FIFTEEN 1
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Niall
The sweat between my fingers almost made the green stems slide through them that next morning. I knew it was completely normal to feel this way, but it was her birthday. I didn't want to mess anything up from the start to finish, so keeping myself together was one of them.
It felt insane agreeing to drive down to Elle, but there was no regrets over the decision. The trip to Ireland was mainly for her too, despite my family, but I wanted to see her and having the invitation to visit on her special day meant a lot.
We came to an agreement that I was driving down this morning instead of last night. It gave both of us time to prepare for the meet-up and it also gave me the opportunity to go down and buy her fresh birthday flowers from the small shops. Which, I realized that it didn't matter because the cottage home had an entire garden full of them.
When the wooden door opened, I kept the flowers on my face just to hide the redness that I felt at the moment.
I shouldn't have felt so nervous around Elle, but everything now seemed more serious between us. It wasn't really Niall of me, but I liked her and when I liked a girl, things became much more difficult for me, no matter how famous I was.
"Hey, you made it," Elle smiled.
Lowering the flowers, I finally took a glance of Elle after months of not seeing her.
Elle stood there, hand against the door. A pink, flowered-pattern dress hugging perfectly against her body as it flowed down. Her face glowing from the light makeup she put on and her hair laid loose around her shoulders.
I smiled, "Course' I did. Happy Birthday, Elle," I extended the flowers.
Elle let out a small laugh at the sight, "Niall, you didn't have to."
"Yeh, I know I didn't. The garden out there beat me to it, I see. Ya got plenty of them back there. Quite jealous, actually." I frowned playfully, pointing at the garden.
Elle kept laughing, taking the flowers and flushing. "But they're not meaningful like yours. Thank you."
I stared at her, pretending like if I wasn't attracted to every aspect of her body right now.
"Come here," I extended my arms, pulling her onto a hug. "Thanks for giving me access to yer' secret location."
"Oh, please." Elle said between the hug. "Thanks for coming. It means a lot."
Sometimes, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that she was once a fan. Like, I gotten so use to knowing her that when that reminder comes in, it's so hard to believe. I didn't know whether to be excited that she was still one or scared that she was no longer one.
"Welcome to my home." Elle spoke sarcastically letting me inside.
I chuckled, following along as she closed the small door behind us.
The home was small, but comforting. It wasn't surprising why Elle will choose a getaway place like this, especially on her birthday. Every little aspect seemed so "homey" and even I wouldn't mind running away and living here forever.
"It's so nice and small. Comforting though. Did ya spend the night well here?" I asked, looking around.
"Of course. It does get a little chilly at night, but it's just the England weather, I guess." Elle smiled.
I stared as she placed the sunflowers onto a random vase from the house and ran some water from the kitchen sink.
The entire setting seemed fake. It felt like I was inside a movie and she was the actress. It must've been the interior of the home, but whatever it was, I was enjoying it.
"Welcome to England," I laughed. "It's summer, so ya might get tons of rain, but the skies are blue today." I smiled.
"They know it's my birthday." Elle said in sarcasm, blushing as she placed the flower vase on the small kitchen table.
Elle brought her posture up, standing around the table as she eyed me across.
"I really like your outfit. Denim on denim...that's a really nice style." She complimented, looking down at the blue on my clothing.
I followed her eyes, looking down at my buttoned-up denim shirt down to my feet as I wore white converse.
"Oh, haha, thank you. I tried my best. We're matching." I stared at her low white converse.
Elle looked down at the matching shoes, and blushed with a fainted laugh, "Wow, we are! Copy-cat."
I smiled widely, "I'm full of surprises."
"Do you want water or anything?" Elle asked, looking around, "Wish I can provide you with more options, but I need to head down the shops for sodas and all." She laughed nervously.
"Oh, do ya?" I laughed, "It's okay, not that thirsty, but thank you."
Again, I eyed Elle's movements. Drinking water from a small cup as her lashes flickered at me.
