Abbey's POV

The first thing I saw as I walked into the lobby of the hotel was the blonde boy I'd come to know over the past few days. He stood at the food counter, of course, turned toward the cashier and away from me. I rolled my eyes as I watched him flirt with the pretty blonde employee. Quietly, I walked over to him, jumping on his back when he least expected it.

"Boo!" I giggled as he jumped in surprise. He laughed too, and I jumped back to the floor. I noticed blondie- or Dani, according to her name tag- looked not only confused, but also angry. "Don't worry," I assured her, "He's my brother. Cute, isn't he?" They both blushed slightly. "Oh, don't be embarrassed on my account. Please, continue the flirting." I encouraged, grabbing Niall's smoothie, and walking off.

"Hey!" He ran after me, "That's mine!" It took him only a couple seconds to catch up to me, and when he did, he circled his arms around me and lifted me up. "Gotcha, you little liar! We aren't siblings."

"We act like siblings." I smiled, taking his smoothie again and sipping it as he set me in a booth. He slid in beside me and stole his cup back.

"Maybe." He shrugged.

"I have a date with Luke tonight." I informed him.

"Yeah? You excited? Is he getting lucky?" Niall waggled his eyebrows up and down.

"Shut up," I laughed, kicking his leg under the table. "You should come."

"You want me to willingly go as a third wheel, with a guy who probably hates me? No thanks."

"You wouldn't be a third wheel. Make it a double date."

"But I'm a single Pringle." He shrugged. I laughed at his phrase, and playfully rolled my eyes.

"Ask Dani." I told him.

"Smoothie girl? Nah."

"How come?"

"Not my type."

"Oh, so you have a type?" I accused, resituating myself in the booth so my back was pressed against the wall and my legs were laying across Niall's lap. His knee stopped bouncing.

"Maybe." He smirked. "Maybe not. What's it to you?"

"Nothing. I'm just curious. What's your type?"

"That's classified information."

"So Dani's not your type. What about her?" I nodded over to a girl who was giving him googly eyes a couple tables away. She was obviously a fan because when Niall smiled at her she practically had a heart attack.

"She's cute. But still not my type."

"Hmm..." I looked around the small cafe for another victim. "What about the ginger at the check in desk? She's pretty."

"Yeah, she is. Still not my type though."

"I'm beginning to think you're gay, Nialler."

"Oh, trust me. I'm not gay." He assured me.

"Sometimes I wonder." I joked. "You and Liam are awfully close, if you know what I mean." I winked. "Josh too. Niall Devine. That'd be cute."

"Ha!" He snorted. "Very funny." He placed his hand on my leg and rubbed around my knee and down my calf. "Your legs are soft." He smiled, and it was my turn to laugh.

"Of course they are. I'm a girl, remember?"

Niall's POV

"Of course they are. I'm a girl, remember?" She laughed as she looked up at me. My eyes met hers, and the simple, friendly, innocent situation changed suddenly. Yes, I've known that Abbey was beautiful since the second I saw her. But we got to know each other as friends, and that's all we were. I didn't feel anything else and neither did she. In that second though, I saw a flash of how things could have been.

What if Luke never apologized? What if I kissed her at the chocolate factory? Maybe I'd be rubbing her thigh right now rather than her knee. Maybe she'd be going on a date with me tonight instead of him. Maybe I could've told her that she's my type, no matter how pretty any other girl was.

So that one second of eye contact, her one smile, that one instant changed every memory I've had with her. Now I saw it. Now I understood. Every time I'd thought we were just laughing as friends, we were flirting. My feelings for her were building up. Now I realized why I'd always imagined doing everything with her. Why Liam always made fun of me when I brought her up. He knew. He saw the signs. Why didn't he tell me?

That's not what Abbey and I were. It's not what we were supposed to be. We were friends. And oddly enough, I was okay with that. She was happy with Luke, and I was happy being her friend. Why would I mess that up?

"Niall? You okay?" She asked, pulling me out of my mind. I just smiled comfortingly and leaned forward to kiss her nose.

"Sure thing, Jelly Bean." I said and ruffled her smooth brown hair. She gave me her dimpled smile and stole my smoothie again.