Brielle's P.O.V.
It had been a few couple weeks since I had barged in on Niall, but now, weirdly, we were friends. That night, when I met all the boys, I ended up staying over. At first, we just talked, getting to know each other. Then, we watched movies. I was still on Niall’s lap so during the first movie I started getting twitchy. It must have been really uncomfortable for him, he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, all he did was loosen his grip so I wouldn’t be tugging on his arms so much. The guys all fell asleep around three, and I feel asleep at 4:00. The next morning, I went home. I ended up coming right back that afternoon. Sometime that night, I had gotten all of the boys’ numbers and I texted Niall. Since then, I’d been over almost every day, trying to escape my mom.  She was being an annoying parent, so I just wanted to be out of the house. Niall had his door open all the time and he enjoyed my being over, so I usually just stayed there.

On Addie- she and that Cameron guy are now dating. She called me two days after the club, all excited because he asked her out on a date. Then, four days after that, she came over and squealed about her new boyfriend. I’m happy for her. She told me to hook up with Niall, but I just laughed her off and told her to go make out with Cameron.

Now, I stood in my room, bored as hell. My mom was being even more evil that usual, so I pulled out my phone and texted Niall.

Hey, can I come over?

He texted back within five minutes. Yeah sure the boys are over too.

I grabbed my converse and bag and walked out the door. Niall only lived about ten minutes from me, so I usually just walked. When I got there, the door blasted open and Louis came running at me. He hid behind my back.

“Hi Louis,” I said neutrally.

“Hi Bri,” he said, as if he always greeted me by hiding behind my back.

“What are you doing?” I asked, and then rephrased my question. “What did you do?”

“I may or may not have locked Niall in the closet. Liam let him out, and now he’s trying to kill me cause when he was in there I teased him about you,” Louis said, peering over my shoulder.

I sighed. “Louis, you do realize that 1, your taller than me, 2 locking Niall in a closet wasn’t funny and 3, teasing him about a girl is not cool?”

Louis looked at me. “But he totally fancies you, and he won’t ask you out.”

“We’re just friends, Lou,” I said.

“Yeah, “friends,’” Louis said, putting quotes around the word.

I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed his ear. Ignoring his many ow’s and let go’s I dragged him into the house. Once I got in the main hall, I shouted, “Niall! I got him!”

Louis’ eyes widened and he squirmed, trying to get free. “Bloody hell, woman! Let me go!”

Niall appeared at the end of the hallway and lunged for Louis. I let go once Niall was close enough. Leaving the two to their little fight, I strolled into the living room.

“Hey guys,” I said, collapsing into my chair.

“Hey,” they all said.

After Louis and Niall got back in the room, I leaned back in my chair. “Let’s do something today.”

All of the guys looked at me in disbelief. I thought about what I said then laughed. “Not like that you perverts! I meant like, a movie, or something.”

Louis and Harry exchanged glances. “Paintball!” they yelled together.

“Yes!” I said, jumping up. “Let’s do it!”

The boys looked at me. “You want to do paintball?” Zayn asked incredulously.

I nodded like they were crazy. “Um, yeah, it’s super fun!”

“That,” Harry said, “Is incredibly hot.”

I suddenly felt self-conscious and sat down again. “Are we going or what?”

We quickly found a paintball place and ran to get our stuff.   

Once there, we had to put on these protective vests because paintballs hurt like hell. We grabbed our guns and loaded up. Even though there were six of us, we weren’t on teams. Louis threw a fit about it. Since we were the only ones there, we had rules- you get hit, you’re out.

We charged into the play area and I quickly ducked away from the guys. As I moved, I looked around. The place had an upper balcony, and little walls that glowed in spots from neon paint. I hid in a corner and watched.

I heard Liam yell, so I assumed that he was out.  I started to move and saw Harry creeping along a wall. I raised my gun. I shot twice- he got his on the shoulder and his back. He turned around looking for whoever shot him, but I was already gone. I started running, and as I rounded a corner, I ran smack into Niall.

We fell backwards, and he landed on top of me. Our noses were only a couple inches apart.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hi,” he whispered back, his minty breath washing over my face.

