Maybe You're Mine (a Niall Horan fanfic)

Chapter 9

A few days pass and the clients that come after Zayn are much more laid back and make it easy to forget about the wedding coming up. it takes a while to adjust to the schedule, but I've begun to have fun with it and there's definitely never a dull moment. Some clients schedule for other off campus photo ops while others came for simple family portraits or things of the like. I smile as the family I had just taken care of packs up their clothes as their kids dart across the room. They were my last group for the day and were by far my favorite. The children were twins, a boy and a girl, and had just turned four as the girl had explained a few moments before, they were the sweetest thing.

While I chat with their parents the little girl runs over and grabs a giant bear from the corner of the room.

"This is.. PRINCE FUZZY!", she announces as she begins to dance with him.

She prances around the room, pulling the bear behind her and in her excitement runs right into Niall who is walking through the door. She falls to the ground, tears forming in her eyes and immediately Niall bends over to scoop her and the bear up.

"Sh, hey it's okay," he coos as he walks over to join us. Niall wipes off her tears and she stares up at him, her bright eyes full of curiosity.

"Are you a prince too?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?", he questions, unsure how to reply.

"Like Prince Fuzzy, are you a prince?", she pulls the bear tighter to her as she patiently waits for Niall's answer. Her parents laugh and say not to be a bother, but Niall stays quiet for a moment, thinking.

He bends over and whispers in her ear, somewhat loudly, "Only if she can be my princess."

That statement causes a blush to spread across my face as Niall and the girl look over at me and she giggles before squirming out of his grasp and running over to hug me.

"Thank you for the pictures, Princess Bridget," she says then hands me the bear as her family finishes getting ready to go.

They grab their bags and the freshly printed pictures and head out, the children waving frantically as they are carried out of my office. I smile and wave back, looking over at Niall once they close the door to see him staring at me. I do my best to hold his eye contact as he steps forward and wraps his arms around me, a smile tugging on his lips.

He tilts my head up and studies my face then kisses my nose, making me giggle.

"Will you be my princess?", Niall questions, his bright blue eyes now holding the same curiosity the little girl had had not long ago.

"Are you asking me out?" "You don't have to say yes, but I suppose," he looks at me sheepishly and I blush again, taken back by his question.

Niall was asking me to be his girlfriend, this is what I'd hoped of since we met, but I never really believed it would ever happen. I look down, avoiding his gaze as I think through the reality of what was happening. I've only been with a few other people in the past and somehow every one had ended in disaster, the worst being my last boyfriend, and I didn't want that to happen with Niall. I look back up and his expression is still hopeful, but his eyes now have less of that curiosity they had when he asked. I frown and poke the spot where his eyebrows were starting to wrinkle together, getting a soft smile in response. We stay quiet a while and as I look into his eyes, there's something reassuring in their depth and I can tell that Niall wouldn't be like those other guys.

I tilt my head and smile up at him, "As long as you promise you're the prince and not the frog."

He grins and leans down, kissing me slowly and softly, a low hum of pleasure escaping from his mouth as we pull each other closer and my hands find their way around his neck. I try not to giggle as he kisses down my neck to my collarbone, the sensation sending tingles up and down my body. He nips at the skin at the base of my neck and I find my arms tightening around him. As he continues he leaves his mark on me and, to my surprise, it isn't as painful as I suspected. I've never had a love bite before, to be truthful most of the others I'd been with weren't exactly fans of kissing. There were always strings attached and maybe that's why they left, I would always refuse their requests, but Niall wasn't them. He grins into the mark he had just left and turns slightly to whisper in my ear.

"You're my princess."

I smile, liking the sound of that and close my eyes, resting my head on his chest.

"And you're my Prince Charming," I whisper happily.

He pulls away slightly and takes my hand, "Care to dance, my lady?", he asks in an official sounding voice and I can't help but to laugh.

"Why of course good sir," I say, mimicking him and he takes me in his arms again as we begin to waltz around the room.

I lean my head on his shoulder and smile,"Where did you learn to dance?" We swirl around the room and I look down, trying to match my clumsy feet with his graceful movements.

"My mom made me take lessons," he chuckles, "There's not many guys in the family and she wanted my sister to have a partner."

I look back up, into his eyes, pondering what he said. He hasn't told me much about his family, just that he hates to be home, but how could he hate that when he talks about his sister with such kindness in his eyes?

Niall slows the dance down and looks at me, puzzled. "What are you thinking about?"

I blush and look away, realizing that I was staring. "W-why don't you ever like being home?", I ask after a moment, "you seem to really love your sister and I just.."

Our dance halts and Niall frowns as he looks down at me. "I do," he whispers and I immediately regret asking.

We stand in silence for a few moments and Niall sighs, "Erica.. That was her name.. She um, died a few years ago.. In a car crash," his eyes tear up and I can't help but pull him into a hug.

"Niall I'm so sorry," I whisper and he shakes his head.

"It's not your fault, you were just curious," he smiles. I watch as Niall wipes his eyes, feeling terrible that I had brought this pain to his eyes at such a happy moment. "After that my family just grew apart I guess," he mumbles into my hair. I pull him closer and he draws my face up to look at him. "Hey, don't worry about that, I'm sure she's happier now," a corner of his mouth draws up and I can tell that he meant it. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

I focus my attention entirely on him as I notice he changes the subject."I don't think so, Kristi has a date tonight, I doubt she'd want me tagging along."

"Why don't I take you to meet some of my friends?"

END CHAP 9