Settle Down

My eyes blinked open slowly. I looked around groggily, blinking my eyes furiously to wake myself up. I shifted to move, and was stopped by a pair of warm hands encircling my torso. With a glance downwards, I noticed Liv snuggled into my side, her chest rising and falling slowly. I froze, unsure of what to do. The clock on the wall read seven; I had no idea why I was up so early, but I really had to pee.

“Liv.” I mumbled, prodding her side gently. She stirred, shifting slightly; but not moving her tight grip.

“Liv, wake up.” I repeated, sitting up and trying to wiggle away. I managed to sneak away, and padded out of bed and towards the door.

“Why are you leaving?” She asked sleepily. Her eyes were halfway open, and she was watching me closely.

“I- er I just have to use the loo.” I replied, taking a step back into the room.

“You can use my washroom. It’s just over there.” She pointed to a closed door.

“Right, right of course.” I walked over to the washroom, clicking the door shut behind me.

Olivia’s POV

Niall clicked the door shut behind him, and I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes groggily. I yawned, checking the time before standing up off the bed. I flipped my hair upside down, shaking it out and then pulling it up into a bun. I stretched out, one arm up in the air and the other cradling my abdomen protectively. Hurriedly I pulled on a pair of cotton sleep shorts, since the nightgown was much too short for my liking. Just as I yawned one last time Niall emerged from the bathroom. His hair was flat on the side that he slept on, and the other side was sticking out all over the place.

“Your hair.” I giggled, walking up and smiling at it. “Let me.” I instructed, running my hands through his hair and shaping it into a coif.

“Why? What was wrong with my hair?” Niall smiled crookedly.

“Happy birthday.” I grinned, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“You remembered.”

“Of course I did. That’s why I wanted you to stay. So I could be the very first person to wish it to you.” I grinned up at him. Just as he was about to speak up a phone beeped from the corner of the room.

“Who’s that?” I asked curiously. Niall had a massive smile sweep across his face as he watched the phone intently.

“Just my twitter. I'm getting gobs of birthday tweets.”

“Ooh, can I see?”

“Sure.” He said, handing over his iPhone. I scrolled down, looking through the thousands of tweets Niall had received.

“Hey! The boys tweeted you!” I help the phone out for Niall to see. He peered down, reading the tweet on the screen.

“They’ll probably be over soon. We always get together on birthdays.” Niall remarked. I nodded, then handed his phone back.

“Let’s go make some breakfast.” I said, turning out of the room. Niall followed, and we made our way down the stairs and into the kitchen. “So, what’ll it be? Bacon and eggs or pancakes?” I asked, opening the fridge.

“Pancakes for sure.” Niall replied, taking a seat on the barstool. I pulled eggs out of the fridge, placing them on the counter gently.

“Where do you keep the bowls?” I asked as I pulled the flour and baking soda out of the pantry.

“Top shelf, pantry.” Niall replied, his eyes focused on the newspaper in front of him. I quietly got to work, measuring the ingredients and mixing them all together in the large bowl. I heard footsteps come down the stairs and, assuming it was Harry, Niall called out.

“Morning.” Niall called, still fixated on his paper. I glanced up, noticing not Harry, but a petite girl slowly turn the corner.

“Sorry, I just-“ She stuttered, her eyes flicking between Niall and I. “Where’s the door?” She asked.

“Down the hall, to your right.” Niall replied, turning back to his paper. I watched the girl slowly descend down the hall, and took in her messy, knotted hair.

The second I heard the front door close I turned to Niall, a small smile forming on my face. “Did Harry-“

“Yeah, he does it all the time. You’ll get used to it after a while.” Niall shrugged his shoulders. I laughed, stirring the batter one last time before turning on the griddle.

“Happy Birthday!” Harry cheered, running down the stairs and slamming into Niall. They fell to the floor, laughing like crazy. “You better get ready Niall. The boys and I have big plans for your last birthday of freedom!” Harry ruffled Niall’s hair.

“Last birthday of freedom?” Niall questioned.

“The last birthday you won’t have to be home changing shitty diapers or getting puked on.” Harry laughed.

“Right. That kind of freedom.”

I smiled, pouring the batter onto the hot griddle. The pancakes sizzled loudly as I reached over and took a spatula out of the cupboard. Within ten minutes all the pancakes were ready, stacked up on one big plate. Just as Niall and Harry were about to dig in the front door swung open, revealing all the boys, decked out in Niall Horan shirts and Birthday accessories.

“Ohmigod.” Niall mumbled, laughing slightly. “You guys really are ridiculous.”

“HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FROM ALL OF US TO YOU, WE WISH IT WAS OUR BIRTHDAY, SO WE COULD PARTY TOO!” The screamed, running in the door with banners behind them.

