When I finally left Olivia's place in the morning, I was reluctant. She asked me not to see her off at the airport. I didn't understand her need to do that, but since she insisted so much, I kissed her cheeks and headed back to my apartment.

As soon as I entered in, I was surprised to find Niall standing at the kitchen counter, fiddling with the drawers. Setting the keys down on the coffee table, I slumped back onto the couch.

"Hey, you're back." He called from the kitchen, shooting me a quick glance, and right after, dropped something.

"Yes. What are you doing in the kitchen?" My kitchen was better off without him. He could be really clumsy.

"I'm searching for anti-drink."

Hmm? "Did you drink last night?" I asked, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

"Nope."

"Then why do you need it?" I reached the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe, watching him reach up to cabinets and foraging through the stuffs rather untidily.

"It's not for me." He said, sighing exasperatedly.

My brows furrowed as I pushed off the door frame and headed towards the drawers under the stove. Opening the last drawer, I took out some aspirin and handed it over to him.

"Take this instead. Who is it for again?" My arms crossed against my chest as he took the meds and looked at me.

"For the girl passed out in my bed." He simply said, and I almost, almost saw a smile ghosting his lips.

"There's a girl in your bed?" Passed out? My voice came out more shocked than I intended to. I mean, he had never brought a girl home before, so my tone was understandable.

He just shrugged at my question. And just like that, my interest was piqued.

"Thanks, bro." He strolls out, taking with him a tray with the tablets and some orange juice.

"Make sure she finishes the glass." I called out behind him. And my eyes lingered on his back, the white shirt crumbled and uneven.

Did they hook up last night? In my apartment?

Thank Heavens I wasn't in the house. The last thing I wanted to hear was a woman moaning in my apartment because my brother was pounding her. No wonder he said she was passed out. I cringed at the thought.

Gosh, why here? If he kept it up, I would have to send him back to Mom and Dad.

I poured myself a glass of water and gulped it down whole, before making my way back to the living room. I slid the blazer off, and undid the top few buttons of my shirt. Just as I took my phone out, it buzzed in my hand.

It was a message from Olivia.

: Taking off in 10 minutes. Miss you.

: I miss you too. Have a safe flight.

I didn't know to what extent her miss you was stretched truthfully. Even in the morning she was acting all weird. Asking me not to come see her off or even drive her to the airport.

Who did that to their boyfriend?

She would be gone for at least two weeks and I couldn't even kiss her goodbye at the airport.

I shook my head, and tossed the phone back on the couch, before my feet dragged me toward my room. I climbed upstairs, intending to turn left to my bedroom, but when I saw the door to Niall's bedroom ajar, some voices fell into my ears.

"I'm afraid the doctor says otherwise."

My brows shot up. He's talking about me?

I turned but halted. No, I shouldn't. I must leave them alone, to their business. There was no need for me to intrude in their matter.

And even after the little pep talk to myself, I was still turning right anyway, towards the ajar door.

Nosy Cole.

As soon as I stepped near the door frame, my eyes settled on a girl, sitting crossed-legged on Niall's bed, in his shirt. He was holding the juice up to her lips, and she was gulping it down, with the little visible movement up and down her throat.

My whole form froze, when she looked up, and our eyes locked together. Something snapped inside me, like recognition. But I don't know what snapped inside her, because her eyes rounded when she saw me and the next moment, she was spurting Niall's white shirt with the orange juice from her mouth.

Jesus. Just enough damage a shirt could take.

I was feeling bad for that shirt but was mostly shocked when Niall didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. He hurried forward, rubbing her back and asking her if she was okay.

She choked out some broken words of apologies between her fits of coughs and heavy breaths. All the while Niall kept stroking her back. And I had to admit I had never seen him like this. So...concerned.

Her head ducked low as she almost came down from the fits, and her hair fell over her face, almost touching her lap. Her hair...brown with golden highlights.

A mass of honey brown hair, with streaks of gold waves ran down to the mid of her waist.

My brows drew together. That's...

"Bro, don't just stand there. Can you fetch her some water?" Niall said, throwing me just a single glance before focusing back, his full attention on her.

Dude, she isn't having a panic attack. But seems like you do

I blinked at the girl, as she finally looked up. Something about the way she looked at me, told me she wasn't totally a stranger. Had I met her before? Was she the girl I saw yesterday at the court? But that hair...

Yes. She was the girl I saw yesterday at the court.

I looked away, snapping out of my thoughts, and stepped back before walking back downstairs. My furrowed brows and narrowed eyes suggested I was angry, but I wasn't. It was just an odd, almost ridiculous feeling.

Something like, “he found her before I did and they even fucked” feeling.

This was stupid. It shouldn't bother me. I closed my eyes and thought about Olivia. She was the only one for me, only she could have that effect on me.

But did she? My subconscious said, uninvited.

That didn't help much.

I filled a glass of water and walked back upstairs, slower than before. Now aware of the third presence in the room.

As I walked in, Niall was sitting on the bed, beside her and she was nodding to something he was saying. The way her hair brushed forward then away from her face while nodding, stirred my insides.

As I approached the pair, Niall was asking her, "Do you feel better?"

She was nodding to everything he asked, and my psychiatric gut feeling was telling me that she wasn't even paying attention to his questions. And my airhead of a brother couldn't even tell.

Instead of handing her the glass, I gave it to Niall. He took it with a quick smile flashed my way, then reached out for her hand. He took her hands, and gently cupped them around the glass. Too gently.

That wasn't necessary. Just saying.

"Thanks." She said, voice so low and dry from all the coughing. Her pink lips parted ever so slightly to settle the rim of the glass between them.

Not sure who the 'thank you' was directed to, we both watched her. Drinking the water. Like we had nothing else to do.

Genuinely, we didn't.

But as much as I tried not to focus on it, the shirt was a little too big on her, and the buttons just started from a little low from her cleavage.

Realizing where my eyes were going, I quickly looked away.

"Uh, I'll be downstairs." I told Niall and walked away from them.

As soon as I stepped out of the unnecessarily hot bedroom, I undid the remaining few buttons of my shirt, walking towards my own room, opposite to Niall's, instead of downstairs. I needed some lone time to fix the malfunctioning happening in my brain.

I pushed the door close behind me and took off the shirt completely, tossing it in the laundry basket beside the dresser.

It was suddenly a fucking hot day. I didn’t want to think why.

Think about Olivia. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to recall the face of my beautiful girlfriend, and I almost succeeded. Almost. But it blurred into another face. A face sitting hardly twenty feet away from my room.

Fuck, she was more beautiful than I assumed yesterday.

I turned around, intending to lock the door, but when I reached for the knob, a distant shuffling caught my attention. Against my better decision, I opened the door to peek out and caught sight of Niall moving out of his room, a distant ringing telling me his phone was calling for his attention.

I watched him, rubbing the back of his neck, grinning as he disappeared down the stairs. The frown faded away from my face. It had been a long while since I saw him actually smiling like that. A genuine, almost shy smile.

And I instantly knew, it was that woman.