Niall wakes up the next morning to Ella's head on his chest. He blinks slowly and wipes the drool off his face.
Glancing at the alarm clock, he sees it's 10:35 a.m.
"Shit," he mumbles and was about to roll over before remembering Ella.
He looks down at her and she has one hand on his side. Her lashes laid out on her cheeks and her mouth formed in a little pout.
He can imagine waking up to this every morning for the rest of his life...
Then what was said the night before comes back to him. Ella confessed she wants to take things further.
He rubs his eyes and sighs. He knows things will be harder if they do decide to be official. But...
Suddenly, Ella stirs and causes Niall to freeze. She squeezes his side and snuggles into him.
He runs his hand down her back and gently rubs it. "Shhhh..."
She stirs again and runs her hand across his stomach. "Hmmm...I know you're awake."
He smirks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
She flutters her eyes open. "It's okay." Scratching her eye, she wraps her leg around his. "I bet it's late."
"Only 10:45 now." He scratches her above her sweatpants' waistband. "Not that late."
She jumps at the contact and looks up at him. "Hm, good morning."
"Good morning Ella," he kisses her forehead. "Kiss?"
"Morning breath Niall." She complains.
"I don't care." He grabs her waist and pushes her onto her back gently. "We've kissed when we ate caviar."
She stares up at him as he hovers over her. She can't help but smile. "True."
He nods. "Exactly so..."
He dips his head down and presses his lips softly against her's. Ella's arms immediately wrap around his neck.
He grabs her knees and spreads her legs so he can settle in between. He deepens the kiss and nibbles at her bottom lip.
Ella grips the back of his neck and uses her free hand to run down his back. She squeezes his lower back.
"Now," he whispers as he pulls away. "You need to get ready. I have decided to go to Brighton."
"Why?" She watches him as he rolls off her and off the bed.
"Because I feel like it. I think we should go see the lads too for lunch." He grabs his shirt from the floor. "What do you think?"
"Fine with me," she sits up and stretches. "It'd be nice to see them."
He walks over to her side of the bed and kisses her forehead. "Okay, see you downstairs then. Go and hurry up. I'll contact the guys, okay?"
Without waiting for a reply, he steps out of the room. Ella stretches and swings her legs over the edge of the bed.
"Hmmm, what to wear..."
-----------------------------
"How come I can't go?" Liam pouts. "I love Brighton! The beach and wheel!"
"And the gays too!" Harry interjects. "Love their LGBT pride!"
"Why are you going to Brighton?" Louis asks as he plays with Harry's hair.
"I got things to do there," Niall says and takes a last bite from the take-out food.
"Ohhh, so how are things going between you two?" Zayn asks, looking up from a sketch pad.
"Okay I guess," Ella looks at Niall, who is sitting on the other sofa. "Right?"
He nods. "Yeah, it helps that we get along so well." He glances down at his watch. "I think it's time for us to go Ella. We need to get there before 3:00."
"Niall, I will send you an email for the meeting this coming week." Louis says.
"All right," Niall stands up and they say their goodbyes to the boys.
As they walk towards Niall's car, Ella pulls together her cardigan. "Do you think they suspect anything?"
"Nah, we kept a good distance." He opens the passenger door. "But there were times I caught you staring."
She hops inside and stares at him. "I wasn't staring!"
"Sure you weren't." He smirks and pinches her cheek. "It's not like you were drooling."
"Oh shut up!" She smacks his hand away. "Cmon, let's go since you're the one who is in a rush."
----------------------------------
"Hm, interesting," Ella says, scrolling through her phone.
"What?" Niall asks as he changes the radio station.
"Since I've got Twitter, you know, I keep getting the weiredest tweets. Like one said like how come we never post anything about our love life? Personal life?"
"True. I mean, we have but it's been a while. I think the last thing I tweeted about you was when you made that really good lasagna."
"What should I do?" She looks over at him.
