Loved You First

That night Mae felt the butterflies going crazy in her stomach as she stared into the bathroom mirror. As she wound a strand of hair around her curling wand, she sighed to herself with a tiny smile. She was excited to be having a date with Niall tonight, so excited that she was getting extremely nervous and anxious. Whenever she thought about it, her hands started to sweat and she felt a big, stupid grin spread across her face.

As she let the last strand of curls go from the curling wand, they cascaded down her shoulders perfectly, which never happened so she was a bit surprised. She grabbed her make up bag that was sitting on the edge of the bathroom vanity and she applied some mascara before adding a line of eyeliner and a light shade of eye shadow to her eyes. Just as she closed her eye shadow palate, there was a knock on the door. And she knew exactly who it was.

Mae flipped off the bathroom light and started down the stairs towards the front door. Once she opened it she saw Niall standing there. His hair was a little more tamed than usual and he was wearing a nice white polo and long khaki pants with white sneakers. He had a big grin on his face once he saw Mae before him, and Mae couldn’t help but grin right back.

“Good evening, love,” Niall greeted her as he stepped into the house and shut the door behind him. “You look very beautiful.”

In a matter of milliseconds, Mae felt her cheeks heat up as she knotted her fingers together. “Thank you.”

“Why do you seem so embarrassed?” he chuckled as he looked down at her.

“I’m just…excited,” she said, glancing up at him with a bright smile. “I’ve missed our dates.”

“I have too,” he agreed as Mae led him into the kitchen. Niall sat down at the kitchen table while Mae walked towards the pantry and opened the door.

“What are you doing?” Niall asked her slowly as he watched her start to pull ingredients out.

“Making dinner for us,” she commented as she walked to the fridge and pulled out raw chicken breasts. “Is chicken marsala okay for tonight?”

“That sounds great,” Niall grinned as he leaned back in the kitchen chair. “But you really don’t have to make us something. I figured we would just get pizza or something.”

“We’ve had pizza so many times,” Mae sighed as she started to throw the ingredients together and prepare dinner. “And I thought this would be nice.”

“It is,” Niall chuckled as he watched Mae take over the kitchen. He liked seeing her work in the kitchen and to see her make things herself. It showed him that she was independent and didn’t need someone doing things for her all the time, and he thought that was attractive.

As Mae cooked dinner and as Niall sat in the chair (and got rejected numerous times for offering help), they were engrossed in small conversation about everything that had been going on—Sean, the boys, Doniya, school, their families, everything. It was nice to be alone together and to not have the pressure of having to control themselves from saying something or openly flirting because Sean was there. They could say and talk about whatever they wanted without feeling guilty about someone else’s feelings.

Once dinner was ready, Mae grabbed plates, silverware, and cups and she quickly set the table, which she was rather good at because that was her job when she was at home. She loaded both of the plate with the dinner she just prepared, and smiled as she watched Niall stare at it with a big grin on his face.

“When was the last time you ate?” Mae laughed as she set her dirty dishes in the sink. She walked over to the table and sat down across from Niall, after getting them both something to drink.

“A couple hours ago,” Niall chuckled as he picked up his fork. “But if I’m honest, this looks amazing…and I’m always hungry. Can I eat now?”

Mae laughed. “Yes, you can eat now.”

Niall let out a laugh as he started to eat his dinner, Mae doing the same. There was conversation throughout the whole dinner and everything felt like it did last summer. Everything flowed smoothly and it seemed like Mae and Niall never had a falling out. They both laughed so much during dinner, just like old times, and there was nonstop flirtation between them, which Mae loved. Niall complimented the dinner and ate it like he hadn’t seen food in years, which made Mae feel really good about herself and about her relationship with Niall. Things were great with Sean, but Niall just made everything so much better and she had no idea why. She loved everything about Niall, even his weird little quirks. And everything was just so perfect with him.

After they both finished their dinner, the plates were put in the sink so Mae could wash them later. Niall walked towards the backdoor.

“Where are you going?” Mae asked him.

“Get some shoes,” he said, not answering her question.

Without hesitation, Mae opened the hallway closet and pulled out a pair of red flip flops that matched her bright red v-neck and white shorts. She followed Niall out of the backdoor and grinned at what she saw.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said as she scanned the empty beach. There was a fire pit in the sand behind Mae’s house with a blankets all around it. It wasn’t much, but it still meant so much to Mae that Niall would put something together just because. There was a basket next to one of the towels and next to the basket was a bouquet of flowers.

Niall grabbed Mae’s hand and led her down the stairs and to the sand. They walked down to the fire pit and sat down on the blankets.

“It isn’t anything extremely spectacular, but I wanted to do at least something,” Niall said as he picked up the bouquet of flowers and handed them to Mae. “If I remember correctly, your favorite flowers are Daisies? And you like the multicolored ones?”

“Yes,” Mae giggled as she took the bouquet of Crazy Daisies and smelled them. No boy had ever gotten her flowers before, which made it that much more special to her, and she couldn’t get over the fact that Niall remembered exactly what kind of flowers she liked. So much time had gone by since they talked about flowers last summer when they were walking around the gardens of a park near the beach houses, but she remembered that exact moment and how the conversation came about.

“I brought some desserts…” Niall commented awkwardly as he opened the basket and took out some chocolate covered strawberries and a pan of brownies. “Sadly Doniya made them for me because I have no kitchen skills whatsoever.”

“Awe, that’s sweet,” Mae said as she picked up a brownie and took a bite, Niall doing the same.

“So,” Niall sighed as he stared out at the ocean. “This summer has already been pretty eventful, huh?”

Mae let out a laugh as she nodded her head. “Most definitely.”

“I must say,” he smirked. “I like where it’s going so far. It’s really nice to be able to spend time with you alone again and to just be together. Last summer was seriously the best year I’ve had in a long time.”

Mae couldn’t control the grin that spread across her face as Niall continued.

“You honestly mean so much to me, Mae,” Niall said, sounding a little bit nervous. “Last summer was so much fun, and I don’t know why I just put a stop to everything when it was over. It was a huge mistake and I would never do something like that again. Being home without you was so hard for me and I just thought it would be best if we just didn’t really have a relationship; I thought it would help the pain go away.”

“I understand now,” Mae said sincerely as she looked over at Niall. “I was just so mad at you then.”

“And I understand that,” he sighed. He took Mae’s hand in his and kissed her cheek. “As cheesy and cliché as it sounds, my love for you never stopped. I just didn’t do anything about it.”

As the butterflies erupted in Mae’s gut, she smiled wide as she stared into Niall’s eyes as he stared back into hers. Mae had been furious when Niall called it quits and she didn’t think things could ever be the same between them. Even though this summer just started, things were going back to normal and Mae was more than excited about it. She wanted to be with Niall and she would do anything to go back to the days where they would lay on the beach together or cuddle on the couch while they watched a movie. Everything was so simple between them and she didn’t want their relationship to be any other way.

Not wanting to hold back anymore Mae leaned forward and pressed her lips to Niall’s. His lips were soft against hers and she forgot what it felt like to melt into his lips and his arms. As Niall wrapped his arms around her tightly, all of the memories of last summer when Niall had kissed her came back to her, and she wanted to receive those loving kisses again and she wanted to feel like she was the most important person to him again.

Mae pulled away only for a brief moment before Niall crashed his lips back onto hers. She knotted her fingers in his blonde hair as he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him. Their kiss deepened with each second and it was probably the best kiss that they have ever shared.

“Mae,” Niall said breathlessly as they pulled away. His forehead was against hers and they were staring into each other’s eyes. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Mae nodded her head vigorously before giving Niall another kiss. “Of course.”