anchors_larry's One Direction One Shots

Fading Kisses - Niall Horan

After a long day of grading the final assignments of the school year, Ashlee was finally heading home. On a regular night, she would be home by 6 pm or 8:30 at the latest but because it was the last week of school, she had stayed back until 11 pm. As she pulled up the driveway, she noticed the lights in the house were off. Maybe he already went to bed. She thought, as she grabbed her keys from her purse. She unlocked the front door to their house and found it unusually silent.

Normally when the twenty-three year old came home from work, she would find her twenty-five (soon to be twenty-six) year old boyfriend snoring on the couch with the tellie on and food on the floor next to the couch. "Maybe he's in bed..." she said, slipping off her shoes and heading up the stairs. She was greeted with nothing but silence. She frowned as she checked the date on her phone. It was still April 22. She frowned. It's okay, it's just like any other day... She thought, trying to rid herself of disappointment.

"Niall?" She called out, once she reached the top of the stairs. She heard shuffling from their bedroom. Ashlee tied her hair into a pony tail and clipped her bangs in case there was someone else in the house.

"I'm in here, princess." She heard him say. She walked to their bedroom but saw that the lights were off as well.

"Why are the lights off, Ni?" She asked, slowly opening the door. She flicked on the lights and gasped. Standing there before the bed with a soft grin on his face and a bouquet of Gardenias in one hand, her favorite flower, was her boyfriend of five years from today.

"Happy birthday and anniversary, princess." He said. She couldn't help but smile herself as her Irish lad's smile widened.

"What's all this?" She asked, hanging her purse and pea-coat on the hook near the door. He took a step towards her, and handed her the bouquet but kept the other hand behind his back.

"Just a little something to show how much I love you." He said. She found his posture suspicious; usually he'd welcome her home with a warm embrace and a soft kiss on her temple, but tonight he kept his distance. And she found that terribly suspicious. Her smile slowly faded.

"You're acting stranger than usual, love. What's wrong?" He took a deep breath, his chest heaving out and then pulling back in as he dropped his eyes to the floor.

"It's been a good five years; the happiest five years of my life actually. But I think I want more..." he started, eyes still focused on the ground. She felt her heart drop into the deepest abyss inside her. Is he--is he ending it? She couldn't help but wonder. She felt the tears well up before her eyes and quickly looked up at the ceiling, trying to suck them back in.

"I see..." was all she could say. "And what more do you want?" She sucked in her bottom lip, biting back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I don't know, Ash." He said quietly, and hearing him say her name--or part of it-- made her heart drop further, if that was even possible. Since the day they started dating, he has never used her name unless it was a serious matter.

"It's okay, Niall. You don't have to explain. I'll pack my things and be out in a few days." She said, switching her gaze from the ceiling to her boyfriend. Or should she call him her ex-boyfriend? Whichever it was, she accepted that their relationship had come to an end. Quickly, he raised his head.

"No, princess. I don't want you to leave." he said, bright blue eyes never looking away from her brown ones. "When I said that I wanted more, I didn't mean from someone else. I want more from you..." Slowly, he brought his hands forward, revealing a red velvet box and slowly bent onto one knee. "Ashlee Carrow, you are my princess and no one will ever succeed you. In these last five years, you have made me the happiest man to ever exist. Wi--will you marry me?" He said, opening the box to reveal a Peruzzi cut diamond that rested in the middle of a gold band.