"Well, when we get at our destination, we will figure it out." He reaches over and grabs her phone. "For now, don't worry because I'm about to tell you our plans this weekend."
"I have planned for us to stay at Brighton at a Beach House on the private side and just relax." He slows down as the light changes to red. "And I also thought it'd be nice to like...get away together and alone. Just us two."
"Aw really?" She smiles and kisses his cheek quickly. "You're too sweet, literally. Thank you, I'll really like that. Just the entire weekend alone is what we need after being apart an entire week."
He pulls her hand to his lips. "No problem. I thought so." He kiss her knuckle and presses on the gas pedal as the light changes to green.
-------------
"But I didn't pack anything! Oh my god." Ella says as he grabs the key to unlock the door. "What am I going to wear?"
"We can go shopping later. Plus," he unlocks the door and looks at her. "You don't necessarily need PJs. I don't mind sleeping naked."
Ella pinches his side gently. He laughs and opens the door. "Here we are!"
She steps inside and gasps at the sight.
The beach house is beautiful inside! It has a big living room with a view to the ocean. The kitchen is quite big too and also has a view to the ocean.
"Cmon let's go upstairs." He grabs her hand and leads her upstairs.
"This is our bedroom." He opens the door to the master bedroom and she cannot believe it.
"Holy shit..." Ella gasps. The bedroom is probably the biggest. It has its own bathroom, small living room, and a balcony. The bed is a king size with a 60 inch TV at the foot. It's absolutely amazing.
"It's so...grand!" She says walking around. "Very spacious!"
"I know," he walks over to the balcony. "Come here love."
She practically skips towards him, causing Niall to show a small smile. "Yeah?"
He opens the balcony's door. "Let's check out the view."
She steps outside and stands at the edge. "This is really amazing."
The view is practically the ocean. Although it is a public beach, there wasn't a soul in sight.
"Glad you like it." He hugs her from behind. "I was nervous."
"Why?"
"Because it's our first, actual, getaway alone. Before hand it was always business. Now it's to get away from that." He kisses her shoulder.
She nods and leans back into him. "True. But still, I love it."
He squeezes her tightly. "I'm glad. Do you wanna go shopping for clothes?"
"Right now?" She turns around to face him. "I thought we could-"
"No, later babe." He rubs her waist. "What do you wanna do?"
She looks at him and hugs his neck. "Hmmm, I'm in the mood for-" she kisses his jaw and down his neck. "to finish what YOU started this morning."
She hears him chuckle. "Really now? You want to continue from this morning?"
"Mmhmm, I would love to." She hesitates before nipping his neck. He gasps and tightens his grip on her waist. "Please?"
He nods and leads her back into the bedroom.
"Close the curtains." She whispers as they walk towards the bed.
He does and turns his attention back to Ella. "Bed? Couch?"
"Hmm, bed. In case anything happens." She smiles when his mouth perked up into a grin.
"Oh is that what you want?" He raises an eyebrow. "Hm? To have sex with me?"
She shrugs. "Who knows..."
"Ella," he starts. "You know I won't until we make it official."
"Then make me yours." She begs and grabs his shirt. "Then make your girlfriend. I'm ready for that commitment. I'm not afraid. I like you, how else can I convince you?"
Ella looks into his eyes. "Please? I can be yours. I can babe. Niall please."
He's not sure. He's not sure if he honestly deserves her. But he shouldn't ask her out of need to be intimate.
"Ella," he starts. "I like you too, a lot. But I'm not sure if I'm honestly ready. I want to this right. I don't want to ask you because we're both desperate for intimacy. I want to make sure that I'm ready too. What we have is different. I want to do it right."
He grabs her hands and kisses her knuckles. "Don't take it the wrong way. I'm just saying I don't want to treat you the way I treated the other girls. Just getting what we both wanted and rushing it. I want you so bad, but I need to do it right. I need to be for sure."
"Sure of what?" Her voice sounding desperate. "Please tell me."
"That I deserve you. That I won't fuck you over. That I'm ready for commitment." He kisses her nose. "Please try to understand."
