Like Porcelain (In Particpation Of The SSS)

Niall And Esmeé

Times like this, Niall wished he had a personal chauffer. He trudged through the foot-deep snow that was covering the walk. His feet were already starting to suffer from the ten-minute trek from the flat to the nearby Starbucks.  A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he pushed the glass door open, warm air greeting him like an old friend. The scent of freshly-roasted coffee hung in the air  ––a familiarity  that always relaxed Niall the way sounds of the sea or the colours of a sunset would relax some people. A ghost of a smile danced on his lips. Given the time and day, Starbucks was relatively empty. People had better things to do that lounge around in a coffee shop (so did Niall, actually, but the stress of the Holiday had started to get to Liam, and Niall didn’t really want to be around him in that state).  Starbucks, basically, had been his escape.

Niall shrugged off his coat and placed it on top of one of the chairs in the corner. It was purple, and overstuffed, and probably the most comfortable seat in the entire world. He went off to the counter to order a latte, smiling politely at Kate, the barista on duty.  Kate was a friend; she always seemed to be on her shift whenever Niall came around. Or maybe this particular Starbucks was a little short on staff. Niall didn’t care though. Kate was nice and she always made his lattes the way he liked them.

“Hey Niall,” Kate grinned. “The usual?”

Niall nodded. Kate smiled and grabbed a cup, scribbling his name on the white surface. She talked while she prepared his drink. “So, what brings you here, on this glorious Christmas night?”

Niall shrugged. “Liam mostly,” he joked, knowing how she often defends Liam on cases like this. Sometimes he swears that Kate’s got a crush on him.

“Why, what’d he do this time?” Kate asked.

“Nothing, he can just be a little bossy, that’s all,” Niall smiled a little. “Going all daddy direction again.”

Kate gave him a little smile as she fitted in a top for the cup. “Give him a break, why don’tcha?” she said. “It’s Christmas Eve, he’s probably under a lot of pressure.” She handed Niall his cup. “Happy Christmas, Niall.”

“You too, Kate.”

Niall took up post in his spot in the corner. He watched people pass by, struggling with shopping bags or whiny little children. He watched one little girl’s eyes light up at the Christmas lights that adorned the glass window as she and her mum passed by. He hid inside his coat when a gaggle of teenage girls hurried past, wearing assorted One Direction band merchandise. He smiled when a little boy saw him staring and waved, before his mother tugged him back into the sea of busybodies, dragging him along with her.

And as his eyes wandered over to the little recreation of the Nativity Scene (it was made of dolls, how cute) that sat on the counter, it occurred to Niall that maybe people had forgotten the real essence of Christmas. The Holidays became all about parties, and presents, and what to give to so-and-so, and holy crap the party starts in an hour and there is no food, what are we gonna do. Niall thought back to Liam and how he worried too much about tonight’s family dinner. How he tended to over think stuff, and how even though nobody was going to care that there wasn’t enough silver balls hanging on the Christmas tree, or that the placemats don’t match the mantel, Liam still cared. Niall didn’t understand that. Wasn’t Christmas supposed to be about spending time with the people you cared about most? Like, he understood that Liam wanted things to be perfect so everything else would be when our families came, but stressing so much can really put someone in a very non-Christmassy mood.  And being around someone like that can really put a damper on the merrymaking.

Niall sighed. The sound of the door opening broke his train of thought. He looked up to see a girl walk in, her cheeks flushed from the cold. “Hi, Welcome to Starbucks!” he heard Kate say.  The girl smiled, but only just.