Take Me Back

8 - Niall

There were still three days until Christmas, but today, I had a surprise for Jenna. I was taking her down to the town we grew up in, Juniper. The car ride was going to take up a long time, so I made us get an early start. I walked into her room and saw her sleeping peacefully. I didn't want to wake her, but I had to. I flopped down next to her and made sure she would feel it. Sure enough, she flipped over and smacked my back.

"Really? What do you want?" I pretended to be offended.

"Well, if you want to give me the attitude, then I guess you don't get your surprise". I turned to march away, but she grabbed my hand.

"Okay, now I'm interested. You know I hate surprises. What is it?" I shook my finger at her.

"You have to come with me and see. Now, get dressed for a long car ride. Adventure awaits!" I put on a smile and went to make us some coffee.

After she got dressed, Jenna joined me at the dining table. I sipped my coffee as she continued to bug me about where we were going. Every time she asked, I shook my head and stayed quiet. Eventually she gave up and took our mugs to the sink.

"This better be good, with all the trouble I'm going through". I promised her it would be. We quietly left, being sure not to wake up the neighbors. I unlocked the car doors, and we hopped in. I turned on the engine, and pulled out of my parking space.

For most of the journey, I let Jenna sleep. That way, she didn't really know how long I was driving for. When she finally woke up, I told her she was only sleeping for two hours, when she really had been for five. Jenna could never get sleep at night, so she took crazy long naps. We sung along to the radio, but then she suddenly popped her head up.

"Oh my god, are we going home?" She bounced up and down in her seat, and I tried my hardest to keep a straight face. I let out a big grin, showing her she was right. 

"Our bags are in the back, we're staying for the holidays. If your outfits are crazy, blame it on my lack of knowledge on women's fashion". Jenna leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I blushed and pulled onto the street we grew up on. There they were, the two brick  houses that had faded from the time. The picket fences had paint peeling off of them, and the daisies in the front yard had been replaced by boring shrubs, but it was home. The willow tree we climbed as kids and carved our initials into had droopy limbs, but still stood proud. I pulled her into a hug as our memories came flooding in. It's hard to believe we ever left. She took my hand and dragged me to her wooden front door that her mother always painted blue. 

"Ready?" I asked right before she used the door knocker, the same faded steel as the address numbers above it. She nodded as a familiar face opened the door. Jenna's mother, Diana, had her mouth agape as she pulled her daughter into a hug. I didn't tell her we were coming, so she was obviously shocked.

"What are you two doing here? And looking oh so grown up! Last time I saw you, you had blonde hair, and Genevieve had glasses and those sneakers she never took off". Thank god we got over that: even thinking about it made me cringe. 

"Hate to say it, but it's been almost five years, Mom". She gestured for us to come inside. "So, I take it you didn't know we were coming home for Christmas?"

"No, I had zero clue. But, this is the best gift I could have received. My daughter and basically adopted son!" Diana embraced me, and I smiled. She was right; sometimes it felt like I was at their house more than my own. When my dad left, I guess I kind of turned to my other family to keep me comfortable. I pulled away and grinned at the older woman.

"I hope you're okay with my little surprise. I just needed to get my two favorite girls together again!"

"Niall, you know you're always welcome here. Genevieve, not so much". She winked at me and we all laughed. I grabbed our bags and brought them to Jenna's childhood bedroom. It was still the same way it used to be.

"What do you say, bring it back to old times and sleep in here? Your floor is actually pretty comfortable". She giggled and picked her bag back up.

"Something tells me the two beds in the guest room are better fit". I agreed, and took the suitcases there. When I returned, she had a book in her hands. "Niall and Jenna: BFFs. I'm pretty sure my mom made this for us when we graduated". We flipped through the pages, and pictures were taped onto the paper. She pointed out a baby picture of us together. Our moms were close friends, so we would often be together, even as infants.

"Look, this is when I was only a few months old and you were just born. I think my mom visited yours at the hospital". We were so cute, bundled up in blankets to protect us from the cold February weather. Jenna closed the book and grabbed a box stuffed with more snapshots. I decided to mess with Diana after looking at the album from her birth. 

"Well, Diana, I've officially seen your daughter naked". She dropped the spoon she was stirring the soup with and turned to look at me. I snickered as I showed her a picture of her and Jenna in a hospital bed.

"Thank god, I almost slapped you silly!" Yeah, the way she was thinking was only in my dreams. A couple of minutes later, Mr. Samson was home, and Diana called Jenna into the dining room for dinner. Her world-class chicken noodles were served in china bowls with green trim. We all laughed and reminisced the past for a while until Jenna's phone rang. 

"This is important, I'm gonna take this on the porch". She got up from the table and left the house. 

"So, what's going on between you two?" I looked shocked when her father asked me that. He never really talked to me, especially not about things like that.

"Nothing, we live together, but just as fr-" I was cut off by a raised eyebrow from Diana.

"Oh please, I see the way you look at each other. Everybody knows you'll end up together. We've known since you two could talk". Inside my head, I died a little. Really, the only person who doesn't know it is Jenna.

"I don't think she wants to be with me. Or at least she hasn't made it clear in any way". I had to find a way out of this awkward conversation. "Uh, she's been talking for a long time and it's raining pretty hard, so I'm gonna check on her". I quickly excused myself and went out the front door. I stood and listened to her talk, until she finally said goodbye and hung up the phone. "What was that about?"

"That was Scott, my publisher. Everything went through, and he can start printing copies to sell by the end of the week!" She grinned from ear to ear, and her smile lit up the stormy skies.

"Dance with me".

I reached my hand out for her, and she took it. I led us into the road that nobody drove on besides neighbors.

"Are you crazy? It's raining down relentlessly!" I shrugged and pulled her close.

"I would dance anywhere with you. Even if the whole world was watching, or if you moved a thousand miles away, or if there was a goddamn hurricane raining down on us". I took her other hand and spun her around. I gave her a kiss on the forehead, and we danced as the clouds looked down on us. In that moment, everything around us disappeared. The drops seemed to stop in midair, and the gawking neighbors who we grew up around turned invisible. I knew this was right, and I had to do it before it was too late.

a/n: im probably going to skip the next filler and go straight into action in the next chapter! i hope you enjoyed this one, because i did. it was inspired by 'this town', one of my favorite songs from niall. anyways, i'll see you later! comment and vote please!