"Oh, okay. So what happened after that?" You ask and lazily look over at Niall who’s sprawled beside you on the couch. The sound of croaks and chirps from the wildlife outside draft through the screened walls of the porch, and left over raindrops patter off of heavy leaves to create the perfect soundtrack to a cool summer’s night.
"Well then.. then I…" he starts, but trails off. He stares back at you with his mouth slightly parted, as if he’s stuck in between words.
"What?" you ask and put your hand to your head and lift a section of your hair in examination. “Is it my hair? This humidity is making me look like a lion, I know."
He cackles lightly. “No, I think it’s beautiful and.. curly and stuff.” He reaches over and awkwardly takes a curl in his hand, rubbing it between his fingers. “And soft. Really soft.”
You shake your head in a laugh. “Alright, fine. Then what is it?”
"It’s just, like.. you listen to all my boring stories like they’re the most interesting things in the world and, like, you really care about them and stuff."
”.. why wouldn’t I?” you furrow your brow and look at him in partial jest.
He smiles at you and shakes his head. “I don’t know, it’s just.. you’re.. sometimes I just can’t figure out why.. I mean—” he stumbles over his words, obviously not really sure exactly what he’s trying to say. But you’ve heard enough to know what direction he’s going in.
"Niall.." you sit up and crawl up closer to him. “You’re crazy." you smile down at him.
"But I’m not! Like it’s crazy that you still put up with all of this and I know I’m terrible at telling stories and I still can’t get over the fact that you’re—"
"NIALL—” you interrupt with a laugh. “Your stories are fine.”
“I mean, it’s not just that. Like today I was just thinkin about you and how great this has been so far and, like, I just realized how lucky I am and how wonderful you are and.. and I just, I love you, babe. I genuinely love you, which is weird because, like, I’ve thought I loved other girls before, but this is so different and stuff. Like.. aw, man, I’m so bad with words..” he rambles, his eyes lowering to his lap. You sink back into your seat, the corners of your mouth slowly turning upward. After a moment he looks back up at you, but just before he starts again you stop him.
“You really mean that?” You smile as you slowly run a hand through your hair.
“Yeah,” he nods, looking down briefly before looking back up at you, “Yeah, I guess I really do.”
Your smile turns into a soft laugh and you lean toward him again. “I think I love you too, Ni.” you reply and flash a grin close to his face. He mirrors your expression and his eyes show both relief and excitement.
“You serious, babe?” he asks with a boyish grin. You giggle as you close the gap between your faces and plant a kiss on his lips.
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He mutters, making the both of you laugh, and kisses you back.
