smiled at herself in the bathroom mirror, brushing her fingers through her hair and being content with the fact it was looking fairly tame tonight. She was at one of her best friends’ houses for a movie night, probably something she didn’t really want to watch, but she didn’t care. She took a small breath, turning and exiting the bathroom. She made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bags of popcorn from the kitchen side, heading into the living room to the rest of her friends.

and Liam were sitting in the big armchair already, chatting quietly. Louis and Eleanor were on the sofa and Niall was sitting on the giant beanbag, looking over at her expectantly. She smiled and made a bee line for him, flopping down next to him with a huff.

“Thanks babeh” he smiled at her, grabbing a bag of popcorn and tearing it open. She snagged it back, a couple of stray pieces falling out as she did.

“Think not mister! Wait for the film t’ start!” She grinned at him. He rolled his eyes playfully and turned his attention to Harry, who had returned from his trip upstairs.

“Movie night! Movie night! Movie night!” Harry chanted, dumping an armful of duvets in the middle of his front room. Everybody dived for one, returning to their respective positions and snuggling down. Niall threw the duvet he’d grabbed over the pair of them, the popcorn remaining hidden beneath.

Everyone watched as Harry put on a new film he’d bought, something horror. didn’t much care, more concerned that she’d probably hate it, if it meant she was going to have nightmares about it. Niall glanced at her and shifted on the bean bag so that their hips were touching beneath the blanket. felt her cheeks warm, but hoped that the dimness of the room would hide it.

The film started and everyone went quiet, their eyes transfixed to the screen. The opening credits saw the action start and drew the duvet up over her head, peeking past every now and again to see what was going on. About ten minutes into the film, Niall grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly beneath the duvet. She squeezed it tightly back and flashed him a grimace. There was already a lot of blood spilt on the screen and she wasn’t sure if she could take it.

Across the room, she noticed bury her head into Liam’s chest. sighed inwardly. At least her friend could get away with doing that, she’d been dating Liam for a few weeks now. and Niall were just friends, although she wished it could be so much more.

looked back to the screen and winced as someone’s head got hacked off. The duvet came back up and stayed up. She sighed beneath it, glancing to her hand, still wrapped firmly in Niall’s. A few minutes later, watching his thumb draw circles onto her hand, the duvet shifted and Niall’s face appeared in front of hers.

“You ok?” he whispered, his voice almost drowned out by the screams on the television. She nodded meekly, her eyes holding his briefly. He let out a sigh and gave her hand another squeeze. She looked back up and offered a weak smile. He leant forwards a tiny bit and brushed his lips softly against hers. It was over almost before it happened and he was back to watching the film before she could move. His hand remained firmly in hers though. She took a deep breath and peeked out.

The film was nearing the end, and mostly people had started crashing out. It was almost a rule of thumb for a movie night to end with everyone asleep as whoever’s house they were at. She didn’t watch the screen for long, before pulling the duvet back up over her face again. It must have been a peak moment in the film when Niall ducked back under. He went straight for a kiss this time, his lips pressed firmly against hers, unforgiving. When he broke away, he looked into her eyes for a moment, a small smile on his lips, before he disappeared back over the duvet to watch the end of the film.

took a deep, shaky breath. As soon as the credits were rolling, he reappeared.

“Hey,” he whispered, his voice barely there. He closed the gap between them again, pausing just in front of her. In the darkness beneath the quilt, all she could really see were his eyes, catching the small amount of light there was. His breath was hot against her lips. “I’ve wanted t’ kiss you forever.” He breathed, his lips touching hers softly, briefly. Her heart rate doubled.

“So kiss me…”