The next few days on the vacation went by in a blur. They all had fun swimming, snorkleing, building sandcastles, and even cliff diving in the middle of the night! Louis and Harry went out hiking, while the rest went shopping.
Niall and Ella have been enjoying themselves at their room. Most of them time when they're with the rest, they have to stay normal and platonic. Although, at the suite, they pretty much act like a couple.
Niall can't believe it was time to leave for their second vacation. This time Louis told them. He said they're going Canada for the last week. Ella almost bursted with joy when she found out she will be trying the Maple syrup.
"You look rather cute today," Ella whispers to Niall to not awake the others.
He looks at her and smiles. "Thanks. These sweat pants do look rather good on my arse huh?"
Ella rolls her eyes and wraps her arm through his. "Totally. Listen, I was wondering, maybe when we go back London, I can get some of things and take them to your house."
"That's fine," he says kissing her forehead. "Bring whatever you want, love."
"Love" is now Niall's nickname for Ella. He accidentally called her that while making out on the sofa. Oops. But it just stuck with him since then.
Ella smiles and lays her head on his shoulder. "Mmm, wake me up in a few hours?"
"Sure," he says grabbing his hoodie from his lap and laying it on her. "Sleep Ella."
She just remembers feeling his lips against her temple before drifting off to sleep.
--------------
"I really do love this view of the mountains." Ella says as she stands by the big window in their bedroom. "Toronto is very pretty."
"I agree. It's nice to come here." Niall says as he steps out of the bathroom freshly showered. "I enjoy coming here when I can."
"I bet," she takes a photo of the view with her phone. "I can't wait to ski tomorrow. I'll probably bust my butt though."
Niall laughs and towel dries his hair. "Hey, I probably will too. Maybe all of us!"
Ella turns around to face him. Only to find out he's shirtless with just boxers on. Oh.
"Uh, what happened with your clothes?" She asks as he smirks.
"I didn't felt like it." He throws the towel on the ground and walks toward her. "Problem?"
Ella raises an eyebrow and tries to keep eye contact with him. "No, I'm just asking."
He grins and stands 3 feet away from her. "Do you want to cuddle?"
Tempting. Oh so tempting.
"Not until you get a shirt on," she says, crossing her arms across her chest.
He laughs and takes a step closer. "Why?"
When he laughed, his muscles in his stomach contracted and it almost made her swoon. No...
Ella rolls her eyes. "Babe, just put a shirt on. You'll get a cold."
He laughs louder and takes a big step towards her. Only leaving about a few inches.
"Mmhmm sure." He reaches out for her hand. "C'mon love, let's go watch some TV and cuddle."
Ella narrows her eyes at him and slowly takes his hand. "I'm watching you Horan."
--------------
"Did you ever do it in a vehicle?" Niall asks as they're laying in bed.
Ella and him have been playing a game to get to know more of their private life.
"No, almost though. But it was a small car." Ella traces small circles on his chest. "You?"
"Nah," he says and rubs her back slowly. "Your turn to ask."
"Hmm, have you ever gotten caught?"
"Pft! No! If I did, everyone would know." He squeezes her side gently when she flicked his nose. "Okay, do you believe in the old saying 'no glove, no love'."
"what?!" She laughs and looks up at him. "That's such a strange question! Oh Horan. Hm, well, depends on the situation."
"Okay, heat of the moment. Uh, he didn't have any and neither did you."
Ella bites her lip in thought. Hm.
"Weeeell, you see, if that were to happen, then I guess it's...fine. I mean damn, if he and I were in a serious relationship, I wouldn't mind. But if I don't trust the guy, then hell no."
"So you would do it without a condom?!"
"Yeeaaahhh." Ella shrugs. "But on those conditions only. I have to trust him. I think that's what it all comes to when that happens. Aren't you suppose to trust the person you're having sex with?"
Niall looks at her and thinks. Well, he surely didn't trust any of the girls he's slept with...
"I guess. But sometimes it just happens." He grabs her chin and kisses her nose.
"Did you? When, um, you did it with those girls?"
"No," he says coldly. "And I'm pretty sure that trust was the last thing on their mind."
Ella blinks at him and nods slightly. "I understand."
