I feel like this chapter is gonna be so long omg
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Nellie's POV:
I sat back in my seat next to the window on the plane, Niall sitting down next to me. I looked out the window and smiled excitedly. I love airplanes, and my favorite part is taking off and landing. The feeling of being put up in the air and then back down makes it feel like a rollercoaster, as childish as that sounds.
"We're not even in Paris yet and you're already excited" Niall chuckled. So yes, this is the birthday present Niall got for me, a Christmas in Paris again.
"I'm taking my excitement one step at a time, right now I'm looking forward to being above the clouds for a few hours" I told him.
"It's funny how you used to be afraid of flying and now you love it" he said as he took his phone our of his pocket and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and shrugged, looking back out the window.
Today is Christmas Eve eve, as I like to call it, and I have yet to get Niall a gift. I'm horrible at getting him things, so I'm really not looking forward to trying to buy him something, especially while he is there with me.
"Hey Ni, can I ask you a favor?" I asked and he nodded, looking over at me.
"Please don't get me a gift for Christmas this year" I pleaded. He went to argue but I stopped him. "Niall, the ring on my finger is the only gift I need". He stayed silent for a moment before answering.
"Fine, but then you can't get me anything either." He told me and I raised my eyebrows.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"You already gave me my gift"
"And what was that?" I asked, totally clueless.
"You said yes" he smiled. I blushed but I wasn't going to give up that easily.
"That's not a gift, that's just me accepting yours"
"You are my gift. Seeing that ring on your finger is my gift. That's all I could ever want" he grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. I smiled up at him and leaned in to leave a small kiss on his lips. Then the speakers came on.
"Hello everyone, this is your captain speaking. Please prepare for takeoff" the pilot's voice sounded through the cabin. I fastened my seatbelt and pressed my face against the window. Then I felt the jolt of the plane as we started moving.
***
By the time we arrived in Paris it was just about midnight. We basically went right to our hotel and fell asleep, since we didn't sleep much on the plane.
The next morning I woke up to arms snaking around my waist. I turned around to come face to face with a very sleepy looking Niall.
"Merry Christmas Eve" he mumbled in his morning voice. I smiled lazily, as I was extremely tired too.
"You too Ni" I giggled. I sat up in the bed, Niall's arms still wrapped around my waist. I stretched my upper body, waking me up a little bit. As I tried to get out of bed Niall's grip on me would only tighten. I sighed and looked over at him. He was looking up at me from where he still lay on the bed and gave me puppy dog eyes.
"Stay" he whined. I rolled my eyes at him and the tried to get up again, but his arms kept me locked down.
"Niall we can't stay all day in bed" I laughed at him. He wasn't going to give up.
"You're not getting any breakfast if you don't get up" I warned but he didn't even flinch.
"I'd rather cuddle you than eat" he groaned, trying to pull me back down on the bed. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"What's it gonna take to get you up?" I reasoned.
"Nothing" he huffed like a child.
"There has to be something"
"Nope"
"We can try snails today. I know you wanted to do that while we're here" I told him. He shook his head.
"Ok how about this, if you don't get up I won't kiss you for the whole day." His eyes widened.
"That's cruel" he whispered. I shrugged my shoulders. Then he pulled his arms away from me and sat up in bed. I smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
"Hey, you missed" he pouted again.
"You're technically not out of bed yet" I told him as I stood up and took my hair out of the bun I had it in. I looked in the mirror and I looked terrible. My hair was sticking up in all different directions and the mascara I had put on yesterday smudged onto my lower eyelid. I groaned at my reflection.
"I think I should take a shower before we do anything" I sighed as I felt Niall's arms wrap around my waist again and I saw his head rest on my shoulder in the mirror
"May I join you?" He asked and I laughed at him, pausing for a second.
"Sure" I shrugged and his eyes widened.
"wait really?"
"Yes" I laughed at his surprised face. Then I lead him to the bathroom.
