Lucky

I slowly opened my eyes, noticing that Niall was still next to me. He was asleep and had blankets wrapped over the both of us. I smiled and ran my fingers through his blonde hair. This caused him to open his eyes and he smiled when he saw that I was awake.

“How’s your head babe?” He put his hand on my forehead and I blinked a couple times, then looked back at him.

“It feels a whole lot better actually. I don’t know if it’s because of the medication or because you’ve been lying with me all morning.” I laughed softly. “Thank you by the way. For always taking care of me. It means a lot to me, Ni.”

Niall brushed the hair out of my face and rested his hand on my cheek. “You know I’d do anything for you. You are my everything.”

I blushed and sat up in bed, stretching my arms and legs. “Instead of staying in all day, we should go swim with the dolphins.” I squealed.

Niall sat up and wrapped and arm around my waist. “If swimming with dolphins is what you wanna do today, your wish is my command.”

-----

Once we had the whole crew gathered off the ship, we got a ride to the Dolphin Interaction place. Everyone was there, and I was so excited that I found something we could all do together. This would mean we would all share this same memory forever. It meant a lot to me. We decided to ask the owners if we could swim with the dolphins just with our group, no fans or outsiders allowed, and the owners decided that’d be safer for us, and probably the dolphins as well.

Once we got geared up in life jackets, we all had to take rides on banana boats out to their little dock in the middle of the ocean. It was on the scary side because banana boats are pulled by jet skis and we honestly felt like we were going to fall off. The 9 of us had to take 2 separate banana boats because only 6 could fit on one. Once we got out to the dock, we jumped into the water. Thankfully, we were in a big square, and it’s blocked off so that no outside creatures can get in with the dolphins.

Niall and I jumped in first, and he put an arm around my back as we floated there. Heather jumped in and looked up at Zayn who didn’t look like he wanted to jump.

“Come on in babe!” Heather splashed Zayn playfully.

He backed up and gulped. “I may have forgotten to mention that I don’t know how to swim.” He shook his head, “I can’t go in there.”

I let go of Niall and swam to the side to where Zayn was now sitting. “You can cling on to the side of the pool. Plus, you have a life jacket for a reason. You’re not going to drown, you’re not going to sink. This will help you stay afloat. You’re okay, Zayn. Just slowly slide in the water.”

Zayn let out a deep breath and slowly submerged himself in the water. He held on to the side and I smiled. “You’ll be okay.”

After everyone else jumped in, the instructors let us pet the dolphins, dance with them, hug them, and even kiss them. They also let us ride on their backs, and allowed them to jump over us. While the dolphins were getting fed by the instructors, I backed up so that I was against the edge of the pool type thing, and pulled Niall close to me. He put his hands on the sides next to me and leaned in, kissing me hard. He kissed my neck briefly before whispering in my ear, “I’m taking you out tonight, babe.”

I smiled and looked at him. “I can’t wait.”

Once we were done swimming and playing with the dolphins, we ordered some pictures that the instructors had taken of us with the dolphins. The ride back to the island was exhausting because we barely had enough energy to hold on to the banana boats.

We finally made it back to the ship and we groggily walked to our rooms. Niall was about to walk into his room but I stopped him. “Heather’s going to cuddle with Zayn, so come cuddle with me?”

Niall grinned. “That’s an offer I can never pass up.”

We both climbed into bed and slid under the covers. Niall pulled the blankets over us and wrapped his arm around me. Within minutes, we both fell asleep.

-----

When I opened my eyes, Niall wasn’t next to me anymore. I went to get out of bed and look for him, when I saw a note on my bed table. I opened it and read it slowly, to myself.

Babe,
As I said earlier, I’m taking you out tonight. I already made reservations at a restaurant. It’s more formal rather than casual. This means you can dress up, yet you’re beautiful no matter what you’re wearing. Be ready around 7:30 pm. See you soon babe. Can’t wait.

xx Niall

I giggled to myself and looked at the clock. I let out a sigh of relief when I read the time on the clock. 6 pm. That means I have an hour and a half to get ready. I ran to the bathroom and started curling my hair just as Heather came back into our room. “Getting ready for your date tonight?”