We stayed there for a while, until I heard Zayn shout “Shit!”

I pushed Niall off me and ran, turning as quickly as possible so he couldn’t shoot me. I headed for the ramp and went up. When I found a perfect spot, I quickly went there. It overlooked the whole lower part, and no one could shoot me from the sides. 

I couldn’t see anyone. All of a sudden, I heard Louis yell, “Bloody hell!” and I knew that it was down to me and Niall.

I watched the ground when I saw Niall creeping around a corner. I raised my gun and took careful aim. The paintball flew right over Niall’s shoulder. He turned around and grinned at me. I waved and he waved back. Then, Niall shot a paintball at me. I ducked and it flew over my head, dropping some paint on my head. I groaned as I touched my head, feeling the sticky paint clot my hair together.

I stood up cautiously and looked over the edge. Niall was gone. I looked around frantically until I spotted him climbing the stairs. He couldn’t see me, but I could see him. I shot a paintball off to his left. He stopped dead and looked around. I giggled to myself as I saw his fear.

“Brielle,” he called. “Come out come out wherever you are.”

I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from giggling. I raised my gun and took aim. Since I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t aim properly. I collapsed on the ground; hand over my mouth, trying not to let him hear me.

“I know you’re up here,” he said, his voice getting louder as he got closer.

I started laughing for real, and I tried to quiet down, but it was no good. Niall stood in front of me, grinning evilly, gun at the ready.

“Hi,” I said cheerfully, as if he didn’t have a loaded gun trained on me and I was trapped.

“Hi,” Niall said, panting a little.

“Nice view, huh?” I asked, gesturing to the paintball arena.

“Yeah,” Niall said.

“I got Harry,” I said. “Who did you get?”

“Louis and Liam,” he said. “Louis got Zayn.”

“I know,” I said, smirking a little. “I heard him yell.”

Niall nodded, and raised his gun.

“Look, let’s talk about this,” I said. “How about we work out a deal?”

“What kind of deal?” Niall asked, lowering his gun a little.

“Oh, you know,” I said, playing for time, as my hand slowly crept toward my gun. Suddenly, I had a truly brilliant idea. “How about I give you something?”

“And what would that be?” Niall asked his gun almost all the way down.

“I dunno, maybe… a kiss?” I asked my hand closing around the handle of my gun.

“A kiss?” Niall asked, his gun lowered.

“Yes, Niall, a kiss,” I said. “It’s when a boy and a girl, or two boys and two girls, put their lips together.”

I could see Niall liked that idea. “And when would I get this kiss?” he asked.

“I dunno, whenever you like,” I said, slowly moving my gun.

Just as Niall was about to say something, I whipped my gun up and shot him. He fell backward, a big green spot on his chest, and pretended like he was dying. I crawled up by him, laughing.

“I’ve been shot,” he said in an Australian accent. “I’ve been shot by a paintball.”

“Yes, I know,” I said. “I shot you.”

“Can I get that kiss before I die?” he moaned, puckering his lips.

“In your dreams, Romeo,” I said.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He didn’t let go of my hand and leaned forward to whisper in my ear.

“I’ll still be getting that kiss.”

He let me go and ran down the ramp. I followed him and when I came out, all the boys cheered.

“Yeah! You avenged me!” Louis said.

I grinned. “I am the champion my friend,” I sang, waving my hands over my head. The other boys joined in, except for Niall.

“She cheated,” he grumbled.

“Yeah? And how’d I cheat?” I asked. “Using my feminine charm against you?”

The boys roared with laughter as Niall turned red. I turned around and gave the owner back the vest and ran into the car.

 __________________________________________________________________________

I was back at Niall’s house, and I had my gig in an hour. The paint was drying in my hair, and I wanted to wash it out. Niall was in his room and I cautiously knocked. The door opened and I saw Niall facing his dresser, in just jeans. He turned around and I tried not to stare at his abs.

“I was wondering if I could use your shower,” I said.

My eyes traveled to Niall’s chest, where he had a huge purple bruise on it.

