Passenger Seat

The countdown to Madison Square Garden was officially down to the single digests. Just 9 days away. The buzz among the group was excitement. Even Harry, despite everything, was giddy. The boys were set to fly out to New York in 3 days. Eleanor, Dani and Perrie and I weren’t going to fly out until 2 days after them.

Tonight however, I was getting ready for a date with Niall. After how long we’ve been together, we’d only been on one official date really. It was hard to go on dates though when your boyfriend was one of the most famous guys on the planet.

But he had insisted.

“I want to go out with you. Like a normal couple,” he had said the other night when he brought it up.

“But people will be all over us.”

He shook his head, “Not while we’re in a restaurant. And I’ll bring Paul with us, he can handle anything if there ends up being a crowd waiting for us to come out.”

I laughed, “How romantic. A date with my boyfriend and his body guard.”

He nipped at my neck playfully, “He wouldn’t be at the table with us. Come on, let your boyfriend take you on a date.”

Of course I caved. Who could say no to him? Certainly not me.

So here I was, rummaging through my closet to find something to wear. I’ve never been the type of girl that cared too much about what they wore. I was a firm believer in wearing what you wanted and what you felt comfortable in. But, tonight… I wanted to look good. For Niall.

I had a few hours before Niall said he’d pick me up and I was getting desperate. Blue was in Sheffield so she couldn’t help me, though she did say I could wear anything in her closet, but I’d already been through it with no luck.

In a last ditch effort, I dialed on of the only people I knew I could count on in a ‘fashion crisis.’ “Hey, I need your help getting ready for my date tonight.”

“Alright, what to you need?”
“Something to wear.”

“We’ll be right over.”

*****

Perrie showed up at my house with Jesy 20 minutes after I called her. “We brought a bunch of clothes!” she said as she dragged a massive duffle bag in as Jesy followed in behind her.

“You guys are a life saver! I was seriously about to just panic and just stay in my sweats.”

They both laughed at me as we ventured to my bedroom. “Why are you so nervous?” Jesy asked, “You’ve been with Niall for a while now.”

I shrugged, “Yeah but we’ve only been on one date. I want this one to be special, I don’t know.”
“Aw, you’re so cute Ayden.”

I stuck my tongue at her as Perrie dumped all the clothes on my bed. “Alright, we have dresses, skirts, shorts, jeans, leggings and pretty much anything else you can think of.”

I looked at her skeptically, “Did you bring your whole closet?”

“Don’t be silly,” she scoffed, “This is only about 1/3ed of my closet!”

*****

The next few hours was full of laughter, stories and wardrobe changes. Who knew getting ready for a date with 2 friends could be so much fun?

We had finally come to the decision on what I’d be wearing. Well, really it was Perrie and Jesy’s choice. They insisted I wear this flowy skirt that looked like space, and this belly top. It was definitely more Perrie than me, but if I’m honest, I really liked how I looked in it. The top showed way more skin than I was used too, I mean, I never went out showing off my tummy. That just wasn’t really my thing. But now, looking at myself in the mirror, maybe it could be me? Of course I added my own twist to the whole outfit with my dark purple Doc Martins.

I let Jesy do my hair and makeup. She left it down in its natural waves, but she fish tail braded my bangs up and out of my face. I loved it. Now with the makeup, I let her talk me into the dark purple lipstick but I drew the line at the big fake eyelashes.

“Aw come on Ayd! They’re awesome, promise!”

“No,” I held my ground. “They feel weird on my eyes and are super uncomfortable!”

“You get used to them,” Perrie insisted.

I shook my head, “No thanks, I’ll leave big eyelashes to you lovely ladies.”

“Fiiiine,” Jesy dragged out, flopping down on my bed as Perrie packed all the clothes back into her bag.

“Niall’s going to pee himself when he see’s you,” Perrie laughed.

I barked out a laugh too, “Yeah, that’s exactly the reaction I’m going for!”

“Alright, come on Pez,” Jesy said helping her band mate carry the overflowing duffle bag, “Let’s get out of here before Niall shows up.”