And for a while, they didn't talk. Niall knows he's a bad guy for sleeping with girls without trust. One night stands were mostly what happened. He doesn't even know some of the girls name. Says a lot, huh?
"Sorry Ella. I'm not perfect. I'm a guy who only thinks with his dick." He sighs deeply and looks up at the cieling. "I'm not going to lie to you about my past when I'm trying to work this out with you."
Ella sits up, making his arm fall off her, and looks down at him. "Niall, it's okay. I know you're not perfect, no one is babe. But, I appreciate you being honest with me." She grabs his hand and squeezes tightly. "I really do. And I hope you continue to be honest with me as we work on our relationship."
She bends down and kisses him softly on the lips. The kiss with short and sweet, but it still caused Niall to get butterflies.
"You know I'm not great with, um, expressing my feelings, especially right now. But I can tell you that I really do care about us, about you. I don't want to screw things over." He cups her face in his hands. "I'll try my best to be honest with you."
She smiles softly and lays back down. She puts her head on his shoulder and wraps an arm around him.
"I just want you to try."
---------------
"Nooo, I can't! I'm going to fall down again Niall." Ella whines, holding onto him as she tries to keep balance on her skis.
"Oh don't worry! It won't hurt." He tries his best to not laugh at Ella's snow covered face.
"But Niall-" she says before losing balance again. She grips tighter on his jacket. "I caaan't!"
"C'mon, I'll hold your hand this time. Don't be a whimp." He says wrapping his arms around her. "You can do it. Listen, if you try one more time, we can go on the ski lift before meeting the others."
Ella furrows her brows together. "Promise to not let go?"
"I promise." He says and quickly gives her a peck on the lips. "I'll be right by your side."
Ella mumbles something and then groans. "Okay. Let's do it."
He smiles and wipes snow off her nose. "Okay, and if we fall, we fall together."
She nods slowly.
"Okay, here hold my hands," he suggests. "Then keep your toes crossed like I taught you to stop."
Ella grabs his hands as he makes his way in front of her.
"Okay, I'll be guiding you. Let me know if I'll run into anything since I'll be going backwards."
She nods again and squeezes his hands. He skis back about arms length and nods at her to uncross her toes just a bit so she can start skiing.
Ella slowly starts moving foward, which is moving Niall backward.
"That's it babe." He says. "See? It's not bad. Okay, uncross them a bit more so we can build speed."
Ella does as she's told, ignoring the stares from other tourists. They probably think they're crazy. Or adorable.
"You're doing great Ella." He offers a smile. "Okay, uncross them all the way."
And before Ella knows it, she's falling backward onto her back.
"Niall!" She squeals as she lands on her butt, pulling Niall ontop of her.
"Oh shit!" He curses and lands right ontop of her.
"See, I told you I would fall! God, I really do suck at this." She covers her face with her wet gloves. "Ugh!"
He looks at her and grabs her hands. "Ella, cmon don't be embarrassed. I'm proud of you for not giving up." He moves her hands away and kisses her cold, frosty nose.
"But Niall-" she starts before being hushed with a kiss.
This kiss seems more passionate to Niall. He feels something in the pit of his stomach when Ella wrapped her arms around his neck and licked his lip. Her tongue is warm against his cold lips. This kiss is nothing compared to the others.
Ella pulls away slowly and sighs. "You cannot make me do that again Niall! I could have bumped my head and gotten a concussion!"
He chuckles lightly and pinches her cheek. "Sorry, love. Want to head back to our room then before meeting with the others later?"
"Yeah, since I'm covered in snow and wet. And not in a good way."
---------------------------------------------
"Are you ready or not Ella?" Niall yells from the living room. They're running late to their lunch date with the others.
"Hold on!" she replies back from the bedroom doing God knows what.
"Jesus Christ, if I knew we were gonna run late, I would have rejected that kiss!" He runs his hands through his now fading blonde hair. Hm, should he still dye it?
"Okay, okay I'm here!" she hops out on one foot, while putting on her shoe. "I couldn't find my shoes."
"Rigghht," he says grabbing his jacket and sliding it on. "Chop, chop missy. Louis is going to think we're doing something."
--------------------------------------
"Yeah! We got their numbers and damn, Canadian girls are so beautiful." Liam says, whistling. "I think her name was Alexis."
