I was the happiest man on Earth, I believe it's impossible for someone to be happier than I was in the moments after Niall accepted me back in his life, as more than his best friend. But the sun had set a long time ago. As much as I enjoyed sitting in silence, his body sniggled up under my arm and into me, it was time to talk and explain. And apologize too. Man, I had a lot to say.

But...it could wait another moment, right? His head in the crook of my neck, the feeling of his fingers gently threading over the back of my hand, the aroma of his hair, something unique to my boy...it was all too pleasant. We had been sitting in comfortable silence for so long, deep in our own thoughts, but at the same time taking immense comfort in the presence of the other, in the newly found connection on a higher level. I think this was, in a way, much necessary for the restoring of our friendship. Sure, we were in some sort of a romantic relationship now, and that was absolutely wonderful and thrilling. Especially since we stole gentle kisses every now and then - because we could now, we were allowed to. But our friendship, the strongest bond between us, had suffered a severe blow, and it would need time to heal. We both knew the meaningful silence and the tender touch helped.

"I have a feeling it's gonna rain." no, Niall, why did you have to speak first! 

I looked up. The dome of navy clouds was already covering half of the sky, slowly swallowing the fading cyan with patches of aquamarine, and the wind was much stronger now too, even if it wasn't cold. Niall sipped his Coke and studied the horizon.

"You're probably right. Should we head back?" I asked.

"No, let's stay here, we'll run if we have to."

"I like it here too." I smiled.

He finished his Coke and twisted the plactic bottle until it was half its original size. Then he placed it on the sand next to him and put his hands on his knees. I cleared my throat. I withdrew my hand from around his back.

"I think it's time I...say some things as well." I started with a slightly embarrased smile. 

"We came here to talk after all, right.." Niall laughed and I grinned, more because of his adorable laugh.

"Yeah." I sighed, "And I will start by apologizing too because what I-"

"No, no, don't," Niall held up his hands, "You don't have to apologize, you really didn't do anything wrong."

I studied his face concernedly.

"But it did bother you." I stated.

He looked down, shrugged, then looked back at me. He's so nice. 

"Yeah, it did, but it shouldn't have. You were having fun, you..." he took a deep breath, his gaze ran past me, "...I was just jealous."

"Actually," I began, "I was jealous too and...I was doing it only because...I mean, I was just so, so hurt and desperate, I wasn't even thinking and I wanted to forget you." I frowned when guilt and shame took over me again, "I'm so sorry. I do have to apologize because I want to, I feel so terribly ashamed, so...dirty..."

He let out a breath and he took my hand in his. He held it in his palms and squeezed it. He's so charming and nice and caring. I love him.

"I think we both have things to be ashamed of, but...it all comes down to this, to what happened before, in the house, and to this moment right here, right now. So..." he shrugged and was then silent, "You were jealous of Joanna, right?" he raised his eyebrows, making sure.

"Yeah. Her. But it's fine, I.." but then I didn't know how to continue because it wasn't fine. 

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do about this. I mean, this whole thing with her...she's nice, but I was trying to move on too. To make you jealous, to see if I'll get a reaction, and now..seeing what it did to you, I am so, so sorry," he was squeezing my hand, shaking his head, "It's crazy."

It was all a big chain, a loop of...misunderstandings that had had no chance of being resolved. I was shaking my head miserably too now, enjoying the feeling of his warm hands.

"We should've ve talked about this a long time ago." I said solemnly. 

"We should've. But I was so scared, I just didn't know how to approach it and..you know, what if I wasn't right? It just...yeah, you know." he smiled uneasily.

"I know. But look where we are now..." I looked around.

It wasn't that late at all, but it was pretty dark because of the advancing storm. The ocean had began a low roar.

"I don't think I would have reacted badly if you told me you liked me and I didn't feel the same." my Irishman said thoughtfully, with a cute frown typical for him.

"Yeah, me neither!"

"It would've been weird, sure, but I don't see why something like that should influence our friendship. If I didn't feel the same, that is."

"Neither of us...had enough faith in our friendship." I said looking at the sand between my legs, "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"We're back to normal now?" I asked hopefully, but I kind of knew that we weren't healed completely just yet. 

And he hesitated too.

"We're on a different level, but I think we'll need time." he replied quietly.

I nodded my head vigorously. A little smile tugged on his lips.

