[2] Begin Again

Epilogue

Epilogue

(January 2015)

“I’m sorry I was not able to go pick you up,” Niall said as he swung his arm around my shoulders.

His cologne –my favorite of his and the very same reason why he had put it on- invaded my nostrils and made me take a deep breath in. He used it whenever I was around. He had not told me, and probably thought I did not know or that I had not noticed, but how was I supposed not to? I was in love with him, I noticed every little thing he did or said.

I shrugged carelessly, as if to rest importance from the matter, but I had a feeling that he was not over. “Or to help you move into your dorm.” I could hear the self-scolding in his voice. He was actually mad at himself for not being there, as if he had a choice.

I mean, of course I would have loved for him to be there to receive me at the airport and swing me around, kiss me hard and long while holding on to me tight and then not letting go of me as we walked to his car. And I would have loved to have him next to me lifting boxes and unpacking stuff, being nice to my roommate and whatnot. But I knew what the price to pay for him being a famous musician was. And I did not mind, for I loved him.

“Oh, it’s okay babe. It’s not as if you could.” I tried to come off as reassuring, but when Niall thought something, it was really hard to change his mind. He was very adamant. If he was convinced of something, it was pretty much impossible for you to change his mind. It was a trait I loved most of the times. Most. This was not the case. Right now, instead of it appearing cute to me it came off as hardheaded.

“Yeah, I know.” He lowered his head and directed his gaze towards the floor, kicking a pebble that was on his way with his tennis shoe as we walked down the side walk. I could pretty much feel his uneasiness and I wanted nothing more than to toss those thoughts aside and make him feel better. We were finally together after four months. I mean, like really together.

With his world tour, he had swung by New Jersey and we had been able to hang out, but with me trying to get a scholarship and him on a different city every day, it was hard. So we were beyond ecstatic to finally meet up here, for good. Alright, that was a lie. He was only on a break for a week or so, but it was better than nothing. We had learnt to appreciate the moments we had together. It had taken us a while to get back together after all. We knew what it was like to miss each other.

I rolled my eyes but tried to keep my tone light, so as to not start a fight. “Niall, you were on a freaking world tour. Calm your tits.”

Silence invaded us for a few seconds. “Did you just tell me to calm my tits?” he questioned taken aback but with a smile threatening to escape his lips.

Smiling satisfactorily because I had quickly achieved my goal, I shrugged as a response.

“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he breathed out with a laugh as he shook his head. “Like, who else would come up with something like that?” he rhetorically asked next. He shook his head some more as his features lit up, making my hart flutter at the sight. The air around us felt much lighter already.

I smiled brightly, for he had just said a very sweet thing that could easily sent me into overdrive. “The best thing then, huh?” I asked while wriggling my eyebrows mockingly. He laughed out loud and then pulled me closer to him, placing a sloppy kiss on my forehead.

“Hands down,” he reiterated with a solemn nod of his head.

“That’s a very sweet thing for you to say,” I noted as my hand trailed down to his butt. I could not help it, it was a nice butt –a very, very nice butt- and he was my boyfriend after all.