Always & Forever (A Niall Horan Love Story)

1. I'll Praise You in This Storm

            Finally, the one with the blonde hair and blue-green eyes that the whole world had grown to love, Niall Horan, would welcome me. He more than likely would have food in his mouth; and if not, he would probably be craving something. I had to admit, Niall’s piggy-ness was incredibly cute to me. Well, that and his Irish accent.

            After the song was over, I changed the station, sifting through channels to find some Christian music. With no luck finding something that I enjoyed, I turned the radio off. Instead, I began singing one of my favorite songs quietly, an inspiration in my time of need. “I’ll praise You in this storm; I will lift my hands; You are Who You are, no matter where I am…”

            The song gave me peace now. I remembered hearing a message from a preacher recently. The man’s wife had fallen ill with a terrible bone cancer; and his words had brought me to tears as he recalled praying with her in one of her down moments. As he’d described God’s perfect peace, my eyes had welled with water, reminding me of the day I’d received salvation.

            A smile pasted on my face, I pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine. I grabbed my phone and bag from the back and let myself into the house. My brother’s screams were already heard as I entered through the dining room. In the adjoining living room area, Dad and Cole were wrestling on the carpeted floor. Cole, who had just turned nine a month ago, screamed even louder as Dad pinned him to the ground. His shoulders fully down, Cole stopped fighting, just groaned instead. I just watched them, still silent for a moment.

            The Wii was running, in the middle of a game, but apparently Dad and Cole had been distracted. Face it, I told myself. They’re both exactly the same age.

            “Shouldn’t you be in bed, Cole?” My mom’s singsong voice came from in the kitchen. She stepped carefully around the corner and into the room, still wiping her hands with a dishtowel. She had been cooking in there, no doubt about it.

            My mom was an excellent cook. That’s why she’d teamed up with a friend of hers to start a catering business. She did a lot of her work from home, which accounted for a lot of the delicious smells that I could find daily. Today, it was strawberry cake, my favorite. Dad still had Cole pinned in the living room. He finally crinkled his nose as he smelled the cake. “Honey, that smells wonderful!” he called into the kitchen.

            I smiled. “Hi, guys, I’m home!”

            Three smiling and happy faces turned to me. “Hi, Leah!” Cole escaped from my dad’s clutches and scampered across the living room. He hugged me around my waist quickly and ran upstairs to get ready for bed.

            “I’m going to go call Lizzy.” Without waiting for my parents to reply, I zoomed up the stairs and grabbed my phone before crashing on my bed. Lizzy answered on the first ring. “Hey, girl!”
            “Hey!” Lizzy’s happy voice always got to me. “I take it your day was good?”
            “Not at all,” I said bitterly. “Just trying to sound cheery.” I gave a quick account of my day today thankful to regain contact with my best friend. Our last semester of high school, Lizzy and I only had one class together. It was tough staying out of contact with her all day.

            “Ahhh, I see. I’m sorry.” I laughed. Lizzy had a strange tendency to apologize for other people’s troubles. It was a nice gesture, but I’d only recently started noticing when it happened.

            “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t that bad…”
           

“I’m sorry!” Lizzy giggled.