Take Me There

Take Me There - Chapter One

Niall’s dad gets a new job in the south. It’ll be a big change from living in the nonstop pace of St. Louis to living on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere in southern Texas. But Niall soon finds out that the south isn’t all that bad. Especially when the boy next door is a charming and rugged cowboy.

A/N: Comments? Thoughts?

Chapter One

Niall sighed; he grabbed his laptop and got in line with his parents. He would really miss this place.  St. Louis was all he had ever known. This was all he had ever known. But they had to leave it all behind. His father had gotten a big fat promotion, and with that came being relocated to… Texas. Niall Horan was moving to hottest, weirdest and most homophobic state in the nation and he had no choice.

It wasn’t too bad, Niall reasoned with himself, even if he was going to be about two hours away from the closest city. Niall had been to Texas before and he had liked it there, for a vacation. He couldn’t imagine living there though, especially living on some ranch in the middle of nowhere.

His father had bought a ranch outside the town of Wichita Falls, but close enough to the air base. Niall actually didn’t know his dad’s job, he wasn’t allowed to; It was top secret information. It didn’t matter to him though, he rarely saw his father anyways. It was always just him and his mother at home.

Niall was a real momma’s boy. He adored his mother. She was always there, she was his best friend. Niall didn’t really have any friends in St. Louis, he was content with being alone at home or spending time with his dog or mom.  It didn’t bother him, Niall wasn’t the type to go out and try to make friends.

Niall looked out the window of his first class seat. He smiled at his mother, who was sitting next to him. He pulled out his iPod and pushed his earbuds in. It wouldn’t be a long flight, but he’d rather not hear the baby back in coach cry the whole flight. Before Niall knew it, he was dozing off.

~~

The landing gear hit the ground with a jolt and Niall bolted up and looked around wildly until he realized that everything was fine. He wrapped his headphones around his iPod and shoved it into his pocket. The pilot had just come on and told them to remain both seated and buckled during taxing to the gate, but Niall was sick of sitting. He got up and stretched out his arms, lifting them above his head.  

“Niall! Sit down!” His mother hissed.

“Mom I’m fine. We’re already at the gate.” Niall said as the seatbelt signs flashed off.

She just shook her head before getting up from her seat and grabbing her purse and walked off, not waiting for her song. Niall quickly chased after her, catching up not too long later. The two headed for the baggage claim, and then to the parking lot where Niall’s dad has supposedly left them a car.

“Ah. I think that’s it.” Niall’s mom pointed to a huge truck in the middle of the parking lot.

“Really he had to buy me a truck?” Niall shook his head. He had told his dad if he was to move that he wanted a new vehicle. He knew he sounded spoiled but he didn’t want to drive his car down to Texas in the first place. Secondly, he had to move to Texas. His dad could afford a car for him. But he didn’t think it’d be this nice of a vehicle.

“Is this brand new?” Niall asked as he walked around the car. He read the back, “King Ranch F-150 Super Duty”.

“I believe he got it yesterday.” Niall’s mom confirmed.

“I guess it’ll do.” Niall tried to hide his smile but couldn’t.

“Can I drive us home?” The blonde asked as he placed their bags in the bed of the truck.

“Sure honey. Here’s the keys.” Maura handed them over to her son.

Niall raced to the front and slid into the leather seat. He put the keys into the ignition and the car spurred to life. It sounded perfect. Niall wouldn’t let anyone know but he had always wanted a truck. A truck would make him more manly, cooler. And now he finally had one.

Niall looked over at his mom in the seat next to him, “Ready to head to the new house?”

“Niall you’ll love it! It’s beautiful!” Maura blabbed as Niall pulled out of the parking lot.

~~

“Where are we?” Niall asked his mother. She was folding and unfolding, twisting and crunching up the map.

“I actually have no idea.” she muttered as she continued searching the map.

Niall scanned the road and saw a stand on the side of the road. He thought he could ask them for directions, so he pulled over and climbed out of the truck.  He noticed the boy was  actually cleaning up and putting everything away.

“Hey? Could you please tell me where this is?” Niall handed over a little slip of paper with the address printed neatly on it.

“Sure can! It’s actually the farm next to mine. If you want to wait for a minute I’ll have this cleaned up and you can just follow me to your house?” The boy spoke as he finished putting the last thing back in its rightful place.

“I guess that works.” Niall smiled and walked back towards the truck. He climbed in and told his Mom the plan. She pointed at the truck in front of them, which was heading down the road already. Niall shook his head and pressed the gas pedal.

Niall followed the truck for about ten minutes until its turn signal clicked on. He copied the action and turned right down a brick paved drive way.  A huge house was at the end of the road, Niall sighed. He didn’t want a huge house. It just meant that he’d be alone more.

The truck pulled over and Niall followed suit. He jumped out of the truck and got a better look at what he would be calling home from now on. The boy who had shown them how to get here walked over to him.

 “Glad to help y’all! My name’s Liam, by the way.” Liam stuck out his hand.

“I’m Niall.” Niall gently placed his hand in Liam’s hand. Liam grabbed it firmly and shook it well.  Niall almost gasped at the feeling of the other boy’s hands. They were complete opposites. Niall’s hands were as smooth as a baby’s bottom, whereas Liam’s were rough and callused from hard work on the ranch.

“I best be going home. Ma’ll be wondering where I ran off to.” Liam said sheepishly, “But… I’ll give you my number in case you need anything.” Liam said as he searched his pockets for his phone.  Niall pulled his out of his back pocket.

“Here, you can just enter it. I’ll text you mine.” Niall handed over his phone to older boy. He quickly typed in his number and handed the phone back.

“Bye Niall!” Liam called as he jogged to his truck and quickly raced down the driveway.

Niall smiled and looked at his hand, then back up to the house. Maybe Texas wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe he could make a friend. He had gotten a number. That’s a start. Niall was interrupted from his thoughts by his mother.

“He sure was hot. What do you think Niall? You should ask him out.” Maura winked at her son.

“MOM! He’s not gay! Stop being weird!” Niall yelled.

 “He’s not gay? Whatever you say honey. Could you grab our bags?” Maura asked as she walked towards the ranch house.