corporate affairs [Niall Horan AU]

T H E E N D

[it is the end, but there is an epilogue]

[ O N E  &  A  H A L F  Y E A R S  L A T E R ]

"Babe! Have you seen my tie?" I hear as I finish typing the last page. I hear Niall moving down the hallway, his feet stopping in the doorway. 

"It's on the bed, babe. I gave you two options." 

He rests his chin atop my head, reading the last sentence I'd written as I stare at the page. "You really think we lost an empire?"

"Yeah, maybe. It sounds good anyways." 

"I still think you should send it to publisher or let me read it." 

I shake my head and stand, taking his hand as I lead him to our bedroom. I grab the purple tie from the bed, looping it around his neck and tying it. "I just want it for me to read for a little while." 

"Whatever you want, darlin'." He says as he kisses my nose, making me laugh. "Are you all packed?"

"Yup. You told your mom we'd be there soon?" 

"Yes she's very happy you're coming. Said it wasn't fair we didn't stay very long at Christmas." 

I sit down at the vanity, brushing through my hair once more. "Well that wasn't my fault. Did you let her know its because her son is very handsy and couldn't keep it in his pants?" 

"Not in so many words," he chuckles, watching me in the mirror. "You look beautiful, love." 

"Thank you," I murmur back, finishing my braid with an elastic at the end. "Are you ready?" 

"Definitely." His hand is outstretched to me, and I can't get over how easily we fit together, how perfectly everything makes sense. Even when we're fighting or annoyed or sad, we still make sense. And I feel like I can breathe. 

Though we'd left Horan Corp. behind, we remained on the board as passive participants. It was nice to keep a little part of our past in our lives and it had its perks, like today, when we got to take the jet from London to Mullingar. I find myself beside Niall, tucked into his side.  He rarely wears suits anymore, but today is an exception. I wonder how I ever focused in the office around him like this, looking dastardly handsome. I rake my hand through his hair and he smiles, catching it in his own when I lower it. 

We'd only recently moved into together, having decided to properly date before rushing into things. It wasn't easy at the beginning. We had to start over and learn each other properly, uninhibited this time. And learn, we had. I learned he could talk for hours at night, and we often did, staying up until the wee hours of the night and telling secrets like little kids. We travel often. And in traveling I learned that Niall can talk to anyone and that he has an unending appreciation for finding the beauty in the world around him. 

And in all this learning about Niall, I learned about me too. We returned to my childhood home and tracked down the woman Uncle Steve had once loved. We learned that he had a knack for getting in trouble and that he'd always had a special bond with me, even when I had been too young to understand it all. Every time we return to New York City we put flowers on his grave. When we're not there, Calinda changes them so they're never brown and dead. 

"You know, I'm gonna miss Calinda today." 

"Did she and Liam finally get the paperwork through?" 

"Yeah," I reply, grinning. I show him the picture Liam had sent me of Calinda hugging a small child in her arms, the grassy plains of Kenya in the background. "This is her, the baby they're adopting."