In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Seven 

Warning: ADULT CONTENT

Roxy’s POV

“You good to drive?” I asked, a formality. I knew he would never even consider driving if he was too buzzed, especially since Ryan could just as easily crash here for the night. He nodded and quickly kissed my forehead before heading out the front door. I waited until he was out of ear-shot. “See you in a couple of days, then?”

“Yeah.” Ryan replied, pulling on his hooded sweatshirt, a rather poor excuse for a winter coat. “Just text me when you’re on your way and I’ll drag my ass out of bed.”

I clicked the door closed behind him and listened to the silence of the finally empty house and let out a breath. Now, we could get back to normal. Or start a new phase of normal was probably more like it. The last guest was shoved out the front door, the house officially warmed and now I could take a freaking breath, and maybe even get to spend a little time with my boyfriend.

The last month and half had been so jam-packed.

I came back to London a few weeks before Niall and did my best to get the house arranged. He still had a few boxes tucked away in one of the rooms upstairs, but the house was now a home. Our home. Too bad I’d hardly spent any time in it with him. Tonight felt like the final hurdle: get through the housewarming party and it’s the home stretch. I just need to clean up this mess.

I pulled my shoes off and unzipped the back of my dress, letting the cool air hit my skin as I climbed the stairs to find something more comfortable to wear. Without even thinking, I walked straight into Niall’s closet and hauled on his favorite pair of sweatpants, pulling the drawstring tight at the waist and cuffing it over so they didn’t drag too much on the floor. Our bed looked so inviting. It was made, for once, the toss pillows perfectly placed atop the comforter. Despite my tendency toward order and cleanliness, I just couldn’t see the logic in spending any time in the morning making the bed. But I was all about keeping up appearances, so for the sake of our little party, I tucked and fluffed and arranged it nicely.

I resisted the urge to bury myself in the sheets, pulled one of his tank tops over my head and headed back downstairs, hoping to have most of the chores taken care of before Niall got home.

Niall’s POV

I liked Roxy’s brother, but we didn’t really have all that much in common. Most of the time I’d spent bonding with him had been done over a video game. Despite the fact that we were nearly the same age, I couldn’t help but feel much older. Ryan was the kind of guy that landed wherever the wind led him, and stayed until the next gust kicked him up. He was only ambitious enough to make enough money to get by and didn’t have any long-term goals, at least none that I’d heard about. He’d been in London long enough to have a group of friends, and I’d even seen him bring girls around occasionally. But, I doubted he was looking for anything serious.

“Do you think your parents would ever consider moving here?” I asked, clearing the few random snowflakes from the windscreen, the wipers dragging noisily on the glass. Ryan laughed lightly and considered my question.

“Maybe.” He offered. “But they’re so…I don’t know. They like their routine.”

“Right.” I said. “But they also have their kids living their lives on the other side of the planet. Don’t you think they feel like they’re…missing out?”

Ever since spending a few days a home with Roxy and her parents, I couldn’t stop thinking about this stuff. She rarely ever talked about being homesick, but I just knew in my heart that she would be happier if they were around. Not that she was unhappy; I just saw the potential for her life to be even better. But, I didn’t know the Collinses well enough to judge whether an international move was even something they would consider, and I certainly didn’t want to ask Roxy about it and get her hopes up. At this point, I was just asking the question.