Lost in London

Reilly stared silently out the car window, taking in everything Ireland had to offer on the way from the airport to Niall's home. Next to her, Louis, who had invited himself along at the last minute, was talking animatedly about something to Niall and his friend who had picked them up from the airport. But she wasn't paying attention. Her senses were being filled by the greenery that surrounded her.

Soon the picturesque scenery turned into buildings, and then into homes, until finally the car stopped. Niall hopped out first and opened Reilly's door before she even had a chance to take off her seat belt.

Things between her and Niall had been surprisingly normal since the near-kiss almost a week before. She had asked that the boys give her space so she could do her school work, but she still talked to Niall a few times. Some of the times were about plans for the weekend, and some were about other things, nothing sometimes. He didn't mention the almost-kiss once, and neither did she.

Louis had thrown a bit of tantrum about not being able to see her all week, citing that it was unfair that he wouldn't able to see her all week, or over the weekend because she would be gone, until she finally let him come over last night. He'd brought over dinner and sat with her while she did homework. When she finished they put on a movie, but talked through the entire thing, and entirely too late into the night. And then he'd been on her doorstep when she'd gotten home from school this morning, which was when he informed her that he would be joining her and Niall on their weekend excursion.

She climbed out of the car and walked around the back with Niall. When she tried to grab her bag from the trunk, Niall pushed her hands away. He took her bag and slung it over his shoulder before grabbing his own. Louis came up next to them and picked up his bag, mumbling something under his breath.

After thanking Niall's friend for picking them up, they followed Niall into the house. He introduced them his dad, and then gave them a tour. They ended in the guest room, where Niall put Reilly's bag.

"There's only the one guest room," he explained. "I wasn't expecting Lou to come, so I guess-"

"Reilly and I will just share," Louis interrupted. "Right, Love?" he asked. Reilly just nodded in agreement, unsure what else to do.

Niall stared at her for a brief moment before finally nodding. "Right. Well, I'll let you two get settled, then," he said as he turned and walked down the hall to his room.

"Kind of seems like he didn't want me to come," Louis commented as he put his bag down and sat on the bed. He looked at Reilly, who had only said a few words since they'd gotten off the plane. "You alright, Love?" he asked, concern crossing his face.

She nodded. "I'm fine," she told him. "I can't believe I'm actually here. I've always wanted to come to Ireland. And I know it's just for a couple days, and I won't get to see nearly as much as I want to. It's just," she paused. "I'm here."

Louis smiled at her. "You deserve this. To be here. To relax, have a nice time," he said as he laid down. "Not worry about anything." He yawned. "I'm just going to have a bit of a rest, I think. Flying always makes me tired," he told her.

A tiny giggle escaped her. "That's rather inconvenient, considering your career," she said.

He chuckled. "It is, isn't it?" he said, his eyes falling closed.

Reilly moved toward the door and grabbed the knob. "Have a good rest," she said as she pulled the door closed behind her.

She wandered down the hall to Niall's room. He'd closed the door behind him, but it hadn't latched. Quietly, she pushed gently on the door and it slowly swung open. Niall was sitting on his bed, guitar in his lap, strumming away and humming softly to himself. Reilly stood in the doorway and watched him for a moment before walking over and sitting next to him on the bed.

He looked over at her and smiled brightly. "Hello," he said, still strumming the guitar.

"Louis' taking a nap. He says flying makes him tired," she said.

Niall nodded. "It does. Every time. He'll be passed out most of the afternoon, likely," he said. They sat together, neither saying anything while he continued playing the guitar for a few moments. Slowly he turned his head toward her and found her gaze, holding it for a long moment before speaking. "How about I give you your first guitar lesson?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, blush softly tinting her cheeks.

He handed the guitar over to her and then moved behind her on the bed. His long legs stretched out on either side of her and dangled off the bed. He sat close to her, and reached around and put his left hand over hers. Her skin immediately began to tingle beneath his.

"Relax your hand," he told her. He guided her fingers to the proper strings and then reached around her with the other hand. She took the pick from him and he closed his right hand around hers. The pick strummed against the strings as he moved their hands in a downward motion. He brought their hands back up and down again a few times. "This is C major," he told her as they continued to strum. After a few more times, he let go of both of her hands and let her hold the guitar and stum on her own. She played the chord a few times on her own. "Comfortable with that one?" he asked and she nodded.