She nods slowly. "Okay."
He pulls her into a tight hug. "Thank you." He sighs heavily. "Do you still want to go shopping?"
"Yeah," she smiles. "Let's go now before I change my mind."
----------------
As they walk down the streets of Brighton, Ella takes photos of the sights.
"Very nice place." She says as they walk through the park. "Pretty clean unlike London's."
"I know right?" He scrolls through his phone. "Did you like the clothes you picked out?"
"Yes!" She squeals. "Thank you again for bu-"
"No problem Ella," he raises his hand. "That's my job."
And it hits him what he said. That this...is actually a job that he was suppose to do. Now, things are steadily changing.
Ella pulls out a headband from her pocket. "Can we sit somewhere?"
"Sure." He looks around for a bench or somewhere quiet to sit in the grass. "Oh, there's a bench right there."
He grabs her hand and leads her. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No thanks." Ella can't help but relax as Niall squeezes her hand.
They sit down on the small bench together. "Do you think there are ducks or squirrels that come up to people?" Ella asks as she pulls her hair into a ponytail.
"Probably." He pulls arm up and behind her. "I wouldn't be amazed if some squirrel is stalking us right now."
She chuckles and leans into his side. "That's so weird."
He rubs her shoulder and looks at her. "Do you want to have dinner on the beach tonight or tomorrow?"
"I don't care." She responds and lays her hand on his chest. "I want to have a beach day tomorrow before we leave."
"That's fine." He stares her up and down. She's wearing skinny jeans, black converse, and a red flannel. She looks cute to his standards.
Ella lays her head on his shoulder and sighs. "Have you ever had thoughts what would you do if you weren't in the music business?"
"Yeah, for sure." He says. "I would like to be a music teacher. Thought it would be nice."
"Professor Horan, ooooo sounds fancy and oh-so official." She teases. "I was actually going to major in some sort of Music. But in my sophomore year of University, I caught the acting bug."
"Oh? So you changed it then?"
"Yes, thought it would be to do something I enjoyed." She pats his knee. "Professor Horan. Hm. Interesting if you were slightly older than me and you were to be my professor."
"That'd be so strange!" He laughs. "I would get fired!"
"Why?"
"Because, you're you. I wouldn't be able to contain myself." He replies. "I would have to quit so I could have a proper relationship with you."
"Niall!" She squeezes his knee. "Naughty! Anyway, can we go back? I'd like a cuddle on the beach before it gets too dark."
---------------
"You sir, I like your body." Ella smiles as he steps out of the bathroom. He's wearing nothing but his blue swim trunks.
He rolls his eyes as she whistles from across the bedroom. "Whatever Ella!"
She giggles and stands up from the chair. "I would not only like to thank God, but Jesus Christ for this hunk-"
"Ellaaaa," he groans.
"Hehe" she mumbles and walks over to him. She places her hands on his chest and looks up. "Yessss?"
He pinches her side. "I like your bikini."
"Thank you," she takes a step back. "My wonderful, gorgeous fake BF got it for me. He said I look amazing. But I think he just likes it because of my boobs."
He grins as he watches Ella spin. "And I think he also likes the color red on me."
"He does, he loves it." He grabs her arm and pulls her against him. "And he honestly does think you look amazing."
"I'm glad." She smiles and quickly kisses his cheek. "C'mon let's go!"
--------
"Evil!" She squeals as she ducks from his splash.
"Too slow, too bad!" He says and tries to splash her again. "Teaching you a lesson that it's not nice to pants me in the water!"
She smirks and holds his swim trunks. "They look better without you."
"Pff! Yeah? How so?" He challenges.
She swims over to him and wraps her arms around his neck. "Because, I just know."
"And how would you know?" He questions and tries his best to keep a distance.
Shrugging, Ella kisses his cheek. "I don't know. Maybe I have seen you naked before by accident."
"What?!"
