Lightning in a Bottle

Niall’s tattoo was spotted at the airport in Japan. Honestly, I was surprised it took this long for it to happen since he rarely wore shirts with sleeves.

There was an outpour of comments and opinions from everyone, not just fans. The Mirror and the Sun and countless other tabloids had things to say, as well as the tellie. Grimmy talked about it on his morning show, all good things and jokes though which I enjoyed. Mostly, like always, I ignored it all. When I skimmed my twitter one night I had countless @replies from fans. Some were praises on how cool it was that Niall had my name on him, others thought we were stupid like ‘Zayn was when he got his Perrie tattoo.’ Their comments, not mine.

The kicker I think was Niall’s short, almost sarcastic tweet about it;

@Niallofficial: She’s my life. Only God can judge me! …Plus she got mine name first :p

Way to throw me under the bus!

Every night that Niall was gone, we Skyped. He’d call or text me and ask to Skype and I’d crawl into our bed with my laptop and wait for the call.

“I miss you,” he sighed as soon as his face popped up on my screen. He was lying on his stomach across his hotel bed propped up on his elbows.

I smiled, “You’ve only been 4 days. You’ll be back in 3.”

“Still too many. I feel like so much has happened since I’ve seen your face,” he shook his head. “Can’t you just come here?”

“If I wasn’t busy you know I would babe.” I tried to hide my smirk, “And thanks for telling the world I had a tattoo too. My aunt demanded to see it.”

He snorted a laugh, “I bet she really enjoyed the placement.”

“Oh yeah,” I shook my head, “Especially when I told her you were the one that did it.”

“I’m gonna have to work to get back on her good side aren’t I?”

I shrugged, “Just flash her one of your adorable little smiles, and you’ll be fine.”

“Adorable?” he asked appalled, “I think you mean ruggedly handsome.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night baby.”

He shook his head in disbelief at me, “You cut me deep love.”

“I’m sorry,” I wasn’t sorry at all.

He smirked, “You should have heard me mom on the phone.”

“Oh no, she knows too?”

He nodded, “Yeah. She was all,” he cleared his throat to imitate his mom’s voice, “’Niall James Horan! You can’t make up your mind about a wedding but you’ll permanently get her name on you? What is wrong with you kids?’” he laughed, “It was right funny.”

“Your poor mother. We’ll be the death of her.”

“You know what the death of me will be?” I arched an eyebrow to tell him to continue. “Not having you next to me every night. I wake up clutching pillows and it’s not the same.”

I rolled my eyes, “Well walking up with no one on top of me is blissful!” I joked.

He didn’t bother hiding his pout. He never was one to hide when he was whining, but I loved him for it, it made me feel loved. “Do you think you can clear your schedule for a week or two soon?” he asked changing the subject.

I shrugged, “Probably. Why?”

“Come to Ireland with me.” He picked up his phone and scrolled across the screen, “Greg and Denise are going to see me dad and the rest of the family soon and Greg says we both should come. You haven’t met all my family yet still.”

He looked back at me with so much hope in his face. It was hard to ever say no to him, like I even wanted too. “Sure, I’d love to come with you.”

A massive smile graced his face. It was one of my favorite sights, “Really?”

I rolled my eyes and giggled, “Yes. Why would I say no to that? Plus I can tell you’re homesick for Ireland.” He’d been talking about his homeland a lot more over the past few months, and talking about wanting to take a trip there sometime soon. I’d only been there once with him, for a Thanksgiving about 2 years ago. A lot of his extended family couldn’t make it, so I was excited to go back and meet everyone. “When did you want to go?”

He smiled sheepishly at me, “When I get back?”

I barked out a laugh, “That soon huh?”

“Greg and Denise are getting there tomorrow. Me dad said to come as soon as we wanted.”

I smiled lovingly at him through the screen. He looked so excited and I wanted nothing more than to curl up against him right this very moment. “I guess I should start packing then.”

He laughed, “I’ll book us flights and stuff. We can leave the day after I get back that was I can pack clean shit before we go.”

I nodded, “Okay.”

“I’m so excited baby.”

“I know Ni, I can tell!”

He sighed and rested his head on his arm, staring into the screen longingly. “I just think I need this. I want to be around the people I grew up with and take you out around Mullingar. You can meet all my cousins and the rest of the family.” He shrugged, “They’ll be yours too eventually.”

“How eventually?”

“I don’t know, we should really figure that out.” A concentrated look graced his features, “We really such at this wedding thing.”