He reached around again and curled his fingers over hers, repositioning them for a new chord. Once they were in the proper place, he covered her right hand with his. "This one's a little different. We're only going to play the top four strings," he told her, and moved their hands and strummed the strings a few times. "Got it?" he asked. She nodded and he let go of her hands and she strummed once before her fingers slipped off the strings.

"Whoops," Niall said as he guided her left hand back to the neck of the guitar. He leaned forward so his head was right next to hers as he positioned her fingers on the strings again. She felt his warm breath against her cheek, and was hyper aware of how physically close they were.

Once she got the hang of that one and he taught her a few more, he covered her hands with his again. With their right hands, they strummed the stings, while he occasionally repositioned the fingers on their left hands.

"It'll take awhile to get the hang of chord changes," he explained, as he continued to move their fingers. His head was still right next to hers and he started to hum. Then, softly, he began to sing along with the guitar. " Tell me your secrets, give me a friend. Let all the good times flood in. Do I love you? Do I hate you? I can't make up my mind. So let's free fall and see where we land."

It was the first time Reilly had heard him sing. His voice paused and she slipped her left hand out from underneath his. He held onto her right hand and continued to play for a little while and then stopped.

"Your fingers must hurt," he said and she nodded. "Sorry," he said as he put the guitar down and moved from behind her to beside her.

She looked at him for a moment and smiled. "It's okay," she said. "What song was that?"

"It's by Ed Sheeran, called Where We Land," he told her.

"It's pretty," she commented. "And so is your voice," she said shyly.

Niall smiled widely at her. "Thank you very much, Darlin'," he said. "You're picking up the guitar really well. You're a natural. You'll be able to play anything you want in no time."

Butterflies erupted in her stomach unexpectedly. Her cheeks tinted pink as he continued to stare at her, causing Niall's smile to grow even bigger. All the boys seemed to love that she got embarrassed so easily, and that simple fact made her even more embarrassed.

Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red, which caused him to start laughing. And then, so did she. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, but thought better of it and instead stood up from the bed.

"I didn't ask you to come to here so we could sit inside all weekend. Let's go out for a bit," he said.

Reilly stood as well, but looked unsure. "What about Louis?" she asked.

Niall just shrugged. "He's going to be asleep for awhile. He won't even notice we're gone," he said, but she still didn't look convinced. "We'll come back and get him before we go to dinner," he told her. She seemed a little more open to that idea. "Promise," he finished.

That seemed to be the assurance she needed, and she nodded. He nodded as well and she followed him out of his room, and then out of the house. They walked a few blocks while Niall called a cab. It wasn't long before they stopped and waiting, and then after a couple minutes, the cab pulled up in front of them.

Less than ten minutes later they were climbing out of the cab again. Reilly looked at the scenery around her. Everything was so beautiful, and then her eyes fell on the lake. Her face lit up, and Niall couldn't help but smile.

"Thought you might like this," he said. She looked up at him and smiled. "It's kind of a tourist thing, but it's not really tourist season."

The fact that he already seemed to know her so well, when they'd only known each other for about a month surprised her more than it should have. Words eluded her. "It's beautiful," she said. It was the only coherent thought in her mind at the moment.

"Come on," he said, taking hold of her hand and leading her toward the water.

The familiar tingling began again. Truth be told, it always surprised her at first, but after the initial shock, it felt normal, natural. And it felt weird once he would let go and the tingling stopped.

They walked in comfortable silence, but Reilly noticed that something seemed off with Niall. He should be happy, she thought to herself. He was home, and she knew how much he loved Ireland, and more specifically Mullingar. She wanted to ask but couldn't find the right words.

"You're happy Lou came?" he asked suddenly.

Her eyes shot up to his face, but he wasn't looking at her. He stared straight ahead and his face was almost expressionless. The question seemed relatively straightforward, but there was something else there. Something she couldn't quite figure out.

She shrugged, even though he may have only seen out of the corner of his eyes. "I wasn't expecting him to come, if that's what you mean," she said. He finally looked down at her and shook his head. His face relaxed a little, though, at her statement. She continued. "It's nice, I guess. I mean, this way, if you wanted to go see your friends for awhile, you wouldn't have to drag me along with you," she told him.

A smile broke out across his face. "Drag you along with me? You're welcome wherever I go, whoever I'm with. Haven't you figured that out yet?" he asked.

The tiniest bit of blush tinted Reilly's face, and she shrugged. "Do you mind that he came?" she asked.

Niall just shrugged. "One thing you'll learn about Lou, if you haven't already, is that he's goin' to do what he wants, and you just have to deal with it."