I hugged them both at the door, “Thank you so much for your help!”

“Don’t mention it,” Jesy said kissing my cheek, “You look so fit he’ll probably change his mind about going out,” she winked causing me to laugh.

“You really do look so beautiful Ayden,” Perrie said sincerely. “You can keep this outfit, looks better on you me think.”

“Oh, no. Perrie I couldn’t-”

“You’re keeping it! Bye!” She said as her and Jesy rushed out the door.

I went back into my room to make sure my makeup and outfit was perfect, or at least as close to perfect as I could make it. I was still nervous about the outfit. It was so out of my comfort zone, but at the same time I was in love with it. I’ve been in jeans, t-shirts and hoodies for so long I don’t think I’ve ever seen the curves of my body like this. Well, except the few times modeling when Oli or Amanda insisted I wear the leggings… or no top whatsoever. But this was different.

The knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. My heart jumped into my throat. I don’t know why I was so nervous to see the guy I’ve been with for… well for over half a year. I took a deep breath and ran my hand through the waves of my hair one more time before I went to open the door. Once there, I took one last breath before I opened the door.

“Hey- wow!” Niall’s eyes were wide and his mouth slightly agape as his gaze roamed my body and took in my outfit. I took this second to take in what he was wearing. His hair was done up in typical Niall fashion when he wasn’t hiding it under a snapback. He was wearing tight dark black jeans that rumpled above his white surpas, and he had on a jean jacket over a plain white shirt (that hugged his upper body perfectly. Seriously, the gym must be starting to pay off in all the right ways). In one of his hands were 4 red roses tied together by a red ribbon.

His stare didn’t help my nerves at all, “Is, uh, is this okay?” I said looking down at myself, running my hand down the skirt to smooth out any wrinkles.

“Oh, uh,” he cleared his throat, “Yes. You look beautiful. I, uh, I don’t even know what to say!” I swear I saw him blush. I swear! He shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts and held out the roses, “These are for you love.” I smiled graciously and took them from him. I brought them to my nose to take in their sent. I’ve never been given flowers before.

I caught him staring at my whole body again, “It’s not me, but-”

“It’s you if you want it to be Ayd. I mean, nothing is more sexy than when you’re in plain jeans and a shirt, but you look amazing in anything,” he smiled genuinely at me. He pulled me into him by my hips, and his fingers danced across the exposed skin of my middle.

I groaned, “I thought you wanted to take me out? If you keep saying sweet things like that, I’m just going to lock us in my room all night.”

He smirked and pulled me tighter against him, “Later tonight,” his whispered against my lips before placing a soft kiss at the corner of my mouth. “Come then. Paul is out driver tonight, he’s waiting in the car.”

*****

Niall took me to a French restaurant. I’d never been to one, and this one was expensive. I tried to tell him it was too much, but he shut me up with a kiss and pulled me from the car.

The food was amazing. Like really amazing. Niall and I ate way too much. He had gone all out, ordering wine, and appetizers. I ate so much that I was worried my exposed stomach would show my food baby on the way out.

Before we were set to leave, Paul had warned us that there was a bit of a crowd outside. Mostly photographers. “You know the drill, stay together and we’ll get through the crowd smoothly.”

Niall wrapped an arm around my waist and held on to my one of my hands with his free one, completely securing me to his side.

There were a lot of photographers. I guess since none of the other boys have been in public recently, the paparazzi was chopping at the bit for a picture of any of them.

When we walked out of the restaurant, with Paul in front of us to pave the way, the paps went nuts. Flashes everywhere and the shout of questions directed at both of us. I was used to this, as odd as that is for me to admit. I looked around as best I could through the flashes and didn’t see any fans, so at least we wouldn’t have to stop. I didn’t open my mouth once as we walked through the crowd, but Niall did, making small comments at some of the questions that were being thrown at him.

Once we were finally in the safety of Niall’s SUV, Paul was off. “We’re dropping Paul off then we’ll be alone,” he said against my ear.

“Okay,” I said and placed a short kiss on his lips. This night has been amazing. I think we really needed a night like this, away from the drama and just the two of us.