"Me too, me too. But..one final thing about this..I just need to ask you, about last-"

I was cut off by the buzzing of my phone in my pocket. A text from Harry, are you with niall, we're going out. I showed Niall the text and we agreed we weren't going with the guys.

we r ok go witht us

I switched off my phone and my hand searched for his again. It was dark now and the wind had gotten colder, so I pulled him even closer to my body. Now it felt right, it felt okay. 

"Are you mad about me, me sleeping with Zayn last night?" I asked tentatively.

His body didn't tense, he even rested his head on my shoulder. I think he was just trying to figure out how he felt about it and that encouraged me. 

"No. Really, that's fine. I am a little jealous, but it's okay... I know you guys had something...I had noticed before, as much as I tried to deny it in my mind."

I could believe him. 

"We can't do this ever again," he began and my limbs immediately went cold, "we can't keep stuff that's...important for our relationship from each other."

Oh. I get it.

The familiar touch of his body to mine was so soothing, making weird stuff flutter in my chest, but also filling me with calm, soft hope and happiness. And, wait, did he say relationship? Oh damn, did he mean...or just...friendship or? Oh wow.

"So we're in a relationship?" I asked and bumped his head off my shoulder so I can look him in the eyes.

"I think we are. Or at least something like a relationship, we're just trying, right?"

"Of course!" I immediately assured, "Anything you'd feel comfortable with. I don't wanna push you."

"I like this." he said. I smiled.

We were silent. I wanted to use the time to think about how I feel, because, you know, that's how I am, I think about everything, and too much. But my mind ran to other places. It actually shut down for a little because I focused on the surrounding noises instead. It wasn't only the roar of the ocean now, which was noticeably rising. There was a low pneumatic wallowing as well. Or...no. No, it was the majestic, mystical sound of the wind surging through the trees behind us, through the branches and only sometimes touching upon the ground like a demonic shadow. It played with our hair too, especially Niall's. Damn, he was sexy. 

But it didn't feel strange or new to me. Oh, it was thrilling, like I already said, but... In a way it was the old us, the familiar feeling of home, almost. Plus, the ability to touch, feel, cup, squeeze, kiss.

"Does this feel new to you?" I asked, realizing my question may have been a little ambiguous.

But he seemed to understand. He affectionately rubbed his forehead in my neck while thinking.

"It should, but I don't think it does," he said finally, "It is nice though."

"It is. Very nice." and then, just to make things a little more cheesy, I kissed his temple, "Man, I've waited for all of this for so long. It's not a dream, is it?"

"Nah, I don't think so." he shook his head.

"I thought it was just a crush in the beginning, you know, cause it felt so weird...Then I started attributing it to us being so close, I thought it was the...yeah, the admiration. But on the tour...the feelings grew and I found myself wanting to be with you all the time, so I can just listen to you laugh, and it's not just that, I wanted to be the reason for your...smile, which is by the way just...gorgeous." I was shaking my head, man, it felt so great to finally say all of this, "And yeah...then I came out to Zayn. And it was sometimes so hard to be around you...I always just wanted to touch you and stare into your eyes for hours and kiss you..."

I shifted a bit on the sand, I was suddenly so...excited, because I knew that I could do these things now. Well...I hoped I could.

"That's just...amazing to hear because...I...have kind of been longing for the same. And I'd love to experience...all of what you said. So...you can do these things now." he kept his head on my shoulder.

"Yeah?" warmth was spreading in my stomach.

"Well...yeah." he said, then looked at me and continued in a cheeky manner, "Absolutely."

I stared at his face as a smile appeared on my lips too.

"You know, when you kissed me..that first time, when we actually kissed...I thought I could hear violins." I said and enjoyed the look of curiosity in his eyes.

"I don't remember hearing anything like that. My attention was all on you." he said and licked his lips, "But I wanna try to hear what you're talking about."

"You do? How can that happen?" I asked, trying to look as puzzled as possible.

"I don't know...Try...kissing me again."

His eyes were darting from my lips to my eyes, he looked all nervous, but concentrated suddenly. And me? I was about to melt, because of him, because this was actually happening, because I was also getting kind of horny. 

I kissed him. It started out slowly, tenderly, and I intended to keep it that way. There we go, the world was silent again, gone was everything. It was only me and him, my beautiful leprechaun, his amazing soft lips and the delicate skin of his neck against my palm. Over and over again our lips met, and when we finally broke the kiss, I realized I had actually forgot to breathe. This hasn't happened to me since my very first kiss. 

