Two Years Later

Aria’s P.O.V.

I woke up to the loud ringing of…bells? Oh my god. Maybe I would get to see Santa in action. I sat up quickly only to see that it was Niall standing in front of the bed, the sound of Christmas bells blaring out of his phone.

“Damn it, Niall.” I groaned. “I thought you were Santa.”

“Well, if you want me to be fat and old, I’ll do whatever you want, princess.”

“Shut up.” I fell back into the pillows of Niall’s bed.

“Oh come on.” Niall pouted pulling me up. “It’s Christmas, babe.”

I perked up.

It was Christmas.

“Merry Christmas, Niall!” I cheered loudly, attaching my arms around his neck. He laughed as I pulled him down, onto the bed onto top of me.

“Hi there.” He grinned, sticking his tongue out at me.

“Well, is there something you want to tell me?” I demanded.

“Oh yeah.” He grinned, and kissed me. “Merry,” Kiss. “Christmas” Kiss. “To” Kiss. “You” Kiss. “Too.”

And then it was a long, passionate kiss that lasted until there was a knock on the door. Noah toddled in, followed by Gregg.

“Um,” Gregg cleared his throat when he saw Niall on top of me. “Was I interrupting?”

Niall glared at Gregg but grinned with Noah began jumping up and down at the bed on the side, waiting to be picked up. Niall rolled off of me and reached out for Noah, setting him down on the bed.

“Aria.” Noah squealed clapping his hands. He had mastered my name good and well.

“Hey buddy.” I smiled, scooping him up into my arms. He kissed my cheek with his tiny lips, before resting his cheek on my shoulder.

“Bring Noah downstairs.” Gregg winked at Niall. “ Breakfast is served.”

Just when we thought Gregg had left, he popped his head on the doorway again.

“And Merry Christmas to you two.”

“’Marry Christmas to you, too.” Niall and I responded in unison. Gregg then left and Niall proceeded to tickling Noah until Noah’s cheeks turned red.

Niall brought Noah back downstairs then showered quickly. I showered after him, and once we had changed, we headed downstairs together.

“Merry Christmas, darling!” Maura squealed happily, giving Niall and I each a hug. When was the women not smiling?

After a large breakfast of blueberry pancakes, French toast, cinnamon rolls, eggs and bacon, we all gathered around the TV to watch Baby Einstein.

Don’t ask.

It was Noah’s choice.

The entire time, Denise, Gregg and Maura were making conversation with Noah sat on the floor giggling happily to a Baby Einstein’s song. That kid was freaking adorable.

“Wanna get out of here?” Niall whispered into my ear, tickling my skin. I nodded.

We slipped away from the group and ventured upstairs to his room.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Niall asked with hopeful eyes. The boy really did want to go for a walk, didn’t he?

“Sure.” I smiled.

“Yay!” Niall clapped his hands and ran towards his drawers, pulling out a shirt, hoodie and jeans. He was such a kid, even at twenty two years old. Niall ran into the bathroom to get changed, while I changed into a sweater and jeans, along with boots and a a beanie. I relied on minimal makeup, and kept my hair down. I was ready just as Niall stepped outside.

He looked me up and down, then stuck his thumb up.

“You look hawt.”

“Shut up.” I snorted, grabbing his arm. “Let’s go.”

“What? I can’t compliment my girlfriend?”

I stifled a laugh.

“Shut up, Ni.”

---

We walked hand in hand down the streets of Ireland. Niall kept squeezing my hand, and his were extremely sweaty.

“Niall? You okay?”

“Well…”’ he trailed off. “It’s just that I have something I really want to show you.”

“Oh,” I grinned. What is it?”

“It’s a surprise Aria.” Niall told me matter-o-factly. “It’s always a surprise.”

Even for ten in the morning, it was usually cold. I was about to tell Niall that I could get sick that way I had that night at the London Eye, but then, he would surely rush home for my health. As we walked, Niall talked about stuff that I wasn’t really listening to, more so staring at his beautiful face.

There was more brown in his hair now, since he hadn’t dyed it in a while. I liked it that way. His eyes seemed even brighter against his darker hair. Still, blonde streaks were visible. His blue eyes glittered as he talked, like mini blue suns. The way his lips moved, was almost like in slow motion. He licked his lips every once in a while, his lips going dry from the wind clashing against our faces. He turned towards me.

“How come you freak out when I stare at you, but you freely get to stare at me?” he pouted playfully, his laugh filling the streets.

“Because you’re you and I’m me. “ I know. Terrible comeback, right?

“Damn.” Niall responded. “You need to learn better comebacks.”

“Ha-ha.”

We walked together for about three more minutes when I started to get restless.

“Where the hell are you taking me, Niall?”

“Hush, child.”

I stopped walking, dropping my mouth open. “Don’t hush child me.” I snapped. We stared each other down until we couldn’t take it any more and began laughing hysterically.

Niall grabbed my hand and skipped down the street, me stumbling after him. Suddenly he stopped me.

