Always & Forever (A Niall Horan Love Story)

22. Misconceptions

This chapter is short, but it's really useful to show a bit of Liam and Lizzy's relationship xx

The next chapter should be longer, dears :)

Enjoy, and God bless! Oh, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! xx

Chapter 22- Misconceptions

          Leah-

I signed my name at the bottom of the paper and breathed a sigh of relief. It was the application for Escoffier- the school that I felt The Lord drawing me toward. It was time to make that decision, because the enrollment opportunity for the fall would be ending before I knew it. After glancing carefully over to my mother, who sat at the computer paying bills, I folded the papers neatly and shoved them in an envelope.

"You're sure this is what you want?" Mom said, spinning around in the swivel chair and shooting me a condescending glance. I knew very well that she would rather me take classes at home over leaving for culinary school; especially since she'd only now gotten started with her own dream job. She wanted me to make the choice for myself, but she also didn't want me making a hasty decision just because I was in the moment.

"I... I think I should call Lizzy. And Niall, first," I admitted.

"Okay, hon. Get a move on! We gotta be working on that chicken dinner soon."

"Okay," I breathed for my own benefit. I skipped up the stairs and found the phone, dialing Lizzy's number with haste. "Hey, girl," I said after she picked up.

"Hey! Have you made your decision yet?"

"I want... Well, I feel like God wants me at Escoffier. I've got the application filled out, it's just.... I don't feel at peace about it yet. You know? What should I do, Lizzy?"

"Liam says you should go for it."

"You asked Liam?" My tone sounded angry, but I was merely shocked, realizing that I valued his opinion almost as much as Lizzy's.

"Yeah. I asked a few days ago, mentioned how excited I was for you. He said go for it. He actually got all sentimental on me," Lizzy chuckled.

"Sentimental how?" I asked.

"Oh, he just started whining about how he never would have met me if he didn't take a chance my auditioning for X Factor... And I'm so glad he did," she said. "I needed to hear him say that."

My eyes started fluttering involuntarily, thinking about the two of them being so close. It was another one of those miracles- that God placed the two of them so soundly together. The joy Lizzy produced around her when she spoke of him made it inevitably clear: she really cared about him. “I’m glad you two are so close,” I agreed. I started to relay the story about the strange call from Lucas the other day- how it was nice to be recognized for being friends with Niall. “But…I probably wouldn’t be saying that if I was in the spotlight too much,” I admitted cordially.

“Right. Like if all the fans knew about you,” Lizzy said. “I know probably any of their girlfriends get hate mail blindingly fast after a relationship starts,” she added. “I guess I could say the same about being with Liam. It’s nice for now, though.”