Niall's face was flushed, as much as I could see in the dusk of the evening, and he was swallowing hard. He cleared his throat.

"No, I couldn't hear anything." he said hoarsely and then coughed delicately.

"Should we try again?" I whispered.

"I think we should."

We kissed for so long. He was the one to deepen the kiss, to ask for entrance and have it become much more passionate, and finally I gently pushed him to his back, keeping my hand behind his head. Never in my life have I felt so alive, never have I felt my whole body tingling the way it did while we kissed that night. There was no thought in the sensual, passionate movement of our tongues, no thought in his hands roaming my back. We were just feeling, completely immersed in our love and need for each other. It wasn't simply making up for all the missed opportunities, it was living, experiencing a peak in our existence, finding that other half and fitting it in place.

I had moved my whole body over his now and when we broke the kiss, I realized we had both been grinding our bodies against the other. I was hard, and I felt extremely embarrased.

"I'm sorry, I just..." I said when he noticed my bulge. 

"It's okay. We'll get there too..." he licked his lips again and I dove into his embrace once more. 

We started for the house long after. We didn't hold hands. It simply didn't feel necessary, although our fingers did intertwine upon the brushing of our hands every now and then. We talked and joked in our old familiar wonderful way.

A step forward, no, a leap forward. Can you feel the smile behind those words?

Back at the house he managed to convince me to help him cook up a little dinner despite the late hour. 

I was fixing the plate with all the stuff we were going to grill, when he called:

"Liam!" and I bit my lip, "Get the matchbox from on top of the fridge too, please!"

I walked out on the side patio where the grill was, a few meters from where I had a mini break down that same day. Niall had put on an apron and was fumbling around with the coal. I placed the plate on the small table beside the grill. 

"Thanks," he said when I handed him the tiny box.

"I sometimes get butterflies when you say my name." I said and busied myself rearranging the meat on the plate.

"You do?" he had an amused smile, but he was making sure to show it touched him as well, "Liam." I took a sharp breath, "LLLLLLLiam. Liammmmmmm. Liam. Liam."

Yes, I was absolutely positive now, that Spain's entire population of butterfies plus some other bugs had migrated to my stomach. It's amazing what a single person can do to you. 

He had started a little fire now, but was throwing me glances. 

"Can I have a kiss from the cook?" I asked seriosuly.

"I think that's allowed."

We had a simple dinner at on of the tables in front of the house, looking out at the lit up pool. We talked about this and that, as if nothing had happened between us. But the evidence that something had was there, because he would sometimes keep his eyes on mine a little longer and we'd smile simultaneously. We had to hurriedly move inside because it started raining, pouring actually, but I think it's safe to say we both enjoyed openly watching each other changing our shirts. 

We watched TV on the couch, but when my eyes started closing, we moved to our room. Niall wanted to finish his movie, so we snuggled close and this time it was my head on his shoulder. When the movie ended, he woke me up. He wanted a goodnight kiss, the little charmer, but it turned into a full blown making out session. How wonderful is that, eh? Getting to kiss my blond Irishman, the boy I had been hurting over for the past i dont know how many months, probably six, before I fall asleep. Nothing better than his hot hands on my back, his half naked body next to mine, no, sliding against mine.

But then someone opened the door and turned on the lights. We didn't really jumpaway from each other, but we were pretty damn startled. I blinked several times before recognizing a dumbfounded Harry.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

We were still in each other's arms, pretty much.

"Um, swapping spit for health reasons." I don't know, it just came to me, and when I said it Niall laughed and burried his face in my shoulder, "And you interrupted us."

Harry didn't move. He kept blinking and moving his mouth. Then he silently made his way out. A second later he came back to turn the light off.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing it must feel quite awkward for Niall. 

"Yep."

We closed the make out session with a few soft kisses. but then...we were both hard again. Niall straightened the sheet over his impressive bulge.

"How are we gonna go about this? Oh wait, I have an idea...Whoever gets to the bathroom first."

He was already sitting up when I realized what he'd meant. I tackled him and we engaged in a mean struggle, tangling ourselves in the sheets, dropping to the floor, dragging each other by the legs until Niall finally freed himself from my grip and slammed the bathroom door with an evil laugh. I was left pacing with a shameful raging hard on that jumped every time I heard muffled moans from inside. Niall came out smiling and his cheeks were flushed.