"Any plans for your special day?" I questioned. "Don't let me stop ya from doing them. I'm just a statue right now." I stood still.
Elle rolled her eyes at my commentary and leaned against the sink, "Hm, well, I was actually just planning on staying here. I just had to head down the market for a few more groceries. Maybe, get myself a little cake and bring it home."
"You're really independent, aren't ya?"
Elle shrugged, "I'm trying to be."
"Well, that's great. And I see that yer' little hand of yours got better. It functions." I pointed down at her recovered hand.
Looking down, Elle rose her left hand and laughed.
"Of course. Still a little jiggly, but better than nothing. Let's hope it stays that way."
"It will." I smiled.
"Do you want to join me down the shops? You don't have to. I'm not sure how long of your day you have with me, but—"
"Oh, shut up," I interrupted Elle, "Let's go. I'll love some small walks."
Noelle
It felt like a dream. Nothing felt real at the moment. Sometimes, I will discreetly pinch my side arm to make sure this wasn't another hallucination, but after a few times, I confirmed it.
"There's so many types of hams," Niall chuckled, adjusting his hat.
Unfortunately, there was no way I could've taken Niall without a certain disguise. Yeah, it was a small area, but we didn't want to risk it, especially on my birthday, so the best we could've done was to wear a hat.
Besides, my eyes were more focused on his outfit. I didn't know what range in me, it was probably my PMS, but the denim on denim really made me feel attracted to him. It was distracting me, badly.
"Well, yeah?" I laughed, "We're getting the uncured ones. They are the best for sandwiches."
I bent to take hold of the fresh ham and placed it on the basket hanging from Niall's arm.
"I feel like I'm back ten decades." Niall joked. "We getting raw milk from under the cows now too?"
"I think there's an animal farm down here. You can totally do that." I joked with him.
"Yer' funny." Niall elbowed.
"No, you are." I frowned.
"Seems like yer' having a picnic with what you are getting," Niall guessed, looking down at the basket.
"I am. There's a picnic table laid on the backyard. Thought it'll be nice to have a traditional picnic." I confessed.
"Ah, I see. Sounds pretty fun." Niall commented.
I kept my stare at the fruits in front of us. "You can stay and join. Only if you want. You've dedicated enough time and—"
"Do you want me to join?" Niall asked.
I didn't know why Niall will always ask obvious questions with an answer we both knew. There was no secret that he was now aware that I once drooled over him in the past, so seeing him act really oblivious tempted me. I wanted to punch him sometimes.
"Why would even ask, if you know the answer?" I rolled my eyes.
"I dunno. This getaway was really just for you. Don't know—"
"Niall Horan, do you want to have lunch with me?" I smiled.
Niall's blue eyes stared under his hat and a smile grew widely. "Of course."
It was exciting. I wasn't going to stand there and lie to myself. Having Niall Horan besides me on my 21st birthday was amazing. It activated all my moods and hormones that I couldn't control and every time he agreed on what I suggested, it made me happy. Really happy.
"Okay, well then, you pick the fruits, Horan." I elbowed back. "I'm allergic to peaches, so those are off the list."
"You are?" Niall rose a brow.
I reddened at the confession and nodded.
"I thought you knew about me?" I teased.
Niall rose his brows, "Sneaky. And no, I was not aware. I'll make sure I do not get any kind of peaches. Don't need ya in a hospital bed again."
We didn't actually make it back to the cottage that evening. Instead, I wanted to introduce Niall to the coffee shop I entered last night. I was really looking forward on making him try the hot chocolate I tried.
"Oh, hello there, love. Nice to see ya again." Parker called out at my presence.
It had caught me by surprise to see the same man from yesterday working this morning, but I had to remind myself that these small shops were family-owned businesses, so it was always the same people.
"H-Hi." I smiled at him.
"Ya made a friend!" Parker looked over to Niall beside me.
