Dirty Laundry

Six.

A week. One whole week. Seven awful days and not a word or sight of Niall. I was mad. I think it was rational for me to be mad. I just done something super gutsy, for me, and he didn't even have the decency to reject me, if that's what was happening. God I don't even know whats happening! I'm so confused and anxious and all sorts of other emotions and I hate it. This is why I don't put myself out there. I hate feeling like this. There is absolutely nothing I can do but wait around for him.

Shouldn't he have waited two or three days? Isn't that the rule? Should I even still be waiting? Should I give up now that it's been a week? I'm so confused, I hate boys. I also hate that I have to edure classes and homework with all this Niall crap clouding my mind. But I still had class and so I rolled out of bed and put on my coat and boots because fall comes early here in New England.

I had my theatre class. It's just a general education class to fill my art credit but, I had made friends with a group of girls and we always went to eat dinner when class got out at 5:30. I hadn't told them about Niall for fear that one of them may know him. But I just couldn't get him off my mind today so I decided to ask them for help when we went to dinner.

Just before the end of lecture my phone lit up with a number I didn't recognize but I did recognize the Connecticut area code that matched Niall's area of Connecticut. I went stiff in my seat and Holly next to me could see the terrified look on my face.

"Are you okay?" She asked like maybe she thought I was going to be sick. I felt like I could throw up due to the nerves.

I opened the message ignoring Holly for now, I'll tell her after I find out if this is good news or bad news or just a false alarm.

Unknown: Hey Emily, it's Niall from the laundry room. I'm sorry it took me this long to text you but I'm downstairs with laundry now, in the laundry room. Would you want to join me, for laundry?

I almost shit my pants. Holly and now all five girls are looking at me like I'm nuts but I don't even care because I've never been happier. I turn to the girls showing them my  phone and telling them my laundry story as they read his text to me. The girls all aw at how adorable our meeting story is and how it's straight out of an episode of How I Met Your Mother. 

Holly hands me my phone back and says,

"He said laundry like four times! I bet he's nervous, that would explain the seven day hiatus he took to text you."

"You think?!" I say as I get more and more excited for class to end so I can run back to my dorm to do laundry... Wow I never thought that would be something that crossed my mind.

"Oh yeah he is totally into you! You don't sit around in a nasty college laundry room for hours talking to a stranger, multiple times, if you don't have any interest in seeing them ever again." One of the other girls, Taylor, remarks.

Class gets dismissed and as we all squeal like thirteen year old's over Niall. 

Me: I'd like that very much. Be down in a few. I say in reply to his message as I do indeed run back to my room.

Once there I remember that I did laundry two days ago and therefore don't have enough laundry worth doing a load. I felt stupid and desperate just going down there without any so I rounded up the friends in the hall and asked anyone if I could do their laundry for them. Alex across the hall had a full load and I hugged him telling him he was my new favorite in the hall to which he just laughed. He gave me the quarters and his bag and I ran down the stairs.

I stopped and collected myself before I walked down the hallway to laundry room. I could already hear the strumming of Niall's guitar and the voice in my head was swearing like a trucker because I was so nervous.

I rounded the corner of the doorway and sure enough there he was. In sweats and still looking like the most attractive man on this earth. He didn't hear me or see when I came because of the guitar but that just gave me a moment to freely drool over him.

"Hey!" I said loud enough for him to hear and his head shot up as he grinned at me.

"Hi! How are ya?" Niall said getting up and coming towards me. 

Of course I had a small case of cardiac arrest as he got closer. Niall smiled at me a took the heavy basket out of hands and set on top of the free washer next to me. Now I really am in cardiac arrest because he was the cutest human being on this planet and he had asked me to spend time with him.

"I'm good. How about yourself?" I say in response to the question as I start to load Alex's laundry into the washer praying Niall doesn't notice that it's a boy's laundry.

"I'm great!" he says, "I'm sorry it took me so long to get a hold of you but I got busy and stuff came up but I never got rid of that message on my board, still there actually." He says in a cocky tone as if it's a trophy he's been showing off to all his friends.

I look away and blush because he is definitely using the fact that I like him enough to give him my number as a way of teasing me a little. But I don't really mind because in a way it's nice that he feels like he can show it off, he isn't embarrassed to tell his friends about me.

"That is the ballsiest thing I've ever done. You should feel honored to have my number on your door!" I say faking confidence but it's also not fake because that's how I feel with Niall, brave almost.

Niall laughs, "I do! But is giving me your number really the balliset thing you've ever done?!"

"I swear nothing else has made me that nervous in my entire life," I say not sure why I'm telling him all this but I feel like I can and he would never judge me for it.

"I was pretty nervous too if we're telling the truth. That's why I waited to text you. Wait til I have laundry to do so we're both on comfortable ground ya know?"

I nod, "Yeah I'm glad you did though."

Niall smiled at me with that smile that takes up his whole damn face. His beautiful damn face. God this boy will be the death of me I swear it!

Once I was done loading the washer we went back to Niall's guitar that he left sitting on the chair. We sat down and continued to talk, catching up since we last saw each other at the frat party. He told me his roommate is rushing that fraternity and that's who was helping up the stairs. His roommate had had a little too much to drink and ended up crashing at the house. 

Niall also told me that the same roommate also was the cause of the bruise on his bicep because apparently Niall was a quote, "lame excuse of a man" for not getting my number the first time we were down here so his roommate punched him. I'll never understand boys but I laughed and he rolled up his sleeve turning to show me his arm that had a slightly greenish bruise on it. On instinct I reached my hand out and lightly rubbed his bruised bicep. I felt him tense the muscle there and I wasn't sure if it was because my touch startled him or because he wanted to flex to show off for me. But then goose bumps raised on his arm under my hand and I knew I wasn't alone in this god forsaken crush.

He showed me the beginnings of a melody he had made up one day when he trying to learn another song but had messed up the cords and ended up liking what he heard. Niall kept playing I got up to switch the clothes over to the dryer. As I took handfuls of clothes across the room I dropped a few pieces  and Niall sprang up to help me. I was too busy thinking of what a gentleman he is to realize that he was currently picking up a pair of Alex's boxers. Oh shit, I forgot this isn't even my laundry.

Niall holds them up looking at me like he's a little hurt.

"I really hope these are yours and you just bought them to use as pajamas." Niall says and not in his previously humorous manner. 

"Um... no they're not mine..." I say because I couldn't bring myself to lie to him. 

Niall balls up the boxers and throws them in the open dryer door before taking his guitar and turning back to me, standing there not knowing how to even approach this awkward misunderstanding.

"Well, I'm gonna get going." Niall says as he makes his way to the door.

I feel like I could cry. Why didn't I just tell him the rest of my story? Why did I freeze up like that? Fuck me! I throw the arm full of wet clothes into the open dryer and run out the door after him.

"NIALL WAIT!! "