He was nodding off when I came back to bed. His sheets were drapped across his crotch, exposing his stunning torso. The TV threw a soft bluish light at his face. His lips, his nose, his messy hair.

I pulled the sheets over my own boxers clad body. I sneaked my hand under my pillow and grinned, watching Niall.

"We goin to sleep?" he mumbled.

"Yeah. But wait. Don't turn the TV off yet, I want to ask you something." I said and he turned to me.

I reached out and found his hand to squeeze lightly.

"Niall," I began, "would you go out with me?"

I was careful but confident. I was terribly nervous too, but his hand encouraged me. He blinked several times.

"Yeah. Of course." he said in his lovely accent.

I can't recall ever feeling happier before going to sleep than that night, my man's body closer than ever.

-

I woke up to light snoring coming from the sprawled figure of my precious boy. All you have to do in such cases is shove him lightly. He rolls on his side and you're all good. This time I did it gently, allowing myself to feel the warmth of his skin, to marvel at the soft, dormant strength in his muscles, to appreciate the fact that hey, I can do this now, hey, even if he does wake up, it will be fine.

I think that morning was the first time it hit me how incredibly lucky I must be. It was all so unbelievably perfect! I had him now! I have Niall now, I can actually experience his kiss and touch.

9:15 am. I needed to pee, so I threw the covers off my body and slowly sat up. I walked over to the balcony door and opened a bit of the curtains. Just as I suspected, the sky was a grayish blanket all around. I cracked the door open so some fresh air could get in and headed for the bathroom. Walking back to bed, I was contemplating whether I should wake Niall up when I caught a glimpse of the reflection of my almost completely nude body in the mirror. I look good, right? I need to look good for Niall.

I doubt we're going to the beach in this weather, perhaps today is the day we shall go sightseeing. Interesting. But on the other hand, it's kind of cold. Wouldn't it be much more pleasurable to snuggle up close to my baby? You know, just because I can. Yeah, it would.

I threw a bit of my covers over Niall and then sneaked under his, creating a solid warm double bridge of sheets over our bodies. I wrapped my arms around him just like people in movies do, his smaller body fit mine perfectly. And I mean it. I kissed his neck, along his jaw line, up his cheek to his temple, then rubbed my nose in his soft hair. 

"Let me sleep, mate," he grunted, but wiggled his body into mine a little more and then added, "As much as I like this."

I pulled my own pillow as close to his as possible. I moved around and when I found the perfect position with Niall's warm body close, I blissfully fell asleep again.

My arms were empty when I woke up. I looked around, the curtains were open, the door to the balcony was still slightly ajar. I rolled forward so I was now on my stomach, sort of hugging Niall's pillow. I inhaled deeply. Ah, that faint trace of vanilla...

I heard the shower starting in the bathroom next door. My phone showed 10:03 am and outside it was still quite cloudy. It was Niall who was in the shower, and when I barged in to pee again (yeah, two times in an hour?), I asked him whether I could picture him naked in my head and he laughed and said yes. Then my dick started growing hard, but I didn't have the guts to ask him if I could join him. Besides, I think it should be special with him. 

After throwing on shorts, I went downstairs. Harry was melting into an armchair dressed similarly to me. The TV was off and there was no one else around, or so I assumed. 

"Good morning, Hazza," I said and took a seat on the couch.

He didn't even open his eyes, only smiled blissfully with a small mmmm. I dismissed that as a sign someone had had a pretty good night. I rubbed my eyes and was just thinking about whether I should make a big, healthy breakfast, just because I'm that happy, when Louis walked in with a huge grin plastered across his pretty face. He paid no attention to me and went straight for Harry. Taking mr curly's hands in his, he stood him up and then pressed his lips to Harry's. They each placed their hands on the other's body and continued kissing lovingly. As far as I could see, they couldn't even contain their smiles. 

"You're much better now, aren't you?" Louis asked him when they broke the kiss, while I just sat there.

"Yeah." Harry breathed.

They started for the glass door.

"Erm..." I began.

"Hi, Liam. We need some time alone." Louis said without turning.

Harry however, did turn with a smirk and wiggled his eyebrows.

I guess this is what harry was talking about. Much closer than friends are, bonded by a mixture of brotherly love and a tad bit more.

This interesting encounter made me think of that one blond guy in the shower upstairs. I wasn't alone anymore. And now, if everything was to finally be okay, I could have what Louis and Harry have, even more. I promised myself to kiss that gorgeous man in the same way when he came down for breakfast. 