If you were wondering, after my phone-call with Niall last night, I didn't immediately go home. I still stayed to finish my hot chocolate, which gave the opportunity to have a small talk with the barista and finally learn his name.
"You been here before?" Niall questioned in a low voice.
"Uh...y-yeah, I was actually here when you called me yesterday." I laughed. "They serve the best hot chocolate here. You need to try it,"
It took a few minutes for both me and Niall to actually settle in the tall stools near the counter and wait for our hot chocolates.
"One for the pretty birthday lady and one for the lad here." The barista slid the mugs towards us.
"Thank you, Parker." I smiled down, taking hold of the hot mug.
Niall just gave the man a small nod and stared down at his hot chocolate.
"He knows yer' birthday?" Niall chuckled, keeping his head low.
"Yes?" I laughed. "Kinda' overheard my phone-call yesterday and...yeah. Just had a small talk."
Niall gave me a nod, "Hm, that's nice."
Niall
I shouldn't have felt jealous. I didn't have any right to feel this way at all. I wasn't dating Elle and becoming slightly upset over a barista trying to flirt with her wasn't necessary. I knew who I was and I wasn't going to embarrass myself over nothing.
"Did you like it?" Elle spoke later that afternoon.
It felt a relief to finally depart from the coffee shop. Things never really got better after the barista gave Elle a nice "birthday slice" for today and calling her love.
I know I wasn't going to make a big deal, but the only reason I was truly upset wasn't because of him. I was upset because I still didn't have the courage to call Elle a nice name like love. Yeah, in England it means nothing for men to say that, but I knew for Elle it was different and it wasn't me doing it for her. I felt like I was failing.
"Uh, y-yeah, it was pretty good. He puts his whole love in that chocolate, I can tell ya that." I joked to myself.
Elle smiled as we both walked back to the cottage home. The sun was still up and shining, and the weather seemed perfect for the picnic she wanted, so I wasn't complaining.
"Yeah..." Elle agreed before she stopped mid-tracks near the cottage. "Wait, oh my god, I forgot to buy myself a cake." She freaked.
I stopped with her and chuckled to myself at her worry. "Elle..."
"No, I ruined my own plan. I disappointed myself. I promised myself to buy myself a cake! Ugh!" Elle said.
I laughed at her actions and she stood there, eyeing me in confusion.
"Are you seriously laughing?"
I sighed, putting the grocery basket down near the entrance and motioned my head towards my parked car on the small, grass driveway.
"Come 'ere." I guided her.
Elle almost stumbled as I held her small hand and dragged her near the trunk of the car.
"You know, it's not really kidnapping if I want—oh," Elle's face fell in different emotions at the opening of the trunk. "Really..."
I reddened myself at the gesture as I looked down at the items in my trunk.
"I felt like it will only be fair if I got ya a birthday cake ahead of time. I owe ya for my birthday. You impressed me that day, so I just wanted to return the favor." I chuckled nervously.
Elle stared at the small cake, balloons at her sight.
"You didn't have to—is that...is that what I think it is." Elle eyed, pointing down the cameras by the cake.
"Yep." I nodded. "Well, the cheap one is mine, but I just thought it'll be a perfect opportunity to return the polaroid. It was yours. There was no need to return it back, ya know." I frowned.
Elle just eyed the items and tilted her head, thinking on how to react.
"You are insane." She scoffed.
I smiled down at her, "It's all yours, darling."
Noelle
You know, I grew up watching plenty, and I mean, plenty of romantic comedy movies, so when I found myself setting up the picnic table while Niall cut up the fruit, I wanted to die. Not physically, but it was just a crazy moment to believe. I didn't want to have the mindset that I wanted this life because it was most likely just temporary. It was just my birthday.
I didn't know how long I was smiling, but it was long enough to have Niall stare at me from the kitchen and laugh.
"Enjoying the view? I don't blame ya. I'm a handsome lad." Niall said cockily, placing the fruit on the picnic.
My smile faded and I rolled my eyes at his comment, "I was looking at your outfit."