The drive to Paul’s house was short. We thanked Paul for being the third wheel as he got out, and to give our best to his wife. Then Naill and I were alone, “Where too next?” he asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips, “We can go or do anything you want.”

I took a second to think about that. He said anywhere. “Why don’t we go get dessert from the store, then go eat it back in your flat.

“You read my mind.”

When we were in the bakery section of the store, trying to decide what we wanted, we were encountered by fans. It was just 3 girls around 15 or 16, and they were very polite thank god. They asked for Niall’s picture and autograph and weren’t pushy about it.

“Are you guys on a date?” one of the more braver of the 3 asked.

Niall nodded, “Indeed we are.”

“You look beautiful Ayden!” they smiled.

I blushed slightly, “Thank you.”

“Well we’ll leave you guys alone then. Enjoy the rest of your night!” we waved them off as they left.

“They were sweet,” I said turning back to my boyfriend.

He pulled me into him and kissed the crown of my head, “They were.”

*****

We were sitting in his living room, in pj’s with a half eaten chocolate cake between us. Him, in nothing but flannel pj pants, while I was in a camisole and a pair of his basketball shorts. I had plenty of my own clothes to sleep inhere, but I just preferred his.

“My mom’s really excited to meet you.”

I smiled as I licked some frosting off my fork, “I’m so nervous to meet her. And the rest of your family.”

“Don’t be, they already love you.”

I shrugged, “I’m just not used to parents. I’ve never met a boyfriend’s family before.”

“Really?” he asked shocked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ve never been in a serious relationship. At least not one that lasted long enough to meet the family.”

“Well don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

I scoffed, “Easy for you to day, you only had to meet my aunt.”

“To be fair, your aunt is very intimidating when she wants to be.”

I nudged my shoulder into his as I giggled. “Are you excited about Madison Square Garden? Only a week away!”

He hummed as he swallowed his cake, “Yeah, I’m so excited! And Ed’s opening and we’re filming it for our movie. It’s such a massive deal for our career!”

“Well I’m excited to see Ed Sheeran. Oh, can you introduce us?”

He glared at me, “You love testing my jealous side, don’t you.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I smiled sweetly. He rolled his eyes causing me to laugh, “I don’t even know why you have a jealous side. I don’t even notice other guys anymore… Well unless it’s Prince Harry.”

“Here we go again,” he exalted.

“Oh like I don’t know you find Khloe Kardashian extremely fit?”

He held up his hands in surrender, “Okay, you got me.”

I threw my arms up in triumph, “Yes! I win!”

“Oh shut it,” he said before I felt him smack cake on my cheek.

I looked at him shocked, “You did not just do that!”

“I think I did.”

I wasted no time tackling him against the floor. He laughed from under me as he reached up and dragged his finger in the frosting of my face. He licked his finger clean, “Yum, you taste delicious.”

“You wanker!” I said before I grabbed a handful of cake and smashed it across his face in retaliation. He flipped us over and smeared more cake across my chest, “Niall!” I shrieked. The room was full of his laughter before started to eat the cake he had just smeared across my cleavage. His tongue glided against my skin and sent chills all over my body. He kissed and liked up my chest and neck until his lips met mine. I moaned against his mouth as low growl erupted in the back of his throat. The kiss was full of chocolate frosting.

I raked my nails down his back as his hands pushed my cami up. My skin was on fire where he touched me. I thrusted my hips into his causing his to growl in approval. He was kissing down my neck again, getting into it, when I reached over and threw a handful of cake into his hair. His lips froze on my skin. I giggled as I smeared it into his blonde locks.

He pulled back and stared down at me with a glare, but there was a smile on his face. “You think you’re clever don’t you?”

I shrugged, “I have my moments, yes.” I leaned up and licked some frosting off his cheek.

He moaned when I did so and rotated his hips. I could feel his excitement against my waist. “Looks like we need a shower.”

“Yeah. You go first,” I smirked.

He scoffed as he jumped up and threw me over his shoulder, “I’m a firm believer in conserving water!” he said excitedly as he ran us down the hallway.