Jess' P.O.V
I am thankfully able to talk Niall into going to his dorm to get ready first. That way when we go to my house I can stall until I get a text from Louis. Currently Niall is in his room and I'm sitting in the living room. I told Niall to dress nice, but casual. While I wait for him my mind starts to wander. I, of course think of Niall and how he is going to prove he isn't gay. Is he going to kiss some girl? I hope not.
"Jess, I don't have any nice, but casual clothes," Niall yells.
I sigh, but get up and walk down the hall and into his room. His broken chair catches my attention first. I smile at the memory and then look at Niall's bed. He has a couple shirts laying on it. He can be such a girl. The two shirts on the bed are dreadful. They are both button ups that are dark blue. One has racehorses all over it while the other one has white spots on it that remind me of white dandelions.
"First of all throw these shirts away. They are terrible." I grab both of them and look for a trash can.
Niall surprisingly reaches out and wraps his arm around my waist. He tries to grab the ugly shirts from me. Niall starts tickling me and it makes me release the shirts.
"I love these shirts. I'm not giving them up." I don't have to look at Niall to know he is smiling.
I do look up at him though and my mouth slightly falls open. I was so distracted when I first walked in his room that I didn't notice that he had different clothes on. He is now wearing a button up shirt that has stripes. It makes his eyes even more blue if that's even possible. I take a step back, which makes Niall let go of me. His shirt is tight enough around his arms that his biceps look bigger than normal. I smile when I notice that he is wearing ripped jeans.
(Niall is brunette in this story so just pretend there is no blonde.)
"What you are wearing now looks good. The ripped jeans give a rebel without a cause vibe." I look him up and down. "You look really good."
I freeze for a moment. I didn't mean to say that last sentence out loud. I make eye contact with Niall and wink. I try my best to play it off as me just being me. Niall is so different than any other guy I have met. He makes me really think about my normal actions. I relax when I see Niall blushing.
"If I'm going to hang around you tonight I better look good." Niall smiles at me and leaves his room. He turns off the lights even though I'm still in here.
"Hey!" I call out to Niall, but he just laughs. As I leave his room I focus on the words he just said. Is he planning on hanging out with me tonight? I wouldn't complain, but it's his party. All of his friends are going to be there and will want to hang out with him. I got to spend time with him for five uninterrupted hours. "You don't have to look good for me. I'm sure we won't even see each other very much once we meet up with everyone."
Niall abruptly stops and says, "are you just going to pass me off to someone? Sick of me already?"
"No, but I mean it is your birthday. I'm sure you want to be with your friends goofing off." I sound pitiful and I hate it.
Niall quickly turns around and grabs my hand. I focus on our hands and the butterflies in my stomach. Niall and I are just friends. Niall and I are JUST friends. I only need to repeat that about fifty times and hopefully these feelings will go away. Niall pulls me closer to him and my breath hitches.
"Remember I have to prove to you I'm not gay and I'm showing you how a real man treats a lady." Niall smirks at me, but doesn't let go of my hand.
"Is this you showing me?" I sound like I'm out of breath.
"Yes." Niall pauses to pull me closer, our chests almost touching. "I know you think that I don't like hanging out with you, but the truth is I do. Every guy wants your attention. You walk into a room and you instantly have people running up to you. The idea of you giving me your full attention makes me feel special even if we are just friends."
"People want your attention as well, Niall."
"Not like they want your attention. Just watch tonight." Niall's intense stare keeps my eyes glued on his.
"It's your birthday so my attention will only be on you." I wait for Niall to blush, but he doesn't.
"Good." Niall glances down at my lips and back into my eyes.
Neither of us move an inch. My breathing is hitched while Niall's is heavy. I don't think either of us know what to do next. I want to kiss Niall, but I know he doesn't want to kiss me. He is just caught up in the moment and everything we talked about today.
The front door swings open hitting the wall and it makes me jump. Brett comes walking into the hallway and when he sees Niall and I he gives us a funny look. I realize Niall is still holding my hand. I quickly remove it from his grip and look at Brett.
"Hey Brett. Perfect timing." I force a smile.