Niall smiled, sitting down at the picnic table. "Tried my best to cut up the fruit nicely. Did I meet your standards, Miss Ellis?"
I looked down at the picnic table, admiring the raw sandwiches I made, the chocolate cake, the flowers, the cameras, and best of all, Niall's perfectly cut fruit.
"It's perfect. Thanks." I smiled.
"Shall we eat up then?" Niall questioned, taking a seat next to me.
You know, it would've been a romantic matter to sit across from each other on that picnic table, but we just ended up sitting besides each other. Doing that made us have an amazing view of the sun setting soon while we looked at the wild life ahead.
"I see why you chose it here. So peaceful...quiet. No traffic, no rowdy neighbors or anyone to bother you for the weekend." Niall admired.
"It's perfect. And the homes are really separate from each other so nobody can ever hear me sing karaoke or re-enact movie scenes." I said in sarcasm. "Except you."
Niall laughed at my silliness. "Correct."
Before the sun can actually set fully, I found myself laughing with Niall as we attempted to throw pieces of strawberries to random bunnies from the grass near the gate. We had drank a few glasses of red wine, so the laughs were a little higher than expected.
"Do they even eat strawberries?" I laughed,
"Don't know, don't care." Niall said, throwing the strawberries at the animals.
I eyed the bunnies from afar, "They're so cute. I need to take a picture of them."
My hand extended over to the blue polaroid from across the table and motioned it upwards.
"I made sure it has, uh, film." Niall said, scratching his nose.
I furrowed my brows, looking down at the camera. "R-Really?"
"Yep. Went to buy some knowing yer' gonna get great use of it and bought myself a disposable camera." Niall mentioned, slipping out his cheap black camera.
I giggled at his actions, "For?"
"It looked fun. Might start a trend with it, who knows. Gonna take random pics and see what I get out of them." Niall explained.
It took a few minutes to take a perfect picture of the bunnies before they ran away.
"Hm, the faint spot is still in the sheets I see." Niall said in concern, looking down at the smudge polaroid photo.
I squinted, "It was probably the camera then. Who cares. It makes it original." I laughed.
"Of course," Niall agreed.
I stared over to Niall, eyeing his position in the picnic table stool. His legs on each side as he rested an arm on the wood. He looked extremely good and I didn't know if I was going to survive the rest of the afternoon seeing that outfit.
"Do I have permission to take a picture of you?" I asked.
Niall's eyes flickered at me before his brows furrowed. A laugh escaping him at my question.
"W-What? Of course. Why would ya even ask?"
My eyes looked up, wondering, "Well, you see...last time I—"
"Do I have permission to take a picture of you?" Niall asked along.
"Me?" I assured.
"Well, who else?" Niall laughed, tilting his head while taking hold of his camera.
I smiled, "Of course."
"Hm, I want one for the memories. No camera this time." I smiled down at the previous polaroid.
"Okay, boss." Niall chuckled.
Niall
"Ya caught me off guard." I scoffed at the second photograph.
Elle laughed besides, holding up the polaroid sheet and shaking it to fix the quality.
"You look good, Niall. You always do. I thought you were a handsome lad?" Elle teased, maintaining her eyes on the photo.
"Who said that?" I rose a brow. "Anyways, ya didn't let me take a photo of ya for my books." I reminded.
Elle turned to me, her dress almost hitting the grass beneath us as she flushed.
"R-Really?"
"Of course. You're the birthday girl and you look lovely." I complimented.
I wanted to compliment her more, but her outfit choice was so distracting all day. There wasn't even words to describe how good she looked.
"Thank you." Elle blushed, "Well, then...let me know when you're taking it. This is really important. Niall Horan is photographing me."
"Alright, darling." I gave a nod before bringing the camera up to my eye. "Smile for me,"
It took a few seconds to take two photos of Elle on that picnic table. Obviously, I didn't know how they were going to come out, but I did know that either way they were going to look good.
