So Long

Claire wiggles into a pair of shorts, nearly falling on her face as she tries to walk before they are even halfway up her legs. She groans and stands still long enough to yank them the rest of the way, buttons them quickly. They only stopped by the house long enough to change from the clothes they wore to the interview and lunch into an outfit more suitable for the walk they planned on the drive back; she’s sure that Niall is already done changing, and she doesn’t want to keep him waiting too long.

Grabbing a pair of tennis shoes from the box in the bottom of her closet, she drops them to the floor and steps into them, wincing in frustration when her socks bunch up under her toes. She hurriedly fixes the problem then makes her way to the door. Her footsteps are loud, echoing in the quiet of the house, as she thunders down the stairs, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail on the way. She slows her steps and makes sure her phone is safely tucked away in her back pocket; Niall stands by the front door by the time she comes to a stop at his side. He grins at her, reaches for her hand. Claire allows him to tug her closer, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him gently.

“Hi. You ready to go?”

He doesn’t respond, just pulls the front door open. She follows him out onto the front stoop, turns her face up to the hot sunshine that beats down on the earth, and sighs happily while he locks up. The drive is quiet, but it’s comfortable; Claire is more focused on the feeling of his hand around hers, his thumb pressing gentle circles into her skin, and fighting the urge to kiss him senseless. It is impossible to believe that he chose her. They’ve only been dating for a day - not even - and it could still go completely ass over teakettle. She knows this, though she doesn’t care. It’s easier to pretend those worries aren’t taking residence in the darkest corners of her mind.

Brush Canyon Trail stretches out before them, and Claire swallows down the sudden anxieties. This is their first foray out in public that isn’t a professional setting where it will be easy to mistake her for his employee. She has never come with him on his hikes - she’s left those up to Mully and John. But now here she is with him, about to embark on a walk with him with no risk of being considered nothing more than his personal assistant. Thankfully, that voice in her head that says this is an enormous error that has the potential to destroy them is a small one, and the larger part of her, the part that’s ecstatic with this development, is much louder. Oh, she thinks when his fingers lace with hers, and her heart starts racing in her chest. This is happening then…

Claire is completely unsurprised that it takes less than five minutes before people start taking pictures. She is shocked that Niall is so at ease with the physical contact when he values his privacy so much. She doesn’t voice her questions, though, just accepts that this is A Thing. She lets out a shaky breath and forces herself to relax. There is no sense in making this awkward. Many couples hold hands when they’re together. Sure, most of them aren’t celebrities now dating their freshly-fired personal assistants, but Claire finds that irrelevant. Niall glances at her from the corner of his eye, his gaze darting down to their entwined hands.

“Oh. Sorry. Are… are you okay with this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You made a huge thing about me being only your boss to the media before, so, I dunno, I wasn’t sure if this was too much.”

Claire sighs and shrugs, smiles without feeling at the woman who jogs past them. “I mean, that was because you were only my boss. Then. Now, you don’t sign my paychecks. I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.”

“Even when all the articles come out about how you only got the job because we were sleeping together?” He rolls his eyes at her confused expression, obviously misreading what she is puzzled about; is this his way of trying to make her re-think the decision to start a relationship with him? “They’re going to come, Claire.”

Claire looks around to make sure that they’re as alone as possible, then pulls him off to the side. He stares down at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and she sighs, holds his hands tightly in hers. “I am well aware of this. Niall, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy - I’ve seen what they say about Rhiannon and Louis, all of your exes and you, Harry and his previous girlfriends… I know it’s going to suck, and it’s going to be uncomfortable, I get that. Even with that, I have no doubts that I’ll be fine. I mean, I’ll have you, Rhi, Mully… Hell, my parents and Tim, Dee, too. I would tell you if I didn’t think I could handle it or if it got to be too much. But I, I’ve gotten to know you damn well over the last year, and I like to think you’re worth it.”

His breath comes out in a sharp exhale through his nose, and Niall shakes his head with a tiny smile. He tugs his hands from her grip; his palms cup her cheeks, and she moves with him, the sweetness of the kiss dizzying and beautiful and everything right in the world. She knocks his hands away to loop her arms around his neck, and he huffs out a laugh and pulls her closer. Claire is very much mindful of the fact that this is probably too much PDA for being out and about, that others are more than likely taking photos of them right now to post online and sell to the gossip rags, but she focuses on the tingling sensation that spreads through her body and the lightness that fills her. When they part, he rests his forehead against hers.

“You are incredible,” he murmurs softly, and the tender, questioning tone in his voice sends a spike of fear through her, “and I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“You didn’t do anything. Your ass did all the work.”

Her attempt to lighten the aura around them is successful - his serious expression fades as he laughs, kissing her again; it’s messy, interrupted by the fact he can’t stop chuckling. She steps back and holds out a hand. He takes it easily, pulling her back to the trail. She’s much less scared about the risks she’s running in regards to them dating, she’s too thrilled with how he makes her feel to be able to keep holding onto those doubts. The air tastes sweeter when she breathes in deeply, hot rays from the sun soaking into her flesh, the world expanding beyond view but beckoning her to launch herself off the nearest cliff and join the stars in the sky, become one with the atoms of the universe.