hurt from smiling so damn much. I mean, damn, it hurts me to watch her smile that hard," Edie said, laughing a little.
"Hey! Remember when we first had to do that stupid exercise up on that block?"
"How could I forget."
"Yeah, I felt like we had joined a fucking cult at that moment." Niall said, shuddering a little from a cool breeze.
"Holy shit! I said the exact same thing to my brother when I got into the car that night!" They both continued to talk and giggle until they had to go back upstairs.
By the time they got back upstairs, the effects of the brownies had begun to wear off and they were both a little more down than up. But they tried to keep it going by making eyerolls every time someone did something weird.
When they left there that evening, they both smiled at each other as they started to go their separate ways. But before they did, Niall leaned in to her ear and whispered, "I'll bring the goodies next week." He winked at her as he made his way over to where his friend was standing. She got into her brother's car with a smile on her face.
"What's that about?" Benny asked.
"Nothing. Just a good meeting, is all."
YOU ARE READING
Mirrors |NH|
Fiksi Penggemar"You know that Alessia Cara song "Scars to Your Beautiful"?" "Mmhmm." "I used to think she was saying 'we're scars and we're beautiful' instead of 'we're stars and we're beautiful'. I kind of wish that was what she was saying, ya know. I mean, we'...
