That Magical Summer

Chapter 17

"C'mon," he hustled you on waving his hand in front of you pulling you along.

"No. Please Niall. I don't want to go back," you whined ripping his hand from yours.

"Then we won't," he stopped walking for a second to look at you, "Follow me." He took your hand again, nuzzling it close to yours. His hand was cold and frigid, but was warming against your own.

"Where are we going?"

"Shhh. Just follow me," he started jogging, as you giggled behind him struggling to hold onto him.

"Niall! Seriously where are we going?" He smiled back laughing.

"Just wait and see." He dragged you all the way to the other end of the beach.

"Niall. There's nothing here," you said examining the place, "But a bunch of rocks." It was true. There were about 4 giant, charcoal boulders resting mutely on the sand. He ignored you, letting go of your hand. He jumped up onto one of the boulders, before staring back down at you.

"Come on." He motioned for you to the do the same. You shook your head.

"Nuh uh. No way I'll be able to get up there," you said looking up at Niall who was now about 14 feet tall.

"C'mon. I'll help you," he reached out an open hand. You sighed and grabbed his hand as he helped to hoist you onto the rock.

"Niall!" you screamed as you stumbled backwards. He caught you with the snap of his arm.

"I got you," he whispered holding you close. His hand was resting on your lower back, his face inches from yours. It was different being that close to Niall, when he wasn't drunk. It was more lustful, meaningful. You could feel his panting, hot breath settling itself on your lips. His eyes looked at you, telling you that you were safe with him. He pulled away swiftly, "Let's go." He turned you around so that you could see what was on the other side of the rock. Before you could say something, he jumped off. You just stared down at him. He grinned, holding his hand out again as you took it. He helped you down carefully. You looked up to see the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. It was a little cave, with mystics of green, blue, and purple shadows floating around within it. There was a small reflective tide pool in the bottom, inhabiting most of the empty space. There were drippets of water flinging from the top of it. You kicked off your slippers, not even caring that you didn't have a swimsuit on. You waded yourself into the small pool, feeling the cooling water rise to your waist. You breathed in the fresh, hollow scent of the cave.

"It's beautiful," you whispered sitting on a ledge at the back of the cave.

"I know," he said throwing his shirt off of himself and onto dry land. He dabbled in after you, the water not quite reaching his hips as he did so. He came over and sat by you. You looked up at the paintings of color against the thickening rock. It was magnificent. It was magical. Even the view from outside was heavenly. You could see the ocean deep from where you were sitting.

"How'd you ever find this place?" you asked splashing the colorful water between your toes.

"One day I was just swimming. And I just found it," he said shrugging.

"You've been here before?"

"Yeah. Many times. But never been to this place with anyone else. My uncle told me that I could use this place whenever I want to."

"Why would you come alone?"

"Because this place is so relaxing. It's nice to be alone sometimes, you know?"

"I know exactly what you mean..." you mumbled, "But you're Niall Horan. Why would you want to spend the summer here alone?"

"Things happen."

"What do you mean?" you saw his eyebrows dip, as a solemn look spread across his face.

"I know you don't know much about my band, but it was really tough for me at the beginning. I was the outcast really. I'm the only blonde, the only non-Brit. Nobody treated me the same. I was always the underdog. You don't even know how much hate I got. Saying that I wasn't good enough to be in the band, that I'm the ugliest, that I can't even sing-" he choked at the end not able to go on.

"Sing for me," you whispered.

"What?" he looked up at you.

"Sing for me," you repeated.

"I don't know-"

"Just do it." He closed his eyes. He was hesitant at first, but he slowly opened his mouth and began to sing.

You never love yourself half as much as I love you, you'll never treat yourself right darling but I want you to. If I let you know, I'm here for you maybe you'll love yourself like I love you oh...

Your eyes closed as his soulful voice rang through the cave, it made you fall head over heels for his voice. It was perfectly on pitch, and it gave you goose bumps just listening to it.

"You're amazing," he looked at you right as you said that. He looked as if he was going to say something but he didn't. The glisten in his eyes told you that he was holding back.

"So Y/N..." he said trying to fill the awkwardness, "What are you gonna do about Liam?" You literally cringed at the thought of him. Things were just so confusing, you didn't know what to do. You began to tremble, your tight shirt clinging to you. You looked down to notice that your bra was showing. Your cheeks flushed a pink, that was hotter than your bra. He noticed too smirking. You tried to cover up. He chuckled pretending to cover his eyes.

"This is so embarrassing," you laughed awkwardly.

"It's fine. Just-why don't we go back?" he grabbed your hand helping you off the side of the cave.

"I don't want to," you said looking out at the flat ocean, "I want to stay here." With you. He looked at you steadily, his eyes tracing the outline of your lips. He was going to kiss you. You saw his close his eyes, and you did the same. You felt the graze of his lush lips press to you. Your cheek. Your eyes opened with a thrill. You felt the tips of your fingers tingling, at the rush he gave you. It entranced you, hypnotizing you under his spell. Just from a kiss on the cheek.

Imagine what would happen if he kissed you on the lips, again.