Forever Yours (Stay With Me Sequel)

Chapter 41

The initial effects of being engaged to Niall was I not being able to put a smile off of my lips. No matter what I saw or heard, I found everything appealing enough to smile for. I smiled at strangers on the road while going to office; I smiled at my co-workers whom, honestly, I've never even said "hi" or "hello" to other than during board meetings with the CEO; I even smiled while doing grocery shopping either alone or with Niall. My mind found it really weird, but my heart felt that it was totally okay. I was enjoying those sugary sweet moments of life that only exists in movies where the girl feels happy, and finds happiness in every frigging thing in life.

Of course, there was Aarav who haunted my dreams, and preyed over my happiness, but I knew that Niall was with me. And that confirmation, erased off all scary thoughts, and anxieties.

Now that the Aarav case was finally closed, I enjoyed the bloom even more - the bloom of being engaged to Niall. I couldn't remember if ever I've been this happy in life, and if ever I'll be - the feeling was invincible.

My acceptance of Niall's offer to move to Manchester with him permanently had its own perks. I had to apply for visa, and that was one hell of a long and tedious process. Staying busy with dealing-with-Aarav didn't prompt me to think about it. Therefore, on Monday night, I decided to do some research on it. It was after both Niall and I went to bed, and thankfully he wasn't in the mood to rush me into sleep. I told him that I was planning to apply for visa, and if he had any idea of how things worked. What he did next left me completely astounded.

"What's this?" I asked, seeing him holding a long sheet of paper with sentences written in bullet points on it.

"These are the steps for you to get a fiancé visa," he answered, delighted.

"And...." I scanned the sheet, and looked at him. "Do you work for them?" My brows arched steep high.

He laughed. "No," and now sniffed. "I gathered information, and wrote them down."

"When?"

"Before coming here," he smirked.

My eyes widened, and lips parted. I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to fathom even if a little, what the blue-eyed boy was saying. He on the other hand, started laughing, although I believe my expressions weren't that funny. But whatever!

"I always used to miss you like TREMENDOUSLY," he screamed "tremendously" making me laugh. "And it was becoming traumatic. I used to see Zayn and Perrie, and Louis and Eleanor, on one hand who reminded me so much of what I was missing, and Harry and Liam on the other who just partied like animals, and reminded me of what I had become without you. It's not that I hated accompanying them to those parties, but sometimes I just wanted to come home, and see you cook for me, or watch OTH with you or Friends for a change, share laughs with you, see you flip out in anger at my banter, and just be....you know, us - Niall and Lily. When I talked to you every night, I felt lonelier. I couldn't sleep well, and that impacted at work. It was like the positivity I showed to you while saying we can work it out, living in two different continents had entirely faded away. I was lost, helpless, and clueless." I grabbed his hands firmly, and looked in his eyes that were glimmering brightly.

"One day, my mom paid me a visit. It was a Sunday so I made tacos for snacks. She looked very serious while we ate, and soon after started the real talk. 'How are you, son?' she asked. 'Like you see me,' I replied, bluntly. 'I see you broken, and messed up.' 'Then I'm that,' I crunched on my tacos. She said she has a solution, but I refused to listen because I was sure it would be about hanging out with my friends more, maybe start going to the football matches Louis organized at his house. 'Where do you see yourself with Lily in say....five years?" she asked me, out of nowhere. I stopped eating, and looked at her. 'What?' I asked back. She just shrugged. 'I see us together, as strong as rock.' 'That's not what I wanted to hear. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WITH HER?' she emphasized. 'Mom, I didn't get you.' 'How long are you two gonna live in two different continents? I can see you completely wrecked, and if that girl back in India loves you too, I'm sure she also feels the same way. So, give me a solution. How long?' I bent my head down, and kept thinking about the time span, suddenly feeling it too heavy on my shoulders. 'Sounds impossible, right? Then fix it, grow up, and take responsibility.' Honestly, that got me angry, I mean, I was grown up, and hell I could take responsibility. But when mom said that she wants me to think about bringing us close to each other, I didn't understand initially. She left, and I kept brooding on it. How? How? How? And that's when I thought, I could marry you. It wasn't a snide comment or a part of my banter that I laughed about right after thinking on it. Rather it felt right, so fucking right. Distance, age, the depth of the promise, nothing could scare me. I only pictured your face, and thought about spending my whole life with you. And that's all that mattered."