One Shots

Arabella&Niall

“Oi hurry up” I call back to the straggling boy behind me, trying to maintain a serious expression but breaking into a smile. He grimaces, urging the horse to a trot as he attempts to catch up while keeping his balance as he’s bounced around. It was quite obvious he didn’t know how to ride which probably meant this was super painful for him.

“Why’d I let you persuade me into this?” he groans, rising in his stirrups a second to give himself some relief when the horse slows to a walk besides mine.

“You planned this whole thing,” I giggle, looking over at him with a grin, reaching down to pet my horse’s neck.

“Cuz I knew you liked them” he smirks. “Didn’t realize how painful they are.”

“Well if you knew how to ride, it wouldn’t be,” I tease.

“Yea, yea, yea. How much further?” he asks.

“It’s just around the bend up there,” I say, nodding down the road. The perfect place to stop for a picnic lunch. To be honest, I’d been surprised he’d asked me out in the first place, what with him flying around the world and being swarmed by millions of girls. How could he possibly be interested in little old me?

“Finally,” he groans and although he sounds frustrated, I know he’s joking. When we turn the corner, he lets out a low whistle as he takes in the surroundings. “When you said the perfect place, you weren’t kiddin’.”

He was right. I’d ridden this trail numerous times, and the beauty of this spot still got to me. The lake was like a mirror, blurring the lines between what’s real and a reflection. The grass was a bright green, and the trees in the woods were flowering. I dismount, unstrapping the saddlebags with the food, before turning my horse loose to graze while we eat. He wouldn’t go far. I look over to see Niall struggling to get down, barely catching himself from face-planting when his feet hit the ground.

“Mmmm time for food” he says happily, taking the bags from me. “What are we having?”

“Wait… I thought you packed the food” I blank. His eyes widen and his expression turns to one of someone who’d just shot a puppy. I can’t keep up the façade and I crack a smile as he throws open a bag searching for food.

“That’s not nice” he accuses with relief when he sees the lunch.

“You’re too in love with food,” I tease, settling down on the blanket he opened.

“Nahhh” he replies with a grin as he finishes unpacking everything.

Lunch was good. A little different than what I’d anticipated. Everything I’d heard about Niall had said he loved food more than life, which led me to believe he’d inhale everything in front of us. Turns out, he eats just as much as a normal person. No crazy 7 stomachs or anything.

“Do we have to ride those things back?” he jokes, looking over at the horses once we’ve packed up the empty containers.

“Well you can walk, but it’s like 3 miles….” I say with a laugh as he crinkles his nose in distaste.

“Fine…” he groans as he gets to his feet. “But when we get back, it’s my turn to do something fun.”

“Yea?” I ask, raising an eyebrow questioningly. That could be taken wrong.

“Movies” he says with a devilish smirk.

“Oh I like movies” I say with a smile as I grab ahold of my horse’s reins and climb into the saddle.

“Horror movies”

My jaw drops at the mischievous glint in his eye. He knew how much I didn’t like them.

“No.” I begin saying with a shake of my head. “No. No. No. No. No.” I repeat as he bursts into laughter.

“It’ll serve you right. Hurting me and making me think we had no food,” he teases.

“Niall…” I trail off uneasily. I really didn’t like scary movies. Just the thought had my pulse racing.

“Hey, c’mere” he says softly, trying to get his horse to go over by mine. I do so, bringing him right next to Niall’s. He reaches over, taking my hand.

“Everything’s going to be fine. It’s just a movie, we can leave the lights on, and we can continue talking through it. It’ll be fine. I promise.” He says, giving a light squeeze. “I just…I didn’t want the date to end,” he flushes. I can’t help but smile. That had to be the most adorable thing anyone ever said to me. I lean over pressing a quick kiss to his lips.  It wasn’t something I would normally do, but his cuteness inspired a burst of courage.

“Mmm what was that for?” he asks with a smile when I pull back.

“Nothing, just for being you,” I say with a smile.

“Hmm, I could get used to that then” he murmurs, his hand sliding up my arm and pulling me gently closer, pressing his lips to mine once more.