We spent a few days sight-seeing in Portugal, which was amazing. I swear, every second spent with Niall just got better and better, and my feelings for him only intensified. After visiting Portugal, we flew to Austria. Gosh, Austria is breathtaking. I'm a huge fan of The Sound of Music, so Niall got us a private tour of the Villa Trapp, which was incredible--something else I could cross off my bucket list. That was it for the European leg of the tour; we returned to America for a couple weeks. We spent a couple days in New York City, visiting the 9/11 memorial (which was breathtaking and incredibly emotional) and the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards we went to Boston, one of my favorite cities. Niall took me to the aquarium and a Boston Red Sox game--box seats, in fact. Needless to say, it was a once in a lifetime experience, and I savored every moment of it. Then we flew to Orlando and went to Universal Studios, Sea World, Disney, and Discovery Cove.
And today is the day we have to separate for who knows how long.
We're back in California now in a hotel room. The alarm shakes me from my slumber; I groggily roll over and slap the snooze button with the palm of my hand.
"Good morning beautiful," Niall whispers sleepily into my ear.
"Good morning Ni," I smile as I turn to face him.
"It's our last day together," he says as he begins kissing my jaw.
"Ni," I moan, pushing him away lightly. "We can't today--"
"No, I know," he interrupts. "I wasn't thinking straight that night; I'm not ready for that."
I do my best to hide the disappointment in my face.
God, I sound like such a slut.
"No, no, I understand," I respond reassuringly. "I know we have a lot to do today...of course I don't know exactly what, since you won't tell me."
He grins. "You know the drill. By the way, have you talked to your parents at all? I know you went home and packed some stuff while they were at work, but--"
"No, I haven't," I say sharply. "And I don't wanna talk about them today. Yes, I'm moving in tomorrow, which is still hard to believe, but today is about us."
He nods slowly. "Then let's get going!" He exclaims excitedly as he pulls me up off the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jesus Christ," I mumble. "Why do I always have to be blindfolded?"
"I told you, you know the drill!" He chuckles as he kisses my cheek.
"I've said it before, I will--"
"I know, I know. You'll punch me," he says before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"Oh, I will!" I yell. Niall doesn't respond; instead, he begins laughing louder. So, what do I do? I punch him.
"Brooke! What the fuck?" He yells angrily.
"I told you I would!" I respond proudly.
"You hit me in the eye!"
I immediately pull the blindfold off my eyes to see him grinning back at me.
"April Fools!" He yells before falling off the seat of the limo in laughter.
"Oh, fuck you!" I scream before joining in on the laughter. What can I say? His laughter is contagious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're here!" Niall announces. I hear the door next to me open as Niall pulls me out of the car and along to a sidewalk. "Don't peek," he warns, which makes me huff out of frustration. After about a minute of walking blindly, Niall puts his hands on my shoulders, telling me to stop. "Take off the blindfold," he orders.
As I lift the material off my eyes, I can't believe what I see.
We're at the doors of the stadium from the night we met. I'm standing in front of the beginning of a trail of beautiful red roses. The stadium is illuminated by hanging, white paper lanterns. Tears immediately cloud my vision as I take in the sight in front of me.
"Niall," I sniff. "This is beautiful--it's perfect. You're perfect." I can't help but smile sheepishly, remembering when he said those same words at the stadium when I surprised him.
"Just like you," he grins back. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I look to see that Niall changed into a tuxedo.
"You look incredible," I tell him as tears begin falling down my cheeks.
"You can thank Liam for the tux," Niall laughs. "Come on, there's a lot more to see," he says as he grabs my hand.
As we walk down the center aisle, something catches my eye. I turn to my left to see a seat covered in a large red paper heart.
"Why's that there?" I ask, confusion clear in my voice.
"That was your seat at the concert," he responds, grinning widely.
Here come the waterworks.
Niall chuckles as he wipes the tears from my cheeks. "I didn't think you'd cry this much," he chuckles. Normally I'd say something sassy back, but I decide not to ruin this perfect moment with such a perfect man.
I look up to the stage to see a large white screen hanging from the ceiling. As Niall leads me up the same steps from that night, I see the stool is in the same place as when he and the boys sang to me. "Sit here," he directs. I nod and take a seat on the familiar stool. Niall pulls one up next to me, just like that night and he directs his attention to the screen. So, I follow his lead.
The guitar begins to fill the empty stadium, and I soon realize that it's 'Little Things,' but not the familiar rendition I'm used to. Normally Zayn's voice would fill my ears, except this time, it's Niall's. But at the second verse where Liam would normally sing, the voice changes. I instantly recognize that voice: Paul McCartney. Niall and Paul sing the chorus together, but the voice switches yet again. I recognize that voice instantly too: Ed Sheeran. My three favorite artists in one song...Niall is so thoughtful, sweet, and just...amazingly perfect in every way.
As the song plays, a slide show starts up. There's a collage of pictures from the past couple months dancing across the screen. There's even the pictures from the first night we met, walking along the streets in the slide show. There's a few pictures of me sleeping, and many of me that I never knew he took.
As the song begins winding down, Niall gets up off his stool and steps in front of me. He takes my hand in his, kissing my knuckles. The song fades from the speaker and a man with a guitar walks out onto the stage, stepping off to the side. Niall's beautiful voices soon fills my ears as the guitar plays in the background.
