Always On My Mind

Chapter 39- Picture Perfect

Luckily, my dad broke the awkward silence. “Hi, guys,” He said, happily, and I was thankful that he was being nice.

The boys loosened up. “Hi, Mr. Garcia,” Harry greeted, sticking out a hand.

My dad shook it firmly. “So you’re the guys of One Direction, huh? It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Liam grinned.

“You’re Harry, right?” My dad asked, looking Harry up and down.

“Yes, sir.” He answered nervously.

“And you’re… Dating Gaby?”

“Um, yes, sir.”

“Be good to her, ok? She's like a daughter to me, and I expect you to treat her right.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gaby walked over towards Harry and grabbed his hand. She smiled at him as he smiled back.

“And you’re Niall, right?” My dad said, looking at Niall.

“Yes, sir, I am.” he tensed up again.

“And you’re my daughter’s boyfriend?” My dad asked, intimidatingly.

I mentally face-palmed. I hated when my dad acted so scary; it drove guys away.

Niall nodded his head, shyly.

My dad pursed his lips. “Just respect her, ok? She's my oldest baby, and if anything happens to her, I'd be very disappointed”

“Yes, sir. No need to worry. I care for Jasmine very much.”

“Now, remember: she’s young. She’s still exploring the whole ‘boyfriend’ experience. She hasn't had sex yet and-”

Niall's cheeks were turning red with embarrassment.

“Ok! Who wants to go outside and do something? Play soccer, or baseball, or volleyball, or football. Just please, let us talk about something else.” I said desperately, interrupting what my dad was saying.

“Ok, ok. I get it." My dad put his hands up in surrender. "You don’t want me talking about that kind of stuff. It's just as painful for you as it is for me.  By the way, I know how to use a gun."  He said the last part seriously, but with a joking look in his eye.

Everyone snickered, but  Niall looked at me, frightened by my dad’s comment.

I squeezed his hand. "It's ok," I assured, "he's only joking. Besides, I wouldn't let him do anything to you."

He eased up a bit.

"Who wants to go out for ice cream? It’s on me!. ”

 “Yeah!” We all exclaimed.

***

 “So, you guys. How’s England?” My dad asked, enjoying his ice cream sundae.

“It’s great! We’re having so much fun with the guys.” I raved.

“That's good. We should go up there some time. I’ve always wanted to go to England, but we've been on the road lately, and we'll be travelling again next week.”

“You should come. It’s great there!”

"I want to go! I want to go!" Zach exclaimed, bouncing up and down on Zayn's lap.

"Yeah, you'll come, too, little buddy." Zayn assured.

"Yay! I'm going to England. I'm going to England." he sang, doing a little jig.

We laughed.

"When we get back from travelling, we'll go. Ok, Zach?" my dad asked, and Zach nodded in understanding.

***

Afterwards, we headed back home and got inside.

“Who wants to play soccer?” my dad said.

“In England, we call it football.” I stated, giggling.

“Oh, so now you're British? Well then, who wants to go outside and play 'football?'” My dad joked, using air quotes.

“Sure,” all the guys said.

We went outside and headed to the huge backyard. Niall came up beside me and grabbed my hand.

“Your dad is really cool. He’s a lot of fun,” he said, looking down at me.

“Yeah he’s really embarrassing too.” I said, laughing. “One time, we drove around downtown Chicago and did drive-by’s. We cranked up the radio and started dancing in our seats. People would stare at us like ‘What-the-hell?’ but we’d keep dancing.”

He burst out in laughter. “We should do the one day.”

“We should. Someday, we can drive around town and do a bunch of drive-by’s, ok?” I said, giggling.

We played soccer until I got tired and my feet couldn't take running any longer. "I'm gonna sit out for this game," I said.

"I'll come with you," Niall stated, coming up next to me and grabbing my hand in his. He kissed my knuckles, and then my cheek.

We both sat together on a hammock, all the way in the back of the yard, isolated by some trees. We were playing with each other’s fingers and just enjoying the moment. I lay my head on his chest and he laid his head on my head. It was a picture-perfect moment that I wished would last forever.

Niall started humming “Moments” softly near my ear. It was the perfect song for this.

Once he finished the song, I stood up and held out my hand for Niall to take.

He intertwined our fingers together and we started walking around the side the wall of trees.

I picked a beautifully golden peach from one of the peach trees. I bit into it, my teeth breaking through the skin of it, and tasted the sweet nectar of the fruit. I held it to Niall's pink lips for him to take a bite.

He took a small nibble and smiled. Juice from the fruit dripped down from his plump lips.

I wiped it away with my thumb, giggling at him.

“The perfect moment for the most perfect girl in the world.” He commented.

It was true. This was the perfect moment, but I wasn't the perfect girl. I let him compliment me anyways.

He gently kissed my lips gently and pulled away just as softly, but all too soon. “I love you.” he whispered, his breath tingling my lips.

“I love you, too, Niall.” I closed my eyes, embracing this absolutely perfect day.