Beautiful

Chapter Ten

January 31st 9:02 a.m.

Niall's Apartment

Mullingar, England

~Niall~

I wrapped my arms around Elle's waist as she sat on the stool in my kitchen. She turned around and when she saw me, she grinned. An actual, real, perfect, beautiful grin.

My eyes scanned the kitchen. Only Harry and Liam were up. Harry's eyes met mine and he grimaced. I gave him a soft smile, forgiving his earlier actions. He'd explained that he wanted to ask me to come eat with him and that he wasn't feeling well. Harry always did this when he couldn't sleep because I'm the only one who didn't mind.

Elle leaned her head back on to my shoulder and snuggled her face into my neck. I kissed the top of her head, oh-so-charmingly getting hair stuck to my lips. I spit it out and blushed when I felt her laughing into my neck. I immediately pulled away, extremely embarrassed. "Baby," she cooed, turning in her seat to face me. I stood in between her legs, still blushing.

"It was cute," she assured me in a soft voice, surely not trying to draw attention to it. I smiled softly and took her wrist, peeling up the sleeve. She allowed me to kiss at her scars, and act of randomness. I didn't say anything when I tasted the faintest bit of blood. I knew she'd continue to do it. I knew it eased her pain. I would get her to stop, of course. But I wasn't forcing her into anything at the moment.

I immediately pushed her sleeve back down when I heard a door open down the hall. Surprisingly, Zayn came out of the room. It was really early. "What's going on?" I asked as Louis came into the kitchen from the living room. "We all set alarms. You're giving us a tour today," Liam informed me, biting into his toast. Elle giggled and I wrapped my arms around her, letting her snuggle back into my chest.

"A tour?" I repeat. "Of Mullingar," Zayn says, a heavy trace of 'duh' in his voice. He wasn't a morning person. "I don't get it. Mullingar isn't very big," I mumble. Elle chuckles against me and my heart starts beating rapidly when she kisses my neck gently. She knows I can't respond to it and that thought alone drives me nuts.

"Okay. Let me... Uh, I need to run Elle to her house to change and shower. Not in that order," I stumble over my words before pulling Elle up, causing her cut-off gray sweater- clearly her favorite- to fall down her shoulder. She blushed worse than ever as Louis's eyes spot the marks on her skin. He smirks and booms loudly, "Awh, Elle, lookie! Nialler's bruised your skin with hickeys!" Before I know it, all the lads are stumbling to see, knowing I was the last person they expected to give hickeys. Thank God they didn't know of the ones on her inner thighs...

Elle shot me a look of disgust because it had been I who told her to leave them. I certainly wasn't thinking. Well, I was thinking. But it was one, repetitive though. Elle is mine.

~~~

"This one?" Elle asks, appearing in front of me. She wears a normal, long sleeve tee, which I'm surprise to see. Elle only liked to wear sweaters. And her- my- love bites were showing quite clearly, a bluish-purple against her pale skin. "You're showing," I chuckle, moving forward to press my thumb against a mark. She flinches away and blushed. "Sorry. I'm just... Trying to relax," she whispers, clearly scared for my reaction. I didn't mind. I loved how she was easing out of her shy little she that she's gained since her mother's death.

"Hey," I whisper, moving my hands to cup her face. "It's okay. I know you're trying... That's all that matters, Elle. Really, truly." She smiles at that and I press a soft kiss to her temple. "Go brush your sex hair," I tease, ruffling her hair even worse. She slaps my arm and I grin, pulling her by the hips to wrap her in a hug. I spin her, lifting her feet from the ground. "Niall!" She laughs, digging her fingers into my shoulders. I place her down and kiss her lips this time. She kisses back briefly before pulling away, patting my cheek, and smirking. "Gotta go brush my sex hair now."

I laughed to myself. She came back a few minutes later, her hair down. That's usually how she left it these days. She used to love doing her hair. She used to love me doing her hair.

~Flashback~

The nine year old Elle sat below me on her favorite step while I sat above her on my own favorite step. •We were continuously outside up until we became lazy, bummy teenagers, on her front steps, acting like fools•. "Niall," she called, looking over at me. "Hmm?" "Stop staring into space. Do something productive."

I grin and pull her slightly to sit between my legs. She immediately snaps the orange hair band from her wrist and hands it over. I slip it onto my own wrist and trace my fingers through her long hair, beginning to comb it out.

"Niall?" "Hmm?" "Can I ask you something?" "Of course, Elouise." •Even then, I liked to call her by her full name.• "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?" I laughed loudly. "The world may never know." I smirked lightly as I began twisting her hair the way she showed me when we were a few years younger than we were at the moment. "We'll know," she declared, pulling two tootsie pops from her pocket. "Mumma got them at the market earlier. I got us both chocolate," she announced.

I let go of her hair, but she let out a sort of growl. •At the time, I thought it was scary, which is why I immediately went back to weaving her hair. Now that I look back, I find it adorable.• "Wait until you're done," she said bossily. I finished her hair, making it best in case she made me redo it. Then, we opened the tootsie pops and counted each lick. How many? The world may never know.

~End of Flashback~