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Previously in chapter 44:
She pointed over her shoulder. "Your book shelf used to be full. Now there's only a few books you left behind and a photo of you and Niall from prom."
"It's from the winter formal." I corrected her. "I used to hide it whenever he came over because I didn't want to scare him off."
"Nothing could scare him off... wait, where is he, by the way?" She grinned.
"Niall is at Jake's parents place, thanks for asking." I said, giving her a look.
She continued to grin.
"So the book is fine then?" She asked.
"It is. I have a pile of books back home that I'm going to read next. This one will be at the top of my list."
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Niall came by the mall to pick me up after I had been out with my sister. She was meeting up with her boyfriend before the party, so we decided we'd meet back home in two hours.
Niall drove us back to his mother's place because she had asked him to come by to say goodbye. She and Brian are going to Paris for a few days and they're leaving first thing in the morning. It was nice hearing Niall asking his mom where Jayden would stay, because that way I knew he cared.
He opened the car door for me, and placed his arm around my shoulders as we approached the red house. He was in an awfully good mood, and I wasn't sure why. Not that it was a bad thing, just unusual.
"Mom?" He called out as we stepped inside.
"In the kitchen!" Maura yelled back.
After hanging our jackets on the same hook on the wall, Niall took my hand in his and walked further into the house. Jayden were sitting in the couch, watching something on the TV and Brian were nowhere to be found at the moment.
My mother-in-law greeted both of us with hugs and told us that Brian would be here any minute. Niall sat down on a barstool by the kitchen island and pulled me towards him so I stood in between his knees. His arms rested around my waist and I played with his fingers a little, while listening to his mother. She was rather excited about visiting France and I told her all about our trip there in March, and Niall just smiled, leaning his chin upon my shoulder.
Soon enough Brain came home, greeted us with a huge smile. He placed four boxes of pizza on the kitchen island, and Jayden suddenly looked up.
"Pizza-time!" Jay exclaimed and rushed towards the dining room.
I laughed and joined him, ruffling his hair on my way past him. He smiled brightly at me and Niall helped carrying the pizzas into the room.
"Just one big happy family." Maura smiled as she and Brian entered the room.
After the pizza I went to the bathroom, and as I left I heard the four of them laughing in the next room. I smiled to myself and looked to the side, seeing the door to Niall's old bedroom was ajar. I went inside, and the smile remained on my lips because it looked just the same. Those few times I've been here since Niall and I got back together, we've never been in his room. So it was nice to know Maura kept it the way he left it.
To my right stood his bookshelf, but instead of keeping books there, he had placed all of his trophies and medallions from football games. In the middle stood a group photo of the team from our last year in school. Niall sat crouched down in the middle on the front row, Jake and Tyler sat next to him. They wore those shirts with so much pride and Niall smiled widely, showing off his captain armband.
In the corner of my eye I saw Niall approaching the room.
"If you were trying to scare me, you failed." I told him without looking away from the photo.
"I wasn't trying to. What are you doing?"
"Reliving old memories."
He stood beside me, looking at the trophies as well. I looked at him, seeing him smiling.
"Do you miss it?" I asked.
"Yeah." He admitted. "It always gave me such an adrenaline kick being on the field."
"I bet you miss all the cheerleaders, too." I said, nudging him playfully with my elbow.
He grinned down at me.
"I still wanna see you in a cheerleading costume at least once before I die."
"Keep dreaming." I laughed and walked over to his dresser.
I pulled out the top drawer and heard him sitting down on the bed behind me.
"You have so much crap in here." I said, looking over my shoulder.
"I know. Tons of school stuff ended up in there."
I found an old scribbling block and flipped through the pages.
"School stuff?" He guessed.
"No, I think it's more song lyrics."
"Lemme see."
I walked over to him and he pulled me down in his lap so we both could see. Some were from 2013 and some were older than that. A certain song title caught my eye.
"November 9." I read out loud. "A very specific date."
He took a closer look and skimmed through the text. Then he smiled.