I won't let these little things slip
Out of my mouth
But if it's true
It's you
Oh, it's you they add up to
I'm in love with you
And the next line makes me break down into sobs.
And all our little things
I immediately launch myself into Niall's arms and wrap my arms around his neck, aggressively pressing my lips to his. Niall chuckles against my lips, but soon begins kissing me back as my salty tears fall onto our joined lips.
A few moments later I pull away and touch our foreheads together. "Niall," I whisper as he wipes the tears away. "This is--"
"Shh," he interrupts as he places his finger on my lips. "It's not over yet."
Niall steps off to the side and soon returns with a microphone in his hands. "I have something I need to tell you, but it'd be better if I tell you in a song," he says.
Soon after, a familiar tune fills the stadium and Niall sings again.
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I'll set you apart
Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start
Running in circles, coming in tails
Heads on a science apart
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Those two lines make my heart ache.
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start
I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start
As he sings that last line, every memory that we've shared over the summer flash through my mind like a movie, from our eyes first meeting on this stage, to him holding me in his arms in the ocean water, to our first kiss, to exploring the streets of Spain, to our gondola ride in Italy, to meeting Paul McCartney, to meeting his parents, to our huge argument, to us swimming with dolphins, and to this very moment now. I realize that I would not change any of these moments, even the difficult moments. And I realize in this moment that I love him with everything in me. I realize that...
I am hopelessly in love with Niall Horan.
As the song ends, Niall sets the microphone down onto the ground and walks towards me. He puts his hand in mine and pulls me up off the stool.
"Brooke," he whispers as he wipes my cheeks for the thousandth time. "I know that the future is uncertain. We may not see each other for months at a time, or even talk to each other for months. But I know that these past few weeks with you have been some of the best of my life. I honestly can't imagine my life without you in it. The next few months will be difficult, I know, but I also know that the pain will be worth it. I can't be without you. I want to be with you, Brooke Darcey, because--" he pauses.
"Because I love you."
I break into full on sobs at this point.
"Niall," I gasp. "I love you too, more than you know."
He places his hands on either side of my face and smashes his lips to mine in a passionate kiss. I savor the feeling of his lips on mine, the taste of his soft lips, the fire burning in my stomach every time we touch. I savor one of the many little things we've shared, because I know that we will be apart for a while.
He pulls away for what feels like too soon and stares into my eyes. "I love you, Brooke."
"I love you too, Ni," I whisper as I place my palm on his jawline. He places a hand on top of mine, stroking my fingers.
"I'm gonna miss you so much," he whispers. "This is gonna be hell."
"I know, Ni. I know," I respond, wiping a tear from the corner of my eye. "I'll call you every day. I'll visit you on my winter break, and you have to promise me that you'll visit whenever you're in America."
"I promise," he responds, his lips turning up into a smirk. "I have something else." Before I can ask what, he's reaching into his pocket. Niall pulls out a small red velvet box and places it into my hand. "Open it."
I smile up at him before opening the box. Lying in the box is a silver ring, attached to a silver necklace. I pick up the ring to see something engraved on the inside. Engraved in cursive are a few words:
"Hey, you ok? What's your name?"
"Thanks...sorry, I'm just so nervous. My name's Brooke."
I laugh out loud, thinking back to the night we met. He remembered our first words to each other.
"Niall, this is hilarious, and beautiful," I say, looking back at him with tear-filled eyes.
"Look on the outside," he says sweetly.
On the outside I see there's something else engraved in cursive:
I'm in love with you, and all our little things ~ N.H. & B.D.
Of course, I'm sobbing again.
"I love you so much," I manage to whisper in between sobs. He chuckles as he wraps his arms around my waist, stroking his hand on the top of my head. After I calm down, we pull apart from the embrace.
"Want me to put the necklace on you?" He asks. I nod, of course. I spin around and he secures the necklace around my neck.
"You don't have one?" I ask out of curiosity.
He grins back at me as he pulls out from under his tux an identical necklace. "Of course I do. I'm never taking it off."
"Me neither," I smile. "Thank you so much, Ni. I love you."
"I love you too," he grins. "I wish I didn't have to say this, but it's time for you to go. It's already 9:00."
I nod reluctantly as we embrace each other for the last time. He leans down and presses his lips to mine for a short, sweet kiss.
"I love you, Brooke Darcey," he whispers into my ear. "You'll do amazing in college, I know it. Keep in touch."
"Thank you," I whisper. "I love you too, Niall Horan."
After holding each other for a few minutes, we hesitantly separate and walk our separate ways. I walk out into the cold night grasping onto the silver ring around my neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The feels!!!!
The song that Niall sang was The Scientist by Coldplay.
And a huge thanks to @NotYourBabexxx for the gif...it's perfect!
That's the end of the book!
Thank you all so much, really. I can't say it enough.
So as I've said before, I will eventually be writing a sequel. It'll be a continuation of Brooke and Niall's story...it'll detail their new lives apart. You'll have to see if they make it!
I'm almost crying writing this because I love this story so much, and I hope you all do too.
I'd just like to say that I love you all, and thank you again!
Feel free to send me a message if you ever wanna talk :)
Brooke and I will be embarking on the next chapter of our lives ;) -- college! Wish me luck!
For the last time,
THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
Xoxoxoxoxo,
Kellie
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