"Miranda was mine. She's from Australia though!" Zayn picks up his drink. "But you never know what can happen tonight since we invited them over."
"Why don't you change plans and we all go out tonight?" Harry asks while eating a slice of garlic bread. "Bring your chicks I mean."
"Like...clubbing?" Louis asks, eyebrow raised. "Harold, babe, you can't dance for shit."
"Heeeyy," Harry pouts as the others chuckle at him. "I can sort of dance. Just give me a couple of shots and I'll be the best!"
"Harry," Niall swallows his soup. "You know, we all know, you can't dance."
Harry frowns, crosses his arms, and Ella pats his arm. "Don't laugh you guys! Harry, I'm sure all of us would love to."
The others look at her with "really? Do I have to?" faces. "Right guys?"
Louis groans and pinches his cheeks. "Sure thing babe. Whatever you say."
"Niall? Zayn? Liam?" Ella says, looking directly at them with a death stare.
"Yeah I guess." Liam says, grabbing his phone. "Let me text Alexis."
Zayn shrugs and pulls out his phone to text his date.
Niall sighs deeply and nods. "Sure Harry."
"Yay!" Harry squeals. "Knew it would work out! Hah!"
----------------------------------------------------
"I honestly don't like the vibe I'm getting from this club." Ella whispers in Niall's ear as the group walks through the double doors of the nightclub, "The Grizzly."
"I know, but stick by close and you'll be okay." Niall squeezes her elbow.
The music is pounding through the small club. Lights are everywhere and the noise is louder than any other club he has been to.
"Do you think Liam and Zayn are actually going to get lucky today?" Ella asks as she grips his forearm.
"HA! No way, I highly doubt it. Those girls are totally not their type." He sees Liam trying to talk to his date, only to have her looking away. And Zayn and his date haven't even spoke to each other.
"Here we are," Harry announces as he shows them their reserved table. "I called in early to reserve a table for us. I used your name Niall. Hope you don't mind mate."
"Hey, that's what friends are for. They use their famous friend to get things." He smirks and Harry rolls his eyes.
He lets Ella slide into the booth first.
"Hey mates, we're gonna hit the floor before it gets more crowded," Zayn says, nodding towards his date.
"Same, if you see a circle, it's probably everyone looking at me as I show off my moves!" Liam flexes his muscles to only have his date scoff.
"Have fun and don't get hurt!" Louis yells as they walk off.
Harry and Louis scoot into the booth and make small talk with them. Niall tries his best to not show fond when Ella would laugh at Harry's terrible jokes. But he's only human and she's a cute human. Hm...
"Are you guys enjoying this holiday? You know, no acting or anything." Harry sips his Cosmopolitan that Louis got him.
"Yeah, it's been fun," Ella pops a olive into her mouth. "Just dreading the work when I get back."
"Louis," Niall begins. "We were thinking that you know since we're supposedly dating for over a year. We were thinking that maybe Ella should like...move in with me?"
Louis raises an eyebrow. "Really now? I mean, that's quite a step, even in a fake relationship."
"Yeah but it'd make it more believable right?"
"I guess, I mean, I see what you are saying but...that's up to you two." Louis shrugs and fixes his shirt collar. "I can't say yes or no. It really depends on you two."
"I think," Harry interupts and waves his hand in front of Ella's face. "That is comepletly smart. I mean it would totally trip everyone up! With you two being MIA for two weeks and then BAM! Moving in together. Imagine the choas."
With that being said, Louis agrees that it will be a good idea. They decided to wait a week after coming home to set up the plan.
After Louis and Harry announced they were going to the dance floor, Ella snuggles against Niall. She plants a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey Niall," she says over the loud electronic music. "Can I ask you something?"
She's so close, he can smell the sweet alcohol on her breath.
"Hm?"
"Would you pleaaseee go get me a drink? I'm really thristy after that damn Cosmopolitan Harry got me." Ella squeezes his hand and quickly steals a kiss. "Please?"
He shakes his head and pats her knee. She's wearing skinny leg jeans, black knee high boots, light pink top with her black leather jacket over.
"Sure, what do you want?" He starts scooting out of the booth.
"Actually, a water will do. If not, a Cola with Vodka will do too." She smirks at him.
He rolls his eyees and makes his way through the crowd. He bumps into a few people and apologized. Damn, why in the hell isn't this place bigger?
