Oblivion {n.h.}

Chapter 17.

The only noises to be heard outside are the chirping birds as evening comes upon us. Steven quietly twirls his shotgun in the dirt where he sits on the porch.

I walk across the awning to lean on the railing and look out over the Horan's gorgeous property. Steven's face is frail and staring at the ground. His shotgun pointing up and his hair covering his eyes to where I can't see the emotion.

Niall stands on nearly the opposite side of the railing as I, and I can tell by his awkward positioning to Steven, he's already tried to speak to him and has gotten nothing out of him.

Niall's eyes are on mine and a soft smile plays upon his lips, sympathizingly. His finger gestures for me to follow him, as he gets up from the step of the porch from next to Steven and walks off toward the West side of the house.

Curiously and obediently, I follow him, stepping around Steven and start off. I take one last look back at Steven, to see if I had disturbed him, which I did.

His hair is over his face and he lifts his jaw up, his eyes transparent with apology, but also despair, I give him one last smile before I continue walking to see Niall sitting on the side of the hill, facing the sunset taking place.

It's a weird spot of the grass, an input of the ground, before a small cliff-like structure in the grass drops a couple feet and continues as a hill.

He pats the grass next to him when he hears me getting close, interpreting he wants me to sit.

I do as he pleases and the world becomes orange from the tint of the sun over the trees in the distance. Orange cascading on white and blue, lowering quickly and soon to be out of sight.

A filter almost put over the scene, an orange that would bring out anyone's eyes if only they'd look to yours.

"Well this day has been shitty." Niall chuckles. He lays back and puts an arm over his eyes, blocking out the rays of sun that still cascade over the world.

I stare at Niall, his little stubble peeking through his jaw line and the way his little nose pokes up and out from under his arm.

"You stared long enough?" He asks, not moving, just simply feeling my eyes on him, impossibly making my cheeks burn.

"Every day is shitty now Niall." I tell him, laying back onto the soft grass in the same way he had just seconds ago. I don't have to cover my hazel eyes, the sun so fast, already dimming the sky.

"I don't think Greg is happy with your group. Steven got pretty mad." He speaks out, basically stabbing me in the chest with his words. Greg has no right.

"Steven's not mad. He's more scared." I tell him, looking over in his direction, but not getting off of my back in my laying position.

He removes his arm and looks over at me also, now allowing me to see his ocean blue eyes that dim with the sky. He leans on his arm and looks at me, his eyes glowing with color.

"He's afraid of Oblivion." I speak again, knowing Niall didn't know what to say. His eyebrows furrow and he cocks one, jokingly making me feel stupid.

"Oblivion-The state of being completely forgotten." I revert my eyes away from his and rest both hands on my stomach as I look at the first star that has popped up for the night.

Niall stays mute, and the chirping of the birds slowly get less frequent, and their songs become longer.

"When people die, you know? He doesn't want anyone else to fall into oblivion like his family did, and I hope you know he's going to do whatever he can to stop anyone else from doing it." Quiet falls between us again and I almost consider that I'm having a conversation only with myself now.

"I see." He speaks out for the first time in a while.

"Josh believes in it too. He made a promise- a pact to Steven, he told him that no matter what he'll try to prevent it from the people he cares about. And Joshua never breaks a promise."

The sun is gone now and the moon begins to become our main source of light. I look back and see Steven still sitting there on the porch, now looking up at the stars that begin to pop up into the sky, one by one.

"Niall?" I hear Greg's voice call from the back of the house, obviously he had come out to look for his younger brother. I sit up and rub off my jeans, expecting Niall to run off.

"That's my cue." He chuckles as he reaches out a hand to pull me up off of the grass.

"I'm sure I'll see you later tonight, if not then in the morning." He tells me, backing away from me and towards the back of the house.

"Niall?" Greg calls again for the young Irish boy.

"Coming Gregory!" He shouts back. "Steven gonna be alright?" He puts his hands on his hips and his bright eyes still look at mine.

"Eventually, he will." I look over to Steven, only looking back to Niall again, and his eyes still trained on me.

"Would you be mad, if I did something right now?" Niall asks, rather fast.

"No– uh what?" I stutter out, I don't know exactly what he means.

Niall takes a step closer to me, removing the large space between us with his body. "Can I kiss you?" He almost whispers, and I no longer heard he bugs of the night buzzing anymore, nor the birds chirping their last songs before they sleep. I only hear the words coming out of Niall's mouth.

I nod carefully, and he leans in close, his lips connecting with mine. Butterflies erupt in my chest and I want to explode with light.

Without thinking, I bring my hands up to his cheeks and push into the kiss, Niall smiling onto my lips, pressing his forehead against mine. He backs away, a humongous grin on his face, contagiously spreading to mine.

"Goodnight." He laughs and runs toward where Greg once more, annoyingly, calls Niall's name.

I can do nothing but stand there and smile at my feet.

"Goodnight, indeed." I whisper.

AN:

MY HEART HURT REALLY BAD WHILE WRITING THIS YAY FOR GIVING YOURSELF FEELS. Anyway, I hope everyone else enjoyed this as much as I did??? But I promise the real action is going to kick up soon and it's gonna be goooood.