Mirrors |NH|

Chapter Forty Two

Niall came up for air and instead got splashed by Edie as she jumped into the pool.  She came back up and smiled at him.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" He said, inching closer to her.

"Gotta catch me first."

She went back under and started to swim away from him.  She got a head start because she used his stomach to kick off from, which she knew would make him need a breath first before he could go after her.  Once he regained his breath, a plan came to him and he got out of the pool and ran behind where she would be when she got to the other side.

He saw her head pop up out of the water and turn around to look for him.  He watched as she looked all around her but didn't see him.  "Niall?" she asked.  He tried not to laugh but almost couldn't contain himself.  "Niall where are you?  This isn't funny.  This place is creepy."

He ran out from where he was hiding and jumped over her, splashing her as he hit the water.  When he came back up, he was immediately pulled back under.  He opened his eyes and spun around until he came face to face with her.  Strands of her hair had floated in front of her face, giving her an aura aided by the reflection of the lights hitting the water above their heads.  She smiled at him before pushing herself back up towards the surface.  He stayed there for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the feeling that had just come over him.  He knew he had gradually been gaining feelings for her, beyond friendship, but he had done his best to push them aside, knowing there was no way she was ready for or even wanted to be anything other than friends.  He pushed himself back up to the surface for air.

When he got there, he found Edie climbing out of the pool.  "Come here, Niall," she said, not looking back at him.  He followed her out of the pool and over to their things.  She wiped her face on her towel before peeling her wet shirt off of her.  Niall just stood there and stared like an idiot.  He came back to his senses when she starting snapping her fingers, "Hello, earth to Niall."

"Uhh, sorry."

She arched her eyebrow at him, "You're a strange one."

"Yeah, well, so are you."

She shrugged her shoulders as she reach down and started removing his shirt, "C'mon, it's just us here now," she said, tossing it to the side and grabbing his hand.

"What are we doing now?"

"One final jump."

"I didn't really enjoy that the first time around."

"Yeah, well, we had people watching us."

"I think it was the depressing story you told me just before we jumped."

She let go of his hand as she started climbing the ladder, "If you don't follow me, I'll belly flop into this bitch and you'll have to come save me."

"What's with the belly flops?"

"Yeah, that's what kills you, ya know, the impact of hitting the water.  Although I doubt from a pool platform it goes that extreme.  Probably just really fucking hurts."

"What is it with you and death by water?" Niall said behind her, having started to climb the steps again.

She laughed as she turned around and gave him her hand to help lift him up.  "I don't know.  I'm more morbid than you think."

"Clearly.  I might need to reevaluate this relationship," he said, jokingly. 

She playfully looked shocked and jokingly swatted at his arm.  "Whatever.  You love me too much for that."

Niall stopped short.  Something about her saying that made his mind reel.  But he didn't have time to really think about it.  She pulled him to the edge of the platform and turned him around.  Facing each other, she wrapped her arms around his waist. 

"I think we've got this one," she whispered, resting her chin on his chest as she looked up at him, "Don't ya think?"

"Not in the slightest," he barely squeaked out.

"Oh, well, that's too bad."

She started to tilt them off the edge but Niall caught his balance first, "Uh, don't you think we should switch places?"

"Nah, I like being on top."

And with that thought now in his head, she pulled them both off the board.  When they hit the water, Niall felt her let go of him again.  He opened his eyes and she was no longer in front of him.  Before he could turn, she felt her arms come around his waist from behind, and her head rest on his shoulder.  He turned to face her and she smiled at him before she started to laugh enough that she had to swim back to the surface.

'Goddamn, what is happening to me?' he asked himself as he reached the surface.

They both made their way out of the pool and into their respective changing rooms to get cleaned up.  After drying himself off, Niall looked at himself in the mirror.  He placed his hand over the scar by his heart and once again began tapping it to the rhythm.  "I-eh-eh-I need love, to feel my body come alive..." he trailed off.

"Yo, pinhead, you ready?" he heard her call for him.

"Pinhead?" He said as he tossed his shirt on and grabbed his things before heading out the door.

"Yeah, I don't know." She said, shrugging her shoulders as they made their way out into the crisp October air.  "Your place or mine?" she asked as they got into her car.

"Makes no difference to me," he said, buckling up.

"I guess mine this time.  I think Lilac misses her favorite human."

"I miss her, too," Niall said, jokingly smiling at her.

"Whatever.  She's very loyal to me."

"Ha!  That cat adores me."

"Pssh, in your dreams."