Canon

A low, annoyed groan falls from Niall’s pouting lips as I leave his bed to stuff my feet down into my Vans. I offer him a sympathetic smile that I’m sure he hated as I snake my arms around his neck. I hated leaving him right now. All I wanted to do was hold him. Listen to his breathing. ‘I should get going. I’m already pushing it with my curfew. I just don’t want my dad to have any reason for us not to see each other anymore. So, I think it’s best that we behave for a little while.’

‘Alright,’ Niall caves as he presses his lips to my temple, burying his head into the crook of my neck. ‘I’m sorry.’ He mutters against my skin, sending an electric current down my spine.

‘What are you sorry for?’ I question in return while allowing my fingers through his thick, dark hair. It was amazingly soft. And soothing. I could play with it for hours. I loved his hair. Especially when he didn’t put his usual product in it – it was flat against his forehead, making him look a few years younger than he actually was.

‘Doubting us, doubting you.’ He whispers, almost as if he didn’t want to utter the words out loud. ‘After everything that we’ve been through, I should know that we are very much stuck right here with each other. For the long run.’

‘Stuck.’ I nod through a laugh, ‘I am not going anywhere, bub.’

Niall trails behind me as I press the circular elevator button. His tattooed arms making their way around my waist before the doors had their opportunity to shut. My back gently presses against the wall as Niall places all of his weight against me. My hand itches against his slight stubble. ‘So, my mom still wants to come to graduation in a few weeks. With her husband and their daughter. I talked to her for like an hour when I got back and I just felt shitty the way I didn’t mention the whole arrest thing.’

‘Why didn’t you? I mean, Damon set you up. It’s not like there’s any truth behind it. I’m sure the DA will be more than happy to explain it all to her. I think that she needs to hear this from you. Especially if you want to better your relationship with her – there can’t be any secrets.’

‘Jesus, you and your pesky moral compass.’ Niall mutters as he tilts his head back with a loud laugh, ‘Always making me do the right thing.’

‘And that is why you love me so much, right?’

‘Right.’ He confirms pressing his forehead against mine just as the doors slide open. He politely nods his head over at the tall, slender man behind the counter while never breaking the grasp on my waist.

The dark, warm air greets us as we walk through the crowded parking lot. A couple struggle to get to the door with their lips connected as they walked. Niall finally releases me, only to open my car door. ‘I love you, Matthews.’

‘I love you too, Horan.’ I muse, my lips lingering against his. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

When I make it home, my parents are in their usual place on the couch. Elijah isn’t around so I’m guessing he’s sound asleep. I pause in the hallway before turning on the heel of my shoe to face them. ‘Dad, did you tell Niall to end things with me?’ I blurt, as they sense my ongoing stare.

‘Not in those exact words.’ He answers, nervously placing his eyes back on the TV. Apparently, the Mr. Clean commercial was more interesting. His thick eyebrows are suddenly knitted together as he glances from my mom to me. ‘What’s with those looks?’

‘Did you really do that?’ My mom wonders, shifting slightly away from him on the couch, ‘C’mon - I really thought we were over this.’

‘I’m sorry to be the bad guy here but yeah I wasn’t too thrilled when I found out my daughter was hiding what she does in her spare time. I’ve tried to be supportive of whatever this is but we’re back to square one with the secrets and the lies. Of course, I brought up the idea to him about keeping his distance. As a parent, I will always want what’s best for you Lizette – I’m not apologizing for that.’

I bite my tongue before repositioning my purse on my shoulder. Niall still needed his help just until this was all behind him. I doubt that my dad would let Niall sit in a dark corner at the station for Damon’s crime – but just to be sure, I needed to stay on his good side. I could hear him still pleading his case even after I went to my room. Their voices echo down the hall as I curl up under the sheets wearing Niall’s Derby Country shirt. I pull my thickest pillow over my head to drown out the ongoing argument down the hall. The next morning, Niall is getting out of his car as I pull into the parking lot. I press my horn twice to get his attention and he comes to a stop on the stairs. ‘Good morning.’ I beam, happily falling into his open arms.

‘Morning.’ His long fingers are intertwined with mine as he leads the way to his locker. ‘So, I talked to my mom this morning – it went as well as you would expect. It was a lot of silence. I guess she didn’t think that I would be wrapped up in something like this. I could tell how disappointed she was. I wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped out of coming to the graduation at the last minute.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true. She wouldn’t miss seeing you walk across the stage especially since she never got that with Greg. You know how much she regrets missing out on so much with you guys.’ I insist, and I could see how tense he got at the mentioning of Greg. ‘It’s just a lot to process. Maybe she didn’t want to respond just yet because she doesn’t want to say the wrong thing.’

‘Maybe.’ He mutters, clearly unconvinced.

