Within a couple seconds the door swings open revealing all the young teenage girls and several guys that were spying on us through the front window.
The blonde girl who opened the door for us keeps staring at Niall, trying to get his attention. Some others are gawking at our entwined hands as if they don’t believe it. The guys all walk off, unamused, while the girls crowd the doorway blocking our entrance.
“Umm… excuse us.” Niall says as he takes a couple steps forward. The crowd splits down the middle as they allow space for us to pass through. I squeeze his hand tightly as he walks through because once he passes they start closing in and I have to be pulled out.
Niall sends a quick disapproving look to the group before directing me to a large room. The music’s blasting and there are people everywhere. Some we know, some we don’t. They all cover the couches and many are standing around with cups in their hand.
Once we decide that there isn’t anybody in here worth talking to we move into the kitchen. His hand still tightly wrapped around my smaller one.
It’s a comforting feeling to have some type of physical touch at the moment. It relaxes my mind from all my thoughts. We have been preparing for him to leave and it is getting so close now. Only about a week and he will be on a plane to start his next tour. I miss him already and he hasn’t even left yet.
“Grace! Niall! Over here!” Our heads turn to see Bella jumping up and down across the room as she tries to get our attention. I smile her way and pull Niall with me.
We approach her and notice that she is standing with James, Emma, Aaron, and a few others unknowns.
“Hey guys!” I giddily greet them.
Several “hey guys” erupt and smiles are exchanged before Niall and I are pulled into the conversation.
“We were just talking about you two,” Aaron informs us. Emma quickly juts him in the side with her elbow making it obvious that he wasn’t supposed to say anything.
I raise my eyebrows. “Really? About what?”
“Aaron…” Emma groans because their cover was blown.
“I’m sorry,” he defends, “I didn’t realize it was a secret.”
“What’s a secret?” I ask trying to get somebody to answer. I glance around the group waiting for a reply. Most of their eyes are diverted and trying to avoid my look. “What?” I’m starting to get annoyed at their secretiveness.
“It’s nothing.” Bella pipes.
“It’s not ‘nothing’ if you are all avoiding the question. Tell me.”
“We were just talking about next week.” Emma’s voice barely reaches my ears.
“Oh…” I look away embarrassed that they have been thinking about when Niall leaves too.
Niall is looking at the floor unsure of what to say. He has been planning to tell them all goodbye tonight and this kind of makes it awkward.
After a few seconds of silence James finally says something. “It wasn’t anything bad. Just about how we are going to miss him and how we feel bad for you Grace.”
I just nod my head without saying anything. I don’t really like how people are thinking about me having to say goodbye to Niall. It makes me feel as though I will be watched once Niall is gone, like everyone will be waiting for me to break.
I look around the room, trying to show them that I don’t care if they were talking about us. It’s not fooling Niall though because he gives my hand a comforting squeeze.
“Can we talk about something else?” Niall asks.
“Yeah sure.” Emma tries to save the day. “Quite a party, huh?”
“I’m surprised at the outcome,” Bella says looking around and taking a sip of her drink.
“Me too,” James agrees.
“How did you rent this place?” Aaron asks.
“We didn’t rent it,” Bella answers. “It’s my aunt and uncle’s place. They told me I could borrow it while they are away on a cruise. As long as I clean it back up and nothing is broken.”
“Wow, you are lucky. My aunt would never let me do that and she basically lives in a shack.” Aaron says shocked.
“Well I’m pretty close with them so…” she trails off, shrugging her shoulders.
“Let’s go swim!” Emma squeals as she looks out a window.
Niall and I haven’t said anything since the strange exchange but we follow them out the back door and into the backyard. The sun is just starting to go down and everything casts a shadow to the east.
“Wow!” I say in awe as I see the setup.
The pool is big and very fancy. It isn’t a regular rectangle. It’s almost three times as long as it is wide. The edges curve in and out in a strange shape and the hot tub is connected to it. You don’t even have to get out of the water to get from hot tub to swimming pool. It’s all one large tub of blue water.
“This is amazing,” whispers Niall. Then he chuckles slightly.
“What?” I ask him.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” he laughs again, this time his eyes light up, and I start giggling.
My eyes are fascinated with the underwater lighting. There are small lights surrounding the bottom of the pool. Despite them being underwater and lighting the entire pool, I’m more amazed at their color changing ability. They continue to fade into a new shade every few seconds. It looks magical, as if stars are dancing under the water.
I scan the grounds around the pool. There is a grill in the back left corner with a small bar and stools for anybody that wants a snack or drink. Bella even has somebody working back there to fulfill everybody’s orders. There are already several guys taking advantage of the free alcohol. I’m not a drinker personally but I’m sure that James has had some every now and then. He probably was the one who talked Bella into using the bar.
