Canon

Niall’s Point of View

‘So, NYU?’ My mom muses from across the table. ‘I am so proud of you, Niall.’ I simply nod my head in return, not sure how to respond. Over the years, I didn’t have my parents beside me to tell me how proud they were. I stopped expecting it from my dad while he tried to numb his pain with endless cases of cheap beer. I stopped caring. As long as I could halfway look at myself in the mirror, I was fine. ‘Will Lizette be joining you?’ She wonders cutting into my thoughts, ‘I know that you two are sort of a package deal at this point. Wherever one goes, the other comes right along. It’s sweet.’

‘No,’ I answer, shifting over in my seat uncomfortably, ‘Lizette will be at Georgetown this fall.’ Lizette and I hadn’t really talked about the whole distance thing since we got back together. I’d most likely be in New York while she would be in Washington. 237 miles away to be exact. Four hours by car. I guess we could both drive two hours and meet somewhere in the middle. If that doesn’t work, I could drive the four hours to see her on the weekends. If she was so sure that we’d make it work – so was I.

‘Georgetown?’ My mom questions, cutting into my thoughts once again. Clearly, she was impressed. ‘That is amazing.’

‘She is amazing.’ I clarify with the slightest smile.

‘I really can’t tell you enough how happy it makes me to see you with someone that makes you feel this way.’

‘Me too.’ I nod, taking a long sip of the drink in front of me.

‘So, I know that you’ve managed wonderfully without me but I’m here now. Cormac and I are happily waiting to help you out with college. I know that it can be overly expensive but I don’t want you worrying about paying for anything. Let me.’

‘I,’ I purse my lips, at a sudden loss of words. I could feel myself becoming childishly resentful at the mere mention of her husband. I almost feel like one of those kids that despised every single man their mom brought home. I know that she’s my mom and all but something about taking money from her after all of these years made me feel weird. I couldn’t describe the exact feeling but it wasn’t sitting well with me. On the other hand, what kind of dumbass would reject financial help with college? There’s a thousand different things that need to be paid for. I’ll definitely need the help. Even with the money that my grandpa left to me.

‘Just think about it.’ She murmurs, sensing my hesitation. ‘No harm in that, right?’

‘I guess not.’

The moment that I dropped my mom off at the hotel, I drove straight to Lizette’s house. She opens the door with the brightest smile that took every wandering thought from my mind. All I could focus on was her. ‘Hi,’ She beams, clutching onto a baby monitor. ‘How’s your mom? How was dinner? Did it go okay?’

‘I will answer each and every one of your questions but just come here first.’ I stifle out an amused laugh at her concern while pulling her into my arms.

‘Everything okay?’ She wonders into my sweatshirt.

‘Yeah, everything’s fine. You were just missed at dinner.’

‘Aw.’ She pulls away to look up at me with those wonderfully round eyes of hers, ‘I wish I could’ve been there.’

‘Well she wants to meet up with us before her flight tomorrow.’

‘Yeah, my mom mentioned they were going to the farmer’s market in the morning while we’re at school.’

‘I cannot believe our moms are going to a farmer’s market together. How incredibly normal.’ I make a face down at her causing her to giggle, which caused my stomach to tighten.

‘You say that like it’s a bad thing.’

‘It’s just something that I’m not used to that’s all.’

‘Never too late to get used to normal, right?’ I open my mouth to response when Lizette’s baby brother lets out a loud cry through the baby monitor. ‘Shoot,’ She mutters, leaving my arms. ‘Hold onto that thought.’

I follow her down the dark hall into an unfamiliar room. Lizette lifts up the little boy into her arms to calm him down. She was a natural with kids. Jack adored Lizette. She would listen to him ramble for a solid hour while at my apartment. Genuinely listen too. She didn’t just absentmindedly nod her head every few minutes. He had all of her attention. She’ll be a great mom one day. I would be honored to have kids with her somewhere down the road. ‘You’re staring. Why?’ She asks, suddenly shy.

‘No reason.’ I shrug as I take another step, inching closer to the literal love of my life. ‘I just feel very lucky to have you in my life.’

‘I feel very lucky to be in your life.’ She rises with the help of her tip-toes to kiss my lips. ‘I’m actually not supposed to have company tonight.’

‘Oh? Disobeying daddy?’ I smirk down at her while she sways side to side with her brother securely in her arms, ‘do you want me to go?’

‘Well, I do have an hour and a half until they get back. I just need to put Elijah back to sleep. Can you hold him while I go get his bottle from downstairs?’

‘Sure.’ I respond, attempting to mask my nervousness. The only kid I’ve dealt with recently would be Jack but he’s almost four – basically thinking that he can do everything for himself right now. Lizette’s brother was tiny on the other hand. I could practically hold him in my inner arm. He blinks up at me curiously and seemed intrigued. I’m guessing an unfamiliar face was making him skeptical. ‘Hey pal.’ I whisper, ‘Lizette went to get your bottle, she’ll be right back.’ I sit down in the fancy, probably expensive rocking chair in the corner of the room. ‘Did you wake up hungry? I’ve definitely had those nights.’

Lizette’s Point of View

I pause at the doorway to listen to Niall’s hushed conversation with Elijah. He bounces Elijah up and down on one of his legs while lightly talking to him. He even makes babbling noises to get Elijah to burst out in a fit of giggles. ‘Niall Horan does baby talk?’ I tease, shaking up the bottle before extending it out to Niall. ‘Do you want to feed him?’