As I open my mouth to respond, I notice Zayn. He was dressed in an all-black suit with a hand drawn portrait of Rose. Red balloons and roses covered her blue, metal locker. PROM? was on the ground by his impressively shiny dress shoes as he anxiously rocked back and forth. Clearly, he was out of his comfort zone. Rose strolls in with wide eyes and her manicured hand slapped over her mouth. ‘So, what do you say?’ Zayn speaks as she wraps her arms around his neck. ‘Is that a yeh?’

‘Yeah.’ She blabbers excitedly and the hallway erupts with cheers. ‘Of course it is.’

‘Wow.’ I look up at Niall as he follows me into homeroom while everything else dies down in the hallway, ‘Zayn really went all out, didn’t he?’

‘Uh huh.’ Niall speaks, not taking his blue eyes from his phone screen. Clearly, his head was somewhere else. Damon. His mom. My dad. I’m not sure which was preoccupying most of his thoughts right now. Rose comes in with her portrait and a rose tucked neatly behind her ear. She was literally glowing so was Zayn. Zayn definitely seemed more relaxed. Niall catches my stare and replies with an amused smile, ‘Hey, what’s the matter?’

‘Everything’s fine.’ I plaster a smile on my face before focusing on my Trigonometry assignment as Niall taunts me for working at the last minute.

‘Hey, are you ready for lunch?’ I ask as Niall meets me in the hall by the main entrance. ‘McDonalds awaits.’

‘Come talk a walk with me first.’ He murmurs with a coy smile playing on his face as he extends a hand out to me, ‘I think that McDonalds will be there when we’re finished.’

‘Okay.’ I purse my lips nervously, following his lead down the near-empty hallway. ‘What are we doing, Niall?’

‘I just want to show you a couple of things, that alright?’ Niall comes to a stop in front of the trigonometry room and pulls me in behind him, ‘I remember when I first saw you in this very room. I was late, not surprising. You were just right there in the front, ready to soak it all in. I remember how I couldn’t stop looking at you, that’s when you turned around and I thought for sure you were about to tell me off for staring but that’s when I realized you were staring too. You were so shy and so beautiful. Here.’ Niall places a polaroid of me at the board explaining a problem to the class earlier this year. ‘C’mon.’

‘What is this?’

‘Just indulge me for a minute, baby.’ Niall stifles out an amused laugh walking up the metal bleachers near the track. ‘I remember watching you run the first day of gym. I couldn’t comprehend how someone could look so good after running a mile. You did. Easily. You were right there and I think I said something about your staring, just to get you to talk to me. Just to hear your voice. I even ran that damn mile the next day just to talk to you some more. Here you go.’

Another polaroid. This time this one was me sitting inside the gym on the bleachers. ‘When do you take these?’ I look up at him with a laugh, ‘I didn’t even notice that you did.’

‘Um, I’m pretty sure you were pissed off at me that day so I took an unexpecting photo. Are you ready for the next place?’

‘I think so.’

‘Why the nervousness. You trust me, don’t you?’

‘Of course. Lead the way.’

Niall stands in the parking lot, with his toned back facing me. He looks up at his car and then back at me, fumbling with a polaroid in his hand. ‘Right out here was when you ditched homecoming for me. I remember thinking how cool it was to skip out on dances or whatever, but thinking back – I’d go, with you. I remember when you came out, gorgeous as always. I’m pretty sure that was when I began to trust you. I brought you back to my house and you get a first look at how screwed up my life was but you didn’t falter. Here you are.’ A third polaroid was placed in my hands. ‘Alright, we just have one more stop.’

I slide down into Niall’s car and excitedly fasten my seat belt as he jogs around the back of the car. The engine purrs to life and Niall doesn’t waste any time leaving the parking lot. I glance at my phone to see we only had fifteen minutes for lunch so clearly he was rushing. Thankfully, McDonalds was a straight shot down the street with minimal red lights. ‘You know that I couldn’t leave out McDonalds seeing how I’ve eaten here just about every single day at lunch with you.’ He explains as he opens the glass door, ‘This wouldn’t be complete without it.’

I glance around the near-vacant building to see a white banner with Lizette, will you go to prom with me? neatly written across it. Niall places one more polaroid in my hand as he holds me in front of him. ‘So, what do you say?’

‘Yes!’ I beam hiding my face in his shirt as the workers clap from behind the counter. ‘When – how did you plan all of this? I thought you were just going to buy tickets and be done with it.’

‘Hey, I wanted to do something nice for you for once. Is that a crime?’ He defends playfully with his grin never leaving his face, ‘How’d I do? Are you happy? That’s all that matters to me.’

‘You did so good! I love you.’

‘I love you.’

Of course, Niall had our food already waiting for us at the counter just so we could eat it in the car on the way back to school. It was perfect. From beginning to end. Actually perfect. The polaroids, the McDonalds, the secrecy – it all screamed Niall. I couldn’t stop smiling even if I wanted to. I was on the highest cloud with no intention of ever coming down.