Guarded

||thirty-two||

All of us have been living in the same apartment building (except Jeremy, but he makes frequent visits) for several months now.

I got a second job at the Broadway Café with Emme and Marie, along with my janitorial job at the magazine, so I'm bringing in a good amount of money. The rent being split three ways is a big plus, too. We don't have to eat ramen noodles every night.

I started taking online classes for college, but I also applied to several universities and applied for different scholarships. I'm hoping to start my official college career soon.

I walk into Fad Magazine and am greeted on the elevator by my boss, Alexis Walters.

"So," she says, raising her eyebrows. "How's the boyfriend?"

"Oh, he's great. We're going on a date tonight. It's our one year anniversary," I tell her. "Even though our one year anniversary happened a couple weeks ago, but we've been really busy and we haven't had time for a proper date night."

"Well, I hope you two kids have a good time." She smiles and exits the elevator.

-

"Do I look okay? No, I don't want to look okay, I want to look amazing. I want Niall's jaw to drop when he sees me." I bite my lip as Michaela, Marie, and Emme fix my long red dress and hair.

"Niall's jaw always drops when he sees you, Cass," Emme says.

"Yeah, because you always look amazing," Marie adds.

"He'll faint when he see you in this dress," Michaela chimes in.

"Thanks guys. I'm so lucky to have friends like you. Hell, I'm just lucky to have real friends," I gush. "I love you guys."

They all gasp. "Cassidy said the 'L' word!" Marie mocks.

"Oh my gosh. I can't believe she just throws that word around like that," Michaela teases.

"Do you think she actually means it?" Emme adds.

I roll my eyes. "C'mon! You know I mean it. And stop teasing me about it." I laugh slightly.

"We know." Emme smiles. "We love you so much, Cass." All three of them get up and embrace me in a suffocating group hug.

There's a knock on the apartment door and I know it's Niall, picking me up for our special anniversary date.

I open the door and Niall beams at me.

"Wow, um, Cassie-" Niall stutters. "You look so great. I can't even explain, wow. Okay."

"Thanks." I blush.

"Are you ready?" He scratches the back of his neck. He seems nervous for some reason.

He's dressed in a white suit, his blondish/brunette hair done in a small quiff, just how I like it. His cheeks are a light shade of pink.

"Hey, what's wrong, babe?" I whisper. Harry has appeared behind him. He winks at me.

-

"This place is so fancy!" I exclaim as we are seated at a fancy Italian restaurant. "How did you afford this, Niall?"

He shrugs. "Anything for you, Cassie."

"Hey, guess what," I whisper at him.

He looks up from his menu. "What?"

"I love you a lot."

"I love you a lot, too." He grins widely. "You're the only person that makes me forget about all my stupid little worries. When I'm with you, I feel at peace. And I'm happy. God, what did I do to deserve a girl like Cassidy Billoway?

"What did I do to deserve a man like Niall Horan?" I reply. I stare into his eyes. "Look at us. Two 19 year old college students, trying to make it in the world. The only thing keeping us same is the insanity of each other and our whole hearted love for one another."

"You should write a book," the waitress interrupts.

"Oh my God, I didn't realize you were standing there. I'm sorry you had to hear that," I say with a worried tone.

"Oh don't worry, you guys are the cutest couple ever," she replies, waving it off. That's when I recognize her.

"Elena?"

"Oh my God, you actually remembered me!" She exclaims, jumping up and down for joy. "See, I was afraid that you wouldn't and that would've kinda sucked because you guys made such a big impact on my life and actually made me want a boyfriend and then I was like 'Well, why don't I just follow them to New York?' And so I did and then I got a job as a waitress here."

"Wait, wait," Niall cuts her off. "You followed us back to New York? To look for a boyfriend?"

"Of course I did. I mean, that's where she found you." Elena smiles like it's a totally legit and logical reason to move all the way across the country.

"Have you had any luck?" I ask, curious.

"Nah. A lot of old guys hit on me and say I have nice boobs, but no one special has come into my life yet." She sighs and looks at Niall and I, dreamily. "I hope you guys get married," she blurts out and Niall starts to cough, as if to stop her from talking about marriage.

"Babe, are you okay?" I ask, gently touching his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assures. "Just a tickle in my throat." He looks at Elena. "Would you go get us some champagne?" He emphasizes 'champagne' like it's a sort of code word.

"Okay, I know you guys are like some sort of European or whatever, but this is America, and that's illegal. Sorry." She folds her arms over her chest.

"Then just get us a bottle of sparkling apple cider with champagne flutes," I say.

"Flutes?" Elena looks at me confusedly.

"You know, the really skinny and tall wine glasses?" I dumb it down.

"Oh yeah! I can do that!" She smirks at Niall and sends him a wink before skipping away. It wasn't like in a sexual kind of way, more of a 'I know what you're up to' kind of way. Or 'Don't worry, she doesn't suspect a thing.' But, to be honest, I kind of am suspicious.

"Niall," I say, making his head pop up from his menu. "Are you okay? You seem kind of jittery tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just- it's a big date and I want everything to be perfect." He rubs the back of his neck.

"Everything is perfect," I assure him. He smiles at me and I return the gesture.

Elena comes back with our sparkling apple cider. Niall and I give each other cheers and I take a drink. In the bottom of the apple cider filled champagne flute, there is an object.

And that object is a ring.

~

I'm gonna update every day until this story is over bc I finished writing it and im impatient so yeah

there's like two chapters and an epilogue left

comment, vote, & take a brownie on your way out :-)

-Anna xo