“Mum, dad?” a small voice hissed from the doorway. Niall and I turned to face the door. Nicolette stood at the doorway a startled look on her face. “There’s a weird man downstairs. Who is he?”

“That’s one of mum’s friends,” Niall answered for me, his previous nervous expression wiped from his face. “Come on, I’ll take you down to meet him.” Niall went over to Colette and took her hand, glancing at me before leaving the room.

I sighed and finished the breakfast Niall had brought me and I had to admit, it was delicious. After a quick shower to freshen up, I went into Nate’s room to check on him. He breathed softly into his pillow, but his face still looked a bit pale. I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead to feel for a fever, and indeed it was still there.

“Nate,” I cooed softly, setting a hand to his small cheek. “Babe, you need to eat.”

Nate groaned and flipped onto his side, turning his back to me. “No,” he mumbled simply, before letting out a cough.

“Do you want to get better?” I asked him softly, sitting down on the bed. “Because if you don’t eat, then I can’t give you medicine to make you okay again.”

Niall didn’t move nor respond, but after a while, he gave in with a small sigh.

“I don’t wanna eat a lot.”

“Deal,” I smiled, slowly pulling him up into a sitting position. “Want me to carry you down?” Nate nodded, his eyes slowly closing once again. I scooped him up in my arms and carried him downstairs, where Nicolette was laughing at something Jace had said.

“Hi,” I whispered to Jace, placing Nate on the kitchen island.

“Nate,” I cooed. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

“Mhmm,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He blinked then a few times before getting a good look at Jace. “Who are you?”

“I’m Jace,” Jace grinned, waving at Nate. Nate waved back, sagging his shoulders.

“Nate’s been feeling a bit sick lately,” Niall looked at our son, “haven’t you, buddy?” Nate nodded, looking at the food filled plate on the counter.

“Is that mine?”

“Yeah.” I smiled and grabbed a fork, feeding his the scrambled eggs and sausages. I smirked to myself, recalling how he had said he wasn't hungry. Liar. Nate finished the whole plate of food and swallowed the medicine I gave him afterward.

“Can I go back to sleep?” he pleaded, rubbing his eyes again. “I’m tired.”

“I’ll take him.” Niall offered. He picked Nate up and headed towards the stairs. He haulted at the bottom step and turned around. “Colette, you coming?”

“Okay.”

“C’mon.” he winked and took her hand, leading both the kids upstairs.

It was just Jace and I left in the kitchen after that. He smiled and propped himself up onto a bar stool.

“Good morning.” he began, clearing his throat. “Niall said you had a rough night.”

I chuckled. “It’s not easy being a mom when your child is sick.”

“Have to taken Nate to the doctor yet? He looks very ill.”

“No,” I answered. “I haven’t. But I’ll have to make an appointment soon. I don’t think what he has is an allergy.”

Jace nodded in agreement and let out a loud sigh.

“So, I heard you and Niall are on better terms, now?” I brought up, trying to make conversation. I remembered the days when I could play and have fun with Jace without a single second of awkwardness. But things were different now.

“Yeah,” Jace exhaled. “I talked to him, and I told him I truly didn’t have any bad intentions. He’s very protective, thats for sure.”

“And do you think that a bad thing?” I smirked, watching his expression change.

“No,” Jace answered. “I understand that he has a wife and two kids, and that he needs to protect them. And after everything you told me last night, I realize that he only has become more protective, and all for the right reasons. What’s happening to you guys right now is very dangerous and I know that’s why Niall’s guard is up so high.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though I think he might take it a little too far sometimes.”

“Hes just being a dad.” Jace shrugged. “It’s his natural instinct to be protective, no matter what you say.”

“You know…” I trailed off.

“What is it?”

“Niall isn’t going to be the dad of two anymore. Soon it’ll be three.” I hinted at Jace. He took a moment to take in the words, the hard expression on his face becoming brighter.

“You’re pregnant?”

A grin spread across my face as I nodded.

“Wow,” Jace laughed happily, pulling me into a hug. “That’s amazing. How far along are you?”

“Just over four months,” I smiled proudly, my hands falling to my stomach subconsciously. “It’s going to be a girl.”

“Wow,” Jace laughed again. “Thats great.”

“Yeah,” I looked down at my lap with a smile as I played with my fingers. We were silent again, until Jace sat up straighter.

