We Took A Chance

"Will I see you again tonight?" Niall turns to me after pulling into a parking space in front of the UCL halls. Despite his sleepy eyes, he was very willing to get up early this morning to drop me off.
"I don't know. Do you want to see me?" I ask tucking my hair behind me ear.
"I always do." He assures me lightly stroking my cheek with his thumb, making a smile form on my lips.
"But I'll have to do homework at some point ok?" As much as I love lounging around with Niall, school is still my number one priority.
"Of course. I won't get in the way, I promise! Pick you up same time as yesterday?"
"Ok. I have to get going now. I still need to shower and change."
"Then maybe today you can bring some clothes?" he asks giving me puppy dog eyes.
"You want me to stay the night again?"
"Yes, please." he scans my face for a reaction and I just smile in return.
"Ok, I will." I lean over the console and give him a kiss before going for the door handle.
"Zoe.." Niall stops me, something clearly on his mind. I wait for him to continue and can see him sigh before saying, "I... hope you have a lovely day."

-.-.-

*flash forward 2 weeks*

The past two weeks have been super busy both at work and school. I've been working religiously on my paper every afternoon, but it's been hard to fully concentrate when Niall is close by. I've been spending the night at his place often the past 2 weeks per his request but I honestly don't mind one bit. I love to spend time with Niall and it's exciting that he seems to be feeling the same. The way I've let my guard down about him surprises even me. I don't know what it is about Niall but I'm the happiest I've ever been.

I rummage through the small closet in our room and find a large enough bag to fit a change of clothes to take to Niall's tonight. As I'm stuffing my jeans in the overnight bag, my phone starts to ring. I figure it can't be Niall as I still have over an hour until he picks me up. When I reach for my phone, I'm surprised to see it's Leah. I have been a terrible friend and have hardly had the chance to talk to her. The time difference is a big factor but I do miss her. I haven't even had a chance to tell her about Niall.

"Hello?" I answer as I bring the phone to my ear.

'Well, well, look who's alive!' she says, classic Leah jokes.

"Leah! I'm sorry we haven't talked in so long. I miss you." I say sitting at the edge of my bed.

'Well, guess what?' she says enthusiastically.

"What?" I wonder as I fold up a shirt to stick in my bag.

'I'm in London...' she says making my eyes bulge.

"What?!" I exclaim standing up from the bed in excitement.

'Yes! I came to visit you loser!' she yells into the phone, a huge smile on my face.

"Where are you staying?" I ask wanting to rush to her.

'At the Ibis hotel on Cardington.' she says and I know exactly where that is.

"You're kidding? That's a few blocks away from UCL! I'm coming over, what room number?" I say excitedly.

'Yay! It's 315, I can't wait to see you!'

I go immediately to my purse and run out the door eager to meet up with my best friend. I head East on my street which eventually turns into Melton St and then Cardington St a few blocks away. I feel relief when the Ibis hotel comes into view. Like most days, the sky was threatening to produce rain and I didn't want to be caught in the middle of a storm. I walk into the lobby and head to the elevators where I press the the 3rd floor button. Before I know it, I'm standing in front of my best friends room knocking on her door.

"Zoe!" She yells as soon as she opens the door and continues to embrace me tightly.
"I've missed you! Can't believe you're in London!" I chirped, very happy so see a familiar face.
"First, come in, then we'll talk!" she instructed ushering us inside her room.

I take a seat on one of the love seats and Leah follows right behind sitting across the small coffee table in front of me.

"Ok so tell me now, why are you in London?" I questions scanning the possible reasons but coming up blank.
"I came to visit you, silly!" she said like it was the most obvious answer before continuing, "Well, that and I'm here with Tom. He's in talks about opening one of his bars here and I just happened to tag along like the good cousin I am."
"That's so great for Tom! I'm guessing his bar back home is doing great?" I wonder but knowing that of course the bar would be a huge success.
"Yes! He chose the best location ever with all the college students and what not. So tell me what have you been up to?" she chimes, her attentive eyes set on me. I wonder if I should tell her about Niall.
"School, school, and more school. But I love it here, Leah. I love it here so much. This is my home, I don't think I ever want to leave." I start and soon we're deep into conversation about everything and anything.

It seems like I had forgotten how fast time flies when I'm talking to Leah. I didn't want to say goodbye, but I had 10 minutes to get to my dorm room until Niall showed up.

"Leah, I have to go." I say standing up from my seat.
"What? No! You stay right here, missy! We have so much more to talk about." She pulls on my hand and makes me sit down again.
"Leah, there's something I have to tell you." I confess hoping she'll understand.
"What is it? Are you dying? Are you a druggie now? Oh my god, you're PREGNANT?!" she jokes making me laugh.
"No, Leah! Ok, well, you know how I told you that I ran into your cousin Niall here..." I begin and can see her eyes instantly try to pop out of her head, "Well, he's my boyfriend now." I look for her response but instead I'm in front of a screaming Leah. She's screaming in joy and dancing around.
"No fucking way! I knew it! I knew it from the first day you met. Oh my god now you're my cousin Zoe!!" she sounds way more excited than I thought she would.
"Leah! I didn't know you'd be this happy." I say surprised at her reaction.
"Zoe, I'm beyond excited!! Is this why you have to go?" she asks settling down a bit.
"Yeah, he's picking me up in like," I pick up my phone and check the time, "5 minutes!"
"Well, then go! Text me later, cus." she shoos me out the door and makes me laugh at calling me "cus".

I'm basically speed walking along the busy London streets in hopes to make it to my room on time. Unfortunately, my phone beeps with a text message when I still have a couple of blocks to go. I check it and confirm my suspicions that it's Niall.

Niall: I'm outside, darling.
Zoe: On my way.

I then start to run towards the building and can see Niall leaning against his car parked out in front. I'm out of breath as I approach him, a confused look on his face.

"Zoe, where are you coming from? Your cheeks are all flushed." he states coming forward to place his hands on my upper arms.
"Long story. Let me just go upstairs to grab my bag." he nods and I make my way upstairs.

Back at Niall's place, Niall decides to ask me again about earlier.

"So, are you going to tell me where you were coming from?" he asks taking off his running shoes and socks tossing them to one side of the door.
"You're not going to believe this! Leah is in London!" I say following his actions and taking off my flats.
"Leah my cousin?"
"Yeah! She called me and I went to see her. Her hotel is not far from the halls and I just missed her so much." I say walking to the bedroom door and placing my overnight bag just inside the door. Niall is leaning against the sofa, his hand grasping his bottom lip.
"If you want to spend some time with her, I won't be opposed. You don't have to stay here tonight." he announced, a slight frown appeared on his lips.
"What? No! I can hang out with her tomorrow after work. Right now I just want to spend some time with my amazing boyfriend." I assure him moving forward to wrap my arms around his neck and placing a lingering kiss on the dip of his upper lip.

Notes

How was everyone's weekend?