The rest of the first week sort of passed in no time. After the concerts I'd crash in my hotel room and talk to Ashley unless she was hanging out with the boys. Other times I'd talk on the phone with my sister or Lindsey.

Saturday came a bit too fast though.

"Having to do this two times in one week is really tolling." I mumbled as I pulled up to the airport, Ashley in the passenger seat.

"Gosh, Alex. I'm going to miss your constant complaining." Ashley grinned and I hit her shoulder.

"Be nice." I laughed.

I got out of the car, pulling one of her suitcases along.

"Seeya kiddo." I hugged her.

"Bye." she said back.

"Don't get into any trouble." she reminded.

"Me? Trouble? We're not exactly constant companions, Ash." I grinned.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, but I saw the smile on her face.

"Whatever. Call me soon!" she raised her eyebrows and with that she was gone.

I got back into the car and started up the engine right as my phone began to ring.

I sighed. "Who could possibly be calling now?"

"Hello?" I answered grumpily once I had located my phone and managed to find my way out of the airport.

"Um, hi?" an Irish voice said hesitantly

"Oh, hi. Sorry." I mumbled.

"It's okay. Are you alright? You sound kind of-"

"I just took Ashley to the airport." I sighed again.

"Oh. Well, Harry and I are at our new hotel, if you wanted to come by. Maybe we could cheer you up a bit."

I rolled the idea over in my head. "Hmm, okay."

"Alright, I'll see you soon. I'll have Harry text you the address."

I knocked on their door and Niall opened it a minute later.

"You look nice." he grinned at me.

I looked down at my orange button up shirt, the cuffs rolled up to tee-shirt length, and dark jean capris with white sneakers.

"Thanks?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "You do too." And he really did. He was wearing khaki shorts and a fitted light blue tee shirt. His hair was a little messed up and his smile was about to kill me on the spot.

"Thank you." he raised his eyebrows back and led me inside.

"Alex!" Harry tackled me as soon as I walked in.

"Harry!" I grinned.

Okay, so coming over was a good idea. I didn't feel half as bad anymore.

"I think they have a TV in the living room." Harry said, leading to the living room.

"Yup. And look you have a Wii!" I grinned, attacking the box of games that sat beside the controller.

"Look! They have Mario Kart!" A huge grin flashed across my face.

"So?" Niall asked, walking into the room and sitting next to Harry on the beige couch.

"So?" I asked back. "Uh, Mario Kart's like the best game in the whole world." I rolled my eyes.

"So, I'm guessing you want to play it." Harry grinned.

"Nice work, Sherlock." I laughed and grabbed three controllers.

It turns out that that Harry and Niall pretty much sucked at Mario Kart.

Well, Niall got better as we played different courses, but Harry kept coming in dead last each time. It was rather ironic because he was the one guy in the band that knew how to drive.

"Wow, look at that. I got first again." I teased.

"No need to brag." Harry glared at me.

"It's not bragging if it's true." Niall said.

"Thank you, Niall." I glared right back at Harry, but couldn't hold it more than two seconds before I started laughing.

"But you know, Alex, I am going to eventually beat you." Niall gave me a really serious look.

"Oh please." I grinned at him.

"I got in fourth that time." he pouted.

A sharp knock came from the door.

"Whatever." I laughed. "I'm paying for this."

I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and ran for the door.

"I've got it." Niall yelled, still in the living room.

I shuffled up to the door and yanked it open.

"Surprise! Hey, you're not Niall." an unfamiliar face sneered at me.

The girl that stood in front of me was not holding a freshly baked pizza, and even if she was, I'm not sure how far she'd get with that attitude.

Her blonde hair was somewhere between shoulder length and chin length and was a bit layered, filled with brown highlights. She had bright green eyes and a really rich tan and she was dressed in black short-shorts and a pink Hollister top over a white cami. Her accent was as Irish as Niall's but her face held displeasure and annoyance as she scanned me over.

"No, he's uh," I began.

