Songbird (A One Direction Fan Fiction)

Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

                The midnight sky sets my mood, as I sigh once more before wiping my tears away and forcing myself to get up and get ready for bed. I walk over to my closet and pull out some sweats and an old rock t-shirt my dad had given to me. I shuffle over to the bathroom and set the clothes down.

                Remembering that I left my hair down, I shuffle back to my room and rummage through my draws for a spare hair tie.

 I hum a tuneless melody as I search. I’m pulling my long curly hair into a loose pony tail, when I hear a noise. I stop dead in my tracks. I’m really paranoid about noises, especially late at night, but this one actually sounds like a song. Listening closely, I think I recognize to tune.

I must be going crazy, I think to myself.

Just then, I hear a thud. I stop, not sure whether or not I heard correctly. I’m about to unfreeze when I hear it again, an unmistakable ping coming from my window, as if something had hit it and bounced off. I head over to my window and throw it open, praying that there’s not a psychotic axe-murderer waiting for me on the other side.

Instead, the music grows louder, guitar chords straining and singing into the cool night air. I look down and my heart skips a beat.

Niall is below my window, his skilled fingers strumming a melody on his guitar. He looks up at me shyly in my window before looking down again and softly singing;

“Steal my heart, and hold my tongue. I feel my time, my time has come. Let me in, unlock the door. I’ve never felt this way before.”

I don’t wait for him to finish. The knot in my chest is too great, bursting with the knowledge that he’d come back. And not only that, he was singing one of my favorite songs to me, his sweet Irish voice filling up the night sky.

Without thinking I run out of my room, down the stairs, and to the door. I somehow manage to make quick work of the lock on our trick screen door, but to my swimming mind it feels like it had taken ages.

Finally, I made it outside, my bare feet running across the grass to where he stood, still softly strumming the melody on his guitar.

“…For you I’ve waited all these years.” He finishes, letting the last chord drift off into the night sky without finishing the chorus.

“Niall—“ I shyly, choke out. The reality of the situation weighs on me now that his song is finished.

“Emily,” he interrupts me, his eyes imploring my face. “I—“ He stutters and runs his fingers through his hair. He looks away from my face, and out toward the empty street, the glow from my lamppost illuminating only parts of his face. “Emily, I really like you.” He says after a pause.

I don’t know what I feel at that moment. My heart is beating like a drum in my chest and butterflies seem to have found a way into my stomach. I look down at the ground, as leery of his gaze as he is of mine. “I really like you too, Niall.”

His head whips back to me from the deserted street, and feel his body step closer to mine.  A finger finds its way under my chin, inching my gaze to look at him from where they were intently looking at the side of my house.

His gentle hand forces me to look into his eyes. “Really?” He asks softly, his breath leaving a warm trail over my face. At a loss for words, I can only nod at him. His face breaks out into a smile.

I barely have time to register how close he is to me, when he leans down. His lips gently brush mine, and I feel a warmth spread over my body, starting at my toes and travelling upward.