Chapter 36
My phone rang on the night I least expected it. It had been raining all day and now it was thundering and the sky had been darker than it usually was at midnight at about 4pm, so it was an inside day.
I had sent Draco to bed about 7pm and now I was just sitting up watching late night Telly and staring into the bottom of my cup. My phone was next to me and at about 10 to 12 when the screen lit up and a familiar ringtone started to play.
I answered without thinking "Hello?"
"You never called" he replied, voice loud, accent thick "You said you would"
"I- I-"
"It's okay" he laughed "Harry told me what you said, You're right, maybe you shouldn't have had me in Draco's life like that so quickly and I agree, I can't just walk back into your life"
"I'm glad you understand"
"You still should have called me"
I chuckled "You always have a way with words, don't you Nialler"
"I do" I could almost see the smirk "But there no good if I don't get to use them on the girl I hope to charm"
"Idiot" I laughed "And where is this girl that you can't 'charm her'"
"She's locked herself up in her house, refusing to pick up the phone to call me" He laughed "Im starting to think she's dead"
"Did you try calling her?"
"Yeah"
"And?"
"She called me an idiot"
"So what are you going to do?"
"I was going to try a Romeo and Juliet style serenade, a friend of hers told me it's her favorite romance novel"
I laughed. Harry and I had done Romeo and Juliet as a school English novel and I had fallen in love with the idea of it, someone willing to die for my love was probably the most romantic thing I could think of at the age of 15 and probably still was. It was my favorite romance novel ever. I had never told Niall that though.
"Does she have a balcony?" I asked him, a smile on my face.
"Yeah" I heard him laugh "Come out onto Stella's balcony"
I frowned. Stella's balcony was facing the backyard. He was here.
I raced up the stairs and threw open the balcony door, throwing up an umbrella as the sky lit up with lightning. I stepped out and looked down, trying to distinguish any figures from the dark, muddy grass out back.
A bright light lit up from down on the grass and 5 boys appeared, drenched, clothes clinging to them.
Niall stood in front, guitar in his hands, a giant smile on his face as he started to strum, Liam, Louis, Harry and Zayn humming the tune behind him.
"Hello, I know it's been a while, I wonder where you are and if you think of me, sometimes, cause your always on my mind, you know I had it rough, trying to forget you, but the more I look around, the more I realize, your all I'm looking for" Niall paused, a big smile on his face.
"You are not singing Carly Rae Jepsen!" I screamed with laughter. Niall shrugged.
"What makes you so beautiful is you don't know how beautiful you are to me, you’re not trying to be perfect, nobody's perfect, but you are to me, it's how you take my breath away, feel the words that I don't say, I wish somehow I could say them now, oh, oh, I could say them now"
"Niall" I laughed, causing him to stop and look up at me
"Yes gorgeous?" he asked
"You're an idiot!"
He smiled "I'm your idiot, if you'll let me be"
I shook my head, a big smile on my face and stepped back in the house, racing downstairs to open the back door to find him still waiting, guitar hanging off his back, clothes sticking to his chest and shoulders, hair dripping, completely black with rain. The other boys were underneath umbrellas, wet but not soaking.
"Niall!"
He turned to me, startled and gave me a giant smile. "Hi" he laughed
"Hi" I replied, breathless from the very sight of him "Come inside before you catch a cold"
The other boys started for the door and I moved aside to let them in but Niall stayed in the rain.
"I'm not moving until were okay" he said simply "I want you to be the first girl I kiss in the rain"
I blushed and stepped out into the backyard to meet him, just a few days ago, I did the same thing and we ended up yelling at each other. "Is it worth it?" I asked "Are we worth it Niall?"
"I want to be worth it, I want to make this work, everything I said in the letter about buying you a ring and having kids with you and living down the road from the boys" he sighed "I meant all of it, I'm 19 and I love you the way I imagined my dad loved my mum before their divorce, I love you the way Romeo loved Juliet, I'll stand out here in the rain for you, I'll get struck by lightning or take a bullet for you, I'd die for you!"
"I love you" I replied "I love you more than I loved Pat, more than Juliet loved Romeo, I love you like crazy and I can't believe it, your my family Niall, I want a life with you past being your girlfriend, I want you"
He reached forward, wet hands pushing back my wet hair and lips moving forward to touch mine gently and lovingly. He tasted of mint and rain. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his hands moved down to catch the back of my thighs, pulling me up until I had to jump up and wrap my legs around his waist or risk falling because I was already up on my toes to reach him.
"I love you" he whispered in between peppered kisses "I love you Riley, I fucking love you"
"I love you too" I replied, eyes bubbling over with happy tears "I love you so much"
"Take me back, We'll never fight again, I promise"
I laughed and buried my head in the crook of his shoulder "Take me inside and I'll take you back, the kiss in the rain is romantic and all but I'm all sticky!"
He laughed and rushed us inside, pulling the back door closed and pressing me up against it, kissing my lips, neck and shoulders.
"Does that mean Niley's back?" he whispered huskily, kissing my ear.
I nodded, looking over his shoulder for any sign of the boys.
"There gone" Niall answered before I could even ask "I saw Harry push them all out and wave goodbye before I kissed you, I don't think they wanted to stay around for this part"
I nodded and pulled at the wet ends of hair causing him to moan and bite my neck playfully.
"Are you home alone?"
"Apart for Draco, yeah" I whispered, kissing his cheeks and lips "Do you want to spend the night?"
"Only if you want me to" he replied "I'm not going to walk back in unless your ready
"I'm ready"
Niall hitched my legs tighter around his hips and carried me upstairs, shedding all of our wet clothes before laying me back on the bed and kissing along my hips, stomach and collar bone.
"I love you" he whispered, hands ghosting over my thighs "I love you so much, I'm never going to leave you"
"I love you too" I replied, fingers grasping at wet strands of hair that were slowly returning to his normal color which, now I realized, was mostly brown.
Niall kissed my lips hard and lovingly, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling the blanket over the both of us.
At the end of the night, Niall had my pulled tightly against his chest, arm around my waist like he was never letting go, fingers trailing along my hip gently as he dozed in and out, his breath on my neck, and legs tangled in mine, foot rubbing up along my leg occasionally.
I loved this feeling, I loved the way he pulled me against him and never let go, the little things he did with his foot and hands that made my stomach flutter like I was falling in love with him all over again. It was magical.
It was only magical in his arms and I knew that I'd be here for a long time to come.
Niall’s POV
Riley was snoring softly, stomach flittering with the intake or air softly, causing my fingers to drift over her stomach.
Her wet hair was tucked in a braid under her neck, a dirty blonde color from all those days she'd spent in bed. Her tears were drying on her cheeks with the rain drops and I hadn't realized till now that we'd both been crying tonight. Tonight was probably the closest I'd ever been with her - physically and emotionally - and I loved every second of it, even just laying here with her made my heart swell. She was the one.
Harry's best friend, high schools drop out with a 3 year old son and a lot of family baggage. Riley Kendall. She was the one.
Holding her against me like this and feeling the curves of her skin, seeing the flutter of her eyelashes as she slept, hearing her heartbeat beside me, it made me realize it was all worth it.
The fight had been worth it. The space was worth it. The tears were worth it. The Romeo and Juliet in the rain was worth it. Being a family man was worth it.
The ring back at my apartment, hidden in my underwear draw - that sure was worth it.
*cue* OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! haha :) I felt bad for leaving you guys with a short chapter so I brought you THIS!
Comment Question: WHAT KIND OF RING DO YOU THINK NIALL GOT RILEY? send me pictures if you cant explain it!
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