In Too Deep (Niall Horan AU)

Chapter 4

"Wylla, chill out. What could possibly happen?" Maddie giggled as she and Wylla entered the pub they'd eaten at a few days earlier.
"Seriously? Its awkward. He's my professor." Wylla replied, motioning to the fact that Niall was in the pub. She'd been avoiding his classroom and office. She only wanted to have to occupy the same general area when she had his class. She couldn't control her thoughts about him since she'd spent a full three hours in his class.
"Its only awkward because you want his custard launcher." Maddie whispered as they walked into the pub.
"Madeleine!" Wylla gasped in horror. Maddie giggled and pulled Wylla further into the pub. "Where in the world do you learn these things?" Wylla was still flabbergasted with her friend's mouth.
Maddie shrugged, laughing hysterically, "I have no idea." Wylla shook her head as they were greeted by the hostess.
"Hey girls. Booth?" The hostess asked with a smile. Maddie and Wylla both nodded. "Sweet. This way." The hostess motioned for them to follow after her. She placed Wylla and Maddie at the booth directly behind Niall. Wylla groaned softly, now she wasn't going to be able to pay attention to anything Maddie would say to her. Wylla was certain that her eyes would be glued to Niall and everything about him.
"Soooo, how are classes?" Maddie asked Wylla with a smirk. "You've not told me about the ones you had today."
Wylla shrugged, trying to ignore Niall's presence, "They're okay. I'm not really a fan of the math class and science class that I took today. The professors are too stuffy."
"I feel you. The calculus class I'm in, the professor is like a fucking dinosaur. Professor Hilland. Bleh." Maddie complained. Wylla tucked her hair behind her ear when she heard Niall laughing and watching them through the mirror behind the bar. Wylla dropped her eyes when they met Niall's in the mirror. She could feel every inch of her skin heat and a strange twinging sensation in her thighs. Wylla tapped her fingers nervously on the table as she waited for their waitress. "Did you like your weird women's class?" Maddie asked, trying to distract Wylla.
Wylla shrugged, "It was okay. I feel like the class was specifically made to bash men. I'm not really digging that. Why can't we just have a class that celebrates the contribution that women have made to art, history and society without saying all men are rubbish. That's definitely not how it is." Maddie gazed at Wylla curiously. "Look at Professor Styles."
"I'd love too." Maddie giggled, leaning forward. Wylla heard Niall chuckle at the bar once again. Wylla glared at Maddie for a moment. "Okay. Okay. What about Professor Styles?" Maddie asked.
"I mean, he is that kind of man that we should be discussing in the women's class. He is obviously proud of his masculinity but he embraces the feminine parts of his nature and he has a bunch of very anti-sexist things around the art hall. And his wife. Oh goodness, I love Lady Professor Styles, she's amazing. Like this woman is so strong, with the way she speaks and just commands the room around her and he just goes with it. He treats her like she created the entire universe."
"He's married?" Maddie sounded disappointed.
Wylla rolled her eyes, "You're missing the point." Maddie motioned for Wylla to continue. "He's all for the women in art. He references more female painters than he does male painters even though it's a male dominated profession. He talks about the way you should draw or paint women in a way that doesn't make them seem fragile. He understands that there is an equality between the sexes. Why can't we talk about men like that in the women's class?" Maddie was amused by Wylla's sudden fervor. "I mean, there were men that stood firmly behind the suffrage movement. There are feminist men now. Why is it being left out?"
"Well, maybe it's something that you should bring up?" Maddie suggested. Wylla glanced over to see that Niall had turned in his seat. She could tell that he was watching her and Maddie speaking. Wylla shrugged and looked at Maddie again. "Why not? Open up a dialogue. I'm sure that your professor would like that. It's a valid argument."
"How was your day?" Wylla inquired of Maddie, wanting to change the subject.

Niall listened carefully to Maddie and Wylla speaking. He was completely lost in the things Wylla was saying to her friend. She had a magnificent mind. He was intrigued by the way she put things together. He adored the way she spoke. He'd been trying to get his mind off of her for the last few days. Niall had seen Wylla in class on Monday, now it was Thursday and he couldn't stop thinking about her. The things that she'd written for his class. She wrote about how the world stopped and moved faster around her when she ran into him at the pub. Wylla had said in front of an entire room of people that she found him attractive. It made him a bit giddy. From the moment he saw her, he found Wylla absolutely gorgeous. Niall huffed at himself when Harry's voice echoed in his brain.
"You're going to get yourself into some deep shit." Harry's voice rang in his ears loud and clear even though he wasn't present. Niall ran his hand through his hair quickly then rubbed the back of his neck. He needed to get his mind off the beautiful girl in the booth. Niall sighed realizing that he needed to just go home. Football had been done with for twenty minutes and he had things to look over for the next day. He had office hours in the morning and needed the sleep before he started dealing with students. He also had to come up with the first real assignment for the creative writing class Wylla was in. Niall instantly had an idea for an assignment.
"Leah. I'm out." Niall called out to the bartender. Leah nodded from the tap and grabbed a sheet from the back counter.
"What's got you so excited all of a sudden?" Leah asked Niall as she handed him his check.
Niall beamed, "Thought of a great assignment for my students." Niall then noticed that Wylla sat up straight in her seat. He turned to her and smiled a bit. He shook his head when Wylla's cheeks filled with color. "Hi Wylla." Niall spoke a bit louder, playing it cooler than he actually felt.
"Professor Horan." Wylla responded shyly. Niall took a step over to the table. He knew it was a terrible idea to stand so close to her. Where he could feel the heat rolling off of her body.
"Do you think that you could stop by my office tomorrow during my office hours?" Niall asked her with a genuine smile. Wylla stared up at him with wide eyes. "I wanna discuss your plans here at Uni." Niall stated. Wylla just nodded, still a little uneasy about the request. "Office hours are between eight and noon tomorrow. I have classes at one and four after that." Wylla just nodded once more. "Alright. I'll see you in the morning." Niall informed her with another smile. As Niall walked away, Maddie stared at Wylla with a smirk and lifted her eyebrow.
"Shut up, Madeleine." Wylla mumbled.