**
After we both got ready we decided to video chat the boys and Shannon. Liam was visiting family and he was with Sophia, Harry was with Skye, Louis with Eleanor, and Zayn with Perrie.
Once everyone had logged on and their faces had popped onto the screen, they all started talking at once.
"Hey!" Niall yelled, trying to get their attention. It didn't work
"GUYS SHUT UP" Shannon yelled and they all went quiet. She smiled triumphantly. Then Alex popped up next to her and I squealed, literally.
"ALEX!" I yelled and he smiled and waved.
"Hey Nellie! Wow, I haven't seen you in like two weeks and you're as gorgeous as ever" He said back. Niall gave him a curious look, then gave one to me, before looking back at the screen.
"So guys, merry Christmas Eve!" Liam cheered.
"Hi Sophia! Oh Perrie hi! And El I miss you so much!" I exclaimed as I noticed each girl on the screen.
"What about me?" Shannon and Skye said at the same time.
"I just saw you guys a few days ago" I laughed. "But it's still good to see you"
"What about me Nellie? You haven't seen me in what feels like forever and I don't get a hello?" Louis asked, wiping away a fake tear.
"Louis I saw you last week"
"Exactly!"
"Should we tell them now?" Niall asked. I looked over at him and shrugged. We had kept our engagement a secret for the passed month, just because we wanted it to be a surprise. Then I guess we could never find the right moment. Now seemed just as good as any.
"Sure" I told him and everyone was giving us confused faces, wondering what we were saying. Then I held up my hand containing the ring Niall got me. The boys were the first ones to understand, as I guess Niall told them he was going to propose. Skye looked like she understood too, so maybe Harry had told her. The other girls, not so much.
"HOLY SHIT IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" Shannon screamed and I chuckled, cringing a bit at her loud voice.
"Well, if what you think it is is an engagement ring then yes, it is" Niall said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and smiled proudly.
"I thought you were going to do it tonight?" Harry asked and Niall blushed.
"Actually I, uh.. did it back in October" he told them and all of their eyes widened.
"NELLIE YOU KEPT THIS A SECRET FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH?!" Shannon yelled and I rolled my eyes.
"We're never all together anymore! I didn't want to tell each person one by one" I explained.
"Congratulations Nellie!" Alex yelled. Then he leaned closer to the camera and whispered "save me", referring to Shannon. As he pulled away she hit him in the arm and he let out a loud "OUCH". I laughed at them. Niall continued to look suspiciously at Alex, which I'm not sure why.
"Congrats guys!" Sophia called. I smiled and thanked her, as did Niall. Then Eleanor and Perrie congratulated us too.
"Well guys, we gotta go. Maybe we can exchange gifts when we all get back?" I suggested and there was a chorus of agreement.
"Love you!" I called as we were about to sign off.
"Have fun!" Harry yelled.
"Not too much fun!" Shannon yelled right before we ended the call. I laughed at her before getting up off the bed to get my shoes on. We're going sight seeing today.
"So... Who's Alex?" Niall asked me as he stood up off the bed and walked over to me. I looked up after I put on my boots and shrugged.
"Just one of my friends from work. He's my stylist for interviews and shows and photo shoots, things like that"
"Oh so, he like dresses you and stuff?" He started to say "and your friends? Right?" He asked and I gave him a confused look.
"Yes..." I said slowly.
"He seemed kinda... I don't know... Too friendly with you" he said slowly and I finally caught on to what was happening. Then I burst out laughing.
"What?" He asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
"Niall! Are you jealous?" I asked in an amused way.
"No!" He defended, cheeks turning pink. I smiled and walked over to him.
"Niall, there's nothing to be jealous of" I chuckled.
"Didn't seem like that to me" he grumbled quietly. I sighed.
"Niall, Alex is gay" I told him and he raised his eyebrows.
"Oh... Really?" He asked, his cheeks turning even more red. I laughed again.
"Yes" I smiled up at him as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Besides, even if he wasn't I could only love you" i said as I leaned in to kiss him. He pulled away and smirked.
