Picture This (Niall Horan Trilogy)

-Trouble, rivers&rain [Chapter 43]

Ashley's POV:

“Are you actually that tired?”

Niall asked squeezing my hand as we swung our arms in sync while we walked along a dark and quiet lane lined with hedgerow that wasn’t really visible in this light, a cool night air whipped around us as we walked creating slight goose bumps on my bare legs but not enough for me to be in dis-comfort.

“No, I will be when we get back to New York though. That’s when it will all catch up with me”

“If we ever do…”

“What’s that meant to mean?”

“I might lock you away and keep you here with me, I don’t wanna leave”

“You wish”

“I do”

“We have to go back some when”

I reminded him as we reached the end of the lane we were walking down and he led me down the one on the right hand side. It was so quite here at night, the only sound being our footsteps, voices and the faint gushing sound of a nearby river. It was quite beautiful compared to the busy rush of London at night in the city centre.

“I know, but we also have to come back some when, right?”

He asked looking to me smiling and wiggling his eye-brows proud with how he had yet again managed to turn something I had said back around to either suit him or just make everything seem better.

“I guess we do, defiantly before this summer ends”

“My point exactly, don’t speak of summer ending, that’s too depressing to think that by then I won’t be waking up next to you anymore”

“Nobody said that was ever gonna happen…”

His eyes shot back to mine as I said this somewhat lighting up and I had to give in to the smile that seeing his face like that causes for me.

“I like the way you think”

“Yeah I bet”

He chuckled as I said this and I just smiled as he placed a kiss on my temple.

“Oh crap”

He cursed as he dropped the parcel and it landed with a rustling of what sounded like leaves and branches and then finally with a single thud onto the ground. Due to the darkness we couldn’t see where it had gone, we just knew it was somewhere within this rather neat garden. This could get interesting.

“The amount of times we lost a ball here is ridiculous; I refuse to let this be the same”

He mumbled crouching down onto both knees as he began sifting through the various plants looking for the parcel. I smiled as I crouched down next to him following him as he moved to behind a small rowan tree tearing through the undergrowth in search of his parcel.

“There it is”

He breathed and sure enough it was there. The brown paper sticking out of a nearby bush about 5 meters away from us, at this exact moment a light in the house flickered on along with a door opening.

“Fuck”

Niall whispered crouching down further as a person appeared in the doorway poorly exposed by the light he had turned on inside the house. He was an old man wearing a white vest top and some baggy and loose navy blue boxers and had what seemed to be slippers on, he seemed to have just got out of bed, not surprising.

“Stay here”

Niall whispered in my ear moving me so I was now in front of him crouching down lower than him as he placed his hands on my shoulders.