"Hey guys. I was just going to change and then meet you over at the frat." Brett keeps looking between Niall and I.
"Well I'm going to go get changed. Niall you might as well hang out and wait for Brett. You will probably have more fun. See you both in like thirty minutes." I quickly walk past both of them and head outside.
As soon as I leave their dorm I can finally breath. What the hell happened back there? Was Niall going to kiss me? It seemed like it to me, but I'm probably wrong. I shake my head and continue my walk. I take the stairs, because I need as much time as possible to think. Maybe this is Niall's way of showing me that he isn't gay. That is all this is. Two friends joking and messing around. When I reach my car I move as fast as possible to get home. I don't have a lot of time to get ready.
Once at home I head straight for the bathroom and do a touch up on my makeup. I had curled my hair this morning so I end up fixing just a few pieces once I'm done with my make up. When I'm happy with my hair I jog into my bedroom. I head straight for the closet and start sifting through my clothes. My stupid cast makes everything look bad. There is nothing I can do about it so no point in complaining.
After going through my closet and not being satisfied I jump over to Rae's closet. The party is at this little lake on the edge of town. It's a man made lake, but its a lot of fun. We will have a bonfire, food, treats, and booze. Louis said that this was Niall's type of party so hopefully he likes it. I want to wear a summer dress or a beachy type dress. My swimsuit will be under it so the dress needs a beach vibe. As I look through Rae's clothes I stop at a dress.
It isn't really my normal style, but it's a really cute dress. I pull it off the hanger and lay it on my bed. I walk over to my dresser and pull out my pineapple bikini bottoms and a black swim top.
After I get dressed I slip on some white sandals and grab my bag. As I reach the door I remember that it is almost the end of September. Once it gets dark out I will freeze. I walk back over to my closet and grab jeans and a sweatshirt. I put all my crap from my small bag into a bigger bag and stuff the clothes in the new bag as well.
I successfully leave my sorority without being held up by anyone. When I exit my house I see Niall and Brett leaning against my car. I smile at both of them. Brett winks at me and I know I need to go along with whatever he says.
"Louis texted me and said to just meet him and the others at the restaurant." Brett informs me and I smile.
"Alright. Let's go then." I pull out my keys from my massive purse and unlock all the doors.
I climb in the driver seat while Brett takes the front seat and Niall sits behind me. I look in the rearview mirror once and Niall is smirking at me. I look over at Brett and he is giving me a weird look.
"So what did you guys do today," Brett asks.
"Ate food, hung out, and talked." I smile and play it off like today wasn't a big deal.
"Sure." Brett doesn't sound convinced, but doesn't push it. He turns on the radio and gets distracted.
"You look beautiful in that dress," Niall whispers in my ear.
I jump slightly, but mouth a thank you while making eye contact with Niall in the rearview mirror. With how nice Niall is being it makes me wonder if there are other guys like him. I hope Brett is kind and sweet like Niall. Zayn is a lot like Niall when comes to how he treats girls. Zayn was my perfect match. We liked all the same stuff and he was sweet. Why didn't I give him a chance? Maybe it's because he was more interested in hooking up with me than just sitting and talking. Then it hits me. I haven't hooked up with anyone since Liam, three weeks ago. What is happening to me? I have to hook up with someone tonight.
"What restaurant are we going to," Niall speaks up.
"This one," I say as I pull into the parking lot of the lake.
It is still light enough that Niall will be able to appreciate the decorations for a little bit. We all climb out of the car and I grab my phone from my bag. I don't want to worry about my bag so I leave it in my car. With Niall being right next to me I hand him my keys and phone.
"What am I suppose to do with these?" Niall raises his eyebrows.
"I have nowhere to hold them so I thought you could hold them for me." I bat my eyelashes at him. "Please."
"Fine, but I'm not holding your bulky keys. Take off your car key and I will hold that." Niall takes my phone, but leaves my keys in my hand.