“Happy birthday little Nialler. Your finally twenty nine! Only eleven years until your mid life crisis!” Louis cheered, his ‘Kiss Me, I’m Irish’ hat shifting farther down his head.

“I brought candles. Liv, can I put them in the pancakes?” Zayn asked, walking up behind me.

“Knock yourself out.” I replied, taking a step back. I watched as Zayn tried to cram twenty-nine candles onto one pancake. A lot of effort, and a few broken pancakes later, he finally managed to do it. He wore a proud look on his face as he lit all the candles, causing them to glow brightly. Everyone sung happy birthday in perfect harmony as Niall blew out the candles, a massive smile plastered across his face.

-

It was eleven by the time the boys cleared out of the house, claiming they had to prepare for tonight. I had been up in my room since, folding clothes and cleaning.

“Watcha doin?” Niall singsonged. He strolled in, collapsing onto the bed.

“I’m packing my hospital bag. Just in case he decides to come a little sooner than expected; I’m prepared.” I said, folding up an onesie and placing it in the bag.

“You’re nesting.” Niall stated, watching me intently.

“I’m what?”

“You’re nesting. My mum said a few weeks before the baby’s born you would be running ‘round the house cleaning up and packing things away; and that’s exactly what you’ve been doing.” He smiled, clearly proud of himself. “I’m hungry. Do you want to go grab some lunch?”

“Sure. Let me just change.” I laughed, gesturing to my outfit consisting of cotton sleep shorts and a tank top.

Niall’s POV

“Sure let me just change.” Liv walked over to the closet, slipping inside. “So, where do you wanna go?” She called out from the closet. I could see her shadow strip down, and gulped as she tossed her clothes out of the closet and into the hamper, which sat just outside it.

“Well, I was thinking Mexican maybe? There's a really good place near-“ I paused, watching Olivia emerge from the closet. She had on a white eyelet sundress, and was pulling her hair into a high ponytail.

She smiled “You were saying?”

“I-uh right. There's a really good place nearby; we could go there?” I watched as she walked over to the bathroom and applied some mascara. She leaned forward into the mirror, her face momentarily shielded from my vision. “Sounds great.” She answered. My eyes trailed down her profile, and stopped momentarily on her bum.

“Ready?” She asked, strolling up to the bed and picking her bag up off the back of her door.

“Ready.” I replied, following her out the door. She slowly ambled down the hall and descended the stairs carefully, keeping a tight grip on the railing.

“Where are you guys off to?” Harry asked. He was in the kitchen, standing in front of a sandwich, a messy kitchen surrounding him.

“It took all this mess to make one sandwich?” I shook my head laughing.

“Hey! I couldn’t decide what I wanted!” Harry retorted, frowning. “But you didn’t answer my question. Where’re you going?”

“Were off to grab some lunch. Care to join us?” Liv chirped, striding up to the counter. I shook my head, mouthing no over and over again to Harry. He smirked, looking past Liv’s shoulder at me then back to her. Liv turned back to look on me and I snapped back to my original position, scratching my neck and shrugging.

“I would love to.” Harry started, resting his elbows on the counter. “But I just made this delicious sandwich; so I think I’ll have to pass you up on the offer.” He added after a pause.

“Suit yourself.” Liv spun around to face me. “You’re missing out. Were getting Mexican.” She shot a smirk off to Harry before gliding over to the door. I mouthed a quick thank you to Harry, earning some taunting kissy faces in reply. I stuffed my feet into a pair of high-tops, the waited patiently as Liv took a seat on the bench, and attempted to bend over to tie her shoes.

“Ni, I can’t reach.” She frowned down at her feet.

“Here, let me get those.” I mumbled, bending over in front of her and tying her white converse.

“Thank you.” She sighed, standing up.

“See ya Hazz.” I called back into the house. I then shut the door behind me; slowly following Olivia down to the car.

“Which one?” She stopped in front of the garage, eyeing the many cars.

“Let’s take the black one.” I pointed towards a black BMW. She shuffled over, and slipped- or should I say fell- into the front seat clumsily.

“Uhg, I can’t do anything gracefully anymore.” She pouted.

“Hey, just think about it. Only two more weeks.” I pointed out, pulling out of the driveway.

“Uhg, two weeks too long. I just want this baby out of me already.” She shifted in her seat, turning to look out the window. I relaxed; the silence between us was never awkward. It almost felt, natural.

Minutes later I parallel parked in front of Playa Cabana; my favorite Mexican restaurant. It sat right on a beach, and one side of the restaurant had massive windows overlooking the ocean.

“Niall, the place is packed.”

“Lets just see if they have a table. If they don’t then we can go somewhere else.” I replied, smiling at the waitress who approached us.

“Have you got enough space for two more?”