"I could tell, considering you let me into the shower with you" he said cheekily and I pulled my arms away, hitting his shoulder playfully, heat rising to my cheeks as I tried to hide my smile.
"Ah so now you go all cheeky on me huh? When you find out Alex could never go out with me?" I raised my eyebrows in a joking way, putting my hands on my hips.
"Alright fine, I was jealous. Happy?" He asked and I smiled triumphantly.
"very" I responded, reaching for my bag. When I put it on Niall pulled me into a hug.
"Only I'm allowed to call you gorgeous" he mumbled and I smiled into his chest, wrapping my arms around him.
"Ok Niall" I giggled.
***
All morning we traveled all over the city. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, the Pantheon, the national museum of modern art, and finally the lock bridge where Niall and I both wrote our names on a lock and attached it. Now we're just walking through the streets, but I could tell Niall was bringing me to a specific place.
"So, where to now?" I asked him. It was about 3 PM and it was getting colder. There was a light coat of snow on the ground, causing the sidewalk to become a little slippery and slushy.
"Oh, no where" he said nonchalantly but there was a knowing smile on his face.
"Stop trying to surprise me!" I groaned. He just laughed and wrapped his arm tighter around my shoulders.
Then after a few minutes Niall stopped me from walking. I gave him a questioning look and he pointed towards a black door in the building next to us, a building that I would have walked passed without even noticing.
"What is it?" I asked, eying the door skeptically.
"How about we go in and find out?" He smirked. We went through the door and inside was a line of people. I gave Niall a questioning look.
"Welcome to the catacombs" he said in a not-so-spooky voice. I widened my eyes and then looked around.
"You're kidding!" I said in a whisper, as it was very quiet in here.
The line moved fairly quick, there was only one group of people in front of us. I still can't believe Niall got us in here.
"How did you get us a spot? They say tourists aren't usually welcomed into the catacombs anymore" I asked him and he shrugged.
"I have my ways" he smiled.
We finally got to the front of the line and I turned to Niall.
"Niall, are you sure you wanna go down there?" I asked him skeptically. I know he has a thing with small spaces, and he really hates them.
"Of course I do! Besides, I'm a man. Nothing down there can scare me" he puffed up his chest and I laughed, even though I still wasn't sure about this.
They handed me a hard helmet with a light on it and then handed one over to Niall too. Then we started walking down what felt like a million stairs, following our guide.
We finally came to a small hole in the ground with a ladder scaling the side of it. We were supposed to go by ourselves now. The guide handed me the map and he helped me over to the ladder.
"Woah woah woah let me go first" Niall begged and I looked at him like he was crazy.
"No way Niall. Do you see how small that space is? If you really want to do this then I'm going first. I don't want you freaking out half way down" I told him and he looked troubled, but finally nodded. I walked over to the ladder and was helped onto it by the guide, then I started climbing down. A few seconds later I saw Niall getting onto the ladder above me.
"Good thing I'm not as afraid of heights, this thing is deep as hell" he called down to me and I laughed.
"I think that's the idea"
After a few minutes of climbing down it started getting darker, but I could see torch light underneath us. We were about half way there. All of a sudden I heard Niall breathing heavily, and he stopped his descent.
"Hey, you ok?" I asked, pausing on the ladder.
"Y-yea" he croaked out. I sighed and climbed back up so that I was right under him. I put my arm on his leg and he relaxed under my touch.
"I'm right here Ni. There's nothing to be worried about" I reassured him.
"I-it's just... You know. I feel like there's no air down here" he said with a shaky voice.
"We're almost there, just try not to think about it and take deep breaths to calm yourself down. Think about when we were little and we used to play football in the park. Think of that" I told him quickly. I knew the best thing to do in this situation was to keep him as calm as possible.
"I'll try" he gulped and then I slowly started to move again, him following.