I jumped and let out a deep breath. “Jesus, you scared me. And yes I am…wait how do you know about it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Niall won’t stop talking about how excited he is to be taking you out. It’s cute how crazy in love he is with you.”

I blushed again then went back to curling my hair. “I’m even crazier in love with him. I love him so much.”

Heather grinned. “I know you do.”

Once I finished with my hair, I did my makeup. I did a smoky eye, not too dramatic but not to mellow either. I paired it with some light pink blush, and nude lips. Once I was done with my makeup I got dressed and then spritzed myself with some perfume before I walked out of the bathroom.

“Damnnnn my best friend is on fire!” Heather laughed and spun me around. “Hadley, you look amazing.”

“Thank you!” I giggled and looked at the clock. 7:25 pm. I grabbed my purse filled with all my essentials and waited patiently for Niall. Soon enough it came to be 7:30 pm and I didn’t have to wait long for Niall to knock on the door. I shuffled over and opened the door, revealing Niall standing in the doorway in a suit. We both just stared at each other for a minute before he spoke up first. “You look…amazing…no- amazing doesn’t even begin to describe how good you look right now, baby.”

I bit my lip as I could feel my cheeks warming up. “You look so handsome babe.” He grinned and held his arm out. I grabbed it and we started walking away from our room and towards the lobby.

“So where are we going exactly?” I looked at him.

“I’m not telling you where, but all I’m saying is that it’s not on the boat.” He smirked.

“Oh you and your surprises…” I giggled. “I’m excited.”

-----

Soon enough we were off the ship and back onto land. Niall had arranged for a car to pick us up from the dock and bring us to the restaurant. In the car, Niall blindfolded me so I wouldn’t be able to see. The car eventually stopped and Niall helped me out of the car and lead me inside. “Ready to take off your blindfold?”

I nodded as Niall’s hands untied the blindfold and it fell away from my eyes. The scene in front of me was more beautiful than any scene from any movie. I was in awe. The entire restaurant was rented out for the two of us, there were strings of lights around the whole place and each table had lit candles. I was at a loss for words.

“You like it?” Niall sounded hopeful.

I turned to him and kissed him softly. “Do I like it? Are you kidding me, I love it. This is beautiful.”

Niall led me to a table and pulled the chair out for me before he sat down himself. The waiter came out and took our drink orders which he brought back soon after. I got a glass of water and a watermelon daiquiri and Niall got a glass of water and a beer. Typical Irish. We then ordered our food and as we waited, Niall intently stared at me.

“What?” I smiled slightly.

“I’m just thinking how amazing you are, how beautiful you are, how you make me so happy.” He smiled, and I blushed.

“You’re even more amazing and you have no idea how happy you make me.” Our sappy moment was interrupted when our food was quickly delivered. Both of us started eating, every so often taking a break to just stare at each other.

I was finishing eating when I noticed that Niall was shuffling with something in his pocket. I watched him as he stood up and walked over to me grabbing my hand.

“What are you doing?” I asked, puzzled.

He brought his hand to my lips. “Shhhh.” He grabbed both of my hands in his and smiled. “Hadley, you’re the light of my life,” just as he started to speak, violin music started playing and as I turned around I noticed our waiter and 3 other men playing the violin. I turned back to Niall and swallowed hard, tears starting to form in my eyes. I had a feeling I knew what was happening.

“You’re my everything. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, and everything I’ll ever need. You always make me smile and make me laugh. I know we’ve had our fights, but every good relationship does. You’re the reason I wake up in the morning, and you’re the person I think about before I go to sleep. You’ve changed my life, you’ve changed me, I love you so much.

Niall then proceeded to get down on one knee and by this time my eyes were puffy and wet. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was going to drown in a puddle of my own tears. I put my hand over my mouth as Niall pulled a black box out of his pocket.

“Hadley, will you please marry me? I love you so much.”

I bit my lip and even though I was absolutely terrified, I nodded and put my hand out, as he slid the ring (which was huge, I might add) onto my finger. I threw my hands around his neck and kissed him with more passion than I had ever kissed him before.

Niall soon pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine. “I love you, future Mrs. Horan.”