"Where have you been?" Niall comes up to me with his signature grin and hugs me.
"You know here...and there," I smile back at him and he gives me a quick hug.
"We've barely hung out tonight," he complains and I raise my eyebrows. He starts swaying from side to side.
"Niall, how much have you had to drink?" I question as I grab his shoulder to steady him.
"Only two beers!" He protests but I know that's not the case.
"Guys the countdown is starting!!" Harry yells as he runs over to us.
My brown eyes widen, "Really? It's already midnight?"
"Yep," Harry nods before noticing Niall. "Is he drunk?"
"A little tipsy," I inform him. "Will you take him? I need to find Presley."
He looks confused, "I thought you two wanted to hang out?"
I shake my head before smiling pitifully, "I'd rather hang out with a sober Niall."
Harry looks at me sorrowfully and almost speaks but I stop him by walking away. I quickly find Presley and give her a hug and keep my eyes trained on the TV.
"Are you excited?" Presley squeals and I try to smile at her.
"Of course I am. I'm mostly looking forward to opening our jars." Her eyes get big as she remembers.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about those!" Starting the year of 2011, Presley and I made these jars. Everything good that happened, we wrote on a piece of paper and stuck it in the jar. Now, it's time to open them and I couldn't be happier to remember all the good things that have happened this year.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!" The crowd begins to chant and Presley joins in while I watch and sip my coke. "Seven! Six!"
"Hey, Lou!" I greet the Doncaster boy as he comes over with a very pretty girl.
"What's up, Hayleigh!" He replies loudly over the crowd. I turn my attention back to the countdown.
"Three! Two!! One!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Presley starts jumping around and when I look at Lou, he gives a kiss to the girl beside him. Oh, that must be Eleanor.
I laugh with Presley as everyone starts hugging everyone-even people they don't know. "Should we head home, Hay?" I hear her ask me. I nod my head. We're not really party people; plus I'm tired already.
"Before you guys leave," I hear Louis speak up and we face him, "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Eleanor."
The girl smiles from beside him, "It's nice to meet you two."
"You too, Eleanor," Presley and I say in synch. Eleanor chuckles and we make small talk until Presley wants to go home.
"Bye guys!" She calls and we wave goodbye to her and her crazy boyfriend.
We weave in and out of people until we finally reach the elevator. I breath a sigh of relief when the door closes and Pres pushes a button. "How was hanging out with Niall?" She winks but I don't react.
"Awful," I say honestly and she furrows her eyebrows together.
"Why?"
"I spoke to him maybe twice and one of those times he was drunk," I shrug, not really caring. I stare at the elevator wall and I feel her rub my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Hay. I know how much you've missed him."
"It's not your fault, Presley," I tell her as we exit and make our way to my car. When we get in, it hits me. "Oh crap," I groan.
"What?"
"We forgot about Riley."
"I'll text her," she whips out her phone and starts to message her. Before she sends it, a text comes in. "Well that's ironic," she chuckles. Presley glances at me before reading off her screen, "Riley said to go on without her because Harry will take her home."
When we get to our house, we immediately head to the living room. We keep our jars on one of the higher shelves but I could still reach it. I remember we had gotten the idea off of Pinterest and I had suggested that we decorate them. Mine was navy blue (of course) with my name written in those sticky letters. There were little flowers around the whole thing too.
Presley went all out for hers. It was white with a big seahorse painted on it. Around it were little fish swimming, making it look like an ocean.
We sit on the floor, crossing our legs and our jars in hand. "Ready?" I ask eagerly, my excitement showing.
"I was born ready," she grins and we take off the kids and dig in. I pick up the first slip of paper and read it, Becca gave me a picture she took for my birthday:). Awe, I remember that. It's still up in my room. She had went out on her own and took a beautiful picture of Big Ben for me. It was amazing and one of the best presents I have ever gotten.
"Listen to this, Hayleigh," Presley calls my attention and I look up at her with a smile on my face. "It's from August: I met a cute boy today at McDonalds."
"Wasn't that Conner?" I question, thinking back.
"Yes, it was," she smiles dreamily and I laugh.
"Why did you two break it off again?"
"We never had time to see each other," she shrugs, a little bit sad. I nod and continue going through my papers.
Monday, Nov. 28, 2011: I met a boy named Niall today. He's very sweet.:)
A grin appears on my face as I clutch this slip. I'm not getting rid of this one. Even if I'm upset at him right now. That was one of the best days ever. I keep it separate from the others, and go on.