I was inspecting whatever secrets the inside of the fridge held when Zayn entered through the living room looking hot and sleepy and said good morning. He sat in a chair at the table and held his head in his hands.

"You okay?" I asked throwing a few things on the counter.

"Yeah. Had a little too much to drink last night, again." he smiled and stood up, "Making breakfast?"

"Yessss."

"Mutant sandwiches again?"

I raised my eyebrows, you really wanna go there?

"I couldn't help it," he laughed that sexy laugh and walked over, "Let me make one first, you'll try it, and if you don't like it fine, but if you do like it I'm making breakfast today." 

He smiled brightly, his eyes sparkled, and damn he was beautiful. I didn't feel guilty about my thoughts even when I realized I had the guy of my dreams now, but I did feel a bit sad. It would have been nice to have had a chance with Zayn. I admit, the night we spent together did spark up something within me.

"Alright," I said and smiled too.

I pulled a chair and sat near him while he worked on what turned out to be one of the best, if not thebest, sandwiches I've had in my life. He coated the bread with mayonnaise then used the three different kinds of beef we had to create several perfect layers of meat, cheese and lettuce. Finally, he carefully sliced a smaller tomato and put four overlapping pieces on top of everything before placing the other slice of bread on top. He looked over his creation and handed the plate to me with a big, proud smile. 

"I don't know how...I don't understand how for two years you haven't learned that I make amazing sandwiches," Zayn shook his head after I spewed a myriad of compliments, "I'll make everyone one of those and how about some french toast? And don't finish this one, we have little beef left and it's for me."

"I think we might have chicken," I said, wiping my mouth with a blue napkin after he'd snatched the plate from me.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He put on the apron Niall had been wearing last night and went about with his business. I sat in my chair and kept thinking about the moment Niall would come through the door, and I'd grin and walk up to him...

"So it all worked out, eh?" Zayn smiled briefly at me. I realized none of the boys had actually said anything about that yet.

I smiled widely at the warmth in my chest.

"Magically, yes," I said, "I never thought...Like he said, it's crazy."

"I'm glad, man. You two...you're perfect for each other, in every way. This is the best that could happen, I'm happy for you." Zayn was smiling over his shoulder.

"Thank you. You have no idea how happy I am myself, I can't even believe it. I don't know what we're doing, but it's just wonderful."

Zayn took out a few plates. 

"I think even if you don't work out as...boyfriends, or whatever you are, you'll remain great friends. I can't see it any other way, man." he shook his head at me.

I played with the small patch of hair below my lower lip. It actually turnd out great, I love the look it's giving me. Adds to my masculinity. I hope Niall likes it too.

"What about us, mate, are we good?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you really feel about this?"

He was silent. I waited patiently. He placed another sandwich in one of the plates.

"I told you, man, I'm fine with it," he brought two of the plates to the table and pulled a chair to sit opposite me, our knees touching, "That little crush I have on you...it won't disappear just like that, but I will be fine. It really doesn't bother me that much." he smiled, but I could tell he was forcing it.

I looked down, thin sadness creeping into the pool of my recently acquired happiness. 

"Our night together was kinda special." I said.

"It was...But whatever you'll have with Niall will be much more special. I'll be fine. I'm Zayn Malik, who doesn't like Zayn Malik," he smirked.

I moved to the couch deep in thought, Zayn moved on to making french toast. He will be okay. I tried forcing that into my mind over and over again, until my thoughts shifted to the memory of last night. Those remarkable lips on mine, those warm hands all over my body, sending peculiar signals down to my dick...I got all shaky and hot just thinking about it. I am so kissing him when he comes in, and tonight, tonight I'm taking him out on the first date I've always dreamed of...

Anything he wants. I'm gonna give him the world, okay? I don't want that radiant smile ever coming off his lips...

And here he comes. My gorgeous man.

He has his tiny playful smile, lighting up his whole face and making it a dozen times more adorable than it already is. He didn't see me at first and entered the room with his happy swag. His hair was still damp and fuck, he looked so sexy and beautiful, my breath caught in my throat.

I got up from the armchair with a huge happy grin and started for him.

"Good morning, Niall," I said quetly and realized my voice was a little shaky," Again."

