corporate affairs [Niall Horan AU]

T E N

T E N 

Saturday morning began with an unexpected guest barging into Maura's small guest room around nine AM, causing both Niall and I to awake with a start. 

There, smiling happily in the doorway, was Niall's sweet grandmother, holding a tray full of Irish breakfast delicatessies, chattering jubiantly about how lovely it was to meet me and so on. She was a kind, humurous woman who had made more than one joke about Niall and I christening the bed before Maura rushed her out of the room, red-faced and eyes-wide.

Niall and I stared at each other for a long moment before awkwardly indulging in the huge breakfast, complete with tea, toast, poached eggs, beans, grilled potatoes, and sausage. After devouring the entire feast, Niall told me to get ready so he could show me around Mullingar. I wasted no time in hopping out of bed and showering before changing into a pair of black skinnies, a caramel sweater, and my favorite Burberry rain-boots. 

I barely had time to acquaint myself with Granny, Niall's grandmother, due to Niall's determination to get out of the house and onto the road. At first, I didn't understand his eagerness to get out onto the rainy highways, and I still didn't, until we were racing by the rolling green landscape and then pulling over at a random stop off the highway, the rain still coming down in thick slats against the windows.

***

We lay down in Niall's grandfather's old roadster, some old album playing in it's upgraded audio system. It's quiet for a while, and the sounds of spilling rain and peaceful, melancholy melodies of "his favorite playlist". I recognize the song we danced together Thursday night on it, and I decide I must somehow get a copy of it from him.

After staring at the tops of trees for a while, Niall turns to me, his eyes wide. "I'm sorry if this is weird. I used to come here all the time as a teen." 

"No," I murmur softly, blinking up at the cloudy skies. "I like it here."

"Really?" He murmurs, turning away once again and spreading his arms out under his head, his elbow brushing my ear. 

"Really. I feel like I'm in a movie or something." I admit shamefully, tracing the paths of raindrops against the window with my index finger. This was very rom-com-y and not really Niall-y, but I'm surprisingly comfortable here, beside Niall, with his knee bumping into my thigh and his sad music filling up the spaces between us. 

"You want to really feel like you're in a movie?" He asks me after a moment, his voice giddy with excitement.

"Yes," I whisper hoarsely, cheeks flushing. 

"You can't be scared of the rain now, you understand?" He asks as he pushes his door open into the onslaught of rain. It takes him a second to walk around the side of the roadster and pull open my door, his hand gripping mine as he rushes me a long again.

Niall looks like a normal twenty-five year old as he pulls me towards an unmarked trail in the woods, his black skinnies sagging at the waist and pooling around his knees, his loose tee-shirt now wet and clinging to his well-toned stomach. 

We race down the lush path, muddy squishes accompanying our footsteps, the rain absolutely soaking us. I've never felt so wet in my life as we run towards an unknown greatness, Niall's laughter and my squeals echoing throughout the woods. Finally, after running for a while (despite my protests), we come to a break in the woods, the top of a tall hill that overlooks a few hundred of other acres of rolling hills, all dotted with pink speckles.

"This," Niall pants, "is my favorite spot on Earth." I look across the everlasting land, feeling like a king of a vast empire. This is what it must feel like to be Niall everyday. So high above everyone else, limitless. Nothing matters up here. I just lean my head back and smile, the cold rain making me cold to the core. I do feel like I'm in the middle of a movie, the part where the main character finds true happiness in some stupid sentimental way, the calm before the storm.