Forever and Always

Callista stood at the stove, stirring the noodles in the large pot around in a clockwise circle. Impatiently, she looked up at the clock and sighed. He was supposed to be home from his meeting with management over an hour ago. Never once did he send a text or call her to let her know that the meeting was going to go much later than he had planned. She had dinner prepared for him an hour ago, but it had all spoiled from sitting out for as long as she did. As of late, Callista had adopted the habit of cooking whenever she didn't know what to do in a situation. The nerves were getting to her, so she cooked the meal for Niall all over again.

Once the second meal was done and he hadn't arrived home yet, Callista really began to worry. Stopping what she was doing, she walked out of the front door of the house they had recently bought together and stared at the empty driveway. His tiny black car wasn't parked in front of it, nor was it anywhere in sight. There wasn't much of a reason for her to be as worried as she was, but she couldn't help but feel nervous that Niall wasn't home yet.

Not knowing what else to do, Callista picked up her phone and dialed his number, not even having to look at the numbers that she was pressing. She knew everything that had to do with her fiance by heart. For example, she knew that whenever she called Niall, he would pick up the phone on the phone on the fifth ring. The fifth ring seemed to echo through the small mobile device, now moving onto the sixth ring. Not wanting to believe he was ignoring her, Callista stayed on the phone until his voice mail began to speak.

"Ay, you've reached Niall! I can't get t' me phone right now. Leave a message!" His cheerful voice chirped.

Callista sighed, running a hand through her phone, "Babe, it's me. I'm getting worried. Call me soon. Love ya."

While she had her phone out, she scrolled through her contacts and pulled up Liam's number, pressing on the little green 'Call' icon. After a few rings, Liam answered.

"'Ello, Callista! What's up?" Liam asked.

Callista sighed again, stumbling to find the right words, "Hey... Are you with Niall right now?"

"Nope! He left the studio at the same time as everyone else. Why?"

At those few words, Callista's heart fell and she began to panic, "He hasn't gotten home yet and I'm really worried. I'm scared, Liam."

"Oh, Callista. It's going to be okay. Give him another few minutes. I'm sure he'll be home soon," Liam encouraged.

She nodded, not realizing that Liam couldn't see her actions, "Thanks Liam. I'll let you know when he gets home."

Now she knew that the meeting hadn't gone late. The only good case scenario that could have played out was scratched off the list. He was out on the streets, somewhere. She didn't know where he was and that worried her. It wasn't that she needed to know where her fiance was at every moment, of everyday, but right now she was frightened. The only thoughts that ran through her head were that something bad had happened, or he was out doing something else... Or what really was playing through her mind right now, someone else. The other guys' relationships had all gone down hill. Louis had cheated on Eleanor, and Danielle had cheated on Liam. Her's and Niall's was the only one that had lasted, and that scared her.

Pacing around their rather large dining room, Callista gave in and checked out the front window one more time. His car still wasn't in the driveway, and the entire neighborhood seemed to be eerily desolate. They had chosen the house in this specific neighborhood because of how lively it always was. There were constantly kids running up and down the street while their families sat outside and watched them. When they decided to take their relationship to the next level, they figured a kid friendly neighborhood would be best for them when they were ready to have children of their own. To have the street they lived on be empty and quiet only made her even more nervous.

Her familiar ring tone began to blare throughout the house, quite loudly and obnoxiously. Callista was instantly on her feet and scrambling to pick up the phone, not even bothering to check the caller ID. It had to be Niall, nobody else ever called her.

An unfamiliar voice spoke instead of the alluring Irish accent she loved so much, "Hello, is Callista Blake there?"

Callista gulped loudly, the nerves kicking in yet again, "This is she... May I ask who is calling?"

"Hello Miss Blake. This is Marilyn Sheiffer, one of the head receptionists at London Bridge Hospital. We regret to inform you that something has happened to your fiance, Niall Horan. We suggest that you head on over right now. We're not sure how serious his condition is, but it would be best that you come now in case something happens," The voice spoke urgently, with a hint of remorse.

Callista's heart dropped what felt like a 10,000 foot drop into the pit of her stomach. Whilst her heart was falling, it had to have been breaking at the exact same time. This couldn't be, they had to have the wrong number and the wrong names. There was no way Niall had gotten hurt, he was just picking up some extra food at the grocery store. Or he had forgotten his phone at the studio and he didn't realize until he was almost home, so he had to turn around and go back to the studio. He wasn't allowed to be hurt.

"What happened to him?" Callista asked, her voice weak in her current fragile state.

The receptionist named Marilyn let out a small sigh, "He was hit on his way home from work. We will give you more details once you get to the hospital. So if you could, please leave the house now. I know that this is hard for you and it's probably taking a while to sink in, but think of Niall and come now."

Callista thanked the receptionist and hung up, throwing her phone into the purse. She grabbed her car keys off the little hook that was pounded into the wall and rushed out the front door, not bothering to waste the time that it took in locking it. Her car was parked next to the spot where Niall's usually sat, which was just another reminder that he wasn't there with her. Currently, he was in some sort of fragile, medical state in a hospital. Callista opened up her car door and practically threw herself onto the chair, fumbling around with the keys to start her car.