She laughs, throwing her head back. "I'm kidding! I'm sure you're getting cold. Here are your trunks."
She hands them back to him. He quickly snatches them and slides them on. Bit tricky but he got them on.
"You're going to pay for that." He says grabbing her waist. "Just you wait until we go to bed."
"Ooo scary." She smirks and kisses his jaw. "Hm, salty."
"Well we are in the ocean." He slides his hand up her sides. "Of course I'm going to be salty."
She looks at him. "So, will your lips be salty too?"
Raising an eyebrow, Niall says, "I don't know. Find out for yourself."
Ella stares at his lips intensely. "Hmmm, maybe later in our own privacy." She traces her finger down his arm. "The sooner we go back, the sooner I'll find out."
He looks at her. Oh?
"Is that right? Hm well, we don't to like, get cold." He grabs her hand. "Let's go."
-----------
"We're going to get the bed wet Niall." Ella says as he leads them towards the bedroom.
"Then we'll change clothes right now."
"Niall," Ella stops in her tracks. "Why not find out here?"
She points towards the living room. "It'd be nice. Cmon..."
"Ella," he says quietly. "I just want to at least get some dry clothes on. Yeah? Let's change clothes and then we can cuddle."
She pouts. "Okay, okay."
As they enter the room, Niall hears his phone ringing on the nightstand.
He walks over and presses the "answer" button. "Hello?"
"Niall?" Louis says into the phone. "Hey, are you busy?"
"Oh hey. Um," he glances over at Ella who is searching through her clothes. "Not really. What's up?"
"Mate, I need you to come back. I just got a call from, oh my god, you won't believe!"
"What? Who?"
"From the one and only...Katy Perry!" Louis squeals. "Her people called and they saw one of your songs. And Katy said to call you so she can record it! She loves it!"
"What?! Really?! Aw mate! That's awesome! She's a legend!" Niall cheers. "What song?"
"Casual Affair I believe." Louis replies.
"What?" Niall shakes his head. "But I thought it was taken by Perrie?"
"Apparently no because it went back up." Louis says. "Now Katy wants the chance."
"Ahh," Niall walks over to his suitcase. "Where and when?"
"She's releasing her new album two months from now. So she wanted to know if you could leave tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? But I'm with Ella. I haven't seen her in a while-"
"I know, but Niall! This is Katy Perry!" Louis chatters. "She's a fucking legend like you said! Cmon man! It's a great opportunity!"
"But-" Niall was saying before he felt Ella hugging him from behind. She plants small kisses all over his back.
"I can't just leave when I just got back." He says.
"It wasn't a problem before, why now?" Louis taps his fingers against the phone.
"Because mate, I have Ella to spend time with too." He says and turns around to Ella. She smiles at him and puckers her lips. He quickly kisses her and returns back to the call. "She has feelings and opinions too."
"What if she goes with you? To LA? I can make the arrangements and call her boss." Louis suggests.
"I don't know. I'll have to ask her." Niall looks at Ella. She's wearing a Off shoulder pale blue shirt and yoga shorts.
"Okay, talk to her and then let me know ASAP."
"All right. Okay, will do. Okay, bye Lou." Niall hangs up and sighs.
"What's wrong love?" Ella asks, worried face.
"Louis called and said he wants me to leave tomorrow." He says and scratches his head. "Because Katy Perry wants to record a song. But I said I don't know because I just got started spending time with you. And it's not fair and wants to know if you wanna tag along."
Ella grabs his chin and pulls his face down a bit. "Niall, don't worry about me. I'll be okay. I can wait. Go tomorrow and see what happens."
"But-" he says before being cut off by a kiss.
Ella pulls away quickly and rubs her nose against his. "It's honestly okay."
He groans and grabs her hands. "Ella, promise me you'll get a week off and we can go somewhere private and enjoy it."
She chuckles and kisses his nose. "Sure."
He smiles and squeezes her hands. "Do you still wanna cuddle?"
"Of course silly!" She laughs. "I'll be waiting in bed."
