Piece By Peace

Date Night

Niamh spent the next two days all too aware that, so far, Leah hadn't gained very much from her arrival at her home. Niamh had been able to introduce Leah to her friends, had support from her girlfriend as she tackled the issues surrounding her job, and felt safe in her surroundings as Leah continued to sneak around for her benefit.

That, paired with an overwhelming love for her, was her main reason for concocting a plan that would see Niamh take Leah on a series of date activities without having to compromise her own security.

It took two full days to gather together the supplies she needed, relying on online shopping and post times to coincide with Leah's training schedule. On the third day, she had demanded that Leah visit her mum, who had been well warned to keep her there for at least a few hours.

Niamh worked tirelessly from the moment Leah left, pulling the parcels she had hidden in a random cupboard she had found in Leah's home and taking it room by room.

She turned the living room into a cinema, even managing to find a projector and screen that would allow for the proper atmosphere. She ordered popcorn and cinema-styled popcorn cartons, pleased with herself as she had stumbled across some refillable drinking cups with proper straws.

The kitchen and dining area became a restaurant, with candles placed strategically around the table in places that Niamh knew her clumsy girlfriend wouldn't be able to knock them over and proper menus that listed the dishes she would be serving that night. She laid the table, after consulting Google to find out which way the knives and forks were meant to go, and hooked her phone up to the speaker to make sure all Leah's favourite music would play out.

The conservatory was turned into a bar area, a list of cocktails that Niamh hoped she wouldn't struggle to make was placed on the makeshift bar top, and fairy lights wrapped around the door to the garden that Niamh was certain Leah would be too cold to go into but prepared just incase.

And finally, she turned the bedroom into something that resembled a hotel. She tried to fold the towels into something fancy, but on her tenth attempt, she gave up and rolled them into I tried my best shapes on the bed. She propped mini bottles of toiletries in front of them and hung the do not disturb sign on the door.

The rest of her time was spent in the kitchen, prepping the food that she was certain she would burn later that night and hoping that Leah didn't find the entire idea ridiculous. Truth be told, Niamh was worried that she wasn't fulfilling Leah's needs.

It wasn't hard to see what her friends had; she only had to look on social media for that. Her teammates were forever enjoying date nights in fancy restaurants or attending movie premieres together. Niamh wasn't able to offer Leah any of that, and on the horrible occasion that she would let doubt seep into her mind, Niamh wondered if Leah might be settling for this life with her, despite her protests that she was happy.

Leah, on the other hand, had spent her afternoon enjoying the company of her family until missing Niamh had become too much. With every attempt to leave, her mum would tell her another story or ask her another question, knowing Leah was too respectful towards her to ignore her requests for more conversation.

She just wanted to go home to Niamh. Truth be told, for Leah, she was also beginning to wonder if she might not be fulfilling Niamh. It had all started during games night when Ciara made a joke about practically being Niamh's live-in maid. She had elaborated when Leah had told her to spill, telling the group how Niamh would come home to a freshly cooked meal every time she stayed with Ciara.

Leah couldn't do that, not every day. Her training schedule was too up-and-down for that. Some days, she would be training well after dinner time, and others, she would miss breakfast to arrive on time.