“I wanna stay up all night and jump around until we see the sun, I wanna stay up all night and find a girl and tell her she's the one.” - Up All Night

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

2:15 A.M.

Niall wrapped his hands around his mug, enjoying the smell of the tea, the quiet hum of the lights above him, but mostly he liked people watching. They were fascinating, really. Especially the ones brave enough to walk the city streets in the middle of the night.

            Whenever he couldn't sleep, he'd head over to Dolly's Diner. Cliché? Maybe. But it didn't change the fact that they had the best pie, tea and coffee he'd found so far in the city. He was just thinking he'd order another cup when the bell chimed, alerting patrons and staff that a new customer had arrived.

            He looked up, bringing the cup to his lips. It was calculated and strategic, allowing him to assess the gorgeous girl who had just walked in without her giving him much notice. Or so he thought.

            She cleared the length of the room quickly and before Niall could set the cup back on the table, he found her sliding into his booth. A fan maybe? He didn't run into them often, at a time like this, in a place like this, but that had to be the only reasonable explanation.

            He smiled. “Can I help you?”

            Her eyes narrowed and she stretched out her legs. “I believe in proper English that'd be 'May I help you?'”

            He couldn't help it as his smile grew wider, “Aye. Perhaps. But in case you've missed it lass, I'm Irish.”

            “'Oi-rish huh?”

            He nodded thinking it was strange she'd approached him. She obviously knew who he was. Or she was dangerously friendly, he wasn't sure which.

            “Well Oi-rish, I'm Emily.”

            “Lovely to meet you Emily,” he said. “How may I help you?”

            She waved the waitress over. “Coffee please. Black.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she shot him a deadly smile. “So, when I left the house I thought to myself, if only I could find a hot Irish guy to spend the evening with. And low and behold,” she swept her hands toward him, “here you are.”

            Niall felt his insides warm as she took him by surprise. He liked her. Girl had spunk. He could deal with that. He grinned and held up his cup, “Here I am. And there you are.”

            “So?” Emily asked. “Are you up for it?”

            “What?”

            “Spending the evening with me.” The waitress delivered her coffee and she took a sip and cringed. “Burn your mouth off hot.”

            “Where exactly do you propose we spend the evening?”

            Emily shrugged. “Does it matter? You. Me. We could have a lot of fun, Oi-rish.”

            Niall nodded, thinking he could indeed have a lot of fun with this girl. “One condition.”

            She took another long swig of her coffee. “And that would be?”

            “Stop calling me Oi-rish. My name is Niall.”

            Emily pursed her lips together. “Niall. Hot name. Hot guy. Makes sense.” She finished the rest of her coffee and stood. “Shall we?”

            He was pleasantly surprised about how his sleepless evening was turning out. He didn't think there was a better way to spend it really, beside a beautiful girl who was bold and spontaneous. Niall smirked to himself, it was quite possible he'd just met his match.

            As he paid the bill, he felt her fingers grasp his. “Truth or dare?” she said.

            “Pardon me?”

            “Truth or dare.”

            “Truth,” he said.

            “Truth's boring,” she protested, “but whatever. We're just warming up. Truth. Do you think I'm crazy for approaching you the way I did?”

            “No,” Niall said, tucking his wallet back inside his pocket. “I think you're fearless.”

            “Your turn,” she said.

            Niall led her to the door. “Truth or dare?”

            “Truth.”

            “But you just said truth's boring.”

            “We're warming up,” she reminded him.

            “Okay.” Niall thought about it. “Why did you approach me the way you did?”

            “'Cause you looked like you'd be fun to know and you're definitely not hard on my eyes. Go big or go home. The worst that could have happened is that you'd have rejected me.”

            The words came out of his mouth faster than he could stop them. “Anyone who rejects you is foolish.”

            She smiled. “Dare.”

            Niall shrugged.

            She grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward a street which was surprisingly busy given that it was nearly three in the morning. “See that couple right there, the woman in the red coat.”

            “Yup.”

            “I dare you to run up and start to serenade them.”

            “You want me to sing for 'em?” Asking him to sing was like asking a teacher to teach.

            She nodded, “but you gotta like--run up, sing, and run away.”

            Niall laughed. “Wait here.”

            He raced over to where the couple was and belted out a song at the top of his lungs, “I wanna stay up all night and jump around until we see the sun, I wanna stay up all night and find a girl and tell her she's the one. Hold onto the feeling and don't let it go, 'cause we got the floor now, get outta control. I wanna stay up all night and do it all with you.”

            The man looked like he was going to clock Niall right then and there. His girlfriend clutched her chest and her purse, until she realized he was only singing and not mugging them. Then she started giggling and the guy gave him a dollar bill.

            Emily was folded over in hysterics, holding her stomach by the time he got back to her. “They paid you!”

            “Crap wages,” Niall said. “I'm going on strike.”

            This caused her to laugh even harder but when she finally got herself together, she asked. “So what was that song you were singing? And wow, for the record, you've got some killer pipes.”