The majority of the half an hour drive had been filled with unpleasant thoughts. All that Callista could focus on was the negatives, anything that could have possibly gone wrong. She shook her head, not allowing herself to think like that anymore. She needed to think of positive thoughts, and that's just what she did as her mind wandered off to December.

---

"Niall, I hate that we're having Christmas away from both of our homes. We're going to be cooped up in some stupid hotel room. That means we can't have a Christmas tree! It's only our second Christmas together and we're already doing Christmas completely wrong," Callista complained as she and Niall cuddled in his bunk on the tour bus.

Niall rolled his eyes, kissing her on the cheek, "It's still going to be Christmas, though. Sure, it sucks that we won't get to do all of the Christmas-y type of things, but we'll have each other. Now cheer up, it's Christmas Eve! You can't be sad on Christmas Eve!"

Louis seemed to appear from nowhere, peeking his head in through the curtains, "Plus, it's my birthday. You have to be happy on my birthday. It's illegal to not be."

Callista laughed and pushed Louis out of the bunk, pulling the curtain back shut, "I know that. I just really wish we could have a tree set up and that we'd be at home, with our families. But no, we're in the middle of God-Knows-Where Georgia and we're staying in a hotel tonight."

He sighed, rubbing an arm up and down her back, "Well, I'll just have to make sure that you're having the best Christmas ever, regardless of our location or Christmas tree, well, lack of a tree."

That night when they had arrived at the hotel and Callista was fast asleep in the bed they were to share, Niall sneaked out of the hotel and went to one of the few Christmas Tree nursery's he had seen on their drive through Atlanta. Paul had rented a truck for the night, helping Niall out with his grand plan to make his girlfriend's Christmas the best one yet. Niall was disappointed to see that the selection for trees was pretty much pathetic until his eye caught one in the corner. The feeling inside of him when he saw the tree was one to rival a bride's when she realized the dress she had on was the one for her wedding day. He was that happy he had found such a perfect tree.

He gave the lone man working the stand the money for the tree, then had Paul help him load it into the bed of the truck. They then stopped at a Target to purchase a bunch of last minute lights and ornaments to decorate the tree with. Upon arriving at the hotel, they didn't realize how much of a hassle getting the tree through the hotel was going to be until they actually tried it. Thankfully, a bunch of workers realized who he was and helped him carry the large plant through the lobby, into the elevator, and down the hallway until it was finally inside of his room.

There he set it all up by himself, making sure it looked like a tree that came straight out of the holiday edition of Home and Garden. Niall spent a majority of the night awake, decorating the tree to make sure it was absolutely perfect. It was about 2 in the morning when he finally slid into the bed next to his girlfriend.

When Callista woke up the next morning, she let out a dangerously loud and dangerously high pitch squeal at the sight of the Christmas tree. She turned to Niall and began shaking him like crazy, trying to wake him up.

Niall mumbled a few inaudible words, "What do you want, 'Lista?"

"NIALL! NIALL! NIALL! Do you see the tree? Well, of course you've seen the tree! Did you do all of this? Oh, I know you did all of this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Callista squealed in excitement, answering each of her own questions.

Niall rubbed his eyes a few times, eventually waking himself up. He smiled at the sight of his happy girlfriend, "Wait a few minutes before we open presents. I need to get everyone else in here since I have a few of their gifts sitting around the tree."

Callista jumped up in excitement, "Oh, don't worry about it! I'll go get everyone and bring them over here! You're the best, babe. I love you so much."

"I love you even more," Niall smiled as Callista bounded out the door of their hotel room they were sharing.

Not even ten minutes later, Callista had gathered everyone from the guys and their girlfriends to Paul, Preston, Lou, and even Lux. They all gathered into the large hotel room and found seats around the tree. Little Lux acted like a miniature Santa Clause, handing the presents to whoever Lou directed her to give them to. Liam sat on one of the beds, watching everything and making sure that it was all caught on video camera.

"Time for the last present," Lou cheered as she gave the small package to Lux. She whispered something in her ear and Lux smiled, waddling over to Callista. She handed the small package to her and ran as quickly as she could back over to her mom.

Callista looked down at the small package, a large smile spreading across her face. She didn't know for sure if it was what she thought it was, or if it was even from who she thought it was from, but the thought still excited her. She delicately opened the top, and inside of the small package was exactly what she thought was in there. There, sitting on top of a small red pillow was a gorgeous diamond ring on a silver band. Tears began to fill her eyes as she looked up, Niall already lowering himself onto one knee.

He took a deep breath before saying, "I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good, and the bad, and the ugly. We'll grow old together, forever and always. So please, if you will, Callista Marie Blake, will you do the honor of marrying me?"

---

There was still another 10 minutes of the drive left, and Callista was refusing to think of any negative thoughts. She kept replaying the few happy thoughts she had left. The one of her proposal being one that she constantly replayed in her mind.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay, pretty please be okay," Callista thought to herself as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, mentally and physically bracing herself for the last ten minutes of the drive.