"Alex, if you already payed I'm going to-" Niall bounded up to where I stood and put his hand on my shoulder, while my hand remained numb on the doorknob.

"Meghan?" he cocked his head to the side.

The girl's sneer instantly disappeared and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Niall! Hi!"

She pushed her away around me and gave him a huge hug.

"Um, I'll be right back. I left my phone in my car." I said, looking at the suddenly interesting tan carpeting and scooting out the door and down the hall.

The truth was that my phone was in my back pocket, but I felt like I was going to-

"Ashley?" I said into the phone, as I stood in the hotel parking lot. "I know you're probably still on the plane, but it's just. Well, um, just call me back when you get this."

The next person I dialed was Lindsey.

Hi, sorry I can't get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

"Lindsey, it's me. Listen, I know you're at school, so just call me back when you get a chance. It's about Niall. Well, it's sort of about Niall. Anyways, I could just use someone to talk to." I sighed. "I guess I'll have to settle for Harry until your school's done for the day. Not that he's that bad of a listener. Okay, love you darling. Don't watch Doctor Who without me." I mumbled some of our inside jokes into the speaker and hung up.

I slowly made my way back up to the apartment. When I walked into the living room I noticed that Harry had switched couches and the girl, Meghan, had chosen to sit next to Niall. Extremely close to Niall, actually.

"You okay?" Harry whispered as I sat down. I nodded and gave a small smile. Who knows? Maybe this girl wasn't as bad as I was imagining she'd be.

"So, Alex, huh?" Meghan asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Yep. That's me." I said.

"And you're touring with these lads?" she asked, looking particularly bored.

I nodded. "The tour started about a week ago and-"

"Well, I'm sure you'll have a ton of luck with that."

"Yeah." I leaned back and glanced at Harry out of the corner of my eye. He looked like the second most likely person in the room to shoot this chick.

I didn't even dare to look at Niall.

A knock at the door spared me from another pointless conversation.

I walked to the door and opened it up.

"Pizza?" the guy asked, his eyes tired and bored.

"Yep, that's us." I handed over the money and brought the pizza into the tiny kitchen.

"Hey, do you need help?" Niall said behind me.

"It's just pizza." I said, taking great to not to look at him as I walked by with a slice in my hand.

He grabbed my wrist and stopped me though.

"It's nothing." He whispered as pushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

His hand stayed where it was for a few more seconds, long enough for Meghan to catch a glimpse as she walked into the kitchen.

I walked back into the living room, passing Harry on the way. I picked up the controllers that were on the couches and put them by the box of games. As I stood up and turned around, I found myself face to face with Meghan.

"Listen, I came here for one reason." she hissed.

"I don't know what you mean." I mumbled.

"You should watch where you step, and keep your distance from Niall." She took the piece of pizza on her place and smeared it down my shirt, leaving a trail of sauce and grease.

I stared at her wordlessly and she put the pizza back on her plate right as Harry walked in.

"What on earth happened to you?"

Niall walked in after him, wearing the same shocked expression as Harry.

"I just, dropped my pizza." I said, feeling like an idiot. "Um, is there a bathroom?" I asked.

"Come on." Harry sighed and lead me to the bathroom off his room.

He tossed me a gray shirt and gave me a knowing look. "So, what really happened?"

"She just, well, smeared her pizza on my shirt." I said, holding his soft shirt in my hands.

"Go change and then you can explain everything."

I did as he said and changed in the bathroom.

When I got out of the bathroom Harry was sitting on the bed.

He patted the seat beside him.

"So, she threw pizza at you?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Yes." I nodded slowly and all of a sudden I started laughing.

"Are you okay?" Harry giggled.

"Yes, I'm-" my laughter died down. "Well, I'm.."

He looked at me for an answer.

"Not really fine, I guess." I sighed and flopped back onto one of the pillows.

"Is it the pizza thing or...?"

"No, it's just that she said.. Well, she said to stay away from Niall and, well, I mean.." I fumbled for the right words.

"You like him." Harry said bluntly.

"Yes." I let out what seemed to be the hundredth sigh that day.