Niall's head snapped in my direction and his smile froze, and his countenance softened, and his smile wasn't playful anymore. I was now right in front of him, mirroring his dazed expression. Beginning to tremble, I reached down and took his warm hands in mine.

"Zayn, don't look." I called without moving my eyes from the glorious oceans in Niall's eyes.

"I'm just making my toast, man."

I licked my lips. We brought our faces closer and somewhere along the way I closed my eyes. He kissed me once, twice, three marvelous times, focusing first on my upper lip, then on the lower one, and I responded eagerly, yet calmly. Instinctively, I cupped his face and I felt his hands on my waist. My body tingled, my hands trembled, warmth shot up and down and came to a halt in my cheeks as we parted. You know what absolutely rules? He wore the same astonishingly happy grin as me.

To this day I have the same expression every single time he kisses me. It's crazy.

Breakfast was magnificent. What made very happy was that Niall made an effort and managed to overcome any tension between him and Zayn. And not only that, of course. The boys adressed the events between me and Niall from yesterday and congratulated us on coming together. Louis seemed particularly pleased when we explained what had happened. 

"I think this calls for a very formal night out." Louis grinned.

I smiled at Niall.

"Well, actually...we were thinking of having our first date tonight," I replied, and Niall blushe at his plate when he boys all looked at him, "But we'll definitely have to do that.."

"You cute lovebirds. It's a deal." Lou nodded.

While we were eating, the clouds outside decided to drift apart for unknown to us reasons and although the sky was not by any means clear, the sun was able to touch the ground and make the day more pleasant. We decided we'd go to the beach after all. It might not be appropriate for swimming, but we'd still have a chill day.

I still had to shower, so the boys left without me. I did a full morning work out, and then, for the first time in a week, took good care of my body in the shower. I paid attention to what I was doing and took my time with it, washing my body thoroughly. I even jacked off to the memories of last night and of that fabulous bulge.

Approaching our usual spot at the beach, shirt flapping lightly, I spotted my lovely leprechaun. He was sitting on his towel in his red trunks and grey hoodie, and I wondered how he hasn't drowned in his own effulgence yet. The wind was blowing his hair, his soft blond locks, he was laughing at Harry's pathetic attempt at a sand pyramide collapsing, and the whole sight, of the dazzling boy that was now more than my best friend, brought teras to my eyes, literally. I clenched my sweating palms in fists and then unclenched them, not even trying to wipe that grin off my face. 

"Harry! I'll show ya how to build a fantastic sand castle when you come back!" I called at Harry who was heading to the water to wash his hands, presumably, and then I dropped on the sand next to Niall.

He was beaming at me and I bit on my lip. Fuck, I love him. I threw an arm around him.

"I really wanna kiss you properly right now, you're so absolutely gorgeous," I whispered in his ear after planting a kiss on his cheek. 

He nuzzled my neck for a second and then surprised me by saying quietly.

"I kinda wanna do more than that."

Our day at the beach was just splendid. Louis had remembered to bring the sand tools kit we bought a few days ago, and we built a remarkable sand castle. Oh it was big, well protected by strong defensive walls, with tons of towers and little houses, and shells everywhere. It even had a river running outside the inner walls of the city whenever Zayn decided to pour a bucket of water there. And you know who called? Martha. And you know what she said? We are invited to the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Now, that is something that calls for a formal celebrational dinner!

-

"Casual or formal?" Niall asked, pushing the covers down his body. The sky had cleared and the sun was warming our room even though outside it was still a bit chilly because of the wind. 

"Mm..what would you prefer?" I rolled to face him.

"I'm asking you." he laughed.

"Yeah, but my preferences depend on you."

"I'm thinking more formal. As a first..date, I think it's more appropriate."

"I agree, I was thinking the same. Let's find a fancy place downtown, what do you say?"

"Absolutely. But are you sure it's really what you were thinking?"

"Absolutely."

We lied in comfortable silence, shaking sleep off of our bodies.

"But it shouldn't feel awkward," I said finally, "As first dates sometimes do, I mean."

What was trying to say is that, hey, it's still us, it's still me, and it's still him. Only we're kind of together right now. And the fact that we're calling this a date shouldn't bring some sort of unnecessary seriousness to the experience. Only, I couldn't quite explain it.

But he understood.

-

We were standing side by side in front of the wardrobe, him in front of his half, me in ffront of mine. 

"I don't know." I said finally.

"Well, I love it when you look like a cowboy," he offered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..." I could see him blushing slightly. 

