"Hey Valerie! Welcome home! I missed you so much!" Niall asked, the second I got out of the car.
"Niall! I missed you too!" I said, pulling him into a hug.
My stomach jolted at his touch. Was that how it felt when you return home to find your best friend after spending a year in a different country? I doubt it. Relief it supposed release the butterflies from your stomach, not get more into it. Right? Why wasn't I relieved to be back home? No that wasn't it. I was relieved to be back home. It's just that at his touch something in me lit up.

"So how was it? Tell me everything about London. Did you like it better than Dublin? I knew it! You like London better! Val!!!" Niall started with his list of questions and complaints.
"Niall! There was no way I could have liked London better, cuz my best friend wasn't there! And you have to tell me about how you spent your year here without me," I said.

We caught up on all that we had missed while we were away from each other. I spilled every single bit of my vacation, except for the part about meeting Louis. We had dated for the year, but broke up so it wasn't really much to hide, but it just didn't seem like something I should be telling him right now.

We went inside and relaxed a bit with a cup of hot chocolate while unpacking my suitcases. As I neatly stacked my socks into my socks drawer (which in this case was dump it all in there somehow so they would fit), Niall sat on my bed emptying my backpack.

"What's this?" he asked, pulling out my photo album.
"Oh its just a few pictures I took while in London. Go ahead and check them out," I said.
He nodded and began flipping through it. That is when I remembered that I had a few pictures of Louis in there! No! Niall couldn't see that!
"On second thought, can I see that Niall? Maybe you shouldn't go through it. You know how horrible I am at photography," I said quickly running over to his side in an attempt to snatch it before he found any of those pictures. I was too late.
"Val, who's this? Your cousin?" he asked.
Cousin? Louis looked nothing like me. How can he think he's my cousin? But that is better than telling Niall he's my ex-boyfriend... right?
"Uh... yea. That's my cousin... Lou - Lucas. Cousin Lucas!" I said.
"Cousin Lucas? How come I've never heard anything about him?" he asked.
"Oh, that's cuz I am not very close with him... he's a sort of distant relative... know what I mean?" I lied smoothly.
But apparently not smooth enough...
"If you aren't very close with him..." he said, flipping to the next page, "why is there a picture of you kissing Cousin Lucas?"
I gasped. I didn't know that was in there! "Um... that's Photo Shop. Lucas is all into technology..." I said, trying to steer him away from that track.
" Valerie, I get the feeling that you're keeping something from me," he said.
I sighed. It was very hard keeping secrets from Niall. It was as if he could see right through my lies. "Alright fine. I'll tell you. I don't have a cousin Lucas. That is Louis. He is my -"
"Boyfriend... I knew it," he said.
"No... my ex-boyfriend," I corrected him.
"Big difference," he muttered under his breath. I could sense disappointment in his voice.
"Niall, but we broke up. There's nothing to worry about now. And what I don't get is why you are so upset with me having a boyfriend from London. I mean -"
He cut me off again, "Valerie, listen. I'm not upset with you having a boyfriend in London. I'm just... I don't really know... I'm... uh..." he sighed, "I'm happy for you. Why did you break up? If you don't mind me asking," he asked.
"Niall... you aren't the least bit happy, ok? Don't lie to me. You aren't the only one who can see through lies here. You are sad, disappointed, depressed, i don't know. You are just the opposite of happy. Why? It's not like I cheated on someone... right?" I said.
"No but... I... never mind," he said.
"I didn't do anything to hurt you, did I? Well, of course not. Why would I? Unless you had feelings for me in the other way, which you clearly don't or I would be going out with you right now, but I 'm not so you don't have those kind of feelings for me. Right?" I asked looking intently into his eyes.

He didn't move. His eyes never left the ground. His face stayed down.
"Woah... wait a second... Do you... No... Do you... ?" I stammered.
He looked up at that, "Yes, Val, I do. I like you and want to be more than just a friend," he said.
"We are more than just friends, Niall. We are BFFs! I love you for that!" I said.
"Val, you are more that even a Best friend to me. You are my love," he said.
I froze. I had never heard him say that before.
"Do you know how much I missed you when you were in that wretched London? I spent every free second I had thinking about you. Missing you." he said.
"Niall, we can't do this... it isn't right..." I said.
"And what happened to 'if you did I would be going out with you right now'? You said that not more than a minute ago. Forgot?"
I sighed. "You're right. I can't hide my feelings for you," I said.
He grinned widely. "So..." he pushed.
"So... it's official!" I announced, "We are officially going out!"
"Really?" he asked.
"As real as real can be," I confirmed.
"How's a fancy dinner sound?" he asked.
"It's a date!" I squealed.
"Great!" Niall said.
"This is the BEST WELCOME HOME PRESENT EVER!" I screamed, pulling him into a fierce hug.

Notes

Hey Valerie! This is for you! Sorry so sorry for making you wait so long! Hope you like it, though!

oh and btw I made you a little older in this... cuz I didn't think you wanted to be twelve for your imagine... sorry if you did!
I dont know...

And It's a bit short compared to others... but I had to hurry cuz I wanted to get it done before my battery ran out and before I fell asleep.

Really hope you like it!

~ Lily <3