"I wrote this after we broke up, but I named it after the first time you spend the night here. I think I still remember the chords."
He smoothly picked me up, removed me from his lap and set me down on the bed again. His oldest guitars stood in the corner and he strummed on it, only to find out he needed to tune it before playing on it. It only took him a minute to do it and then he sat down on the edge of the bed next to me.
"Can you hold the lyrics up for me, please?"
I obeyed and he began playing, before he started to sing.
"You got scars, so do I. If I could, I'd take 'em all and make 'em mine. But for now, I'll play the part and let you in just far enough for this to start, for this to start.
I remember everything. When the fire of your heart began to sting. I couldn't tell you all of my sins, much too scared of what the truth might bring.
I've been lying from the start, you know it's tearing me apart. But would you really want the whole truth? When I finally tell it all, will it be your wrecking ball? Or the bitter taste you tried to hide as smooth?
I know I took it all away. So let me give it all back to you, you, oh, you, you. Give it all, give it all back to you.
You reaped for truth, I tell no lies. Every page outlined for you ends with goodbyes. I'm losing sleep, 'cause I write all night. Always end up with the words November 9. Oh.
I've been lying from the start, you know it's tearing me apart. But would you really want the whole truth? When I finally tell it all, will it be your wrecking ball? Or a bitter taste you tried to hide as smooth?
I know I took it all away. So let me give it all back to you, you, oh, you, you. Give it all, give it all back to you. You, you, oh, you, you. Give it all, give it all back to you.
Your heart is on fire and my soul's the flame. But the damage left behind us is not the same.
So let me give it all back to you, you, you, you. Give it all, give it all back to you. You, you, oh, you, you. Give it all, give it all back to you."
He strummed a finale chord and turned to me.
"What was so special about November 9th?" I asked.
"That's when we babysat Jayden together for the first time. And I tried to convince myself all night that I wasn't going to fall for you. But, well..."
"But..." I looked at the lyrics. "You played the part."
I showed him what line I meant and grinned a little.
"Thank God I did, or else you wouldn't be sitting here."
"Wait. Wasn't that the night you told me you wasn't going to spoon me until I was your girlfriend?"
"Yeah." He said, getting up to put away the guitar again.
"What are your thoughts about spooning now, then?"
"I hate it."
I gave him a look, and he smiled when he walked towards the bed.
"Just kidding. Move."
He pointed at the headboard, and I moved over to sit by it. Then he crawled up on the bed and lay down next to me, his head resting on my stomach. I began to play with his hair and for a moment I wished this day would never end.
On my way to the kitchen later that night, I felt two hands gripping onto my waist from behind.
"Gees, babe, you can't even walk straight."
I spun around in his embrace, smiling.
"Don't forget you're the hostess."
"What, can't I drink if I'm the hostess?" I asked, and wobbled a little.
Niall took a firmer grip around my arms, trying his hardest to look into my eyes.
"Of course, but maybe not this much?"
"But you've had just as much as me!"
He chuckled a little.
"That's true, but you're smaller than me so you get drunk faster. Let's go drink some water, alright?"
He guided me towards the kitchen. I greeted a guy in the hall, waving at him and pretending to lift my hat off. Niall laughed as we entered the kitchen.
"How rude of him not to wave back." I muttered, crossing my arms.
"That's because you were talking to a coat."
"Oh."
Niall smiled and easily picked me up, setting me down on the kitchen island.
"Don't fall down."
He took down a glass from the cabinet and poured water into it.
"Are people having a good time?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said, handing me the glass. "Jake has taken over the DJ booth. Your friends are playing some drinking game with my friends. Scarlett is having the time of her life dancing on the dining table. Franklin says he wants to play beer pong with me, and if I lose I have to sleep outside tonight."
"I don't want to sleep alone tonight." I whined.
"You won't." He said, pushing the glass up to my lips again. "Drink up."
"How much time do we have left?"
"You're making it sound like the world is ending." He laughed. "Around two hours."
