Black And White //N.H

3.

The next day I do the exact same morning routine. I walk into the bakery and the first thing I hear is "Emily Wilson, you have some explaining to do," from none other than my lovely best friend. "What do you want?" I ask her, a little more grumpy than intended, but that doesn't seem to stop her. "How on earth do you know Niall Horan and why haven't you told me before?" she asks, and i just look at her for some seconds before my brain catches up. "I don't really know him, or Roman introduced me to him at work yesterday and then he came to keep me company when you went to talk to that girl," I tell her, while she starts to heat up the water for my tea. "Why didn't you tell me that at dinner yesterday?". I try to avoid her judging eyes, but fail. "I kinda forgot about it," I try, and she rolls her eyes at me. "Forgot, huh?". I nod, before taking my drink and paying like I usually do. "Wait, how did you know that anyways?" I ask. "I saw you talking to him yesterday, that's why I didn't come and tell you we left". "Oh, okay." I tell her I'm short on time, before heading to work. When I get there the first person I see is Roman. We greet each other and as I head towards my office he follows me. "So, I talked with Niall," he tells me, and gives him a weird look before he continues: "He told me he met you at a bar yesterday,". "And where do you want to go with this, Ro?" I ask. "He's cute, don't you think?" he shoots at me. "Don't you have a breakfast show you need to attend?" I ask him while turning on my computer and getting everything up and ready for work. "Oh, so you do think he's cute?" he says. I just shake my head at him before I get up and try to get him out of my office. "Bye, Roman," I tell him before closing the door.

By noon I head out to the cafeteria to get some water. When I turn around after filling up my water bottle I almost bump into someone. "Okay, now I'm starting to think you're following me," I joke, looking up at Niall for the third time in three days. "What? No," he says, and looks down on his shoes. "I was joking. But what are you doing here?" I ask him, and take a sip of my water. "I have some work I need to get done, and I need something to drink," he says making his way around me and over to a vending machine behind us. I stand there for a minute watching him get a bottle of water. "I actually wanted a seven up, but you were being all healthy and stuff," he says, making me laugh. "Anyways, I'm throwing a small hangout tonight with a couple of friends, you should come," he tells me. I look at him to see if he's joking or not, and when I don't answer he quickly says: "I mean, if you want to of course. Roman is coming.". I think about it for a second. "Emily would love that, right Em?" I heard another voice behind me say, and oh my, who other than Roman would be the person

who's saying yes on my behalf and resting his arm on my shoulder. "Of course," I say and give Niall a quick smile. "I should head off," I tell them both, and shake off Romans arm. "I will come pick you up Em, don't you worry about that, be ready at eight," Roman tells me and I show him thumbs up.

Back at my place after work I start up with my dinner before calling Lily. "Lils, quick I need your help, what kind of clothes says 'Hi, I'm at Nialls place hanging out with some friends'?" I ask her as soon as she picks up. "You're what? are you joking?" She says. "No, sadly I'm not,". She looks at me for a couple of seconds, before silently screaming "Why are you sad that you're going to Niall freaking Horans place?". "Don't call him that, I don't really need more pressure on me," I tell her. "Call him what? His name is Niall Horan sweetheart, you're not really gonna come anywhere without his name,". I sigh before reminding her of my question. She tells me to wear a skirt with some flowers and a sweater, which I'm sure is underdressed but she managed to convince me it's just friends hanging out. That is easy for her to say, who doesn't have the pressure of Niall Horan lingering around her.

At eight I hear my door open, and when I lean back on my coach I can see Roman. "Ready to go?" he asks. I nod and take on my shoes, before we head out. On the ride over Roman blasts Heart Of Glass by Blondie on the stereo, which is great. He parks his car and we get out, and into the elevator in the apartment complex. Roman pressed the button with the number 10 on it. "We need a stand-in at the breakfast show in a couple of weeks, I suggested that you could fill in," Ro says while we wait for the elevator to arrive. "Wait, no way that's happening," I say. I really wouldn't feel comfortable with speaking in front of so many people. Not that there are a lot of people watching me while I speak, but just the thought of people listening to what I say is frightening. Back in school I wasn't always like that, and had no problem speaking up, but some things just change. "If you get the chance of course you're going to do it. You're not stupid," he says just after the elevator makes a ding and we walk out. "Actually-" I start, but get cut off by a door opening at the end of the hall. Niall was standing there in a pair of black trousers and a blue turtleneck. "Hello, come in," he said and caught me completely off guard, giving me a hug., making me blush a little. I greet him before stepping into his apartment. It seems quite big, from what I can see.

A couple of hours later we are sitting around a table outside. Even though it's late summer, the sun is setting and the air is getting colder. One of Niall's friends, Miriam comes and offers me a blanket, which I gladly accept. She sits down beside me and starts up a conversation with me, which I appreciate as Roman and Niall are in a deep discussion about a soccer team I've never heard of before, and not because I don't know soccer, but because the team isn't even in the third division. After another half an hour, Miriam has to leave, and I figure that I should get going as well. I try to spot Roman, but with no luck so I head over to Niall to see if he's seen him. "Wait, Roman left like ten minutes ago," Niall says. "Are you kidding?" I ask him, trying to spot some sort of amusement in his expression. He shakes his head. "I'll go call a cab then," I tell him, and start to walk away, but he stops me by taking a hold of my arm. "I can drive you home, don't worry about it,". "No that's okay, I'm fine by taking a cab," I tell him and start dialing the number. "Don't be stupid, let me drive you," he says and takes a hold of my phone before I can call. "What's up with your obsession over driving me home, Horan?" I joke, and try to get my phone back. "I don't really know, but let me do it," he answers before giving me my phone back. He kind of just admitted an obsession for driving me home, or he didn't exactly deny it? "If you let me help you clean up," I try to compromise, noticing I'm the only one left. "Sure, if cleaning will help ease your mind, Em,".

AN// Nope, not any funny buisness just yet. Who knows maybe they'll just stay friends. Probably not though.