As I slowly pressed send, I reread the last few lines of the email. I felt an overpowering smile creep its way onto my face as I thought back to when Niall had told me that.
*
Niall and I made our way onto a busy bus, accidentally bumping into a scattered teenage boy on the way. He was carrying a rather large bouquet of red roses.
"First date?" Niall asked, gesturing to the stunning flowers.
The boy had nodded, nerves settling over his facial muscles. "Do you think the roses are too much?"
"Definitely not. If you think your date is worth the flowers, anyways. I think she'll love them so much, I mean roses are beautiful. Don't you think, Brooke?" Niall nudged me with his elbow.
"Yeah, they really are." I called over my shoulder as I took off down the steps of the bus.
"Yeah, definitely go for it, lad. After all, there is no point in living if you never actually live." Niall said this while looking into my eyes.
We walked towards his cousin's apartment, which happened to be the same direction the boy with the roses was heading. Niall happily gave him some more tips and then we parted ways.
*
I chuckled, thinking about how crazy Sophie was probably going right now. She lapped that kind of thing up; romance was her weak point.
Honestly, I couldn't figure out why I was so caught up in the hurricane that was Niall Horan. I'd considered that maybe I was just using it as a way to get over Jake, who I'd never thought I'd separate from. The only problem with that theory, though, was how I was definitely not the type of girl to go around and flirt with boys all the time. I'd only dated Jake because he was just as plain as I was, and I'd known him for basically my whole life. I hadn't even known Niall for a week, and here I was, sitting in an apartment with him, in Dublin, for God's sakes. No matter how many times I would try to deny it, I knew Niall was special. He's already changed me in so many ways that I'd never thought possible. When I arrived in Ireland last Sunday I would've swore I'd never get over Jake. Now, it was only Tuesday and my thoughts of him were dwindling away in the wind.
"And this here is the living room-" Niall waddled into the room with the camera propped up as if he were giving it a tour. "-where I'll be sleeping tonight. It's a tad messy and small, but adventures don't always include 5-star hotels, now do they?"
Niall then turned the camera so it landed on me. I felt my cheeks heat up from shyness and embarrassment from being filmed, although the likelihood of anyone watching these videos other than Niall and I was low.
Niall grinned keeping the focus on me. "That gorgeous girl right there is my travelling companion. Say hey to the camera, Bee."
Bee. I smiled; Niall had nicknamed me that, and I happened to enjoy hearing it come out of his mouth, accent and all.
I timidly waved at the camera as Niall bounded his way closer to me, camera still pressed firmly in his palm. He jumped onto the clumpy couch next to me, and then tilted the camera so it got both of us in the picture.
"In case you were wondering, Bee is what I like to call Brooke." Niall talked to the camera as it were a real person, responding to it as if it asked a question. "Bee is a name that means travel, and that's exactly what we plan to do together.
Niall held up one of my curls to the camera. "You know what?" Niall said. "I think Bee has the darkest hair I've ever seen. You know, it reminds of that girl from The Hunger Games. What's her name again? Oh yeah, Katniss. Yeah, your hair reminds me of Katniss'.
"It's the first thing-oh wait no, second thing I thought about when I met you. It's so... ghostly." Niall grinned proudly at the camera before quickly shutting it off.
"Our hair isn't that similar." I defended, frowning. "First of all, hers is straight, mine's all curls."
"Oh." Niall said, sarcastically pretending that that made all of the difference in the world. He dramatically brought his hand to his heart and said, "Oh, so your eyes then-are they an ocean blue? Oh no, maybe more of a cobalt colour? Oo, and what about this little dimple!" He placed his finger right into the indent beside my mouth, and I turned away self-consciously. I hated only having one dimple. Everyone else told me that it was adorable, but I couldn't help but think it made my face look uneven.
I knew he was teasing me-well, flirting really-but it still hurt. I mumbled something unintelligently, and got up off the couch so I could hide the hurt on my face. Why did I agree to even go on this stupid trip in the first place?
"Brookie..." His voice trailed off as he used the name only my aunt ever called me. "I'm sorry. I was just messing. I didn't think you'd take it like that."
"Forget it," I slurred. My eyes never left the ground, for fear of meeting his eye contact.
