The Lift (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Epilogue

12 Years Later

“Come on, Niall!” Erin Horan yells down the hall of her old apartment. “Let’s get going!”

“Calm your tits, woman,” Niall laughs, quickly walking toward his wife and grabbing a jacket from the coat rack. “We have eight hours until the guests arrive.”

“Yes, one hour to shop and seven to cook. Now move!” Erin folds her arms and sneers at her husband playfully.

“I see who wears the pants in this relationship,” Katie Jeffers says, exiting her old room. “You two better not be so annoying the rest of my break because I swear—”

“Quiet, college girl,” Erin teases her sister. “Get in the Thanksgiving spirit!”

Katie rolls her eyes and walks away, muttering something about turkey.

“You ready?” Niall asks, holding the door open for his wife.

“What a silly question. Of course I am.”

Erin and Niall walk out of the apartment building.

“This would be much quicker if we had the car,” Niall complains.

“Well you can blame my mom’s boyfriend for that,” Erin says. “A sweet guy, really, but he’s got some rotten luck. I told him he could drive the car to the movies with mom and it ended up being hit by three different old ladies.”

“Well is there a quicker way to Stop & Shop?” Niall asks.

“Um… we could take a detour down Mulberry. That should speed things up.”

The couple walks hand in hand to Mulberry Street, chatting and laughing just as animatedly as they’ve been doing for more than a decade. They walk down the street happily but suddenly Erin pauses at a building. It is brown with two potted plants framing the door.

“Niall do you know what this is?” Erin asks, gesturing to the whole building.

Niall nods. “Want to go in?”

It is Erin’s turn to nod. She has become oddly quiet.

The pair enters the building, the door’s bell ringing loudly. A thin Asian woman in a sweater looks up at them, her face pleasantly adorned with smile lines.

“May I help you two?” She asks.

“We’re just… reminiscing,” Niall answers. “Are you Ms. Nagami?”

The woman looks surprised. “Yes, I am! But how do you know me?”

Erin steps in. “Do you remember about twelve years ago you found two kids stuck in a broken elevator?”

Ms. Nagami’s eyes widen with recognition. “Yes! I do. Almost got fired after that.”

“What happened to the janitor?” Niall asks. “What was his name? Warren?”

“He still works here,” Ms. Nagami sighs. “Not coming into work today, though, fortunately for me.”

Erin and Niall both nod.

“Is that elevator still broken?” Erin asks.

“Nope,” Ms. Nagami replies brightly. “Got fixed a few weeks after we found you. Hasn’t had a single problem since.”

“Okay, thank you,” says Niall. He grabs his wife’s hand and leads her to the elevator, presses the “Up” button and they both step in.

The place has changed in a decade. Gone are the broken elevator implements and cracks in the walls and ceiling. Replacing those is a chic, high-tech elevator that is slowly piping in classical music.

Without consulting the other, both Erin and Niall sit down and watch the elevator doors close.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Niall smiles at his wife. “I never expected us to come back here again.”

“I’ve learned not to try and expect things when it involves you,” Erin replies. “Things always turn out differently than I think they will.”

“And that’s just how I like it.”