Church Boy ♱ nh

Prologue

After Niall was born, his parents split, and his mother moved far out into the Irish countryside. She left Niall with a kiss on his forehead and her Bible. His father, on the other hand, packed up the small child and their modest belongings, and took residence in a small town in America. There, he could easily obtain a degree in Theology and pursue a career in the Catholic church. Faith had always been a strong part of Niall's life, and obviously that was even further enforced when his father became a priest. Now it was no longer just Sunday, or prayers every night before dinner. Now it was Niall's entire life, his entire existence, revolved around his faith. He only associated with those in his church. All of his friends were practicing Catholics, gospel was the only music he listened to, and his favorite book to get lost in was the Holy Bible.

To sum it up, Niall was, in all ways... a church boy.

He didn't live in a rural area, but he didn't exactly live in the heart of the city, either. The street on which he lived was only busy with the other people that also lived on that street. There were a number of families that lived on Niall's block, some with young children, some with teenagers in the house. Niall knew nothing more about them, because none of them were members of his church. They were simply neighbors to him. 

He lived right next door to a young lady, with whom he attended school. Her name was Winter and her family was no better off than his, when it came down to it. Her parents were also split, and she lived alone with just her mother. However, Winter was in no way an overly religious person and of this, Niall was well aware. He knew it from the moment he first even laid his eyes on her. They were neighbors but they hardly ever spoke with one another. There had been times when the two would run into each other while checking the mail, or Winter might spot Niall refilling the font of holy water that they kept beside their front door. But they didn't really spend time together and a simple nod was the only way they acknowledged each other at school.

Winter got A's and B's in school but she hated being there. She'd rather spend her time doing something she enjoyed, rather than being locked captive in a building full of rude kids with fat heads. She felt inferior compared to them, and perhaps this was why she despised the school setting so much. When she got home, the first thing she'd do besides throw her backpack down was turn on some music to relax with. And then she'd find a snack and mosey around to her homework about three hours after she'd walked in the door. Her mother worked long shifts in an office and she often wasn't home by the time Winter got home from school. She got along fairly well with her mother, but there were times when she felt overwhelmed and the only person she had left to scream at was the very woman that brought her into this world.

Her path had crossed with Niall's at very few times, but it was enough to know that he wasn't the type of person she wanted to be friends with. He seemed nice, but he was consumed by his religion and that was something that Winter would find far too difficult to accept. He was so sheltered, he knew so little about the real world, because his world was the one that God had created for him - and that world was happy and free of evil. The real world, the reality in which everyone else lived, was far from the place Niall had put himself. So he was often distanced from society and the kids in his school. When a video went viral on the internet, or a new word became a trend, Niall knew little to nothing about it, and for these reasons... well, he was hard to socialize with. And that's how Winter saw him. Someone who just didn't fit in with reality.

**This started as an imagine, and now I'm deciding to expand it into a fanfic. I got a lot of positive feedback from this idea when I posted it as an imagine, so I'm hoping everyone will enjoy the fic version, as well! Thank you so much for reading! -A :)xx**