In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine 

Niall’s POV

I didn’t give a shit that my arm was numb, I refused to move. For the first time in months I woke up and didn’t immediately open my eyes to remind myself of where I was. She was curled perfectly against me, and for some reason we shared a single pillow. I inhaled the scent of her shampoo as I came out of sleep, mentally noting the points of my body which connected with her skin: chest, thighs, knees, hand, fingertips, ankles, toes.

She sighed softly and moved her hips slightly, nestling back against me. She had my duvet pulled up to her chin as usual, something Roxy did even in the heat of the summer. Beneath it, there was only a bit of cotton between us; my Calvin Kleins that she must have found on the floor and slipped into at some point.

This was definitely on the list of my Top Ten Wake-Ups.  After a welcome home bowl of ravioli at Mama’s, we came back to my flat, and spent the rest of the night making up for lost time. A smile crept across my face as I thought about the things that came out of her mouth as I she gripped the sheet beneath her, the heels of her feet sliding against it as I held her just on the edge of release, delaying her finish just to watch her squirm. I loved that she lost all control beneath my touch. And she knew damned well that she had the same power over me. 

I had had my fun toying with her last night, and I was looking forward to the payback I knew she had in store.

I shifted against the mattress, putting a bit of space between us.

“Perv.” She murmured, noticing my swelling at her back before I could pull away.

“Your fault.” I replied.

Her breathing was soft and slow, still in that perfect space between wake and dreaming. I wondered if she was thinking about how right this felt; us snuggled together, our own little world existing beneath my duvet.

 I smiled into her mess of hair and slipped back into sleep.

Roxy’s POV

I pulled a grey sweater from his closet and pushed my arms into the sleeves before slipping the collar quickly over my head; the hem of the also-borrowed boxers just visible under its length. I fished a pair of long socks from his top drawer and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull them on, watching Niall as he stood in his towel over the sink in the bathroom as he applied a thick layer of shaving cream to his face.

I wondered why he was bothering to shave, considering we both knew it was highly unlikely he’d be leaving the apartment at any point today. He deserved his down-time.  

“Hey blondie.” I called. “You don’t have to shave your pretend beard for me. Let’s keep it casual.” He quickly rinsed the foam from his face sat down next to me on the bed.

“Just because it’s blonde doesn’t mean it’s not there.” He said, bringing his face close to mine so that I may inspect it.

“You’re a real man’s man.” I said, unimpressed. I secretly loved when he had a little shadow on his chin, but he never let it go more than a few days before dragging the razorblade across his fair skin, removing all traces of rugged.

“What do you want to do today, love?” he asked.

“Not a thing.” I replied, knowing it was exactly what he wanted to hear. Now that I finally had him back, I was suddenly feeling very Christmasy, and had the itch to do a bit of baking. Luckily, I had already re-stocked his cabinets and fridge with all of the necessities, so there would be no need for coats, or mittens. Or pants for that matter.  We were staying in today.

I pulled my hair over one shoulder and combed through it with my fingertips as I felt him staring. “What?” I smiled. He just continued, his eyes soft and his lips curled into the smallest of grins. “Ni.” I said.

“Just let me look.” He said softly. “Somehow I still miss ya, even though you’re sitting right here.”

Niall’s POV

The list of things I needed to get done before we headed off to Mullingar next week was longer than my arm. None the less, I pulled on the pair of sweats Rox laid out on the bed for me and headed out to the living room to get reacquainted with my couch. My flat was a lot tidier than when I left it, and I knew who was responsible for that.

“Which suitcase has your dirty laundry in it?” she said, standing over the pile of luggage that showed up inside my door before we got home from dinner last night. I had to laugh at her question, knowing what mayhem was zipped just inside those cases.

“I’m not that organized, babe.” I said. “I’ll go through them. Just let me find a match to watch while I tackle it.”   She seemed satisfied with my answer as she walked over to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. She opened the pantry door and stood in front of it for a minute or two, humming to herself before pulling several items and stacking them in her arms.

“Cookies?” I said hopefully.

“You’re nosy.” She replied.

I flipped through the channels and tried to ignore my phone, which was buzzing and blinking, still sitting on the table where I’d thrown it last night.  I knew I wouldn’t get much of a break, but I refused to even look at my messages until this afternoon. I deserved at least the morning to relax.

I recognized the tune Roxy was humming as she pulled sheet trays from the cabinet next to the oven. It was “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.  That same song had been stuck in my head for a week. It was just perfect, really; Especially since she had no idea about the surprise that I had arranged.

I laid back against the cushions, pulled the knit blanket from the back of the couch and focused my attention on the match, cursing under my breath at the poor calls being made by the refs as she continued to clang and hum to herself in the kitchen.

Roxy’s POV

I set the timer for twelve minutes and walked out to see how far he’d gotten on sorting out his laundry. The suitcases were still in a pile by the door, untouched. “Niall.” I whined before noticing that he’d fallen asleep on the couch. I tugged on the blanket carefully, tucking it over his feet. I knew if I messed with the T.V., he’d surely wake up, so I left it on, the chants from the crowd coming through the speakers as a low buzz. I smiled at the role reversal; usually I was the one falling asleep during soccer games.

I sat down on the floor next to his luggage and unzipped the largest one; the state of it looking as if he had fled his last hotel room home in the middle of the night. I decided that everything could probably stand to be sent through the wash, so I carefully emptied all of his pockets and divided the mess into piles of lights and darks.

I spread out some newspaper on the countertop and stopped the timer just before it filled the apartment with high-pitched beeps. I pulled the cookies out of the oven and slipped them off of the hot pan and onto the newspaper to cool. Eyeing the dishes piled in the sink, I decided to let them sit a while longer and wiped my hands on the towel.

I carefully pulled one corner of the blanket from beneath his arm and slipped my legs in next to his. This couch wasn’t nearly big enough to sleep two side-by-side, but I couldn’t resist trying. He stirred enough to notice my presence and he held the blanket up for me as I got situated. I tucked my arm beneath my head and buried my face into his chest as he let the blanket fall back around us and his arm hugged tight against my back to prevent me from slipping off.

He whispered something I couldn’t understand, but I didn’t ask him to repeat it. My heart fluttered none the less.