“I guess I’ll book a flight back to California then,” Jace cleared his throat. “Once again, I’m extremely sorry for disturbing your family like this.”

“Are you sure you want to leave so soon?” I frowned. “I mean, Niall is warming up to you and I’m sure the kids would love to get to know you better. I really think you should stay a bit longer. Book a flight for next week.”

Jace looked surprised at my offer, as if he expected me to kick him out right at his suggestion.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” I gave him a genuine smile. “You’re always welcome.”

“Thank you.” he exhaled, still clearly surprised that I wanted him to stay. “I just thought that since I lost contact with you, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. I thought-”

“You’re wrong.”I cut him off. “You’re a great guy and I know it. I trust you, even after so many years and that means something.”

“But I feel like staying here would push Niall’s limits. He still isn’t completely comfortable with me. I can see it in his eyes.”

“Well,” I shrugged. “He can’t have everything he wants.” Jace smiled and leaned back against the counter.

“You two have this love hate relationship.” he chuckled. “It’s cute.”

“Sometimes I think I hate him more than I love him.” I mumbled, a smirk playing on my lips.

“But thats how you always feel when you love someone. They piss you off to so many limits but they are always the ones who keep your sanity in place. It just works that way.”

“I guess you’re right.” I nodded. I was about to ask him how he knew so much, but then I realized his words were based of Scarlett when a pained shadow crossed over his face.

“Do you really think Scarlett might still be alive?” Jace asked, staring at me desperately.

“Yes,” I nodded slowly. “I do.”

“Damn,” Jace cursed. “I thought she was dead. It hurts you know, when you find out theres still hope that the one girl you love with all your heart might still be alive.”

“Jace,” I took a deep breath, “you need to understand that I have bad reasons to believe shes alive. I think shes against me. She wants to ruin me.”

“Scarlett?” Jace raised his eyebrows. “She would never do that. I know her.”

“Theres a lot of things about Scarlett that I feel no one knew about.”

“But…”he trailed off. “But Scar would never do that. She...she would never hate you. She loved you.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” I shook my head. “But it's hard to forget it. Just try to get it out of your head that a bullet almost killed one of your children.”

“Yeah.” Jace nodded. “I imagine that would be hard.”

“It’s a miracle I haven’t had a nightmare about it yet.” I gulped, shaking my head slowly. THe sound of footsteps heading down the stairs became louder, until my husband became present in the kitchen.

“I just checked Nate’s temperature,” Niall said to me. “He’s still burning up. DId you schedule him a doctor’s appointment?”

“No,” I answered. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jace get up to go to the guest room. I turned my full attention back to Niall. “Is he really getting that sick?”

“Yeah.” Niall exhaled. “Try and get an appointment for this afternoon.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” I sighed. “Friday’s are normally really busy.”

Niall shrugged, and stepped closer, searching my eyes for no particular reason. He stayed silent for what seemed like forever, then tilted my head up and kissed me hard and fierce. My gasp was covered by his mouth moving hungrily over mine. His arms wrapped around my back, strong and comforting, and my body slowly melted against his as he possessed me with his lips.

Finally, his arms loosened around my waist, and he detached his lips from my own. His eyes glittered as he stared down at me, leaning down to peck my lips once more.

“What was that for?” I asked with halting breaths. Not that I was complaining. My pregnancy hormones were practically begging for more.

“I just love kissing you,” Niall told me giddily, before pulling away to open the refrigerator. He grabbed a can of whipped cream and swirled some of the white whipped heaven onto his tongue, some excess cream smearing over his lips like a moustache. I grinned.

Niall laughed and lickled the cream off the top of his mouth, before putting the whipped cream back in the refrigerator. Again, he came over to me, simply throwing his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. He pulled away, but only slightly, our chests still touching.

“You know,” he whispered, a finger trailing down my cheek. “You still haven’t made use of the contents in the Victoria’s Secret bag.”

I blushed, looking down. “Maybe later.”

“I love it when I make you blush.” he smiled proudly, kissing both my cheeks. “But seriously, you should consider it.”

“I have a lot on my mind right now,” I protested. It was probably the weakest excuse I’d ever whipped up. Truth was, I was showing, and insecurities were at the top of my list. If Niall knew that I was insecure, he’d sit me down for an hour at lecture me about how I was beautiful and shit. I really didn’t want to deal with that.

