I'll Be Your Safety

The plane ride to London was surprisingly calm. To our advantage, Ethan slept through the entire flight, only waking up to watch the plane land on the runway. He had cheered excitedly and counted down with Niall the moments before the wheels hit the wet tarmac. The weather my first day was exactly how Niall had explained it to be: wet and cold. I found myself layering on a heavy sweater the moment we got into the airport. Once we had gotten all of our luggage Niall found a taxi to take us home. To my surprise, the taxi ride to Niall’s apartment was surprisingly short. When we got there, it still smelled the same as it had two years ago; like febreze and mint.

The next day, the first thing I did when we were finally in the new apartment was start looking for a job. I hadn’t worked in a while, and was eager to start again. I started scrolling through all the listings, looking for one that would suit me.

“What type of job are you looking for?” Niall asked. He took a seat beside me on the couch, and watched curiously over my shoulder as I searched.

“Something in biomedical science. I studied that with an undergrad in toxicology when I was in uni.” I shrugged.

“I didn’t know that!” Niall smiled “You’ve just been taking the shit jobs when we were in LA when you had all that education under your belt?”

“Eh, I thought now might be the time to whip it out. Ooh, what about this one?” I pointed to a listing “Biomedical scientist.” I clicked on the link, and scanned the page.

“I’m going to call them.” I smiled. I placed the laptop on the coffee table, and then picked up the home phone.

Niall

As Olivia punched in the number for the job offering, I waited patiently on the couch. Curious, I read over the long listing, scanning it over quickly before she came back.

“Ok, okay. That sounds good. That soon? Alright. Thank you, goodbye.” She placed the phone back in its cradle.

“They wanna see me tonight.” She checked the clock on the wall. “Crap, what am I going to wear?” She dashed off to her suitcase, and rifled through it quickly. I laughed at her sudden jumpy personality. She was cute when she was nervous.

“Aha!” She cheered, pulling out a boring looking blazer and skirt. “This looks good.” She hung it over one of the barstools.

“How much time do you have until the interview?” I asked.

“Three hours. Oh, crap. Let me see if I still have that copy of my resume.” She practically ran towards her massive purse, and rifled through it. After a few moments, she pulled a grey folder, then thumbed through it, checking its contents.

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m this prepared.” She laughed, placing everything down on the counter.

Soon enough, the three hours of Olivia’s incessant fretting and nervousness passed, and she was bounding out the door with a nervous grin on her face. Once she was gone, I watched as Ethan ran around the house, waving his favorite truck around in the air. He paused in front of me, dropped his truck on the floor, and waved.

“Bye bye daddy.”

“Where are you going, buddy?” I grinned, watching Ethan stealthily sneak off. He held a finger up to his lips, then tiptoed over to his bedroom door and, with a naughty smile, closed the door slowly behind him. I picked his toy up off the floor, and placed it back in the corner with the rest of his stuff.
My mum texted me, saying she was leaving soon to pick up Ethan. She was amazing; she was always offering to help out and take care of him. I was always willing to let her watch him; both Liv and I thought it was good he had sucha close relationship with my parents, especially since they were his only grandparents.

I knocked on Ethan’s door “Buddy, your going to grandma and grandpa’s soon. Wanna pack up?”

He knocked on the door, signaling for me to open it. I started laughing when I saw him bouncing around in only his diaper, all his clothes were scattered around the room. He was cheering and jumping from one article of clothing to the next.

“Cmon, bud. You’ve gotta put on your clothes now.” I reached for him, but he dashed away, slipping past me and out into the hallway. I groaned “Not again.”

I stuffed his clothes, diapers, and a few toys into his large diaper bag, while I could still hear Ethan bounding around outside. I heard a knock on the door and cursed.

“Coming!” I called out, snatching the bag up and dragging it into the hall. Ethan was now jumping up and down on one of the armchairs, so I snatched him up, threw him over my shoulder, and opened the door.

“Mum.” I grinned, stepping out of her way and signaling for her to come in. She glanced at Ethan and laughed.

“My, he’s becoming quite the handful now, isn’t he.” She held out her arms, and I handed Ethan over to her. He cheered and wrapped his arms around her neck.

“Yeah. He really seems to like running around naked.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“I’ll change him for you.” She walked off to his room to dress him as I took a seat on one of the barstools.

“Where’s Olivia?” She called out from the room.

“She’s at a job interview.” I replied.

“Oh really? Where?” She strode out into the hall, a fully clothed Ethan close behind.

“Some place down in central. I’m not too sure what it’s all about. I’m sure she’ll tell you next time she sees you.” I shrugged.

She slung the bag over her shoulder and picked Ethan up “All right. Well, I’ll call you if anything happens, but I’ll drop him off ‘round twelve tomorrow. Does that sound aright?”

“Sure, sounds great.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.” She backed out of the door. Ethan waved.

“Bye!” I called out, then closed the door behind them.

I was sitting on the kitchen counter texting the boys when the door opened, revealing an ecstatic looking Liv. Her hair was messy from the wind outside, and the side of her skirt was slightly crumpled, but the happiness was imminent in her face.

“How’d it go?” I asked, craning my head in her direction.

“Guess what?” She squealed, bouncing up and down.

“What?”

“I got the job!” She screamed. I jumped off the counter, and wrapped my arms around her small torso. “That’s amazing.” I sighed into her hair. I could feel the excited energy radiating from her.

“I can’t believe it, she said they needed someone as soon as possible, and since I fit the requirements, I’m- I’m hired!”