I quickly take my car key off the key ring and hand it to Niall. I put the rest of my keys in my car and Niall locks the doors. We start walking and I instantly feel bad. I should have told Niall to wear sandals and shorts. I guess Brett is in jeans and tennis shoes too. Thankfully the lake has a beach surrounding it and from the parking lot to the beach there is a little hill you walk up before you get to the water. Everyone at the party will see us before we see them. I look over at Niall and he looks amused. He knows what's about to happen so when we make eye contact I beg him silently to act surprised. He gives me a head nod and continues his conversation with Brett.
When we reach the top of the hill I hear tons of people yell, "happy birthday!"
I look over at Niall and he genuinely looks happy. He pats Brett on the shoulder and wraps an arm around me. Niall looks at Brett and then at me.
"Andersons, you might be my favorite siblings. Thank you for helping with this." Niall pulls me closer to him for a moment and then let's go.
We walk down the hill and Niall gets engulfed into the group of people. All of them wanting to say happy birthday. I walk over to the picnic tables and sit down. I'm only alone for a second. Rae and Harry soon join me.
"Is that my dress?" Rae sounds surprised.
"I didn't have any beachy style clothes." She is never going to let me live this down.
"How was your day?" Harry smirks and I want to slap him, but I'm also relieved to tell them.
"It was amazing, weird, terrible, and lovely." They stare at me waiting for me to continue. "Niall was flirting and a little touchy, but then he would get weird. We went to lunch and ran into a group of guys and Niall got all protective and defensive of me."
"That's so cute," Rae squeals.
"You better hang out with him tonight," Harry adds.
"Niall did say he wanted to show me some things tonight." I only give them half the story. They don't need to know everything. "He promised me I could get him drunk, but look at all those people. I'm not one to fight for a guy's attention."
I get up and walk over to the booze table. I mix a couple different drinks together to make a fruity concoction. I walk back over to Rae and Harry. I sit down and take a sip of my drink.
"Does Niall know that this party was your idea," Rae quietly asks me.
"No and let's keep it that way." I talk normally since no one will know what I'm talking about.
I down my first drink and walk back over to the booze table. I use the same drinks as the first time and make my second drink. As I'm walking back to my table I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around to find Niall smiling at me. He grabs my drink and chugs it.
"I thought we decided that you were going to get me drunk and you were going to stay sober." Niall seems so relaxed right now. It's kind of weird.
"Well you were so busy that I thought you forgot about the plan." I hint at rest of the plan to see what Niall will do next.
"Nope. The whole plan is still going. You go sit down and I will get us some food." Niall really is a charmer.
"Its your birthday. Let me get the food." I walk past Niall, but he follows.
"We will get our food together." The way Niall says together gives me goosebumps.
There are two picnic tables designated for food. We are having a big barbeque. There are already cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, veggies, fruit, different kinds of dips, potato salad, green salads, jello salads. Basically anything you usually have at a barbecue, we have. Niall and I start filling our plates and without thinking I put some of this fruit salad that is fruit mixed with whipping cream on Niall's plate.
"This is the best fruit salad ever. You will love it," I tell Niall.
"Okay, but if I don't like it you owe me. There is so much food I can't waste the space on nasty food." I roll my eyes at Niall, but agree with him.
We move around the table to get to different food. As I'm scooping up some green salad I feel something bounce off my head. I hear a small chuckle come from Niall. I slowly lift my head to find Niall standing in front of a bowl of grapes.
"Did you just throw a grape at my head?" I ask very seriously.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Niall walks away whistling. There will be pay back.
Everyone sits at the picnic tables eating. The whole fraternity, and almost my whole sorority are here. Of course the football team is here and then other people that Niall knows from classes. There is one girl that keeps lingering closely, but doesn't say anything to us, weirdo. She does look familiar though. After we all eat people head over to the firepit while others play sand volleyball and my close group of friends decide to go swimming. Harry helps Rae make sure her bikini top is secure and then they look at me.
"Are you coming?" Rae smiles and I know she is talking to Niall and I.
"I don't have a swimsuit." Niall shrugs his shoulders.
"Yes you do. Here," Louis tosses Niall some swimming shorts.
Then everyone looks at me. They can't really expect me to swim with a cast on my arm.
