It was almost time for my dinner with Niall and I was beyond anxious. Good anxious because of the idea of spending time with him cooking and having fun together. Bad anxious because I was afraid of how Cody would react and how they would behave around each other when Niall arrived. Cody had spent the morning apologizing about his behavior last night and reassuring me that he would be fine by himself. I knew him too well to know that was true. Either way I pushed those thoughts aside and began getting ready for dinner together with Niall.

I decided on a black skirt with a cutout pattern at the bottom and a shirt with flowers on it. Lots of little flowers of all different colors. I took some strands of my hair from the front and held them back with a bow. The black of it matched my skirt but contrasted with the light brown of my hair. Normally I wasn't into things as girly as this but it was just so cute. I tucked my shirt into my skirt, put on some Toms that matched my shirt, and headed down the stairs.

As I made my way into the living room I saw Cody sitting back on the couch skipping through the channels on the TV. I frowned a little to myself. All he seemed to do was watch TV and while that was all good and dandy you'd think he put just a little more effort into finding a flat or something. Then again, he was going out to look for one today. Then again, it was only because Niall was coming over. I huffed a little to myself catching his attention. When he saw me Cody's eyes went a little wide.

"You look nice" he said in a quiet voice as I sat next to him

"You look surprised" I replied. I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or hurt. Was it that surprising that I would look nice?

"Didn't expect the flowers" he grinned and turned back to the TV. I sighed

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Not really," he admitted, "but you want to have dinner so I'll have to be"

"Sorry" I said and looked down. I was sorry.

"I was kidding," he lied. "It's okay, really"

"Okay" I sighed but I knew he was just saying that for my benefit. Not too long after that the doorbell rang and I got up to answer it. Niall was standing on the other side of it, waving his driver goodbye. "Hi"

"Hey" he said turning around. When he saw me his eyes widened too. Was it really that surprising that I would look nice? Or was it that I was wearing something girly? He stepped inside and Cody got up from the couch

"I guess I better go" he sighed as he walked towards us. I saw Niall smile at his words. Cody noticed too and leered at him.

"What time will you be back?" I handed him his Chocolate hoodie and he gently took it from my hands

"Dunno. Call me when you decide to kick him out" he smiled and I nodded. Cody kissed me on the cheek before walking out the door. "I'll see you tonight"

We smiled one last time and he left, closing the door behind him. Well more like slamming it, but not too hard.

"So what's for dinner?" Niall asked lightheartedly and I smiled.

"I don't know yet" I admitted and walked to the kitchen. Niall followed

In the end I decided on grilled chicken, some spaghetti, and baked potatoes. It was simple but I knew how to make it well. I took the ingredients out and set them on the counter. Niall was happy looking at what I, well we, would be making. He loved chicken. I put him in charge of making the spaghetti as I dealt with the chicken, potatoes, and sauce for his spaghetti.

"Umm, how do I cook this?" Niall asked holding the uncooked noodles in one hand and the pan in the other.

"You heat up water, then put the noodles in…" I said trying very hard not to laugh.

"Oh" he answered and went on to trying to cook it. As simple as that recipe was Niall was somehow still able to get it wrong. He didn't wait for the water to boil and tried to force the noodles into the pan. I had to explain to him at least three times that the reason that they kept breaking was because the water was still not hot enough to make them bend

I tried not to treat him too much like a child and left him to do his own thing while I did mine. The chicken was done and I pulled that, along with the potatoes out of the oven. I cut them into little squares and sliced the chicken before putting some on each of the two plates. I put the rest on a bigger one since Niall would obviously want seconds. It looked pretty. Now all I needed was the spaghetti

"Ow!" Niall screamed. He had been reaching into the bowl of hot noodles

"I warned you not do that" I sighed as I took hold of his wounded hand in mine

"But it looked so good" he pouted. I pulled him to sink and ran the cool water over it. Good thing he had at least waited until the spaghetti cooled a little or he would've been seriously burned.

"Next time listen to me" I scolded and he looked down nodding. "Come on, let's go eat." He smiled, already forgetting his injury. I finished setting the plates and we started eating

The food turned out better than I had expected. Since Niall had always had a habit sticking his hand in the food before it was completely finished it usually ended up lacking. But this time it had turned out perfect. We smiled at each other as we both were having the same though. But unlike Niall I was also thinking about Cody. The sun was setting outside and I didn't like the idea of him being out after dark by himself. It's not that I was worried about his safety so much as I was worried that he would get into trouble or hurt someone. Maybe both…

"I think I did a good job here" Niall commented taking another bite of his meal, distracting me from my thoughts.

"You did a good job?" I laughed. After we finished our food and put all the dishes away Niall and I sat on the couch and talked. We turned on the TV and watched the first thing that looked the slightest bit interesting. It wasn't like we were paying much attention to it anyway. Instead we were paying attention to each other. It was relaxing spending this time with him. Niall could always make me smile and that was one of the things I loved most about him. One of the things that made me fall in love with him. Just as the show ended Niall started to talk

"You know what we should do now?" he said excitedly. "Make a cake"

"What's with you and pastries?" I laughed and reached for the remote, absentmindedly skipping through the channels. The action reminded me of Cody. It was darker now but still not quite night. I was a little surprised he hadn't at least texted me by now but I guess he just didn't want to interrupt. Still, I worried for him

"Because you make good pastries" he grinned next to me. "Especially cakes. We should make one!"

"Alright" I giggled giving in. He clapped his hands together happily and we made our way to the kitchen. Niall bounced impatiently as I started getting the ingredients out. Except… "Uh oh"

"What?" he asked. He stopped bouncing and frowned at my expression

"We don't have enough ingredients to make a cake"

"What?" he whined. He pouted but there wasn't anything I could do about it. "Can't you just replace it with something else? Your mum does that sometimes"

"Niall" I sighed. He was such a child sometimes. "First of all my mother was a professional chef, I'm not. And secondly, unless you know of a way I can make a cake with no flour, no eggs, and no baking powder you're out of luck."

"But I wanted cake" he moped and crossed his arms. I laughed at the gesture I had made myself quite a few times. He gave me a fake frown and I laughed harder

"Well if you really want some that badly I could go buy the ingredients at this mini mart that's close to here." His face lit up at my words

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not. It's only a couple of blocks away"

"Alright let's go!" he shrieked almost dragging me out the door. I smiled but pulled back. He stumbled forward a little at the loss of weight but stood back straight without a problem. "What is it?"

"I don't think you should go out"

"Why not? You said we could go buy the stuff for the cake" he frowned

"No, I said that I could go buy them. You should wait here. If someone recognized you it could turn into some big scandal or something. Are you willing to go through all that for cake?"

"It's like you don't even know me" he teased but nodded. "Are you sure? It's kind of dark outside now"

"It's not so bad, and I told you it's only a couple of blocks away. I won't be gone long" I promised. He nodded but didn't look too sure. I grabbed my keys and rushed to the door before he could argue more. I told him I'd be right back before closing it behind me making my way down the street. The night air felt a little frosty against my skin but it wasn't too bad. I sped my pace anyway and turned the corner towards the store