Just a Photographer (Niall Horan)

Chapter 11

The Horan Family

"Hey Ava, I forgot to tell you, but my dad, brother and nephew are coming to visit tomorrow" Niall mentioned as he stood in front of the stove as he cooked us both some breakfast.

"Oh ok, I'll ask one of my friends if I can go to their house. Are they going to stay overnight?" I asked, slightly panicked about the short notice.

"What are you talking about?" Niall asked, "You don't need to leave the house just because my family is coming, this is your house too remember". Niall said firmly.

"I don't want to get in the way, I know you don't see your family that often, I'm sure they don't want me hanging around."

"When I told my dad that you were moving in with me, he was desperate to meet you and Theo loves meeting new people, so he'll be so excited to see you. I would also love for you to meet them. Please stay Ava, you're my best friend and I would miss you"

My breath caught in my throat at his words and my heartbeat began pounding in my chest, "If it would make you happy then of course I'll stay, Ni".

As soon as those words left my mouth Niall pulled me into his chest and buried his nose into my hair, "your hair always smells so nice, Aves. I love you" he mumbled, making my heartbeat increase once again, "love you too".

I woke up early and took a shower and got ready for the day. I never wore very much makeup, but I decided to put a bit on today to meet Niall's family, I also curled my hair slightly. I was feeling slightly nervous about meeting Niall's family and I had to keep reminding myself that I was meeting them as Niall's friend, not his girlfriend.

When I left my bedroom, I saw Niall in the kitchen cleaning up a bit, I took a sneaky picture of him before grabbing the hoover out of the cupboard and started hoovering over the flat. Once I had finished, I put the hoover away and walked into the living room where Niall was tidying up a bit. When he saw me, he picked up his phone and connected it to the speakers in the ceiling and began playing the playlist we had made together with all our favourite songs on it. As soon as the song started Niall and I both began singing loudly and off key, I smiled over at him just as he did the same, making butterflies erupt in my tummy.

Niall turned the music down once you had finished cleaning and collapsed onto the sofa with a toothy smile permanently on his face. He lifted his arms up and looked at me, waiting for me to lie down in them, I did as he wanted and let out a contented sigh as I felt his warm body pressed against mine. Niall began to run his fingers through my long brown hair, but I quickly stopped him by hitting his arm,

"you can't do that! It will mess up my hair!"

"Your hair could never be messed up, it's always perfect even when you just woke up" Niall said with a smile.

"You're the one that makes fun of how messy my hair is every morning when you see me!"

"It may be messy but it's still perfect" Niall replied, causing my cheeks to immediately go bright red causing Niall to let out a quiet chuckle before pressing a kiss to my head.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, making us both jump and I let out a small scream as I had completely forgotten that Niall's family was coming over. I looked at Niall and he must have noticed the panicked look in my eyes as he pulled me in for a hug to calm me down before he released me and began to walk towards the door to let his family in. I quickly checked my appearance in the full length mirror by the front door and smoothed down my hair before the door was opened.

"Hi Da!" Niall said before his dad pulled him into a tight hug, from the hug they shared it was clear that Niall and his dad had a close relationship and that they missed each other while Niall was away for work. They then stepped apart and Niall's brother stepped in and pulled Niall into another tight hug before a mini Niall ran in and grabbed onto Niall's legs and shouted,

"hi Uncle Niall!" Niall let go of Greg and swiftly pulled Theo onto his hip and gave him a kiss and cuddle.

"And who's this lovely lady then Niall? Your girlfriend?" Bobby asked, causing me to blush again and curse Niall in my head for not telling his family who I was before they came but also wishing that it was true.

"This is Ava. Ava this is Bobby, my dad, Greg, my brother and Theo, my nephew" Niall introduced us and shocking me as he didn't deny to his dad that I was his girlfriend.

"It's really nice to meet you all" I said politely, wanting to make a good impression on them as I would probably be seeing them again at some point in the future. Theo whispered something into Niall's ear to which Niall nodded and then Theo was reaching his arms out to me. I took him out of Niall's arms and into mine and he immediately wrapped his arms around my neck and rested his head on my shoulder, I smiled at his actions and caught Niall's eye and saw a familiar fond smile on his face.

Niall then began walking towards the dining room where we had set the table for lunch and we all followed behind him, Niall and Greg talking about something, but I couldn't quite hear what. As everyone sat down, I began to lower Theo into his seat, but he just clung to me, so I just sat down in my seat, which was next to Niall's, with Theo in my lap.

"I'm sorry about Theo, he's probably tired, he didn't sleep well last night as he was really excited to see his beloved uncle Niall and it's been a long journey as well." Greg said with his arms out, offering to take Theo for me.

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind holding him, Niall did tell me he was a very friendly little boy" I replied. I felt good that I was getting on with Niall's family and they seemed to like me, and Niall also seemed incredibly happy to see his family, which made me happy in turn.

After we finished dinner, we all sat down on the massive sofa in the living room to watch the Derby match that was on TV. Niall sat down next to me, his thigh touching mine making a warm feeling spread towards my tummy. The match started with Theo sitting with his grandad, Bobby, I took a picture of Theo and Bobby and made a mental note to print out the pictures I had taken of the family throughout the day and keep some for Niall and send copied to Bobby and Greg. Halfway through he crawled along the sofa to sit with Niall and by the end he was asleep against Niall's side, tired and glad to spend some quality time with his uncle. Before Niall stood up after the match finished I made sure to take a picture of Niall and his nephew, ignoring Niall's grumbling, knowing how much Niall would treasure it as he didn't see his family too much. 

"I told you they would love you" Niall teased me as soon as the door had shut behind his family.

"Shut up" I grumbled back, too tired to fight back after a long day with Niall's family and a stressful night last night. Instead of fighting back Niall just grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his bedroom where we both collapsed into the bed as soon as we had gotten changed and brushed our teeth.

"Thank you for meeting my family today Aves, it means a lot to me as I don't see them very much"
"Your welcome, Ni. They were really nice, just like you" I replied with a kiss to Niall's hand and a small smile and I couldn't help but ask the question that had threatening to leave my lips all day, "why did you want me to meet them today?"

"Because I love you" he replied softly.