Loved You First

“So, are you having fun so far?” Sean asked Liam curiously as the two of them sat out by the pier. After Mae went out with Niall, Sean called Liam and they decided to grab a bite to eat and then sit out by the pier. Neither of them were in the mood for a movie or just walking around the streets, so looking out at the ocean was the only thing they had in mind, even though that wasn’t what most guys would prefer to do at night.

“Yeah, I love this area. I had so much fun last year with Mae and the guys,” Liam nodded as he looked out at the water and sighed to himself. “And we have so much time left, which makes me even happier.”

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Sean agreed as he looked around at his surroundings (even though it was rather dark outside). “I haven’t been down here before.”

“So, I know this is kind of being a bit nosy,” Liam began before he looked over at Sean. “But are you really okay with Niall and Mae going out together and everything?”

Sean nodded his head slowly, confused as to why Liam was even asking. He knew that Mae spent all of last night and would be spending all of tonight with Niall, but he didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. Mae said they were friends and it was obvious that they were close, and Sean wasn’t going to just put Mae on a leash. He was never like that. He knew Mae had her own conscious and she would do what was right.

“Yeah,” Sean said, confusion filling his voice. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I mean, they dated and all, you know,” Liam shrugged, his tone casual. “I just think that’d be weird for me. I don’t think I’d be okay with that at all.”

With wide eyes, Sean looked at Liam. Mae had never mentioned that she dated Niall, but it did explain why she was so into spending time with him. Sean felt his heart sink as he stared at Liam, his jaw slightly ajar. He felt stupid for not having any idea but he was sure that Mae would have said something to him. It hurt his feelings that he had to hear this from Liam because he trusted Mae with everything in him.

“What?” Sean choked out as if his oxygen had been cut off.

“Yeah,” Liam responded as if Sean was completely out of the loop. “I thought she would have told you the whole story.”

“She didn’t,” Sean said as he felt an emptiness in the pit of his stomach. He glanced over at Liam. “But I would love to hear it.”

+

“So, what movie sounds good?” Niall asked Mae as they stared up at the list of movies that was located behind the ticket-sellers at the local movie theatre.

“I don’t know,” Mae said as studied the board.

“Lincoln?” he shrugged.

Mae looked over at him as if he was crazy. “No.”

Niall chuckled to himself as he crossed his arms. “What about Dark Zero Thirty?”

“Definitely not,” she muttered.

“Well, Miss Picky, you aren’t throwing out any suggestions,” he stated, humor filling his voice. “I’m starting to think this date was a bad idea.”

“It’s not a date,” Mae corrected him even though she didn’t want to. “How about the new Oz movie?”

“That’s fine,” Niall said as he walked up to the woman in the ticket booth. He smiled at Mae. “Now, was that so hard?”

Mae rolled her eyes and looked at the woman in the ticket booth. “Two tickets for the new Oz movie, please.”

After giving Niall the total, the woman in the booth took Niall’s money and gave him his change before handing them their tickets. Niall opened the door for Mae, like the gentleman he was, before they walked up to the concession stand. After deciding on nachos and two drinks, Niall paid for their small, unhealthy meal and they walked towards the room where their movie was playing. When they entered the previews were already on and the room wasn’t even half full, giving them a choice on where to sit.

Once they both decided to get seats in the back, they walked up the stairs and sat down in the middle of the row. Niall set the nachos on the ground to save them until the movie started, and they both set their drinks in the cup holders that were next to them. Niall kicked his feet up on the chair in front of him and Mae crossed her legs underneath her. She looked over at Niall and grinned.

“I’m excited.”

“Me too,” Niall chuckled. “Not really for the movie, but because we get to spend all night together again.”

Mae mentally thanked God for the lights being dimmed so Niall couldn’t see her face that instantly became beet red. “I am too.”

“So, what’s Sean doing tonight?” he wondered curiously. “Is he hanging out with Liam again?”

Mae nodded her head. “Yeah, I think he is.”

“They seem to be hitting it off really well,” Niall commented, before a small smile crept onto his face. “Which, for me, is a great thing.”

Mae giggled quietly to herself, and before she could respond the lights went completely off and the movie began to play on the screen.

+

After the movie and dinner, Mae and Niall were sitting in the sand on the beach. The wind was blowing, the air was cool, and Mae couldn’t think of anything that was more perfect. She watched the water as the tide rolled out and she couldn’t think of any other place she would want to be, and she couldn’t think of anyone else she would rather be with other than Niall.

Their dinner was perfect as well. They chose a little seafood restaurant that seemed to be a hole in the wall, which made her feel a lot more laid back. She and Niall could laugh loudly and blend in with all of the obnoxious people around them without having to worry about classy people glaring at them. They could be messy without being considered pigs, and nobody treated them with disrespect because they were too young to be there. Everything about the night was perfect so far, and she didn’t want it to end.

“So, how were classes this past year at school?” Niall asked as he looked over at Mae. They were seated next to each other and it was clear that they weren’t shy around each other. They shoulders were touching and they couldn’t get closer unless Mae was sitting on his lap. Mae missed nights like this with Niall, and Sean was the furthest thing from her mind as she stared into Niall’s eyes.

“They were pretty good, but some of them were really hard,” Mae responded with a slight shrug of her shoulder. “Some of my professors were complete assholes, too. I’m just glad that it’s summer.”

“Me too,” he agreed, before he let out a sigh. “I missed it here a lot.”

“I did too,” Mae said with a grin as she looked out at the ocean.

Niall watched her as she shut her eyes and let her shoulders relax in the wind. As creepy as it sounded he loved to see Mae so relaxed, and he couldn’t wait to see her like this whenever he thought about the summer. She looked so carefree and like nothing bothered her as the wind whipped through her hair, and he thought she looked absolutely stunning. He knew he made a mistake when he and Mae parted ways and he wanted more than anything to get back to where they were last summer. But he knew it would be a little harder with Sean around, and he wasn’t going to leave until the end of summer just like the rest of them, which made things harder.

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t willing to try.

+

“Bye. And thank you for a great night, Niall. I had so much fun,” Mae said happily as she wrapped her arms around Niall’s waist and squeezed him tight. She inhaled the scent of his cologne and smiled to herself.

“Thank you, love,” Niall responded as he hugged Mae back. After they pulled away from each other, Niall placed a soft, friendly kiss on Mae’s cheek. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Mae replied shyly before she opened the back door to the house and walked inside to see that all of the lights were off and it was completely silent. She tip-toed through the kitchen and up the stairs to see light coming out from under Sean’s bedroom door, and wanting to say goodnight to Sean, Mae opened the door to see him sitting on his bed with his laptop in his lap.

Sean looked up at his girlfriend, his mouth in a straight line, and it was obvious to Mae that something was wrong.

“What?” Mae asked, her voice full of confusion as she entered the room.

Sean shut his laptop and set it to the side. “So, when were you going to tell me that you and Niall dated?”

Mae felt her stomach drop and a lump form in her throat as her eyes bulged out of her head. “What?”