“When do you start?”

“Monday.” She smiled. “That gives me a few days to get prepared.”

Olivia

“Celebratory drink?” He cocked an eyebrow playfully.

“Why not.” I sighed. I dropped my purse on the floor and peeled my jacket off as Niall reached above the fridge and pulled down a bottle of vodka.

As I took a seat on the barstool he slid a shot glass over to me, filled up with a clear liquid.

“Watch out, this stuff can knock you out in only a few hits.” He warned.

“Oh, what? You think just ‘cuz I'm a girl I can’t handle a little drink?” I challenged.

“Fine, be my guest. Let’s see how far you get until your passed out on the floor.”

I took that as a challenge, and tilted the shot back, enjoying the slight burning effect it had. Wordlessly, I slid the glass forward for Niall to fill it up. He did quickly, and I immediately pulled it towards me and took it. I smirked at Niall, passing the glass back over and motioning for him to fill it up again.

“You sure?” He asked.

“Don’t be a pussy.” I grinned. He shrugged, filling up the shot glass one last time. I took it and watched Niall chug it straight from the bottle, but was feeling too woozy to stop him.

“Enough of the drunk drinking. I’ll make you a real drink.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stuck his head in the fridge, pulling out a carton of orange juice. I watched as he filled a glass halfway with vodka, then added a splash of orange juice.

“Mimosas.” He smirked, holding the glass up before handing it off to me. I took a swig, and laughed at his ratio of alcohol to orange juice. I drank it anyways as I watched Niall rifle through cupboards in search of something to eat. He pulled out a box of Ethan’s animal crackers, and brought it over to where I was seated. He shook a handful onto the counter, and started picking them up, forcefully biting the heads off all of them, while I was just shoving them down whole.

“You sure you’re still completely sober?” Niall teased. I stood up off the stool, feeling myself sway slightly to the right. I almost tripped over the carpet, and Niall shot his arm out to catch me.

“Watch out.” He laughed, pulling me towards him.

I stepped out of Niall’s embrace, leaving the warm comfort of his arms. I smiled up at him after regaining my balance. He smiled back, and for a few moments our eyes met. I felt my heart skip a beat as we stared at each other, not breaking eye contact. Before I knew it, he was leaning forward, and his lips made contact with mine. Taken aback, I responded immediately, draping my arms over his shoulders as he wrapped his muscular arms around my waist. I leaned out of the kiss for a moment “Is Ethan in bed?” I gasped.

“He’s at mums.” He replied quickly, leaning back for more. I was surprised with myself when I let him take my hand and lead me over to his room. Without breaking contact, we fell onto his bed, still kissing. I managed to wiggle out of the blazer, but the skirt was tight around my hips.

“Did I tell you that outfit looked ridiculously sexy on you?” He purred, helping me peel the blazer off. For a moment I paused, second guessing why I was doing this; but in my drunken stupor I couldn’t think up any reason not to, so I just continued on.

I woke up the next morning to the doorbell ringing. I moaned, and went to roll off the bed, but was held back by a pair of strong arms. I opened my eyes, realizing that the arms were Niall’s, and that I was in his bed, and that I was completely, utterly, stark naked.

“Fuck.” I squirmed in his grip, trying to wake him up. “Niall.” I shook his shoulder. He finally woke up, looking around the room confusedly.

“What are you-?”

“I gotta go get changed.” I took a blanket off the bed and wrapped myself in it.

The doorbell rung again. “Who is it?” Niall groaned, hopping out of bed and slipping on a pair of pants with no shame. I practically ran across the hall into my room, and locked the door behind me.

“Shit.” I whispered, pulling on a suitable outfit. “Fucking shit.” I swore, attempting to brush out my hair, and make myself even slightly presentable. After only a brief moment to collect myself, I walked back into the hall, where a shirtless Niall was talking to his mother.

“Mama.” Ethan cheered, running up and hugging my leg.

“Hey, baby.” I picked him up, holding his protectively against my chest.

“Good morning.” Maura smiled.

“Morning.” I replied, bouncing Ethan up and down. “Maura, thank you so much for taking him for the night. It was great to have a night to relax.”

“Your welcome.” She paused, flicking her eyes between the two of us “Well, I better get going. I’ll see you two later.” She waved. I watched as she walked out the open door, and Niall closed it behind her. Once Maura was gone, I placed Ethan down in the ground, and let him go to his toys.

“Well.” Niall rubbed the back of his neck. My head was pounding, and I could barely think straight.

“Niall, don’t expect me to do that again. I made a mistake, alright?” I could barely look at him after I said that. His face suddenly fell, and a small frown twitched his happy smile down into a frown.

“Oh- okay.” He nodded. I could tell I hurt him, so I tried not to look at his face as I spoke again.

“I’m going to go shower.”

Niall

Damn.

The way this girl played with my heart.

One moment I’m kissing her, and she’s actually kissing me back, and the next thing I know is she’s telling me she never wants to do that again. I don’t think she’s realized yet the effect she has on me. She tells me to dance, I dance. She starts taking off her clothes, so do I. And the moment she tells me to back off, I leave it and retreat like a beaten puppy.

It seems all the moments she’s actually felt something, or at least acted like she’s felt something for me, it’s been fake. It’s always been a false act where the nest morning she panics and runs off, leaving me with empty promises and a broken heart.

All this time I’ve had these feelings for her. These once in a lifetime, unexplainable feelings that take over who you are, and how you act; all for one person. For one person who has never, ever felt the same way back.

Skinny love really sucks.