After ordering eleven meals at the nearest Italian restaurant, we are all just sitting around reminiscing. Everyone is kind of having their own conversations. Niall has his hand on my thigh under the table and his other hand around his water glass.
“So how are Denise and Theo doing?” Niall looks towards Greg for the explanation.
Greg’s face lights up at the mention of his small family. “They are doing wonderful. Denise says she wishes she could have come but she didn’t want to drag the baby along. Theo is getting so big! He even recognizes you when he sees pictures. He’ll wave his arms and chant ‘Uncle Ni Ni.’ It’s quite adorable. Having him has made softened me up.” Niall chuckles at his brother’s confession.
“Uncle Ni Ni?” I smile up at Niall and he turns with a grin on his face.
“Yeah! He can’t quite say it all yet, so he just says the first syllable… Twice…” he snickers.
“That’s cute!” Just imagining Niall around children makes me giddy. He is so sweet and caring towards everybody. I suspect that he is the perfect uncle when he is home. He probably tries to make up for all the time that he is away.
“Grace,” Bobby says. I turn my head and give him my full attention.
“Hmm?”
“How long have you and Niall been dating?” That was sort of an unexpected question. I guess they don’t really know much about me so I can’t complain.
“Almost five months.”
“How did you meet him?”
“School.” I giggle slightly, remembering the first day I saw him and almost freaked. “He was in a few of my classes and our group of friends was the same.”
“Did you know about him before he came here?”
“Yeah, I actually had a major crush on him.” I look his way to see if he is paying attention but he is talking to Harry.
“Really? So you are a fan of the band?” His eyebrows rise.
“Yeah I am.” I’m kind of confused at where this conversation is going.
“I didn’t think any fan could actually be calm enough to have a normal conversation with him,” he chuckles and takes a bite of his food.
They probably are not used to seeing Niall actually date any of their followers. It must be hard to know if it will work and be a normal relationship. These types of conditions require the boys to be extremely cautious when meeting girls, or anyone for that matter.
“That’s actually a really good point, Bobby,” Maura says from the side. She and Chris are both looking my way for answers. “How did you stay calm? Most girls freak out, pass out, or are kicked out.” She chuckles, lightening the intensity of the question.
I look back at Niall and see that he is intently listening to our conversation now.
“Yeah Niall, how was I so calm?” I honestly don’t know myself. “As soon as he looked into my eyes I kind of forgot he was famous. My cheeks would blush and I couldn’t keep eye contact for long. To me, he was a normal guy that I found extremely perfect.”
“Fate,” he answers looking in my eyes.
“What?” I scoff. How could that be fate?
“I honestly believe that we were meant to find each other. I think that once we finally met, all the celebrity stuff went out the window and we just acted like a normal couple. At least, as much as we could. I just knew that you were different from most girls.” He shrugs his shoulders as if it’s obvious. “Fate,” he repeats.
“You really believe that?” My eyes are sparkling and a new form of love has swallowed my heart. This boy truly believes that we are meant to be. That is something hard to find.
“Yeah Grace, I do.” His eyes glisten as he tips his head questioningly. “Don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. I can feel it.”
Our eyes stay locked and I notice that nobody on our table is talking anymore. They must all be eavesdropping.
“What did I say about PDA in front of me?!” Harry groans from the other side of Niall. The room is filled with laughter just as our food arrives.
~~~~~
“That was delicious,” Niall licks his lips as he steps out of the door of the restaurant.
A few people agree with him as we all start walking to the parking lot. The sun has said goodnight and now the half-moon is dancing in the sky. Stars wink at us as we parade to our vehicles.
Maura, Chris, Bobby, and Greg are all staying in a hotel nearby. The boys, Sophie, and I are going back to the house in the forest. We offered to have Niall’s family stay with us but all their stuff is already unpacked and they didn’t want to relocate.
Niall promised that we would see them off at the airport tomorrow morning. Their plane leaves at 10 in the morning to go back home. They didn’t think there was any point in distracting Niall while he packs for his tour. I only have tomorrow with him and then he leaves the next day. The hours are ticking away.
“Okay, we’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Niall hugs his family one last time and grabs my hand to direct me to the car. The boys and Sophie stay behind to say goodbye now. They won’t be joining us at the airport so we leave them to their goodbyes and walk to the Rover.
Niall’s sweaty palm drops my hand as he unlocks the car and opens the passenger door for me. I climb in and he stands in the doorway looking up at me.
“What?” I ask under his gaze. My entire body is tingling from the way he is staring at me.
“You look gorgeous.” His hands grab onto the seat as he stands on his tiptoes, beckoning for my lips. I lean down, caressing his face as I kiss him.
I pull away and look deeply into his eyes. “You look breath taking.” And I mean it. The moon is shadowing his face perfectly and his eyes look happier than I’ve ever seen them. I suspect that it is because his family is within reach. “I’m so proud of you!”
“I’m so smart,” he jokes and stands taller to kiss me again. I rotate my body on the seat so my legs are dangling out the door. His hands wrap around my waist and pull me tighter to his body.
All my worries about him leaving in a few days vanish. Pure bliss fills my mind and controls my lips. Our actions feel rushed, like this may be the last time we kiss. I push the thought from my mind, trying to only think positively.