As she walks towards the bed, Niall quickly changes from swim trunks to his boxers.
"Ready?" He says, walking to the king size bed.
Ella is laying down and staring at him. "Mmhmm."
He crawls under the blankets and starts searching for Ella. He feels a thigh and grips it. "Oops. That's not your hand."
She giggles and lays on her side. "Nope. That's my thigh."
He lays down, facing her and squeezes it. "Hmm, interesting. Why don't you come close as you can?"
She scoots her body close to his to the point there's no space. "Is this close of enough."
"No," he says and wraps her leg around his. He grips her lower back and pushes her inward to there is no breathing space from the waist down.
"There we go," he says and smirks when Ella feels his hand sliding down.
"You're incredibly touchy tonight Horan." She says. "I like it."
"It's just that I won't get to spend enough time with you as I'd liked." He says. "And plus I'm a bit sad."
"Sad?"
"Yeah," he kisses her nose. "Because I'll only get to see you through Skype. It's not the same as flesh and warmth."
She rubs circles on his cheek with her thumb. "Silly boy, I know. But don't worry, I'll try to text you as much as I can. And when you come back, we'll definitely go on holiday."
"Hmm," he hums and kisses her forehead. "Holiday for sure. The time zones is gonna be a killer for both of us."
"I know," she groans. "But if I stay up late, skyping with you, then so it be."
He smiles and grabs her chin. "You're awfully sweet today. Maybe it's the alcohol that you had earlier."
"Shush up," she spats and playfully smacks his head. "Cmon, text Louis so we can go to sleep. If you wake up early, I'll give you a little something before we leave."
"Hm? Like what?" He asks, grabbing his phone.
Ella kisses his shoulder and bites gently on his neck. "You'll see."
-------------
Niall wakes up to the sound of water running in the shower. He yawns and stretches out. Glancing at the clock, he sees it's only 8:45 a.m.
"Hmmm," he yawns and check his phone.
Louis texted him earlier saying his plane leaves at 6:00 p.m., so he'll need to be there at least 4:45 p.m.
Also, Zayn texted him too. But his text was less important. Something about some girl that tried to strip in front of him at the pub.
He scrolls through Twitter and reads through his newsfeed.
"Niall Horan and Girlfriend Ella caught together in Brighton!" Reads a news article.
He scans over the small article. Nothing important besides the few fan sightings and whatnot. But he sees a few people think that they're not in Brighton.
He bites his lip and taps on "Compose Tweet."
Just as he was about type a tweet, he hears the bathroom door squeak open.
"Oh! Hi there," Ella says a bit surprised. "Didn't mean to wake you."
"It's okay." He says, smiling at her. "Come her love. I need to ask you something."
Ella steps out in, actually, Niall's last pair of boxers and a white T shirt.
"Hope you don't mind me wearing your boxers. I couldn't find anything else."
"It's okay," he pats the bed. "You look very comfortable."
"I am," she assures him. She plops down beside him and curls against him. "Yes?"
"Okay, I was looking through Twitter and saw someone spotted us. And some people don't believe it. So, what should we do to confirm it?"
"Take a photo or something." Ella suggests. "Nothing too obvious."
"Can I take a photo of you then? Like doing something normal?" He says. "I know it'll be hard being normal, but you can do it."
She sticks her tongue out. "Hater. And of course. Here let me just..."
She lays down on the bed and grabs her phone. "Take a photo of me and put "Ella being a meany and watching YouTube instead of getting ready!"
She pulls the covers up to her waist to hide his boxers and pretends to scroll through her phone. Niall quickly snaps the photo and chuckles lightly.
"Very concentrated." He says and quickly types his tweet.
"Annddd..." He says and presses the "send" button. "Done! I'll check back later but right now..."
He grabs Ella's phone from her hand and puts it on the nightstand. "Time to have some privacy."
He mutes her phone and kisses her temple. "Don't want any interruptions."
She smiles and kisses his cheek. "Of course."
