under my skin || n.h. au

eighteen: found my missing piece

Brooklyn has never been to Ireland but thanks to Niall, she now knows which pub she must go to and which pub she must avoid at all costs if she were to step foot in that country in the future. She also knows how his house and his room look like, knows where he spends most of his time at if he goes back to Ireland.

Despite him being an open book, Brooklyn realises that there are things that Niall keeps sheltered from everyone else. Like his life back in Ireland. It's something he hardly talks about - not out of shame, that's for sure, because he's proud of his Irish heritage – and it's a mystery to almost everyone apart from Harry and now her.

He has chosen to share that part of his life with her and although he didn't say it, she knows it's kind of a big deal. So she let him know that she appreciated it and that she'd love to experience it all in person. The smile that he flashed to her, even though it's a bit pixelated, was genuine and beautiful. And that night after they ended their video call, his face, his smile appeared in her dream. Some people believe that when you dream of someone, it means you miss them, and Brooklyn, against her better judgment, agrees.

On the day before Christmas eve, Niall took her, via video call, to his favourite tourist places, ones that he insists she must visit because the pictures on the Internet don't do the place justice. And then before he had to meet up with his friends whom he hasn't seen in a while later that afternoon, he took Brooklyn to the church where most of his cousins got married. The place was beautiful and she's not surprised that everyone in his family chooses to tie the knots there. In fact, another one of his cousins will be getting married there next year.

Beck happened to catch Brooklyn and Niall's video call when he showed her around the church and he teased her endlessly during the call and after the call ended. Which she was fine with because Beck wouldn't be Beck if he didn't tease her for a day, but things got a little out of hand when her father – who decided to celebrate Christmas with them this year – found out about Niall and started probing into her love life.

And since Oliver, Beck and Nadine swore that they aren't seeing anyone at the moment, they're free from the dreaded questions that none of them were willing to face.

As they sat in the living room, a series of flashbacks ran through her mind as she's taken back to the times when she was asked to sit in front of her father and talked about the boys she was seeing. The only difference this time is that instead of lying about the status of her relationship, she told her father the truth. She told him that she and Niall are together, and that they've known each other for quite a while.

Luckily for Brooklyn, the conversation didn't last long as they needed to get ready for dinner. But her father did bring it up again before he left, telling her that she has to bring Niall with her the next time she comes and visits him or he'll be forced to make a surprise visit at their office. Not wanting that to happen because she can foresee him doing that, Brooklyn assured her father that he'll be hearing from them soon, though their definition of soon might differ from each other. After all, this isn't something that she can decide on her own because this is about Niall as much as it is about her.

Brooklyn isn't as nervous about Niall meeting her father because there's no way it could turn out as disastrous as it did when he met her mother. Besides, she has a feeling that her boyfriend could easily get on Andrew Cooper's good side because he's not one of those people who's hard to be pleased. He's nothing like his ex-wife who always sees the worst in other people. Her father is the complete opposite of her mother.

That being said, Brooklyn still hasn't told Niall about it even though she had a chance to do so whilst they talked on the phone earlier as he waited for his flight. She figures this is something she should talk about in person and she can do that when he gets here in about thirty minutes or so. He texted her as soon as he landed and Brooklyn offered to pick him up, but he turned the offer down, not wanting to burden her.