"No," He stood up and grabbed my hand in his. "I hurt your feelings and I'm sorry. I always do dumb things when I'm nervous." He got down on one knee in front of me, still grasping my hand. "I'm sorry Bee; please ignore the rude and stupid things I said. I would love if you would forgive me."
"I would love if you stood up and stopped looking like you're going to propose, because that would be a definite no." I tried to stay firm but I felt myself crack as the smile that always seemed to cement itself on my face when Niall was around returned. It was way too exhausting to be mad at him.
Niall took this as me accepting his apology, and got up laughing. "Right, then. I'm done being thick."
"So are you ready to explore the wonders of Dublin?" Niall stood up and grabbed the camera from where it had been resting on the coffee table, slipping it into the pocket of his black shorts. I watched with interest as the extra weight added to his left side caused his the shorts to fall off his hip.
Niall didn't seem to notice, or care, as he stretched his arms up high above his head and bringing his light blue shirt up with them. A strip of his smooth torso was revealed and I noticed a freckle that peeked out just above the waistband of his grey boxers. I used all of my self-control to tear my eyes away from the line of exposed skin, but Niall seemed to notice my temporary distraction. He looked down at himself in confusion, and then realized that he was showing a lot more underwear than what was appropriate. He slowly made a half-hearted attempt to pull his shorts up, but of course, they slipped right back down, even further this time.
"Do you have a belt or something?" I sighed.
Niall tugged up at the edge of his shirt and revealing, along with most of his toned stomach, that he was indeed sporting a belt.
"Can you make it tighter?" I half-whined.
"Why?" Niall raised his eyebrows seductively. "Does it bother you?" He kept his eyes locked on me, whilst pulling off his shirt completely and tossing it onto the couch.
He poked at the muscles in his stomach and his protruding hipbones, still meeting my frantic eyes. He shot me a playful, crooked smile. "Does my tummy bother you?"
The sight of him standing half naked in front of me sent my brain spinning. Why did he have to be so hot? And where exactly did this new, super confident side of him come from? I gathered what was left of my scattered thoughts and lied straight through my teeth. "I've seen better." I folded my arms over my chest, and smirked at him in victory.
Suddenly, his façade fell and he grabbed his shirt shyly. The boy who'd asked me if it was okay to call me pretty had returned, masking the grinning, cocky guy who had convinced me to go on this adventure. Once he was fully dressed and his pants were sitting at an adequate height on his hips, Niall ruffled a hand through his blonde hair and ran his tongue over his braces. "Better?" He asked, smugly. "Sometimes I honestly forget that I don't know you that well, yet."
I smiled brightly, hoping to shift the awkwardness. "Well, that's the point of this trip right? To get to know each other."
Niall nodded, returning my smile. "Yeah, you're right. Okay," He plopped down on the couch next to me, his blue eyes alive again, "we need rules. Rules like, no teasing you about your dimple and no taking off my shirt. Stuff like that."
He turned on the camera and focused it on our faces once again. "We're making rules. Rule number one," He smiled and then swung the camera around to solely focus on me. "why don't you tell us?"
"Rule number one, no taking off your clothes. Pants must be worn at all times. Shirts are optional for sleeping." I saw the glint in his eyes and my face reddened immensely. "For you not me! I'll always wear a shirt."
"Okay, I guess..." He pouted and I rolled my eyes. "And by pants you mean like trousers or shorts right? Not like underwear pants?"
"Yeah, always have something on over your underwear."
"Okay," Niall nodded thoughtfully and turned the camera back on him. "Rule number two, do not ask stupid questions. We can't ask dumb things like 'where are we going', 'are we there yet', and the classic 'how much longer'. That's just annoying." He imitated a teenage girl with a high-pitched, squeaky voice, making me giggle.
"Rule number three," I continued, the camera trained back on me. "Don't ever leave me alone. Not even for a minute."
"'Course not," He smiled softly. "And finally, the most important rule of all. Don't throw out any food, whatsoever. If you don't eat it, I will. Got it?"
I nodded. "Got it."
"Great." Niall closed the camera and hopped off the coach. "Now we are ready to go. Dublin Zoo here we come."