That day was our last day at my parents' house. They lived in Florida, right on the beach. I woke up that morning feeling pretty wonderful, knowing I'd had a well spent vacation there. Niall and I had decided out of the blue we would take a week off. Nerves were running high, so it'd really helped to bring in some different air than that of our cramped houses or office spaces. The salt in the atmosphere around me seemed to draw all of my frustration. I could tell we'd benefited from it.
I turned over in my bed, seeing his crazy, blonde hair sticking up as I looked through the strands to see what a gorgeous day it was out the window. My mouth couldn't help but stretch into a smile as he moved to meet my stare.
"Morning," he whispered, smiling back at me as a seagull cried in the distance.
"Can we go to the beach today?" I asked, pulling back the covers a little to find his hand and match it with mine. He flipped over to glance outside, squeezing my hand a little before turning back to kiss me suddenly.
"I'll take that as a yes," I chuckled when he let go just as swiftly. He slid out of the covers, letting go of my hand.
"Let's go!" he smiled, still not fully awake, catching his balance after a second. He reached out, wanting me to take his hand. I stretched a little more, turning on my back.
"Maybe I wanna stay in bed," I sighed, closing my eyes, hiding my playful smile. Just as I was about to peek to see the expression on his face, my mom yelled from downstairs.
"I'm making pancakes!" she exclaimed, and my eyes popped open. Niall and I raced down the stairs, knowing we couldn't skip out on my mom's cooking.
After a simple, quick breakfast, we got dressed for a walk on the beach, willing to wait for my dad to return from running a few errands before spending the rest of the day out there.
One of our favorite things to do on the beach was look for shells, and much like everything we did, it turned into a competition.
After breathing in the wind for a while, feeling in rush into my lungs uninvited but welcome nonetheless, I looked to find him. He'd ran off, already searching for some sign of shells.
I walked up to him, seeing his fingers close around something.
"How's this?" he asked, and I waited for him to lift it for me to examine. I turned it over between my fingertips, frowning.
"It's a little small," I critiqued, hearing him scoff. He took it back, throwing it into the ocean.
"I'll find the best shell you've ever seen," he announced, making a determined face and also making me laugh.
"You can try, but if I find one first, I win," I challenged him, squatting down after seeing how competitive he began to get. I inched closer to the water, digging my fingers into the sand and searching for a treasure.
Before I knew it, he was halfway down the beach, scrambling to find something. I eventually gave up, letting the wind push my thoughts around and swirl them throughout my head. I was almost too happy. Almost.
"Babe!" I heard him exclaim, tilting my head to see what he wanted. He was farther away than I'd left him, running towards me with one hand in the air. "I've got the winning shell!" He said that phrase four times before I could stand up and brush myself off. Once more got me laughing and anticipating what he'd found.
It looked pretty big from the distance he was making smaller, but right as he was in front of me, he tripped. Classic Niall.
But when his blonde head popped up with a smile, I blinked. With one knee in the sand, his grin was wider than the panorama on the horizon. I shouldn't have been surprised at how he caught me off guard like that. Before I could get one full gasp out, he opened an oyster and revealed a ring.
He'd really won that time.
.
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thanks to flute64 for requesting! so sorry for the wait babe!
LOOK I POSTED THREE DAYS IN A ROW OMG WHAT A MIRACLE
i love you all so much thank you all for the birthday wishes! i can't believe how lucky i am <3
Mel xxxx
p.s. i got this idea from a real person's experience on tumblr. this is so cute isn't omg credit to her and her husband x