"You should tell him." He said.

"But what if he had a thing with this girl? I should at least give her today with him, and I doubt he likes me back anyway."

"Are you kidding me?" Harry hit me lightly in the side of the head with a pillow.

"He talks about you all the bloody time."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah right." I giggled.

"It's true." Harry grinned at me and stood up, offering his hand to help me up.

"Whatever." I smiled. "Well, how do I look?" I peered in the mirror, admiring the fact that the light gray made me look a bit tanner.

"Like me." Harry said.

"Oh dear. I need to find a new shirt as soon as possible." I teased.

We walked back into the living room as Meghan was going over why she'd come to visit.

"Anyways, I was talking to your mum and she said you'd asked how I was doing and I thought I'd come and tell you how wonderful I am. Especially after I saw you today." She gushed.

Oh gosh, I thought I was going to vomit after every word.

"Oh, you're back." Meghan looked at Harry and I. "I guess you guys are a couple, hmm?"

"Oh no. I rather fancy her friend." Harry said calmly. "She's more into blondes anyways."

I would kill that boy someday.

"Oh, really?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "Well, I was just telling Niall how I think we'd make the perfect couple."

Harry leaned in and looked Meghan right in the eye. "I've always sort of fancied Niall going out with Alex."

He was a dead man.

Niall and I looked at each other and then he smiled. The stupid boy smiled at me. What?

"I don't see it." Meghan said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No? Maybe it's just me." Harry leaned back against the sofa. "It's just that they're always holding hands when they think we're not looking and giving each other these meaningful looks."

Oh jeez.

I studied my fingernails carefully as I waited for a bomb to go off.

A few moments of silence drifted by and I couldn't stand it any longer.

"I'm going to get a glass of water." I stood up and made my way into the kitchen.

I rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out a glass cup and filled it at the sink. I set it down on the table and pulled out my phone to check for any messages from Lindsey or Ashley.

"You think you're so clever, don't you?" Meghan snatched my phone out of my hands.

"I swear, I didn't tell him to say any of that stuff." I said, watching as she tapped my phone against the counter.

"What do I need to do to make you see that Niall's mine?" she held my phone over the glass of water.

"No, please don't." I said. I admit, I had a small obsession with my phone.

"Is that Alex's phone?" Niall asked from the doorway.

"What?" Meghan jumped, her cheeks turning bright red. "No, it's mine."

"No, that's Alex's." Niall said, carefully taking the phone from her.

"See, all the texts I send her." He scrolled through the messages under his name.

"I was just looking at it-" Meghan began.

"Over a glass of water?" He asked, handing me my phone.

"I, um, I.."

"I think you should go." Niall said slowly.

"But I came to visit you." She said in a small voice.

"And that was very thoughtful of you, but I really think you should go now. Alex and I are scheduled to secretly hold hands in five minutes." Niall elbowed me and grinned.

Meghan looked like she was going to break down on the spot.

"Harry, would you mind walking Meghan down to the lobby?" Niall called out.

"Don't bother." She huffed and walked out, careful to slam the door behind her.

"I told you it was nothing." Niall smiled at me.

I felt like crying. And then I did.

"What? Why are you-?" Niall looked really confused as he pulled me into a hug.

He seemed even more confused when I started giggling and hiccuping at the same time.

"You're really weird." He kissed me on the top of my head.

I grinned shyly as he let go and stared at me.

"Really weird in a good way though." He grinned back and looped his hand in mine.

"Hazza, don't look at us! We're holding hands while you're not looking!" He giggled.

As I'd say on tumblr - #holy good mother of everything that is real and true

WHAT EVEN LIKE HAPPENED? Who typed this because it was certainly not I. Anywaysss, lovely chapter for me to write and I feel like the ending was just mvomgohmoamfoiewmcos fangirl feels.

So, yeah. Um, I liked writing this chapter because Alex and Harry really bonded as friends and such and then there was the fun character of Meghan to write in :)

Hope you enjoyed!

xoxo

Alex