"I love it when you wear cardigan."

"You do?"

"I absolutely do."

"Alright then."

"Alright."

I took my time picking out a good plaid shirt and finally chose a dark green one. tucking it into the right navajowhite pants and combining them with good shoes, I was smokin hot, or so I hoped. I turned around just in time to see my boy entering the room, buttoning the last few buttons of his grey cardigan. 

I let out a silent gasp. How can someone be this gorgeous? I can't wrap my mind around it. Underneath that fit cardigan, he had that amazing dark blue button up shit I love so much. His pants were a much lighter grey, and his hair was carefully styled. Oh, he was dashing.

I took a few steps towards him.

"You look..." then I stopped and cleared my throat and took his hand in mine, "I would like to point out that you are stunning."

I could seem him swallowing and blushing lightly. Then he mirrored my smile. I started leaning in, and he did too, but then he abruptly pulled away.

"No, wait. It's our first date after all, I'm not sure if I want to kiss you yet." he said and turned away, staring off into the wall dramatically.

"Go then," I shoved him out the door and followed.

- 

We chose a fancy Italian restaurant, and I insisted on driving us there. The whole night was on me, after all, I'm treating my man. The restaurant was luxurious, but the whole atmosphere was light and friendly, something which particularly impressed me. The food was exceptional as well. We enjoyed the excellent pasta in various meals, and marveled the the taste of the garlic bread. I didn't really want to drink, but allowed myself a glass of wine, just like Niall. They were playing soft music and the waiters had deliberately funny red vests on.

Even though there were a few minor uncomfortable moments, which were probably a product of my light nervousness, my first date with Niall Horan was marvelous. It was pretty much like every other evening we've spent together, except this time he looked perfect for me, this time we were absolutely free (well, almost there) in our words and gestures. We talked about everything we usually talk about, including our plans for the rest of the new album vand the wrold tour. We talked about us too. I learned that he is still not sure about what he wants and that he feels anxious when thinking about what may be, but that he's willing to take some risks because he's feeling very happy with me. What really warmed my heart was that Niall seemed comfortable talking about this. His smile was a carefree one. I even took the liberty to take his hand in mine across the table, and he responded happily. 

My boy accepted the fact that I was paying tonight calmly and said that our second date would be all on him, planning and all. It took me a while to realize he had said `second date'. When I asked him about it, he grinned and said he would definitely like to think of our evenings out as dates. 

Dates, dating...I think that's what we're doing now. But that's also quite far from my dreams about us. Boyfriends, partners...that implies something else.

We walked around town a bit, looking at the now closed shops and enjoying the other's presence. I only wished I could hold his hand, but then again, that's not really necessary. We're perfectly aware of our feelings for each other even without that. It had begun warming up, but the wind still made the night a surprisingly cold one. Good think we weren't wearing shorts. 

The only thing that was a slight bummer for the evening was the weird man who kept snapping photos of us, but oh well, it was inevitable. The fans would enjoy seeing us together. I bet it wouldn't be that much of a shock for them if and when we go public. Oh, man, I hope we do go public one day..

Back at the house, we watched TV for a while and then decided to crash, the others wouldn't be home soon. Niall was in bed already, going through the channels, while I brushed my teeth. 

"Liam! Come fast!" he called when I was on my second minute of methodically moving the toothbrush around. 

I emerged from the bathroom, trying not to get any toothpaste on the floor. Niall was grinning at me, and on the TV Katy Perry was making out with some dude in her underwear, singing our song. Yeah, I've come to think of it as our song. I held up a finger and quickly walked to the bathroom.

"Come on, there isn't much of the song left!" 

I made a cow like sound in response and quickly finished what I was doing. I ran back into the room and jumped him directly. We were smiling big time. I leaned in just as Katy was starting the chorus again, and I mentally sang it to Niall because you make me feel like im living the teenage dream, the way you turn me on...

I lost track of time. Our loving kisses turned into heavy, hot, stll loving, making out, and I took note of how different it was in comparison to my night with Zayn. This is the real thing, this is love. We rolled around and at some point I started sweating, feeling his hot body on or under mine, and his suddenly bold hands all over me. We ground our crotches together through our boxers. I was even more turned on then I was with Zayn because this is Niall. He moaned godly moans in my ear and squeezed my ass while I nipped on his neck, and then found his lips again, and he held me tightly then, we came together, we we we, us us us..