“That’s bull,” my husband snorted, then pouted. “Do you not love me anymore?”

“That’s not true!” I gasped, ruffling his hair. “I love you more than every star in the sky.”

“I love you most.” Niall challenged, wiggling his eyebrows. “To every star in the sky and back times infinity.”

“Well I love you to every star in the sky and back times infinity to the power of cubed infinity.”

“Shit,” Niall cursed. “What does cubed mean again? I always sucked at math.”

“When a number is to the power of three.” I giggled as he tried to remember the fairly simple math term.

“Um, what does that mean?” he squinted his eyes at me seriously. I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair again.

“Just forget it.”

“Make a note to yourself,” he grinned. “Never combine school subjects into words of love. They don’t go together at all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I smirked, rolling my eyes. Niall let out a heavy sigh and grabbed me by the waist, hugging me tightly. We stayed like that, taking in each other in that small moment. And in that small moment, everything seemed okay. He tucked my hair behind my ear and let his lips brush lightly over my skin, whispering,

“I love you to every star in the sky and back times infinity to the power of four.”

“You lied,” I pulled back, slapping his chest. “You do know what a cubed number is!”

“Do not,” he protested, crossing his arms over his chest. “But after three comes four so I just kind of guessed the next number would be to the power of four.”

I groaned, confused at life.

“Do you love me?” he asked suddenly, picking me up and setting me down on the kitchen island. He stepped in between my legs and put his hands on my thighs, staring up at me. I was slightly ticked off by his question. He’d been asking me that a lot lately, as if he was questioning my love for him.

“Yeah,” I nodded, trying to keep in a giggle. “Sometimes.”

“Are you sure?” he asked slowly, still looking straight into my eyes. His blue orbs looked anything but confident. I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair, stopping at the back of his head. I pulled him closer and looked him dead in the eye.

“Are you sure?” I challenged. “Because it seems like you don’t think so.”

“No,” he sighed. “It’s not that. I just… we haven’t… we should uh, go out sometime.”

A small smirk crossed over my lips. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“No,” he protested, trying to hide a grin.”I’m simply asking you to accompany me some time when we both have time to breathe. It that too much to ask for?”

“It’s been incredibly hard to breathe these days,” I admitted. “Theres been a hell of a lot of shit going on.”

“Trust me,” Niall huffed. “I know.”

“Okay.” I smiled in answer to his suggestion. “It’s a date.”

“I already established,” NIall held up a finger. “It’s not a date. You’re just my accompaniment.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him by the chest, hopping off the kitchen island.

Niall grinned, kissing my cheek roughly. “Now, don’t you think you should make an appointment for Nate?”

“Can you do it?” I groaned, leaning onto him lazily.

“Sorry,” Niall stuck his tongue out, straightening me before slipping out of the kitchen. “I have other things to do.”

“Lazy ass!” I yelled at him as he darted up the long set of stairs. I heard him cackling loudly to himself, and couldn’t help but smile a little. Even when he was very unskillfully avoiding something, he still managed to be so darn adorable.

I shook my head, still smiling like an idiot, and picked up the phone.

---

Niall’s P.O.V.

Aria had to make the appointment, so in return I had to take Nate to it.

“So, what seems to be the problem today?” Doctor Roberts asked Nate, who sat on the small bed in the doctor’s office. He looked extremely tired, and still rather pale.

“He been having a fever for three days now, and he’s coughing quite a bit.” I answered for the poor kid, reaching up to rub his back. He jerked at the contact, and I realized his body must be sensitive since he was so feverish.

“Okay,” Doctor Roberts nodded. “Let’s take a look.” She detached a small light that had a popsicle stick connected to it and smiled as encouragingly as she could towards my son. “Say ah for me.”

Nate sat up straighter and opened his mouth for the doctor to examine. After looking in his ears, and checking his heartbeat or whatever she did with the stethoscope, Dr. Roberts came up with a diagnosis.

“It seems that Nate has got a strep throat. If he keeps complaining about the pain, you shouldn’t be too worried about it. He’s still in the early stage of strep, so it’ll definitely get worse for a couple more days. If the fever continues to rise, just contact the office for information.”

She handed me a prescription she'd been writing as she spoke to me.