It wasn't long before we got to the bottom and the space finally opened up into a long tunnel. Niall joined me at the bottom and bent over, his hands leaning on his knees, breathing heavily. I put my hand on his back and kneeled down in front of him so that our faces were leveled.
"Good job Ni. You want some water?" I asked and he nodded. I took the bottle out of my bag and handed it to him. He took a big gulp before taking another deep breath and relaxing, standing back up. I followed his actions and stood before him, making sure he was ok.
"Sorry. I'm ruining this whole thing" he cringed and I smiled at him.
"No your not Niall. I care about you more than all of this. If you don't want to go any further you don't have to."
"No, we're going. You're not the only one who likes creepy things like this" he smiled and I giggled, leaning up and kissing him.
"I love you"
***
The tunnel stretched on for a really long time. It smelt of dust and mold down here, but I'm guessing it smelt a lot worse a hundred years ago, so I can't complain. As we were walking I was reading the back of the map to Niall, which was where all the information on the catacombs were.
"It says that they ran out of room for all the bodies so they moved everyone from the grave yards and put them all down here. Over 6,000 people are buried here" I said in amazement.
"Wow. Can't wait to see that" he said jokingly.
"Oh shush it's gonna be so cool" I gushed. A few minutes later we arrived in a small room, with a sign at the entrance. I walked closer to it so that the flashlight on my helmet provided some light.
"It translates to 'Bones of the old cemetery of magdeleine filed in 1844 in the western ossuary and transferred to the catacombs in September 1859'" I told Niall and I turned around to see him looking at the walls, which were made out of skulls and other bones, but mainly skulls. I gaped at all of them. I turned around to smile at Niall and I saw him backing up as he took in the whole room. The he backed up right into the other wall. He spun around and came face to face with an old skull that was sticking a bit farther out than some of the others. He jumped back.
"Holy shit!" He exclaimed and then when he saw it wasn't anything to be freaked out over, his face turned red as he suffered through my laughter.
"You would be scared too if that happened to you" he playfully glared at me. I smiled before grabbing his hand and setting out down another pathway.
***
After we explored the catacombs for about an hour we decided to go ice skating. Niall was definitely happy about this, seeing as we weren't underground and he actually is pretty good at ice skating. Me on the other hand, let's just say my ice skating lessons as a kid didn't go too well.
We were walking on the sidewalk just outside the rink as a huge wind blew passed us. I yelped and buried my face in my scarf. When it finally stopped I picked up my head and saw Niall smiling at me.
"What?" I asked and he shrugged.
"You're just cute. Here wait" he said, taking his phone out of his pocket. "Let me take a picture of you"
"Noooooo" I whined but he gave me puppy dog eyes, so really I stood no chance.
I pulled my scarf over my mouth and posed for a picture. He typed something in on his phone and I knew all too well what he was doing, so I took my phone out and looked at his tweet.
@NiallOfficial: she's so cute xx
I glared at him and he just wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close.
***
After we rented skates he headed over to the ice rink. Niall got on the ice first and then helped me. I practically fell into him.
"Finally something that I know how to do and you don't" he laughed as he helped me back onto my feet. I glared at him.
"That's not true, there's plenty of stuff you can do that I can't"
"Like what?" He smirked.
"You can speak with an Irish accent". At this he laughed.
"Alright fine, you can do really good accents and I can't" I reasoned and he shrugged.
"I guess that's true" he smiled and I hit his shoulder playfully.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You weren't supposed to agree with me" I said as I suppressed a smile. He just rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, leading me to the center of the rink.
"Actually, I think I'd much rather be over near the wall" I told him hastily.
"No way, if I'm going to help you ice skate we're doing this the right way" he laughed. He grabbed my hands and faced me. Then he started skating backwards, taking me with him. I fell into him a few times, or more like a thousand times, but he never let me fall. That was until I fell so hard that I took him down with me.
"Ouch" he chuckled as he looked down at me. I fell on top of him. We started laughing like crazy, attracting the attention of everyone around us. Niall helped me up and we started again.
