Mirrors |NH|

Chapter Forty Six

When she woke up the next morning, she looked at the clock and saw that it was one in the afternoon. She felt something heavy on her and turned to see a sleeping Niall centimeters from her face. She scooted back a little to get a better look at him. He was so precious when he slept; so beautiful. 

She blinked her eyes and shook her head, 'Nope, get those thoughts out of your head right now!' she yelled at herself as she gently moved his arm up and she slid out from under him, leaving him there as she went downstairs.

A little while later, she heard the door open and the padded sound of feet as he made his way down the stairs. Edie was on the couch, reading, and when she looked up at him over her book, she was caught off guard. He had on his t-shirt and still had on his pants from the night before but his hair was all over the damn place and it made him look hot as fuck, aided by the slight scruff appearing on his face. 

'Stop it!' she yelled inside her head. 

She tried to go back to her reading but she kept peering over her book as he walked up to her, plopped himself down next to her, moved the blanket she had on so that he could move between her legs, place the blanket back over the both of them as he laid down on top of her, his head resting on her stomach. She felt his arms weave their way around her waist and hold on as if she was about to escape.

He did all of this without saying a word. As his body weight settled into her she ran her fingers through his hair. She had decided that what he had said last night was not to be taken seriously. He was drunk and half awake; she was half awake when she heard it, so she felt certain he didn't mean it the way it had sounded to her. But as he laid there, clearly having fell back to sleep, she felt a lump form in her throat and an ache in her chest as she realized she liked having him there.  

'Stop it!!!' She screamed inside her head. 'Don't you fucking dare! Don't you fucking dare, Edie. Don't do it!'

She tried to push all thoughts out of her head and get back to reading her book. She was successful for the most part. But every once in a while, he would shift his weight a little or move his hands, which would cause him to brush an area of her body no one had touched in quite a while. Eventually, she couldn't take the feeling anymore so she slowly got out from under him.

As she was tiptoeing away from him, the doorbell rang. She cringed a little as she heard him start moving around behind her. She tried to move a little faster to make it look like she was opening the door but she did hear him mumble her name just as she left the room. When she opened it, she saw Harry standing there.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey. Uh, come on in. Niall may or may not still be sleeping," she said as Harry took off his shoes.

"I'm awake," came a raspy voice behind them. 

She and Harry turned to see Niall leaning against the door frame, his arm propped up against the door frame and his other hand raised to play with his hair. He did that a lot and Edie had always thought it was kind of cute but with that sleepy voice and the way he looked in general, she was finding it hard to control her thoughts and the sudden burn between her legs. 

 'I could fuck you senseless,' she thought. 

Her eyes widened and she felt her cheeks get hot at what just ran through her head. She hoped no one would notice.

"Hey, mate. Was wondering if I could take you out for a bit and discuss something with ya?" Harry said.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Just give us a few minutes to get ready."

"Well, actually, I was hoping it could just be me and you. No offense, Edie."

"None taken."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Of course. Have a boys day. I really need to be getting home anyway. My cat is probably wondering where the fuck I am."

So she slowly inched her way around Niall who seemed to be taking up the whole damn entrance. She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way up the stairs. She quickly got dressed and grabbed everything to put in her duffel bag. When she opened the door to head back down, she bumped into someone.

"Hey," came a soft voice.

She didn't want to look up, "Hey," she said back.

"You taking your stuff?"

"Yeah, uh, wash day. Might as well clean these as well," she said, moving past him.

"You okay?" he asked, walking behind her.

"Yeah, of course. Just a little tired still, I guess."

Niall didn't say anything as they met Harry back at the entrance. They all walked outside and headed towards their respective cars. "See ya, Harry," she said as she was climbing into her car.

"Hey, where's my hug?" Niall said, spreading his arms out wide.

She turned back to face him, he looked goofy standing there like that. For a moment she thought about not giving him a hug, afraid she wouldn't let go. But she didn't want to have him think something was up, so she gave him a hug. He held onto her and squeezed her tight. She had to push him away a bit in order to get loose of his grip. He looked a little confused but didn't say anything. She smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "See ya later," she whispered into his ear, hoping that would keep him from thinking something was wrong.

He seemed satisfied with that and said, "I'll call you later."

She nodded as she got back into her car. Niall went with Harry and Edie went home.

Once she entered her house, she picked up Lilac as she turned on the lights. After she gave the cat some fresh food and water, she looked around her as panic set in. Whenever she got that way, she cleaned. She decided to purge her entire apartment that day. While doing so, she replayed every word, every gesture, every look from the night before. By the time dusk had fallen, she had come to the conclusion that it was nothing but her imagination.