Niall One Shots

Vibrant Colours to Black and White

This was it. You were moving in with your boyfriend.

Your boyfriend is the third after "The One". You weren't sure what happened with The One... Actually, you did. You wanted more, but he wasn't ready for more (so he said). You tried to wait, but he just.. He never got to the point of wanting more than just living together and being boyfriend and girlfriend. "Marriage is for people that want to be chained down for the rest of their life." It also didn't help that you really wanted to take that step in life towards marriage.

You were cleaning out your closet, packing up what needed to be and getting rid of what needed to be. Out with old, in with the new. And that is with everything. There was some fear... But at least Louis wanted you for more than a girlfriend. He talked about long term all the time. And the best thing? You saw that with him too.

Pulling down another box, your heart stops a bit. You knew this box. This was a box you hadn't been in for a long while. You sit down, cross legged, box in your lap, a couple tears pricking your eyes.

Niall Horan was The One. He was yours. And now? He wasn't. Looking at it now... he never was. No matter how much hope you had, how hard you tried. You couldn't convince Niall to change in that regard.

And changing someone is not what you do when you're in a relationship. That's not relationships work.

Towards Niall, there were no hard feelings. Simply severe heartbreak and a small piece of hope that there was going to be a change. You two could work it out. But, time went on and so had you.

You pull out the first photo waiting on the top of your old memories. It was a photo of him you took off handedly. He didn't even have time to smile properly. But he didn't need to. He was handsome no matter what. That unruly blonde hair... God, that was your favourite shirt.

"Niall! Smile!" You giggled, snapping the picture before he could react. The two of you were 'backstage' at the pub he was performing at, chatting with some of the other acts. You would there to support him through every performance. Because, if you weren't there-he would find himself stuttering through songs.

Niall blinked at the flash, "Oi! No reason for that, petal." He chuckled, pulling you closer to him. His lips met yours and he takes your camera from you and holds it out to take a picture of you two together.

Your selfie king.

You pick up the picture that he took and wipe the stray tear off your cheek. "Oh Ni..." You whisper to yourself and put aside the pictures and keep picking through the box.

Oh the movie stubs... You insisted on keeping all of them and writing the review on the back of the small piece of paper. Niall thought you were bonkers for it, but would make sure to always keep his... Just in case. He didn't want you to go without the stub for the memory.

There's a large manila envelope. Your heart squeezes a bit. All the love notes, small forget-me-nots, and the cards for anniversaries and holidays.

You start to open some, Y/N... I love you more than I love Guinness! Can't wait for your cuddles later. Have fun studying!... Sweet Bum, Roses are red. Violets are blue. I miss you. And your homemade pizza!... Baby girl, you're my world! You light it up like nobody else! You're beautiful, even if you don't know it yet ;)... Today, tomorrow, and forever, I love you.

Your throat is thick with tears that you were doing your best to hold back. Fuck. But then you could see the shift. The notes got less and less when you asked for more relationship wise. Nobody made you happy like him... Not until Louis.

At the bottom of the box were pressed daisies and roses that he would bring home with him to surprise you. Pink daises were your favourite. If you had pressed all of them... There would be too many. You pressed a few.

Your head was in his lap, watching the clouds float by. "Here." Niall pulled the flower out of the picnic basket. "Pink daisy. Your favourite." He smiled.

"You remembered!" You teased and took it from him, looking at him. You plucked a petal off, "He loves me." You said softly. Niall nodded, leaning down to kiss you. "He loves me not." You plucked another petal. He pouts. "He loves me." Your eyes met his and he gave you another kiss. This pattern goes on until the last one. "And you love me." You said with a smile.

"Well my petal, I could have told you that before you even killed the little flower!" He chuckled and gave you another long kiss.

You shake your head and set them aside before picking up the small velvet box. It held a dainty necklace that was an anniversary gift from him.

Opening it, you sigh softly. You run your fingers over the white gold pendant and bite your lip.

"I love you." He said seriously, eyes on yours. "We've been together for five years now..." Funny thing was... You had hoped for a ring. "You deserve a piece of fine jewelry expressing how much I love you." He grinned—he had given things before you two lived together. But very simple. Your heart started to pound quickly, this was it. The ring you had hoped and prayed for. He slid the velvet box over, "Happy Anniversary, my petal."

You couldn't fight the heartbreaking moment when you opened it and saw the necklace. "Thank you." You nodded and gave him a kiss, not letting him see your utter disappointment. Because you didn't want him to think you were ungrateful. "I love you."

Within the next year you two tried a break and got back together. But it still didn't work because Niall never wanted that next step.

You lean back, your head resting against the wall, memories scattered around you. So many good, very few bad. You stopped thinking about Niall after six months with Louis. Because it wasn't fair to hold onto that going into a new relationship.

Louis walks in and sees you on the floor, "Hey, Y/N..." He frowns a bit as he looks around at the pictures, letters, flowers, and necklace. You two were now together for a year and almost six months.

"Hey Lou. Just going through some boxes. And I forgot about this one." You say softly. He knew everything and there used to be issues between the two of you with that.

But now... Your memories of Niall fading from vibrant colour to black and white and fading completely.

You pick up everything and put it back in the box. "Time to get rid of this." You say softly and look at Louis. You would keep the necklace to probably sell back.

Louis comes over and kisses your forehead. "I hope you're okay. If you need me, I'll be making us some tea." He wanted you to have a few moments to yourself.

But now, Niall was thrown back into your mind and your chest starts that familiar tightening. Did Niall have a box with his best memories of the relationship stashed somewhere? If not physical memories left over, were they in the corners of his mind? Did he ever think of you? Did it take him as long to get over you as it took you to get over him?

It took him a few years of being between so many girls' legs he couldn't keep them straight. He still didn't believe in marriage, but he finally met someone that he could see between her legs more than just once. She also didn't want to be tied down by being married. It made it easy for him to make a life with her. He didn't want to get into the mess of getting stuck of having his heart shattered because he dated and got serious with a girl that believed in marriage while he didn't. He just left it black and white with her.

With you? There were colours, bright and vibrant swirling and swirling—he loved that rainbow. You brought life and vibrance into his life. Your smile, your eyes, the sweet curve of your lips in a smile... The way you looked at him when you told him you loved him... Those were the memories he kept tucked into a small box and locked in a cup board in his mind.

But the one thing... Niall kept a photo of the two of you in his sock drawer's far back corner. But that was all he had. You had written the date on the back and a small, 'I love you'. That is all Niall had left out of a six year relationship. It was not a messy breakup. Just a heart breaking one.

Niall wasn't one to be chained down by a ring on his finger. And he never would. Now he was with someone like minded. But that didn't stop him from vacationing to that small cupboard in his mind, which made him question if you revisited the many memories you two had made.