He grabs her shoulder and squeezes. "Lay down."
She complies and lays down. Niall quickly crawls on top and hovers over her.
"You look sleepy." He rubs her cheek with his thumb.
"Sort of." She admits and hugs his neck. "But it's whatever."
He uses his free hand to rub her side gently. "Why not?"
"Because," she says. "I kept waking up because I didn't want to like, wake up without you."
"You won't. Never." He lightly kisses her mouth. "Silly girl, don't you know that I have a heart?"
Ella bites on her lip and contains her smile. Instead she tugs down Niall's head and presses her cold lips against his.
Niall gives in immediately and runs his hand up her side. Ella tastes of mint and fresh. Probably toothpaste he thinks.
She licks his bottom lip and grazes her hand down his arm. Niall knows what she wants, so he deepens the kiss, slowly sliding in his tongue.
He can feel her squeezing his arm and bending her knees.
Niall grabs her thighs and pulls away from the kiss. "Don't move." He breathes.
He trails soft kisses down her cheek to her neck. She breathes in when he very gently bites her. He kisses the tender skin and squeezes her thighs.
"I would so do it, but I just can't." He whispers.
"Why not?"
"Because, you're not officially mine. That would be selfish." He says and kisses her shoulder. "I want to do so many things with you. But I can't until you're mine."
She sighs deeply and runs her hand through his hair. "It's okay. Just promise me one thing?"
"What?"
"When I am yours, you will not tease me." She pokes his cheek as he laughs.
"Teasing? Babe, teasing is my specialty." He grins and slides a hand up her, well, his boxers. "You know you love it. I know it gets you wound up."
He gently scratches at her inner thighs and she squirms. "Niiaaalll!"
He smiles and pushes his hand up farther. "Are you not wearing-"
She shakes her head and a smirk slowly plays on her lips. "I forgot."
He rolls his eyes and reaches around. "So technically, I can just reach around and-"
He grabs her ass causing her to jump.
"Ah!" She squeaks. "Could've gave me a warning!"
"No, because during the heat of the moment, ain't got time to be warning you." He winks and kisses all over her face.
"Babe!" She whines and tries to push him away. "Tease!"
He squeezes her ass. "Hm?"
She jumps again and looks at him. "Babbbeee..." She squirms again. "We need to eat breakfast so we can go back home so you can pack!"
He smiles, eyes crinkling, and plants a kiss quickly on her forehead. "All right! All right! Let me shower and you get the food."
He hops off her and grabs her side. He flips her over onto her stomach and smacks her bum. "That's for ruining the moment early!"
He runs away to the bathroom before she can retaliate.
----------
"Got everything?" She asks as they walk to the gate.
"Cell phone, Chargers, laptop, pen, paper, and clothes." He says and pats his small duffle bag. "It's only 3 days. Thank god!"
She wraps her arm through his and kisses his cheek. "I know. I'll see you...Thursday evening?"
"That's the plan." He wraps an arm around her tightly. "I'll text you when I land."
"All right." She pulls her burgundy jacket around her tightly. "Skype tomorrow?"
"Sure thing." He hugs her close and kisses her head. "I'll see you later, love."
She nods and lifts her face. He kisses her softly and squeezes her tightly.
"Later," she whispers and he lets go of her.
"I expect a prepared Ella for Holiday!"
"We'll see, we'll see." She laughs and squeezes his hand. "Go on or you'll miss your flight."
He kisses her forehead before turning around and walking away.
------
Niall looks through his phone after the plane has taken off and they gave the "okay."
He scrolls through Twitter and sees Ella has tweeted.
"I miss you already @NiallOfficial." And a photo of him laughing, completely caught off guard in bed.
He can't help but smile. She's too wonderfully sneaky.
"@Ella89 I miss you too sneaky girl. <3 sending my love from 30,000 feet!" He tweets back.
He shuts off his phone to save battery life and shuts his eyes.
"See you in my dreams Ells."
-------