I laughed, “We do, and I don’t know why. I want to be married to you, but it just sounds like a stressful ordeal and I’m not about that life.”

He nodded, “Yeah. I have some ideas though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep.”

I stared at him, expecting him to elaborate, but he did. “…and?”

He shrugged, “I think we should just have an intimate wedding. Just our closest friends and family. Nothing massive.”

I bit my lip and nodded, “Yeah, I like that.”

“It’ll make it more special. Just between us really- without eloping.”

I laughed, “Yes. That’s true.”

“We can figure the rest out as we go. No pressure, no rush- stress free.”

“Like us.”

He smiled, “Exactly.”

Sometimes, he gives me this look; like I’m the only person on the planet, and no one else matters. It completely overwhelms me and fills me with so much feeling that it’s hard not to burst with emotion. He was giving me that look now. “I love you,” I sighed. “God I fucking love you.” I rested against my shoulder almost embarrassed.

“I love you two Ayden. With my entire being.”

It’s so weird that like, 6 years ago, when I first met him when he walked into the bakery I never thought we’d be where we are now. I never thought that this bottled blonde Irishmen in a cheesy boy band would mean so much to me, would become my world. But he has, and I wouldn’t change a single thing.

“Hey babe,” he said pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah.”

He smirked, “Remember the last time I was in Japan?”

I shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

“Remember what we did on Skype?”

The laugh was bubbling out of me before I could contain it, “You mean when we had Skype sex?”

His smile was so big I could almost see all of his teeth, “Yes. I think we should keep up the tradition, don’t you?”

“Oh, how romantic,” I deadpanned but I was still smiling and my stomach churned with excitement.

“I love you!” he sang.

“I love you too.”

“You should take your top off!”

*****

Niall came home a day early. I found out when I woke with a start when hands circled around me waking me from my sleep. I jumped, spinning around in his arms ready to attack whoever was in bed with me, when I saw his shocked, smiling face in the dark. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wake up so fast,” he laughed.

I relaxed into him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he pulled me against him, “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home sooner?”

His faced dipped into my neck, placing a lingering kiss there before he spoke, “I wanted to surprise you. I was supposed to get in earlier but the flight was delayed.”

I smiled as he pulled back to look at me, slowly brushing some hair out of my face. I grabbed the blankets that were over us and pulled them over our heads, making a makeshift fort- our own little world. I noticed then that he was only wearing his briefs and a wife beater. I pushed one of my legs between his, affectively tangling our limps together. “How was Japan?”

He hummed with a shrug, “Can I kiss you first before we get into talking? I’ve missed these lips.” His thumb ran across my bottom lip slowly as I watched his tongue dart out between his.

I hardly nodded before I leaned in and captured his bottom lip between mine causing a moan of satisfaction to erupt from the back of his throat.

His lips moved slowly with mine- he wasn’t in any hurry and neither was I. If I had it my way, I would spend the majority of my days kissing him slowly like this.

His hand lightly tugged on the side of the button up I had worn to bed, “This is mine,” he said against my lips.

“So?” I barely had time to get the word out before his tongue was back with mine.

Niall’s lips slowly dragged away from mine and across my jaw where he nipped the edge of it. “I love when you hear my clothes, it’s sexy” he breathed. “They look better on you than me.” His lips then latched on to the overly sensitive spot under my ear causing a moan to escape my lips.

“I wonder,” I said shakily as he continued to assault my neck, “how sexy you’d look in my clothes.”

His lips popped off my neck as he tried so hard to contain his laughed but was losing. Soon his laughter was booming around us under the covers, “I just pictured myself trying to squeeze into your jeans and oh wow,” he laughed, “I’d look like Harry’s dumb ass.”

I scoffed but the laughter was in my voice, “If I recall, you too wear tight jeans.”

“Not as skin tight as that lad and that’s how your jeans would fit me, if at all!”

“They’d fit you. I’ve got hips and you… don’t.”

“Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?”

I kissed his shoulder, “Nothing. I love your body.”

“Damn right you do.”

I hummed contently as he pulled me into him against his chest, “When are we leaving to Ireland?”

“Tomorrow night. I booked us on a flight out of here at 8.”

I slowly sponged kissed across his chest, “Alright. I still have to pack.”

He chuckled, “I figured as much.”

I angled my face up and kissed his under his jaw, “I love you. I’m glad your home.”

He moved his head and captured my lips with his again, “I love you too. It’s good to be home.”