While I continue the search the details of this phenomenal house, Niall drags me along with the group. They all gather around a few beach chairs and start stripping their clothes down to their bathing suits and remove anything that can’t get wet.
Niall drops my hand and grips the hem of his shirt, pulling it swiftly over his head. I slip off my flip flops and kick them under the chair. I set my towel down and place my phone in it to protect it from water.
I drop my blue shorts and my black swim trunks are revealed. I cautiously remove my tank top still insecure about others seeing my body. My bikini is all that I have on except for Niall’s Ray Bans.
I turn to see if he still has his on his face. He does and his gaze is on me. His jaw is slightly dropped as he stares at me. I can barely see his eyes scan over my body behind his glasses, sending shivers up my spine. I bite my lip, trying to stay calm as he eyes me up and down. My cheeks are burning and my eyes shift to the water and back to him.
I love how he can look at me as if I am the only girl in the world. He can see something in me that I don’t even see in myself.
“You are beautiful,” he compliments.
“Thank you and you are handsome.”
He walks up to me, my head tipping back slightly to look up at him. His hands are placed on my lower back. His fingers rubbing back and forth, giving me goose bumps. He dips his head and kisses my lips gently before standing back and grabbing my hand.
I finally notice everyone else is already in the pool.
“Ready?” he asks looking at me.
I look out at the water hoping it’s not cold.
“Yeah.” I grin at him and his eyes shine.
We take off running. It only takes a few strides before we reach the edge of the water. My toes push off the ground and Niall and I go flying into the air. I start screaming as gravity takes over. We plummet into the cold water hand in hand.
I quickly rise to the top, gasping for air. My lungs fill with oxygen and I use my empty hand to slide my wet hair off of my face. My body instantly starts shivering from the wide change in temperature. My lips tremble and Niall pulls me to his chest. It doesn’t work though. He is shivering too and his body warmth is vanishing into the lapping water.
I spin in the water and notice that most of our friends are heading for the hot tub. I flail my arms and follow them to the heat, Niall trailing behind.
We reach the small barrier between the two differently heated pools. I push my body up from the water and slide over the short wall. My body slips into the hot water and it burns at my nerves. I suck in a breath at the sudden change and breathe through my teeth until I’m adjusted.
Niall wraps his arms around my waist from behind me and walks us over to an underwater seat. He sits down, the water reaching his neck. He pulls me down onto his lap and I happily comply. His chin rests on my shoulder and his arms hug at my stomach.
“I love you,” he whispers so only I hear him. His breath on my ear gives me goose bumps and I bite my lip again trying to contain my goofy smile.
“I love you more,” I whisper back.
I feel him shake his head ‘no’ on my shoulder and I giggle slightly.
“You know, you look sexy in that swimsuit.” Niall’s raspy voice reaches my ears.
I smile even though he can’t see my face. “And you look mighty fine in those swim trunks.”
He chuckles and pulls me closer to his body. His lips are placed on my neck. He leaves a messy kiss and slides down, placing another on my shoulder.
“Niall, everybody is staring,” I warn him as I look around at people in the backyard. Several pairs of eyes are giving us dirty looks. “These guys don’t appreciate the PDA.” I giggle.
He leaves one more kiss before looking around himself. His face drops into a scowl as he realizes that we are in public. Lucky none of our friends are watching. They are all distracted by two girls over on the opposite side of the pool who are arguing.
“What are they arguing about?” I ask nobody in particular. The blonde girl, the same on that opened the door for us earlier, is one of the chicks. She has dressed down to a strapless bikini and she’s flailing her arms in the air as if she is trying to get a point across.
“Shhh! Listen,” James says as he tries to eavesdrop on them.
The redhead has her arms folded over her chest and one leg is bent into a sassy pose. Her head is slightly tipped and her face is pulled into an angry scowl.
I turn my ear slightly towards them and barely catch the words.
“You would never have a chance!” the redhead scoffs.
“I’d have more of a chance than you. You’re just a stupid slut.”
“Damn.” Niall whispers and I giggle.
“Please! You would know what a slut was like. You’ve been around enough.” The redhead rolls her eyes.
The blondes eyes go wide and I swear that there is steam billowing out of her ears. She is fuming mad. “You are just jealous that your boyfriend cheated on you with me!”
Low blow.
The redheads face falls. Her eyes are watering and she briefly turns around and starts to walk away. The blonde has an evil smirk on her face as she watches her competitor lose. She finally turns and her eyes fall on Niall. It’s like she is looking right through me.
The next action is completely unexpected. Her petite hand lifts up and her fingers wave flirtatiously at Niall.
{ Oh snap! What do you think is going to happen?
Don't forget to comment for a dedication!!! I love you all! XOXOX!}