"You see, I would swim, but I have this cast stopping me." I give Niall a playful glare. "I guess I just have to sit here and suffer, because of him."
"Jess just come get in the water a little bit. We will all promise not to splash you." Louis begs me and normally I would say no, but they are all giving me puppy dog eyes.
"Okay, fine!" Peer pressure is the worst man.
"Let me go change." Niall stands up and jogs away.
"Rae, will you help me with my top? I didn't get it tight enough." I ask as I slip off my dress.
"Jess, did you really have to wear that one?" Brett complains and it makes me smirk.
"It looks good," Liam says, but I ignore him.
"There, it should be good to go." Rae says as she tightens it. She smiles as she walks in front of me.
"Thank you!" I can't believe I'm actually having fun without drinking.
Niall joins us shortly and we walk to the water together. We laugh as Harry and Louis goof off. Niall stays right by my side.
"You can join them if you want." I look over at Niall.
"I'm good with being right here." Niall smiles and then says, "nice swimsuit."
I can't tell if he is being serious or not, but his blush makes me smile and I know I did a good job by wearing this swimsuit.
"Thank you. It is one of my favorites." I pause for a second and then decide to ask Niall something. "Are you having fun?"
"Yes, but I'm not surprised. I heard you planned this party. Thank you." Niall gives me a look of gratitude.
"I'm glad you like it." My smile gets bigger as I look at Niall. When we reach the water I stop. It's going to be freezing. Why did we think this would be fun? "On second thought, I think I'm going to just stay here and watch."
Niall is the only one that hears me since everyone else is being crazy and running into the water. They are screaming and laughing. I hate being cold and this just seems stupid. I turn around, but Niall is right behind me.
"Come on Jess! It will be fun." Niall smiles and I can tell he is going to use his charm on me.
"Nope! I'm not doing this." I try to walk around Niall, but he won't let me.
We stare at each other for a second, neither of us backing down. Sadly, Niall is smart and knows he is bigger than me. He quickly walks towards me and throws me over his shoulder. He keeps walking fast towards the lake.
"Hold on tight," Niall laughs.
"Wait, my cast will get wet!" I am going to try anything to get out of this.
Niall readjusts how he is holding me. He moves me from being over his shoulder to making me wrap my legs around his torso and my arms around his neck. Being this close to him makes getting in the cold water worth it.
"Hold your cast up." I do as Niall says and we enter the water. We probably look really idiotoic.
The water doesn't start bothering me until it reaches my waist. I hold on tighter to Niall. He doesn't seem to mind considering he keeps his hands firm under my thighs. I make eye contact with Rae and she wiggles an eyebrow at me. I look away from Rae, but as I look around my friends they all seem happy about the position Niall and I are in, except for Liam. How did everything change so fast between Niall and I? Why is he being all touchy, when four days ago he said he wanted to be friends. Friends don't act like this. Wait, this means nothing to him. Niall is just proving to me that he isn't gay and how a guy should treat a girl.
"Niall will you put me down?" I try to sound casual, but I can hear my own disappointment.
Without saying anything Niall sets me down. He keeps his hands on my waist while I catch my balance from the small waves that keep hitting me. I try to focus on everything else other than Niall and how it feels to have his hands on my waist. Does he even know what he is doing to me? I glance up at Niall and he is smiling while watching his friends. Niall is too kind and innocent to know how tortuous this is. I try to step out of Niall's grip, but he only tightens his hands around my waist. My arm is starting to get tired from staying up in the air so I think I am done with swimming.
"I'm going to head back to the beach. My arm is getting tired." I tell Niall so he will let go.
"Okay, let's get you back to the warm land." Niall starts to pull me towards him, but I need distance from him.
"You stay and play. I will be on the sand watching." Niall reluctantly let's go of me and I walk away.
I turn around to see him jumping on Louis. I know Rae will join me soon so I need to get as much thinking in as I can. When I get out of the water I hear a familiar voice call out my name. I look up to find Zayn staring at me. A gorgeous Amazon-like goddess standing next to him. No wonder he dumped me.
***
A/N
Long chapter and so is the next chapter and things are about to get crazy!
Please comment and vote!