"Ya know...I don't really want to wait to print them. Can I take one on my phone?" I confessed.
Elle stared in surprise, almost like she couldn't believe it.
"Yes, Elle, I really want a picture of ya. Now, pose?" I held the iPhone at the distant.
It took a few minutes within us to have a few memorable photos taken with our phones. It wasn't really the plan, but we both knew that we weren't really going to see each other often, so it was best to keep memories building up. I trusted her.
By now, the sun was setting perfectly. The skies were turning slightly purple and the wind outdoors began to get more breezy.
I swallowed as I watched Elle's dress sway from the wind. Her hairs flowing while she smiled down at the photographs in the picnic table.
"Elle?"
Elle stopped looking at the photos, realizing that I noticed and she parted her lips.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry I was just—"
"You look beautiful today." I confessed, not holding in my truth.
Elle's worry decreased from my confession and her eyes stared at me in surprise.
"I mean, ya always look beautiful, but...I just wanted to finally let you know. 21 never looked better on you, love." I smiled, pulling a hair behind her ear.
My heart was pulsing a little more than usual, but I accepted it as a normal reaction. I never really been romantic with Elle, so telling her my truth was settling for me. It felt nice.
Elle's lips parted at my words and I can almost sense her breathing more higher than usual.
I knew it probably felt a little overwhelming for Elle to hear me admit that, but I liked that she was reacting that way. It reassured me that I shouldn't have felt like it was strange.
"How are you real?" Elle whispered.
I smiled down at her, resting my hands on her thighs as I leaned forward.
"You know I'm as real as ya see me."
Elle smiled, looking down at my touch, "Thank you for coming Niall. This has probably been one of the best birthdays I've ever had. You made it really special."
I can see my hand caress her left thigh, smiling at her truth.
"Well, I'm really glad to hear that. M'glad I'm here too. With you. I really wanted to see you."
There was tension between us. We both felt it and it was pretty obvious, but for some reason, this felt different. There was previous occasions where we felt this exact way, but never really paid attention to it. Now, it felt more real and raw. It was perfect timing.
I can feel Elle's hand gently place against the side of my cheek, stroking it before it made its way behind my ear near my neck.
"I missed you." Elle breathed.
"I did too." I followed.
I can feel my fingers tickled more upwards, wrinkling her dress as they traveled a little higher than the line.
"Your outfit is really distracting." I managed to say.
Elle let out a small laugh between breaths as our foreheads connected. Only the blowing sound of the wind panting around us.
"I really want to kiss you right now, Niall." Elle said desperately.
I swallowed at her desperation, placing a hand on her waist. "Nobody is stopping you."
Elle closed her eyes, almost debating whether it was the right move or not. I knew she was an over-thinker, so I understood why she will react that way.
"Oh, come 'ere, Elle."
I finally closed the gap between us; my lips syncing with her's as she joined desperately.
It was dangerous when Elle and I will kiss because we never really ended it. It will always proceed into something deeper and we both will move extremely fast, so I knew that this was going to be dangerously good.
I can feel my hands roamed on the sides of Elle's waist, tugging the fabric as her hands clutched against my brown hairs. Both of our bodies inching closer at each move. All hands moving in different body parts on that picnic table.
I didn't know how long we made-out for, but I did know that the sun had finally set and the night-sky was slowly peeking through the distance.
"I desperately want you, it's insane." Elle breathed within the kisses.
I chuckled, "S'dat the wine talking?"
"No. It's me." Elle confessed.
I eyed Elle, debating whether we were ready to actually step forward to the entire thing.
Yeah, there was occasions where we've extended farther than this. I've had my fingers on her, her hands on me; the intense make-out session on Thanksgiving, which almost resulted into something we weren't ready at the time. But this. Tonight. It was perfect.
"Good, because I desperately want you too, Elle." I kissed her.
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should i rob y'all? should i continue? debating, debating....🤪
also it's so funny how they wanna take things slow but then they want outta each other hahshshshshs