Imaginary (Niall Horan FanFic)

Prologue:

They walked together down the stone paved sidewalk, hand in hand, neither one saying a word. The younger girl was smiling her dimpled, childish grin, reminiscing in the moment, taking it all in, breathing in the smells of the small wood they walked by.

But the boy, he had a solemn look strewn across his face, yet the girl didn't take notice in it, he felt it was better if she didn't know until it was time. His time.

He looked over at her and took in every feature she had, her curly brown hair swaying back and forth across her middle back, her deep chocolate brown eyes seeming to sparkle in the Autumn sunlight, and her smile. Her smile was his most favourite thing in the world. He would miss it.

After walking the familiar path, they stopped at the small park where they first met. It was what they called their 'Hideout'. It was where they would be when things in life seemed unfair, it was their escape.

The boy and girl walked to the small swing set, the girl sitting on the right swing and the boy the left. Using their tiny, nine year old legs, they swing them back and forth, slowly starting to rise and fall in the air.

The girl giggled in delight as she moved up higher and higher, "I'm going higher than you!" she yelled playfully to the boy, as if saying to challenge her with this small competition.

"I'll beat you though!" he shook off his frown and used all his strength to get higher than her, laughing in the process but also remaining a strong focus towards winning.

He finally reached a higher peak than her and yelled in defiance, "I win!" he looked over and saw her slowing down and frowning, he stopped swinging and looked at her, "It's just a game, Pres."

The girl looked up at him and into his ice blue eyes and smiled, "I know, I'm messing with you." she giggled and playfully hit his arm and ran away, "Catch me if you can!" she said between short strides in her run.

The boy stood up from his seat and ran after her, smiling wide as he moved, "I will catch you!"

She squealed as he got closer and tried running faster, but her movement was immediately stopped when she tripped on a small tree root. She fell to the ground and the boy jumped on top of her, "Gotcha!"

She whined in annoyance, "That's not fair, I tripped!" the boy shrugged and mumbled a 'but I still won'.

He laid next to her, staring at the sky and squinting at the brightness of it. He thought now would be a good time to tell her.

He took a deep breath, "I have to go."

She looked over at him, confusion etched all over her face, "What do you mean?"

He sat up and looked down at her with sadness in his eyes, "I have to leave you. You're too old for me. Your birthday is tomorrow, and by the time you reach your age, you'll forget me. It's how it works."

She sat up to face him, "Forget you? Never. But what do you mean, 'how it works'?" a tear fell down her rose tinted cheek as she spoke.

The boy wiped away her tear, "I'm not real, Presley. I never was."

She shook her head in disbelief, "No no no, you're right here. I can see you, I can touch you. You're real. See?" she poked his arm and felt him.

"You made me real." the boy stood up with tears in his eyes as the girl did the same.

He took her in a tight embrace and whispered various goodbyes.

She pulled away and kissed his cheek, but felt nothing as he slowly disappeared into the back woods.

She whispered a last goodbye through heavy tears, "Forget you? Never." with that, she slowly walked back home, the picture of his face slowly leaving her mind with every step she took.