In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty-Five 

Roxy’s POV

Niall rolled out of bed surprisingly easily, albeit at ten o’clock. He shuffled his feet, still waking, and came upon his jeans and shoes at the foot of the bed. His eyes looked down, finally noticing that he was in his boxers. He gave me the double eyebrow raise. “How was I?” he said.

“You must be joking.” I said, scooting my body to where he had been laying, reabsorbing the heat he left behind. My arms reached under his pillow and I brought it to my chest, taking in a deep breath.

He shrugged, and tickled the bottom of my foot which stuck out beyond the tangled covers. “Must have been a dream then. You were fantastic as usual.” He said, kissing me on the forehead. “I’ve got to run home and change. I’ll be back to pick you up around noon.”

I was officially awake now, having been brought back to the reality of the day. In a few short hours, I was going to be meeting his mother. For some reason, I was incredibly nervous. I had my outfit all ready to go, and decided to bring a rosemary plant as a hostess gift. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was unprepared. Niall was seemed oblivious, so I must be holding it together pretty well.

I took a long shower and began to get dressed. “Pennnnyyyyy.” I called loudly. The door to her bedroom creaked open.

“Whaaaaattt-yyyy?” she called back. 

“Come sit with me while I get ready.” I said as she appeared in my doorway. “I need a distraction.” She took her usual spot, cross-legged on my bed. Penny could yammer on and on about nothing at all. It was her greatest talent, and today, I sure appreciated it.  I told her that Niall had invited us to go to the concert, and her eyes lit up with excitement. “Are we going to go backstage?” she said.

“I don’t think so.” I said. “I mean, I guess we could, technically, but I thought it might be kind of fun to just act like regular fans for a day.”  Vanessa and I had decided to go full-on fangirl for the show, so we are going to hit the mall before-hand and get all the necessities. I was excited to spend some time with her without the boys, I just hope that she and Penny hit it off.

Niall’s POV

Roxy stared out the window as I turned onto mum’s street. “Almost there.” I said.When I’d moved her to London a few years back, mum chose this little neighborhood north of the city, with small homes on large lots. She wanted enough space to give visiting family members a place to stay, but nothing extravagant.

“Her yard is gorgeous.” Roxy said as we pulled into the drive.  My mother has always kept a beautiful garden. I hated it when I was younger. She’d always have me out there, pulling weeds, telling me about the different varieties of plant. Now, I humor her once a year and come by to help with the spring planting. To be fair, I’d rather just pay for a gardener. She would have none of it.

“Am I underdressed?” Roxy said, smoothing down the front of her shirt as she stepped out of the car. I looked down at my sweatpants and back to her outfit, her eyes following mine. She let out a light laugh. “Sorry. I’m a little nervous, I think.”

“It’s cute.” I said. “But not necessary.” I kissed her on the cheek and took her hand as we approached the door. “She’s gonna love you.” I opened the door and walked in ahead of her, hoping that would help settle her nerves.

“Ma! We’re here. Where are ya?” I called out.  Roxy had already found and was admiring an embarrassing photo of me as a kid, pretending to shave with my dad’s comb.  I took it from her hands and put it back on the table by the front door, and flashed her a smile. I was glad we were finally getting around to doing this. I took her hand again and led her in.