“I swear, I’m not kidnapping you.” He said quickly, tied wrapped a blindfold around my head.

“Of course you’re not.”I muttered as he grabbed my hand again. I didn’t know where he was taking me, It was like my nineteenth birthday all over again. Only this time I was twenty one.
Finally, the blindfold was peeled off of my eyes.

We were standing on a deck, which gave us a beautiful view of a large lake.

“Woah.”

“I know.” Niall grinned beside me.

“How did you find this place?”

Niall gestured for me to sit down on the wooden deck, and I did. He took a seat beside me and wrapped an arm around me.

“My dad, Greg and I used to come here all the time. He taught me how to fish here.” He sighed, remembering the memory. “The first fish I ever caught…was a boot.”

I giggled.

“Seriously. I was so devastated that my first catch wasn’t even a fish. My dad kept telling me alright but I threw a hissy fit and got my dad and I kicked off the deck by other fisherman. My dad was so pissed after that.” Niall laughed loudly. “Anyways, I came here a lot when I wanted to be alone. It’s really peaceful here, you know.”

“Yeah.” I smiled up at him. I stood up and went over to the railing, leaning against it. I let my arms hang over the edge, not that my hands were any closer to the water. The cool wind brushed against my skin, and I swore I could see little fish gliding around in the water.

I felt a warm hand rest at the small of my back, Niall joining me at the railing.

“Is this boring?” he asked quietly.

I looked at him as if he were crazy. “Are you kidding? I want to stay like this all day.”

He smiled, connecting our hands.

“You want to stay like this forever?”

This time, I turned and full on looked at him. “With you? Right here, right now?” I paused. “Yeah."

Niall opened his mouth to speak, but then a light speckle of white landed of his nose. Followed by more and more.

“Snow!” I squealed, breaking away to catch a fleck of snow on my tongue. Niall laughed shaking his head to get rid of the snow. The snow began to pile on the deck, and Niall and I laid down to make snow angels. We stood up afterward, admiring our work.

“Looks good.” I giggled, turning around to give him a high five.

“Now, do you want to stay like this?”

“Hell yeah!” I yelled. “Snow is just a bonus.”

Niall smiled, and the snow slowly stopped. I turned to look at the last amounts of snow dissolving into the water. When I turned back around, I almost passed out.

Niall was in front of me, kneeling down on one knee, a box in his hands.

Holy flipping Hershey bars.

I felt my hand slap over my mouth.

Niall took a deep breath and began to speak. “When we met, I had no idea you would impact my life so much. You've been there for me whenever I needed somebody to be there for me. You've seen me at my best and absolute worst. I've laughed with you and cried in your arms. You put up with my anger and craziness. You know me more than I know me more than anybody else does and you see things in me not even I do. You show me the type of love and affection people wish they could experience. We've been through hell and back but yet you're still here. I honestly feel like the luckiest guy for having somebody like you walk into my life. Your voice calms me and your touch excites me. All I ever want to do is hold you in my arms. When I'm with you I have not one worry. You're honestly my best friend, my other half, my heart, and my soul. I couldn't imagine my life without you. I don't even like thinking about it. I can keep pouring my heart out and I know everybody wants me to just go ahead and ask already so here it is.”

I noticed his hands were shaking as he held the box..

“Will you marry me?”

Even though I was speechless, I felt my head moving up and down. Thank god my muscles still worked. "Yes."

Niall looked up, a smile forming on his perfect lips. "Really?"

"Yes you idiot," I giggled, wiping away a happy tear. "Did you ever think I'd say no?"

"Sort of." he admitted sheepishly, before stepping forward and taking my left hand into his. "May I do the honors?"

"Of course." I smiled, licking the melting snow off my lips. Niall slipped the ring on carefully. It was absolutely beautiful. A large diamond gleamed right in the middles, and along the rim, it was surrounded by smaller stones. I tried to say something, but I was still speechless. All the air had rushed out of me.

“Aria?” Niall laughed gently, slipping a finger under my chin.

Niall Horan just proposed to me.

Niall Horan just proposed to me.

Niall Horan just proposed to me.

Oh my god.

“I love you.” I managed to whisper. Niall smiled widely, before pulling me in for a kiss. His lips were warm against my cold ones, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t kissing my boyfriend anymore. I was kissing my fiancée.

I pulled away to admire the ring on my finger, staring at how perfect it was. So perfect.

“Do you like it?” Niall asked hopefully.

“Duh.”

Wow. Of all things I could have said, like of course, or I love it, or it’s beautiful, I chose to say duh. How very smooth and calm of me.

“Are you okay?” Niall frowned, cupping my face in his hands.

I nodded, looking up to see his eyes smiling. They were so bright.

“Better than ever.”

Niall laughed.

“C’mon, princess.” He said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go home. We have presents to open.”

With the two of us, walking together down the streets together, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind. Everything was perfect, and I didn’t regret my words.

I really did want to stay like this forever.

Notes

The end.

THE END.

Sequel is already up. It's called Little Misunderstandings. :)