‘You sure?’ Niall questions, raising a nervous eyebrow.

‘It’ll be fine.’ I chime, sitting down on the floor in front of him. ‘He does most of the work these days.’

Niall slightly tilts Elijah back in his arms and carefully places the bottle at his mouth. Elijah hungrily finishes the bottle before Niall pats his back to get him to burp. It wasn’t long before he was sound asleep back in his crib once again. I pull his thin space-themed sheet over him before pulling Niall out of the room. ‘I must say that watching you with Elijah is very sexy. You were great with him.’

‘Sexy?’ He retorts, running a hand over his chin.

‘Very.’ I whisper, opening the door to my room. ‘We do still have an hour.’

I pull my shirt over my head and signal Niall over with my index finger. He follows my lead and kicks out of his jeans after closing my door. Before I knew it, Niall lifts me into his arms and slowly eases his way down into the bed. I slip my hands under his shirt before pulling it off in a hurry. I allow my fingers to run through his barely-there curls as his lips drag along my skin teasingly. I twist and squirm under his taunting touch causing him to glance up at me with one of his smirks. I grab a hold of his shoulder to bring his lips up to mine. Involuntarily, I moan into his mouth and in return he tilts his head back with cocky laughter. He knew exactly what he was doing. I’m pretty sure he was enjoying every second of it. ‘Someone’s eager tonight.’ Niall comments, breaking the kiss.

‘Shut up.’

Niall falls beside me as I attempt to control my uneven breathing. I watch as his chest rises and falls quickly with adrenaline. With one quick motion, he pulls me even closer to him in order to leave a kiss on my forehead. ‘I better get going.’

‘So soon?’ I frown, nestling against his chest.

‘Your parents will be back soon. I know that your dad hasn’t been a dick like usual but I’m pretty sure he would flip his shit if he saw me in bed with his very naked daughter. They might come back early so I think it’s just safer for me and my ass to be far away from your bed when they get here.’

‘Fine.’ I cave as he rolls out of the bed to get dressed. I silently stare as he tugs at his black jeans and stuffs his feet down into his shoes.

‘Don’t pout. I promise that I will make it up to you soon.’ He briefly lowers himself to kiss me once more, ‘c’mon – lock the door behind me.’ I tighten the sheets around me before following him down to the front door. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘I love you.’

‘I love you.’ Niall repeats before taking a few long strides to his car.

After watching Niall’s car disappear down the vacant road, I head upstairs to take a shower and almost immediately fall asleep. In the morning, my parents were at the table with Elijah in his high chair. ‘Came in your room last night and you were out cold.’ My dad comments taking a sip of his steaming coffee, ‘Thanks for stepping up and looking after your brother.’

‘Of course. It was a breeze.’ I shrug, grabbing one of the pieces of toast from the table, ‘Gotta go. Mrs. Jameson frowns at tardiness.’

Rose and Zayn casually stroll in not too long after I did. He whispers something in her ear which makes her swat his thin arm with an embarrassed laugh. ‘We’re still on for dress shopping this weekend, right?’

‘Of course. I wouldn’t miss it,’ I chime as Niall walks in and sit down in his usual seat. ‘Good morning to you.’

‘Good morning.’ He sneaks in a quick kiss before settling down into the uncomfortable plastic blue chair. ‘What wouldn’t you miss?’

‘Prom dress shopping.’ I intertwine my fingers with his, ‘Rose and I are going to Detroit this weekend.’

‘Detroit?’ Niall looks up from his phone, clearly, I have his full attention.

‘Yeah, we’re staying there on Saturday night and I’ll be back Sunday afternoon.’

‘What the hell am I supposed to do without you all weekend?’

‘Well you could always use your imagination, or your hand.’

‘Such a smartass.’

Right at noon, Niall and I rush out to meet his mom at some diner near the airport. I could faintly remember coming here before a flight when I was little. Niall opens the door for me before I slip my fingers through his. Maura stands to her feet to greet both of us with her usual warm embrace. ‘I really enjoyed this.’ She smiles while taking a slow sip of her tea. ‘Thank you for having me.’

‘I did too.’ Niall nods his head in agreement, looking over at me with one of his nervous grins. ‘We could do it again soon, if you wanted to.’

‘Of course. You would have to be crazy to think that I would miss seeing my son walk across the stage. I just wish things with Bobby could’ve been different.’

‘Better luck next time.’ Niall speaks, without his usual sarcasm.

‘Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Lizette, I went to the market with your mom this morning and she’s an absolute treasure. Tell your parents we’ll have to spend more time with each other in a couple of weeks.’

‘I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.’ I chime, running my eyes over the menu, ‘It was great seeing you again Maura.’

‘Likewise.’

The three of us decide to hurry through lunch so we could give Maura a ride to the airport before our next class. Niall and I sit down in the cold, metal chairs while Maura goes off to get some reading material for the long flight. I rest my head on his shoulder, snaking my arm around his. He leaves a light kiss on my temple, running his thumb against my skin. ‘You and I both know how hesitant I was about this trip but now that she’s leaving again,’ Niall starts as Maura waves at us from across the crowded airport, ‘I already miss her.’