Convalescence

XXX.

In the days following her car purchase, Lili didn't really see much of Niall.

The PGA tournament was now less than two weeks away - 11 days, to be exact. Nearly every second of his time was spent training or preparing in some way.

With new, heightened concentration on his physical fitness, he'd begun working out six days a week, implementing all kinds of diets and workout regimens that focused on a different body part or muscle each day.

Since she saw him less and less as time went on, Lili noticed something new or different about his appearance when she did see him.

Even though he was always in good shape, he'd slimmed down a bit over the last couple weeks, and bulked up significantly. His back and shoulders were now even more muscular than ever before.

For all his other training, including mental strength, he was at the club from open to close, spending the entire day at the driving range.

Lili knew all the extra work was necessary for him to perfect every aspect of his game before the tournament. This was what she'd signed up for when she got involved with a professional athlete.

But it didn't make her miss him any less. Selfish as it was, she wished he would take a step back.

She was lucky if she saw him for even a minute in passing at work, which was just enough time to hand him some water, a snack, and give him a kiss. It was nice, of course. Though she longed for the normalcy they'd enjoyed up to that point.

He still called her every single night before bed, which she couldn't really complain about. Even if it was just a 30-second call to say goodnight, it was nice to hear his voice before she went to sleep.

Most nights he would already be half asleep by the time she picked up, and would mumble out a quick 'I love you' before he clocked out. It was cute, because it reminded her how important she still was to him, no matter what.

It really was fine because she understood how much it meant to him and his career to do well at this tournament. To redeem himself from his last time out on the professional stage.

If this was what he needed to do to ensure his success, then she would absolutely support him until the world stopped turning.

Even if she was constantly worrying about him potentially overexerting himself.

If he kept up this horrible pace, he wouldn't even have the energy to stand when the time came. What if he was burning himself out to the point where he couldn't compete anymore?

There wasn't a doubt in Lili's mind that Niall knew his limits. After all, he'd been doing this for most of his life. But it was also in her nature to worry about the people she loved the most.

The most she could hope for was that he would take at least the day before the tournament off to completely relax so he could reset both his mind and his body.

Especially since the stress was really starting to get to him. He was constantly on edge and would get snappy with people in conversation, even if it was just friendly.

If it was any other day, a conversation leading to playful disagreement would ignite the adorable mischief that Lili loved so much. But lately, a slight disagreement led to a bit of a blow-up from Niall.

Nothing he said or did was inherently disrespectful, but it was very out of character for him and made things tense and uncomfortable.

He'd done it a couple of times with Lili. The moment he realized his attitude had gone past the point of light-hearted, he would instantly apologize for his behaviour.