→ CHAPTER EIGHT
________________
S h o c k.
__________________
-
"How long have you been feeling ill, Niall?" Louis asked as he pushed his (hopefully) soon-to-be boyfriend's bike down the sidewalk.
"Not long," Niall responded, shrugging as he shuffled one foot into the other. "Wasn't feeling very hot when I woke up this morning."
"You're always hot," he blurted, though he won't say that it was an accident because it really, really wasn't.
Louis was more than happy that he had finally been loosening up around Niall, gaining courage that he had kind of been missing for way too long. If he hadn't spoken to Niall with this much ease a couple of weeks ago, they could possibly be going on dates by now- that is, if Niall wasn't stubborn and hard-to-get, like he is now.
Louis had complimented him multiple times, he had used pick up lines, he tried to be around him as often as he possibly could- he made move after move and was knocked down time after time, even if Niall didn't mean realize he was rejecting him. It kind of sucked, but he was willing to wait to be with his true love.
"That was smooth," Niall complimented, nodding in approval as he chuckled. "Nicely done, Louis."
"Thank you," Louis replied, offering Niall a small smile. "I've had plenty of practice, you know."
"You have had a lot of practice, haven't you?" he asked, quieter this time, almost as though he felt guilty.
Niall had put Louis through a lot within the time that the poor guy had been crushing on him. He had rejected him, brushed him off, and probably hurt his feelings countless times, occasionally not even acknowledging the fact that he could've made Louis feel bad about himself.
He had always acted this way simply because he was annoyed and he didn't want to be hit on by Louis. There wasn't even anything wrong with him- he was a rather sweet, humorous, attractive guy that went a bit too far with his feelings. That was all. Obnoxious or not, Niall had no reason to be rude.
He was just a young guy with mood swings, apparently.
As the two boys continued to stroll down the sidewalk, Louis had a few complications with the bike, pushing it over rocks or branches or possibly other people's feet (they didn't like that very much). It was warm and sunny; birds were chirping and butterflies were fluttering and Louis could feel his heart swell because Niall was right next to him. He was walking him back to his dorm, all by himself.
There was no constant eye rolling or groans or huffing and puffing, amd honestly, Louis could sit back and relish in this moment for the rest of his life.
"Louis?" Niall suddenly asked from beside him, waving a hand in front of his face. "You in there?"
"What?" Louis replied as he blinked.
"You spaced out on me there," he explained, shrugging. "Lost in your thoughts or something."
"Oh," Louis said, nodding. "Yeah. Lost. In thoughts."
Niall chuckled and shook his head. "As I was saying-"
"As you were saying," he urged teasingly, which caused Niall to roll his eyes.
"I was asking you where you were from."
He's asking about me. He wants to know about me. That's definitely the first sign that he's into me, isn't it?