Niall’s lips push roughly against my skin and my hands find his hair. That’s his favorite thing. He loves when I twist my fingers through his blonde hair.
“Niall?” Somebody calls from behind the car.
We quickly stop the heated make out and I twist my body to face forward again. I swallow my heavy breathing just as Maura walks to the side of the car and spots Niall.
“Oh, there you are. I just wanted to give you another hug before we head to the hotel.” She walks up to him and then spots me from the corner of her eye. “Oh… Hello Grace.”
My face is burning. “H-hi.” I try not to sound suspicious but it obviously isn’t working. I give her a small smile and look away hoping she isn’t thinking bad things about me. She probably has the wrong idea.
When I turn my head back their direction they are hugging. Awe!
“Love ya mum!”
“Love you Niall!” She backs up and pats his chest as she starts to walk away. “You two, be careful. Have a safe drive home.”
I get the feeling that those words had a completely different meaning than she was letting on.
“We will. See you tomorrow,” Niall says as he watches her walk away. When he looks back at me, he has wide eyes. A breath he was holding in is let out. “Well that was close.”
“I’m pretty sure she had an idea of what we were doing. She sounded suspicious…”
“It doesn’t matter. I practically live on my own. I can make my own decisions and kiss my girlfriend when I want.” He winks and shuts my door.
I shake my head and lean back against the seat, trying to calm my nerves. All the thoughts about Niall leaving have returned. They are eating at my chest, trying to pull me into a deep depression. I won’t let them. My thoughts will not win. My heart will and it knows what it wants. Niall.
He climbs into the driver’s seat and instantly reaches for my hand. It’s a habit now. It seems that he can’t drive anywhere without holding my hand. Not that I’m complaining, I love when he does.
I turn up the radio and he starts driving. A country song comes on and I can’t stop the smile that spreads along my face. It’s ‘That’s My Kind of Night’ by Luke Bryan. It’s the best new song that is out right now and I happen to love it.
I crank the volume and I barely hear Niall chuckle at how excited I am. I start singing as loud as I can and he quickly joins in. He does uses his best country twang as he belts out the chorus. I lift his hand and dance in the seat.
“We dance in the dark and your lips land on mine…”
Niall bites his lip as I continue to sing. I start playing my air guitar and he starts laughing really hard.
It takes me back to the time in the school parking lot when he and I were pretending to be playing instruments. That’s one of my favorite things about Niall. He doesn’t worry about what other people think about his crazy actions. He jammed out with me that day and I can tell that he really wants to now, but he’s driving. His thumbs drum at the steering wheel while I strum the air.
The dirt road appears and we turn onto it just as the song ends. But my dancing and singing doesn’t stop. I keep swinging my head to the beat and occasionally raise Niall’s hand up with mine.
He parks and joins in the fun. He rocks his shoulders and taps his legs. Unexpectedly he opens his door, with the engine still on and the music still blaring. He runs passed the headlights and back into the darkness of my side. He yanks open my door and pulls me out.
“What are you doing?” I giggle as he drags me to the front of the car.
The headlights illuminate our bodies and he takes me out a few feet so it looks like a spotlight on us. Faint music drifts through the air. Niall’s hands grab mine and he starts dancing. I giggle, realizing that he wants to actually dance. I follow along, moving my body with his the best I can. We definitely are not professionals. It’s mostly for kicks.
He drops one of my hands and raises the other above my head. I spin, my dress twirling elegantly. I grab his other hand again and continue moving my feet after his.
He chuckles and his hands tightly grip my waist. I let out a shriek as I feel him lift my feet from the ground. He raises me straight up and I claw at his shoulders, hoping he doesn’t drop me. My hair falls around his head and our eyes lock. I almost forget that I’m in the air, his gaze pulling me into another world.
The song ends. His arms slowly bring me down to the earth and he kisses me before walking to the car and shutting it off. I’m concealed in darkness as the lights go out. Patiently waiting for him to find me, I stay in the same spot looking up at the stars. This clearing in the woods is so secluded.
My hand tingles as I feel his fingers gently nudge it. I smile and link our fingers. I turn and look at his dark face.
“I love you,” he barely says, as if the message is only meant for me. Not that anybody is around anyway.
“I love you more.”
“Impossible.” His lips part and his eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips and back again. He looks as though he is leaning down to kiss me, when lights part through trees and a car rumbles up the path. Liam, Sophie, Harry, Louis, and Zayn are home.
I hear Niall sigh, frustrated that he didn’t get to lock lips. I squeeze his hand and turn to look at the approaching car. They park and get out.
“What you guys doing in the dark?” Louis asks, sarcasm laced in his voice.
“Yeah, you guys, you can’t see anything out here. Only limited things to do in the dark,” Zayn teases.
“You guys are annoying,” I roll my eyes even though they can’t see it.
“Yeah, but you love us anyway,” Harry says walking passed and the others follow. Niall and I bring up the rear, entering the house last.
{Have any of you read the Maze Runner series? Or the Divergent series? I've read the Maze Runner series and loved it :) SO EXCITED FOR THE MOVIES!! I'm thinking about reading Divergent next and I just want to hear opinions. No story ruiners, just thumbs up or thumbs down. :) I've heard the first one is good and then they go downhill. Is it true?
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