***
"Well that was fun" I said sarcastically as we sat down at a table inside, cups of hot chocolate in our hands.
"Oh please, you know you really did have fun. You were smiling the whole time" he said as he took a sip from his cup.
"That wasn't because of the ice skating" I mumbled, remembering the smile that came to my face as Niall would wrap his arms around me and help me skate.
"Oh really?" He raised his eyebrows and I blushed, taking a sip from my hot chocolate in an attempt to hide it.
"Alright, pop quiz" he told me and I raised my eyebrows. "What is my favorite color, food, and movie?"
"Favorite color is blue, food is still chicken or pizza, as it always has been, and movie is Grease, but I do know you like a good horror movie like me" I answered instantly.
"Impressive" he smiled.
"Now, what is my favorite color, food, and movie?" I asked.
"Color is purple. Food is cookies, but not like sugar cookies or oatmeal raisin" he said as he scrunched up his face "you like chocolate chip. And your favorite movie is either Anchor Man, Insidious, or Zoolander" he told me. I nodded as I took another gulp of hot chocolate.
"Correct, but cookies aren't really a food" I told him "they're a dessert"
"To you they're a food. You could eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner" he chuckled.
"Oh please and you wouldn't?! Their amazing!" I exclaimed. He laughed again and when we both calmed down he dragged his chair closer to mine so that he was sitting right next to me. He took off the glove on my left hand and looked at my wrist.
"I still can't believe you, of all people, got a tattoo" Niall laughed as he traced his fingers over the small heart on my wrist. I shrugged, leaning into him.
"I just thought it was time for a change" I smiled down at it.
"What does it mean?" He asked me. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"How do you know it means something? Maybe I just like hearts" I joked and he rolled his eyes at me.
"Because I know you, and I know you wouldn't put something permanently on your body unless it meant something to you" he told me and I sighed in defeat.
"It's to remind me that there will always be love in my life" I said quietly. He paused before speaking again.
"Why do you need that reminder?"
"Because... Because I used to hate myself so much. I did terrible things to myself... Hurt myself. I just needed something to help me remember all the things I still have and not everything I've lost" I said quietly. It was getting late now, as the sky was turning light shades of pink, purple, and orange. Niall pulled me into a side hug. He didn't say anything, he just kissed my forehead and hugged me.
***
We got back to the hotel at around five. Niall told me to get dressed up, as we were going out to dinner. I put on a navy blue dress with a lace top and sleeves (picture up above). Then I put on a pair of matching heels, ones that weren't too high so that I could walk in them, but not too short so I don't look like the shrimp I am. The shoes bring me up to Niall's nose whereas I'm usually just below his chin.
"Ready to go beautiful?" He asked me, taking my hand.
"Yup" I said, popping the p.
We took a taxi to the restaurant and when we walked inside I could tell how expensive it was just by looking around. I hate when Niall spends this much money on me but knowing him, I probably shouldn't complain. Once we were seated the waiter handed us two menus and walked away.
"So... Wanna split the snails?" I smirked and he laughed, but nodded. We got that as an appetizer and then ordered the rest of our food. The waiter or took our menus and left once again.
"This is kind of like deja vu isn't is?" Niall laughed.
"What do you mean?"
"It's like our very first date" he told me and then I realized that it was. I laughed along with him. That felt like it was a million years ago.
"Remember how I flung butter on your face?" I laughed.
"Yea, because it was frozen" he nodded, smiling.
"I can't believe I was so stupid back then" I sighed.
"What are you talking about? You weren't stupid"
"Yes I was. I should have just told you that I liked you right then and there. Or at least after we kissed that night. It would have saved us both a lot of heart break" I told him, looking down at my lap.
"Hey, if anyone was an idiot it was me" he told me, reaching across the table to grab my hand so that I would look up at him. "I liked you for years before that. And after we kissed I shouldn't have told Zayn that it was a mistake, that's what made you confused in the first place." He told me sympathetically.
