All Your Little Things

Chapter 22- She Puts The Color Inside of My World

Niall

I hopped in the car with my guitar as Elizabeth drove up in front of the hotel. "Hey." She greeted me with a kiss.

"Where are we going today?"

"Mmmm babysitting!" She told me.

"What?"

"Yea, we're babysitting my cousin's kids for a few hours."

"I don't babysit."

"Now you do."

"Bossy."

"Hey!" She let out a laugh, and drove to her cousin's house. We got to her cousin, Mary Beth's house, and Elizabeth hugged her.

"Hi, Niall."

"Hello, Mary Beth."

"When are you guys leaving again?" She asked Elizabeth.

"Wednesday. There's some stuff going on in London the days after, so we've got to get back."

"Oh?"

"Yea, the boys are performing at a benefit concert, so my friend and I are going, and we are meeting Kate Middleton!"

"Oh, wow! That's exciting!"

"I know, I'm really excited to meet them, and then just getting back on the time schedule before school starts back up. We have a photoshoot going on, for whatever reason, I have to go. So, yea, a lot going on."

"Well, I'm glad you like London."

"Yea, it's been awesome." She beamed.

"Alright, you know the drill, we'll be back in a few hours." Mary Beth said.

"Alright, thanks. See you later, love." Elizabeth waved as they walked out the door.

She turned to Meegan, four years old. "MEEGAN!"

"ELIZABETH!" She shouted back before running into her arms. They both laughed.

"Now, what shall we do today?" Elizabeth asked, with Meegan in her arms.

"Martin and Connor want to go to the park."

"Do you want to go to the park?"

"Yea!"

"Well, then, let's go! Can we bring Niall?"

"Who?"

"That's Niall." She pointed to me.

"Is he your best friend?"

"Yea, he's my bestest friend in the whole entire world, right next to you. I love him very, very much."

"Well, then I love him, too."

"Then, he loves you, too." Elizabeth smiled. "Let's get dressed!" She said to Martin and Connor. I watched as she put their jackets on.

"Hey." She smiled up at me. She was kneeled down at their level. "Hand me the hats." She cocked her head toward the counter. I picked up three hats, a panda, a bear, and a cat.

"These are adorable." I told her.

"Oh, I know. i bought them."

"Of course you did." I rolled my eyes as I stuck the hats on their heads.

"Alright, are we all ready?" She asked. "YEA!" They all screamed back in unison, and we both laughed. She picked Meegan up in her arms, and had me hold Connor, age three. Martin, at six, waned to walk by himself. There we went, to the park!

We walked right down the street to a convenient little playground for the kids. "Alright, go ahead!" She said, putting Meegan on the ground, as I did with Connor, and they ran free. She led me to a bench, and we both sat down.

"They're great kids."

"Yea, I love watching them." She told me. "They've got a great life, great parents. They're really happy."

"You have great parents, too. At least they aren't divorced." I told her.

"BUt my life wasn't perfect, Niall. My parents fought all the time when I was younger. I felt alone. I went through a lot of stuff with some people I met, and even lost, on the internet. Nothing was right when I was younger."

"What?"

She turned her face to me. "Why do you think I'm so screwed up?" She shook her head with a slight smile. "It's fine, I'm over it."

She turned back just as Meegan ran up to her and jumped in her lap.

Suddenly, it all made sense. She was guarded and insecure because her parents were fighting when she was younger. She was scared love would turn bad. I had tried to make her feel loved and comfortable ane let her know all would be fine, but in reality, the damage was done, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I looked at her, and she threw her head back laughing like she was little again. She laughed so much, she could almost pass for completely happy. Meegan touched her nose and she smiled. She was happy, but just like everyone, there was a sadness inside her that would never let her go.

"Hey, why don't we take a picture?" She asked. She gathered up all the kids. Martin stood next to her on the bench, and Meegan and Connor were in her lap. I snapped a picture on my phone.

"Alright, now, both of us." She said.

"No, they're not my cousins." I told her.

"Yet." She smiled. "Excuse me, ma'am?" She asked another mom that was there. "Would you mind taking a picture for me?" She handed her phone to her and she agreed.

Connor sat in my lap, and so did Martin. Elizabeth came up next to me and I put my arm across her shoulders. I looked at her smiling.

"Niall! Look at the camera!" She said, and my head snapped in the direction of the camera right before the woman snapped the picture.

"Thank you." She told the woman. "Instagram...and twitter. There we go, and refresh, and already a thousand likes. Wow." She smiled. "They love Niall Horan with kids."

"Maybe it's you."

"No, I don't think I'd have thousands of followers without being your girlfriend. Come on, let's head back." She picked up Connor and we walked back to the house.

We sat in the family room. I was on the couch, Lib was on the floor with Meegan in her lap. Martin got up and turned to me.

"Niall! Play your guitar!" He pointed to my guitar case in the corner of the room.

"You sure?" I asked, and he nodded. I knew the perfect song and I got my guitar out. I sat back on the couch and began to play.

"I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world," I looked at Lib and she smiled at the ground. "But she's just like a maze, where all of the walls continually change, and I've done all I can, to stand on the steps with my heart in my hands. Now I'm starting to see maybe it's got nothing to do with me. Fathers be good to your daughters, daughters will love like you do. Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, so mothers be good to your daughters, too." I continued to sing.

She understood what I was trying to say. She knew by now I played a song that fit the mood. She always knew what I meant to say, because with a guitar and a song, I could say so much more than with words, unlike her, who always had the words.

They all clapped when I stopped, and I smiled. I loved these kids. They were great, so carefree, so happy, and it made me happy to know the people I loved were happy.

Their parents came home, and we left their place. I looked around at all I had, and I smiled, because it was perfect.