He finally makes it to the bar, but has to wait. He taps his fingers on the bar top and looks around. The club itself isn't that bad. Nice atmosphere and ambiance, it's just too damn small.
"What can I get for you sir?" says the bartender.
"Um, water, a beer, and 2 Cola with Vodka." He replies and watches as the bartender gets to work on his order.
He looks at the swarm of people on the dance floor, blocking his view of Ella. He hates leaving his friends alone in the club. But he's sure Ella can defend for herself.
"Here ya go," the bartender hands him his drinks. "It's $35.95"
Niall hands him $40 and tells him to keep the tip. He makes his way back to the table, careful to not spill drinks on the people.
"Leave me alone, I'm with my boyfriend." he hears. "He'll be any moment now."
"Quit lying, why would a girl like you commit?" he hears a man's voice say.
Niall starts shoving people out of his way towards the voices.
"I said leave me the fuck alone you bastard," he hears the girl say. "Don't make me punch you."
"Oh c'mon quit playin' girl," the man slurs. "You lyin'."
And Niall pushes through the last few people and before his eyes, he sees Ella throw a punch at the man.
"What the fuck?" the tall, bald man says. "You crazy or what?"
"I told you to leave me alone." Ella snaps. "Get away now."
And just as the man was about to lunge at Ella, Niall drops the drinks and grabs the man's shoulders.
"Hey! Get your hands off my girl!" He yells and turns the man around to face him. "She said to leave her alone!"
"Go away or I'll punch you in the face," the man threatens. "Your girl is a crazy slut anyway."
Oh, fuck.
Without thinking, Niall throws a punch to his gut and then face. The man bends over in pain after the gut punch and falls over.
"What the-" he spits out before Niall kicks him in the ribs.
"Go away now before I fucking kill you!"
"Niall," he hears Ella say. "Stop! Stop Niall!"
He gives another kick but this time to the crotch.
"Fucking douche!" he growls.
"Niall, stop! Stop it please!" Ella grips his elbow. "Please stop Niall! You're scaring me. Please."
He looks at her and sees she's crying. "Please stop. Please, please."
No...no.
And something clicks inside his brain and he finds himself grabbing Ella's hand. He starts leading out of the club, away from the scene.
Once in the cold air, he breathes in and rubs his face. Holy shit, what just happened?
He can hear Ella gasping behind him. Ella, oh shit.
He turns to her and takes a step forward. "Ella?"
She looks at him, she has her arms crossed across her chest and is obviously scared of what just happened.
"Ella, love, please," he says softly. "I'm sorry. How am I going to let some man hit you? Hell no."
She doesn't say a word. She just looks at him with a scared look.
"I didn't mean to scare you Ella." He takes a step forward. "Please, talk to me. Please?"
"Hold me please?" She whispers.
He wraps his arms around her tightly and feels her shaking. He feels like a jerk and a hero. Ugh.
"Babe, please don't be scared. I was only trying to protect you." He kisses her cheek.
"Take me home please. I don't want to be there again and alone. Please." She mumbles against his shoulder.
--------------------------------
Back at the hotel, Niall made sure Ella wasn't still traumatized by the event. He gave her tea, like she asked, pulled her closely against him, and kept planting small kisses on her cheeks. He still can't help but feel guilty.
"Love," he says quietly. "Do you want to sleep now? It's like 3 a.m."
Ella nodded slowly and lifted her face towards him. She softly kisses his chin and puts the tea on the nightstand beside their bed.
As Niall unwrapped his arms from her, he sees his phone vibrating but ignores it. Right now, all he cares about is Ella.
She lays down on the bed and grabs his shoulder, lightly tugging him down. Niall obeys and slowly lays down beside her. He wraps an arm around her and pulls her close against his chest. She burries her face in the crook of his neck.
She sighs deeply and closes her eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked, confused. "For scaring the living shit out of you?"
"No," she says softly. "For protecting me. I didn't have a chance to say it earlier."
Oh.
"Oh, well, you're welcome. But really Ella, I would never let someone hurt you." He kisses her forehead. "I will always protect you."
He can feel her smile against his skin. "Thank you."
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Long chapter! Hahah. Bare with me these next few chapters! They will be...jumping around!