            She was giving him an opening to come clean about who he was or at least that's what he thought until he looked at her face. Then, he simply didn't know. “It's just a song I heard on the radio.”

            She smiled. “Okay. Dare.”

            Niall looked around. A block or so down the street there was a large fountain. “Feel like going for a swim?”

            Emily raced ahead of him shedding her backpack and her boots like a second skin. Niall collected them as he followed. Combat boots. On a girl. He was in so much trouble.

            By the time he reached her, she was fully submerged in the water and he felt bad. It must've been cold, but she was splashing around as if she were a kid at a water park. “Niall?”

            He sat on the edge of the fountain. “Yeah?”

            She swam over to where he sat. “I dare you to make a wish. And tell me what you wished for.”

            Well that wasn't much of a dare, was it? “Okay,” he agreed, “but get out of the fountain. That was stupid of me to suggest, you're going to catch a cold.”

            She stepped out and a pang of guilt struck him. She was drenched head to toe. Her jeans were dripping and her shirt was soaked so badly, the arms hung well past her fingertips. Swimming in a fountain. It definitely wouldn’t go down in history as his most stellar idea. He unzipped his hoodie and handed to her. “I’m sorry. You’re probably freezing. I should have given you another dare. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d do it.”

            She shrugged her arms through the sleeves and zipped it, bringing the fabric to her nose. “You smell good Oi-rish. And for the record, I almost never refuse a dare.”

            “Still, I feel terrible.”

            She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Honestly, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Really. Besides, how many people can say they did the backstroke in a fountain in the middle of the night?” She dug in her jeans and handed him a coin. “Here. Make your wish.”

            Niall closed his eyes and threw the coin.

            She sat down beside him. Her hair was still wet and sticking to her face. He couldn't help himself as he brought his hand up to tuck it behind her ear. He allowed himself a beat to study her. She was beautiful in a way he hadn't really seen before. Her eyes were large but almond shaped. Her nose was turned up the slightest bit at the end but only enough to make it cute. Her lips were full but bowed down on the left side when they were closed, which until now, he hadn't seen because she was always smiling. “What did you wish for?” she asked quietly.

            “I wished you’d stop calling me Oi-rish.”

            She laughed. “You did not. What did you really wish for?”

            “Truth?”

            “Truth.”

            “That I might meet a wonderful girl named Emily and perhaps see her again after tonight.”

            Even in the darkness, he could see her blush. “Some wishes come true,” she said.

            He could have sat there with her all night but there was a nagging at the back of his mind. She was cold and her teeth were chattering, because of him. “We should leave.”

            “Sure.” She retrieved another coin from her pocket. “But first I want to make a wish too.”

            He watched as she held the coin to her lips and gave it a kiss before tossing it into the fountain. He put his arm around her. “C'mon daredevil, let's go somewhere warm. Truth or dare can always be continued.”

            “Niall, have you ever noticed how when you're miserable time stops completely, but whenever you're having fun and you're happy it seems to run away from you?”

            He steered her toward his place, not something he would normally do but for her, he'd make an exception. “I have.”

            His flat was warm. He told Emily to make herself at home and headed to his bedroom to find something dry for her to wear. As he dug through his drawers, he shook his head as if the action could dislodge everything that had happened. He'd only known her for a few hours but the thought of being apart from her made his chest hurt.

            He found a pair of sweats from a few years ago that didn't fit him anymore and hoped he'd figure out how to tell her he didn't want her to leave. He wanted to sit and talk to her. To ask her about her middle name, her favorite color, her lucky number, what she did for fun. He wanted to know everything about her.

            While Emily changed, he went to the kitchen and put the kettle on, preparing two cups of hot chocolate. She emerged still smiling and drying the ends of her hair with a towel. Niall grabbed the hot chocolate and nodded toward the couch. “Please, have a seat.”

            She smiled and held her hands out for the mug, which he gave her.

            “Life's all about taking risks, Niall. I'm glad I took one tonight.”

            “Me too. Truth or dare?”

            She sipped her drink and closed her eyes. “Truth.”

            “Do you know who I am?”

            Her eyes popped open. “Who doesn't? Niall Horan. One Direction. But to me, you're still just an insanely hot Irish guy from the diner.”

            “You didn't make a big deal out of it.”

            “If I had, would you have gone with me?”

            Niall shook his head. “Nope. Probably not.”

            “And think of all the fun we would've missed out on.”

            He sipped his own drink. “You're right. Can I get a double truth? Can I ask you something else?”

            “I suppose you could,” she grinned. “But technically, I think it should be ‘May I ask you something else.’”

            Niall poked her gently in the arm. “Truth. What did you wish for?”

            She looked him in the eyes. “I wished I’d get bragging rights to tell every single person I know that I cuddled with Niall Horan.”

            He took her hot chocolate and set it on the table. Sliding closer to her, he wrapped his arms around her and a blanket over both of them. “Emily?”

            “Yeah, Oi-rish?”

            “Sometimes wishes come true.”

            “Yeah,” she said. “I guess sometimes they do.”