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011: Niall and I got into a food fight today at his place. I'm covered in chocolate syrup as I write this. :)
I smile as I see a drop of dried syrup on the corner of the paper. That was a fun day.
"Do you know what we should do?" I ask randomly as I lay on the couch.
Niall looks up from his phone, "Climb Mount Everest?"
I laugh, "Maybe another day, Nialler. I was thinking we should make a cake for the lads." Right now, they were out doing something, leaving Niall and I alone. Presley was at the center planning for Thursday.
His face brightens causing his blue eyes to shine, "That's a great idea, Hay-Bale!" I smile proudly and he stands, pulling me up with him.
We walk into the kitchen, and freeze for a second. I turn to him, "What kind of cake?"
"Chocolate, duh," he rolls his eyes playfully causing me to laugh.
"You get the milk, eggs, flour, and sugar, and I'll get everything else," I instruct the Irishman. He salutes and begins collecting the ingredients. I start hunting for a mixer and all the other utensils and set them across the counter. I face Niall to see his arms full of everything before he plops it down.
Everything runs smoothly at first but that was before Niall took a little flour and pat my back, leaving two handprints on my black V-neck. I scowl and throw a handful back, landing across his chest. I burst out laughing but it quickly dies as he smirks evilly.
"You shouldn't have done that, Hayleigh Rose," I watch in horror as he picks up an egg and cracks it over my head.
As the yolk drips down my face, I glare and pick up the container of cocoa powder behind my back. "And you shouldn't have done that, Niall James," I retort before dumping the whole container over his head. I stick out my tongue at him childishly and he laughs. He takes the bottle of syrup on the counter and I freeze but quickly grasp the ketchup bottle that Niall must've laid out for no apparent reason. Unless he planned this, the devil he is. "I dare you," I warn him with my eyes narrowed.
He smirks and all of a sudden I have a streak of chocolate across my shirt. I stand still for a second before snapping out of it, and start squirting ketchup all over his face and his clothes. "You're on, Ryan," he informs and aims the bottle at my face.
Before I can react, we hear a stern voice, "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?" We turn to each other and gulp. Uh oh.
I smile and set that slip aside as well. Good memories.
Sunday, January 1, 2012:
Niall:
"What's going on?" I groan and clutch my head as I sit up in bed.
"You, my friend, got drunk," I hear Liam's disappointed voice and I look up to see him standing in the doorway. "Here's an aspirin," he hands me a pill and a glass of water.
"Thank you," I gratefully accept it and swallow it quickly. Reality hits me as last night's memories start to return.
Liam must've seen my expression, "You hurt her, man."
I sigh, "I know."
"Harry told me that when she saw you drunk, she didn't want anything to do with you. You know how much she missed you while you were gone?"
"Probably as much as I missed her," I comment, thinking about how excited I was to finally see her again.
"It's not just that, man," Liam takes a seat in my bed and Zayn comes into my room.
"Even when you were sober, you completely blew her off," Zayn tells me and I scoff.
"No I didn't," I defend and cross my arms.
"Oh really?" Zayn raises an eyebrow, "Tell me, at what point did you just hang out with her like you said you would?" His words settle in my head as I replay the night. When I realize he's right, I bow my head in shame and a feeling of guilt settles in my gut. "Exactly."
"Today should just be a Nayleigh day," Liam says and I look at him confused.
"What the heck is Nayleigh?"
"Your ship name," Zayn pipes up with a chuckle. "Louis and Harry saw it on Twitter from some of our fans."
"It's cute," I nod my head and they smile.
"Get dressed, then apologize," Liam instructs and I nod again. They both pat my back before standing and walking out.
"Thank you!" I call after them before following Liam's instructions.
I quickly run out the door after getting dressed, shouting goodbye to the lads. I get in Louis' car that I might've borrowed and quickly drive to Hayleigh and Presley's house.
I walk up their front steps and gently knock on the door. It's almost noon, so they should be up now. All of a sudden, the door opens to reveal a beautiful Hayleigh in sweats. "Niall?"
"Hey," I breathe and shove my hands into my pockets.
YOU ARE READING
Happily (Niall Horan)
Fanfiction~You don't understand, you don't understand What you do to me when you hold his hand We were meant to be but a twist of fate Made it so you had to walk away 'Cause we're on fire We are on fire We're on fire now Yeah, we're on fire We are on fire We'...