I tugged at his shirt to bring him closer.
"I want to end this year and start next year with you inside me." I whispered.
"We'll see about that." He said, kissing my cheek. "You'll have to sober up first."
"Can we take a selfie? I wanna post it on Instagram."
He smiled and we took a few pictures together before my brother entered the room along with Caleb.
"Frankie!" I said, reaching for my brother.
Niall and Caleb laughed when they heard my nickname for him, and he glared at them before hugging me.
"You alright, sis?"
"Yep! But there's an awfully rude boy in the hall." I told him.
Franklin looked at Niall, who just shrugged.
"Where did you hide the key to the backyard door?" Franklin asked me.
"In a safe place." I proudly answered. "Why do you ask?"
"For the fireworks later. And I would like to challenge Scarlett's boyfriend in a snowball-fight."
"Is he going to sleep outside if he lose?" I asked.
Franklin grinned.
"Maybe. So where's the key?"
"Whomever gets it have to come out of the closet."
He frowned, looking at Caleb and Niall.
"It's in her bedroom closet." Niall explained.
"But your closet is huge!" Franklin looked at me.
"Like I said, it's in a safe place." I said and took a big gulp on my water.
He rolled his eyes and was about to leave the kitchen again. But he took a step back and said something to Niall, who nodded. Caleb helped me down from the kitchen island and I rushed into the living room to re-join my friends.
"Louis is preparing the fireworks."
"Mm..." I mumbled into my pillow.
Niall was standing by my window, and it was only a few minutes left until it would be a new year, but right now I just wanted to sleep.
"Are you sure you want to stay inside? All of your friends are in the backyard."
"I'll see them next year." I smiled.
Niall lay down on his stomach on the bed and poked his finger into my cheek.
"Cheer up, Olivia, it's New Years!"
"And I'm drunk." I complained.
"I know you are. I've been taking care of you all night."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologise. I like taking care of you."
I smiled again.
"Do you have a new years resolution?" I asked him, reaching out to play with his hair.
"Kind of."
I frowned.
"My resolution this year is to keep you from hurting yourself."
"And how are you going to do that, exactly?"
"When we get back to London, I'm buying a safety box. And I'm going to keep all razors and other sharp objects in there and I'll be the only one who knows the code."
"But how can I know you won't use them?"
"You can't. But if I hurt myself, you'll hurt too. That's why I kind of have a new years resolution."
"Fair enough."
"Do you have one?"
Outside in the backyard I could hear people counting down.
"I guess I can help you with yours."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
His lips met mine and two seconds later people yelled "happy new year". I felt him smiling into the kiss and I did the same. Then he pulled away and softly smiled at me.
"I love you."
"I love you, too." I smiled. "Do you realise it's been exactly four years since you told me that for the first time?"
"Yeah, we're getting old." He chuckled.
"If you don't wake me up on my birthday singing Taylor Swift's song "22", I'm breaking up with you." I told him.
He laughed again, and my smile grew bigger just hearing it.
"I will sing a different song for you every day." He said. "It's a promise."
"Wow, two new years resolutions?"
"Mhm." He nodded, grinning.
"Might as well start now, Horan."
He thought for a moment.
"I knew you were trouble when you walked in–" He began singing, totally out of tune and I began laughing.
He hummed the melody, trying to figure out the words and I continued to laugh.
"Now I'm lying on the cold, hard ground! OH! OH! Trouble, trouble, trouble!"
"Stop! I'm going to pee my pants!" I squealed.
"I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake it off! Shake it off!" He sang, laughing and out of tune.
"Niall, I'm serious!" I laughed and rolled out of the bed.
I rushed out in the hall and towards the bathroom, and Niall sang louder and louder from my room before he came after me, still singing "Shake it off". I fumbled with the doorknob and just when I was about to open the door, he wrapped his arms around me and spun me around, singing.
Eventually he stopped and just looked at me with a goofy smile.
"You're such a dork." I told him.
"I know. I only act that way because I want to hear you laugh."
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