“Did I do that?” I wondered aloud, stepping forward and pressing a couple fingers to it.

“Yeah,” Niall said, watching me.

A small blush spread over my cheeks as I realized that I was touching his chest. I could feel his heartbeat as I touched the bruise. I moved my fingers and he sucked in a breath. I quickly pulled my fingers away.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked, looking up in a panic.

That’s when I realized how close we were. Since he was taller than me, and he was looking down and me up, our noses were almost brushing each other. The blush got even more pronounced.

“No,” Niall breathed, and for the second time today, his minty breath washed over me, along with his regular scent, and he smelled so good.

When Niall got the barest millimeter closer, I took a step back. “So can I use your shower?” I asked, tucking my slightly purple hair behind me.

Niall looked slightly disappointed, but he nodded.

“And no pranks please?” I asked, knowing that the boys were in the other room. “I have to be at Starbucks in an hour.”

Niall nodded and I walked out. I paused at the doorframe and turned around. Niall was pulling a shirt over his head. Before he could see me, I walked out.

I took a quick shower, and when I looked for shampoo, I found Niall’s. I picked it up and smiled. I sniffed it, and it smelled like Niall. I quickly used it. When I came out, I dried off and got dressed. In my bag there was a brush that I used. Well, tried to use. I got angry with my hair because I couldn’t brush through it. There was a knot at the back of my head, and I ended up like clawing at it with the brush. Finally, I got mad and chucked it across the room.

Niall came in to see me sitting on the toilet, arms crossed and staring at the brush.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I can’t brush my hair,” I complained like a little kid.

Niall grinned. “Here, let me help you.”

Niall sat on the toilet and I sat in between his legs as he brushed my hair. He did it a lot slower than I normally did, and he was gentle. He’d apologize if he’d tug on my head. I’d always mumble back an s’okay and we’d continue. It took almost fifteen minutes and during the time, I felt a rush of affection for Niall. Not many guys would do this for a girl, and he was one in a million, and famous, and I was one of many messed up girls and a murderer.

Niall turned me around so he could do the side of my head, and I blinked as I saw the pure concentration on his face. His tongue stuck to the side and his eyes were locked on my blond hair.

“There,” he whispered, tucking stray piece of hair behind my ear. “All done.”

 “Thanks,” I whispered.

We were really close again. Niall tucked another piece of hair behind my ear and searched my eyes with his own bright blue ones.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

For just a while, I blinked at him, not comprehending. Then I saw the slight disappointment in his eyes at my lack of emotion, and I realized how much I really did want him to kiss me. I nodded, and his eyes lit up. He slowly leaned forward and then stopped, searching my eyes. I nodded again, more certainly, and he leaned forward the rest of the way.

His lips touched mine, barely, at first, and when I didn’t push him away he kissed a little harder. I started kissing back, our lips moving in perfect sync. His lips were slightly chapped, but still, so, so soft. His hand came up and cupped my cheek and my hands rested on the back of his neck. My hair fell forward and got in our way but we didn’t care. It was an amazing kiss. It was gentle, and sweet, and it felt right. I had a weird tingly feeling in my chest, but I liked it. It seemed like a happy feeling.

We broke apart for air and just looked at each other. Our foreheads were touching. Niall’s minty breath washed over me for the third time today.

“Guess you got your kiss,” I whispered. 

“Third time’s the charm,” Niall murmured back.

We sat there for a while, and then I felt awkward. “I gotta go,” I said in an undertone.

Niall leaned back, and he looked disappointed. “Okay.”

I grabbed my stuff from around the bathroom and Niall was still sitting there. As I left the bathroom I touched his shoulder lightly. I waved good-bye at all of the boys and walked out of Niall’s flat. Once I was gone, I touched my lips and smiled, remembering the feel of Niall’s lips on mine.

Awwwwwwwww! I enjoyed writing this so much, even though I struggled with it. So comment whatcha think! A little Briall( ship name... good, or not?) action! Did you like it? I would totally love to have any guy kiss me like that. But alas, it will never happen. Sigh. Oh well, I'll just write about it and imagine it as me. Enjoy!