“Do you have a reservation?” She smiled kindly, her gaze flicking between the two of us.

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“I’m not sure if we can squeeze you in sir, its pretty packed. It’ll probably be around a thirty minute wait.”

“C’mon Niall; we can go somewhere else.” Liv touched my arm.

“Wait. Niall? As in Niall Horan?” The waitress asked, her mouth open.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Ohmigosh. I was the biggest fan. Here, let me just see if we can squeeze you guys in.” She held up a finger, signaling for us to wait. She disappeared into the restaurant, coming back momentarily with another waitress.

“Right this way.” The new waitress ushered, leading us through the maze of tables. She moved fast, leaving Liv and I in her wake.

“Jesus I feel like a snail. A massive, front heavy snail.” Liv groaned, moving slowly through the tables.

“No, you don’t. You look beautiful.” She really did. Her white dress and shoes complimented her olive skin tone, making her look very tan. Even with her minimal barely there makeup and her swollen belly she still earned quite a few stares and glances from the men in the room.

“Here you are.” The waitress chirped, placing two menus on the small booth. It overlooked the beach, where a few people were walking dogs and standing around.

“Thanks.” Liv smiled at waitress, earning one in return. She slowly lowered herself into the booth, moving over and getting confortable. I sat across from her, chuckling slightly when I noticed the puzzled look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. She glanced up, a frown twitching the corners if her mouth downwards.

“My belly touches the table.” She laughed. It was indeed; she could barely lean forward, the table was constricting her.

“Do you want to move? We could go to another table if you’re uncomfortable.” I fretted.

“Hey, hey its ok. I’m fine; its just- weird, being so large you can’t even sit down in a restaurant.” She grinned, tucking her long hair behind her ear. She then glanced downwards at her menu, and I watched her eyes scan the page. They were beautiful, a light, hazel green color rimmed with a deep, dark brown. Her eyes blinked slowly, then flicked up to meet mine. “You were watching me.” She stated.

“I- uh, no I wasn’t. I glanced up right when you did.” I breathed a sigh of relief for thinking up a lie so quickly.

“Oh, of course. Right.” She nodded quietly, her mood quickly changing. I paused, trying to search her face for any sign of emotions, but it portrayed nothing; not giving me any clues to what was going through her mind. Mindlessly, my eyes trailed down her jaw, watching it tighten slightly. I shifted my gaze to my menu, not watching for too long, so she wouldn’t notice.

“Are you excited for tonight?” Liv asked brightly, placing her menu down and smiling. Man, were this girl’s emotions contagious. The second she piped up so did I.

“Yeah, I’m really excited. It’ll be fun to see all my American friends.” I beamed. I really was excited. The past few birthdays have been quite toned down. Harry hinted this one was going to be big.

“Good. Harry told me all about it; it sounds like it’ll be a blast. And he told me he was inviting some of his pretty friends.” She winked obviously, nudging my shoulder. I could feel the tips of my ears turn pink as I blushed slightly.

“Ha. Yeah, that’s nice.”

-

Olivia’s POV

I sat on my bed reading, the low hum of my music keeping me company. I read slowly, taking in each and every word as it was written, and making sure not to miss a single sentence. The clock on my wall read 8:57, and the boys were all about to head out to a night of partying and getting shit-faced. Not me. I would be spending my night content, with the entire house to myself. I was going to get some major cleaning done.

Kiss me like you wanna be loved
You wanna be loved
You wanna be loved
This feels like falling in love
Falling in love
We're falling in love

The music played softly out of the CD player on my nightstand. I have had it forever; even though I only had one CD, +, to play on it.

“Liv?” Niall knocked softly on the doorframe. The door was open anyways, so I motioned for him to come in.

“Hey. What’s up?” I asked, dog-earing my book and setting it down on the bed beside me.

“Were leaving now. I’m not sure when we’ll be back, but I’ll se you tomorrow, ok?” He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Yeah I've been feeling everything
From hate to love
From love to lust
From lust to truth
I guess that's how I know you
So I hold you close to help you give it up

“Have fun.” I walked up, enveloping into a large hug. He smelled good. Like too much laundry softener and aftershave.

“Thanks.” He mumbled into my hair. Just as we separated Harry bounded out of his room, Zayn in tow.

“C’mon birthday boy, let’s go have some fun!” Harry hooted, clapping Niall on the back. They exchanged smiles quickly; the bounded down the hall together.

“Bye!” The trio called out in unison. I waved to their retreating backs, chuckling to myself as they sped down the railings. I sighed, watching their car drive down the street from my bedroom window. I lived having these rare nights alone in the house to just sit and relax. The massive house felt peaceful and calm when there weren’t five loud boys romping around it. I turned back to my book, listening to the silence for one last moment before continuing to read.