"Can we just agree that we're both idiots?" I asked and he smiled, nodding.
"Sure" he laughed.
"So..." I trailed off, smiling at him.
"Yea?" He pressed.
"About this wedding of ours..." I trailed off again and he smiled now too.
"I can't believe that's actually happening" he smiled down at his food. I grabbed his hand across the table and he looked up at me.
"Everything you told me was going to happen will Ni. We're going to get married, and have kids, and a big family. Just like I know you've always wanted" I smiled at him.
"Speaking of kids, do you want a boy or girl?" He asked me before laughing.
"Oh defiantly both. An older boy and a younger girl" I told him with a smile on my face, taking a sip from my water.
"Any names in mind then?"
"Hmm, for a boy I would either like Aron or Jude. For a girl I like Ellie" I told him.
"I like Ellie, but let's name the boy James" he smiled.
"Why James?" I laughed.
"He'll be named after me" he told me. I thought about it before nodding.
"Just so we're clear, children are in the distant future right?" I asked and he laughed, nodding.
"Yea, I don't think we're quite ready for kids yet. Maybe after everything with work calms down in a few years and we know that it would be the perfect time to have them" he told me and my smile grew.
"That sounds perfect"
***
After dinner Niall wanted to give me one more surprise for the night, and he dragged me into a taxi against my will. Then when I saw the lights of the Eiffel Tower I knew what we were going to do.
He grabbed my hand and helped me out of he taxi when we arrived. We rode the long and oddly familiar elevator ride to the top, and when we got out I quickly walked right to the railing so that I could see the city all lit up for Christmas. Niall came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. There were a few other couples up there but in that moment it felt like we were there alone.
"It's so pretty" I sighed.
"You know, I was going to propose to you up here. That's why Harry thought I was supposed to wait till today" he told me. "But I thought it would be more special where I had already done it" I turned around in his arms and kissed him.
"You were very right" I smiled as I pulled away. Then I turned around and his arms wrapped around my waist again, his head resting on my shoulder. All of a sudden my phone started ringing. I took it out of my pockets, yes this dress has pockets, I love it. I looked at the caller ID to see that it was my aunt. My heart sped up with worry. Niall gave me a worried look before looking at my phone and understanding.
"Answer it over there. Make sure everything is ok" he told me and I nodded thankfully, walking back over to where the elevator was and answering the call.
"Hey aunt Lisa, everything ok?" I asked. I heard her breathing on the other end but she wasn't saying anything.
"Hello? Can you hear me? Is everything ok?" I asked quickly.
"I'm cancer free" I heard her voice crack with emotion. My heart sped up again, but not with fear this time. With excitement. Could I have heard her correctly?
"W-what?" I asked and she let out a laugh of pure happiness.
"It's gone Nellie! My cancer is gone!" She exclaimed and I could tell that she was crying tears of joy as well. I let out a happy sob.
"That's amazing!" I exclaimed. I couldn't be happier. "Do you want me to come home to see you? I can be on the next flight out of here-" she cut me off.
"No! Stay and enjoy your vacation. You deserve it honey. I just wanted to tell you the good news" she told me happily. I wanted to protest, but I was all too happy at the moment. I said goodbye and then walked back over to Niall.
"Is everything ok?" He asked and I nodded.
"The cancer is gone" I said quietly, a smile on my face. He took a moment to process what I was saying before picking me up and spinning me around.
"That's incredible!" He exclaimed and I laughed. He put me down and I wrapped my arms around his stomach, pushing my head into his chest. His arms wrapped around my shoulders.
"What time is it?" I asked him and he checked his watch.
"It's midnight" he tells me and I smile.
"Merry Christmas Niall"
"Merry Christmas Nellie"
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I HAVE TO FINISH THIS STORY IN LIKE FOUR DAYS UGH. That was kinda a long chapter tho and it took forever to write. Idk if I like it anymore but oh well. See you later xx