“Make sure that Nate gets enough sleep, and that he uses the restroom regularly. These are two main ways to kill the fever.”


Looking at her carefully as she spoke, I realized she was actually a quite beautiful girl. She couldn’t be older than her late twenties, with dark brown hair and glittering hazel eyes. She seemed passionate about her work, truly dedicated to helping my son feel better.

“Just give us a call if anything seems off.” She concluded with a small smile, shaking my hand before taking her clipboard into her hand to leave the room.

I smiled sympathetically at Nate who was already falling asleep on the hard bed. I lifted him up and rested him on my left hip, carrying him out.

“Daddy?” he mumbled, his cheek pressed on my shoulder.

“Yeah bud?”

“Why don’t you smile like you used to?” he mumbled even softer. Still I heard his question and felt my muscles tense. How could a four year old have noticed tension in the house at his age?

“I always smile.” I protested, giving him a grin.

“Not always,” he shook his head. “You look sad at mum.”

Again, my heart clenched and I held him to me tighter as we approached the exit. I didn’t know how to answer to that. Luckily, I didn’t need to because Nate had passed out in a snap from his illness. After ordering and picking up his medicine, I headed for home.

My hands kept steady on the wheel, I couldn’t help but think about Aria. So much had changed in so little time. The change had been so drastic that even a four year old noticed it. Aria had become very quiet and often reserved. She seemed to get angry with me more often, and we just never had those long pointless talks at night where we just talked and talked about everything and nothing. She just wasn’t the same anymore, but neither was I.

There wasn’t the same passion and feeling in her kiss. They were always desperate kisses, as if she was looking for something to hold on to. It still felt good to have her lips on mine, but something was missing. Something big. I guess that’s why I had asked her so much, whether she still loved me. I knew she wouldn’t lie about that. But then again, my wife had been keeping so many things from me lately. I figured that we really needed a night to ourselves, just Aria and I, to find our love again. Because that was the big thing that was missing.

When I arrived at our house, Corryn’s car was parked in the driveway. I figured that Aria and Corryn were probably doing something related to Cory’s wedding. Unbuckling the seatbelt around my sleeping son, I picked him up and carried him into the house. I headed upstairs to place him on his bed, pulling the covers over him before kissing his forehead.

From my office, I could hear Aria and Corryn giggling about something in our bedroom. Call me nosy, but I was bored, so I tiptoed across the hall to eavesdrop.

“It’ll be just like the old days,” I heard Corryn sigh.

“It will.” Aria agreed. “Plus, he always manages to make any date eventful. I just hope it’s one where we can really sit and talk. You know, have a real conversation. We haven’t had one of those in a while.”

"You know what else I haven’t heard about in a while?” Corryn snickered.

“What?”

“Woman, you haven’t said a single word to me about you sex life. When was the last time you two did the deed?”

I felt my cheeks burn as Corryn asked Aria the question. It had honestly been way too long since we last has sex, but Aria either put it off by saying she was busy, or I never wanted to suggest it because she tended to look really worn out by the time we were able to be alone.

“I don’t know.” Aria answered. “I guess it has been a while.”

“Oh poor Niall!” Corryn exclaimed. “He must be craving you by now. You probably torture him every time you step into the room.”

“I-I don’t know.” Aria stuttered. “I don’t think-“

She stopped talking when I shifted my weight, causing the floor beneath me to creak. Shit. I gulped and took a few steps back, then sprinted towards my office room. I dove into my seat, opening up a music sheet editor on my computer to look like I was doing work, just as the bedroom door opened.

“Phew,” I heard Aria exhale. “Coast is clea- oh, hey, Ni!”

I spun around in my chair casually to face her. She looked so beautiful, making her way across the hall to my office. She smiled genuinely, leaning down to kiss me softly as I sat.

“What did the doctor say about Nate?” she asked, lowering herself to sit on my lap. I pulled her down and intertwined our fingers together.

“He’s got a strep throat. The doctor gave me a prescription medicine for the pain and fever.” I replied, pressing my lips to the side of her neck. Corryn was right. I was craving Aria, always had, always would. I still couldn’t believe how I had managed to stay sane when such an insanely beautiful woman claimed to be my wife everyday.

“So he’ll be okay?” The look of worry in her big blue eyes made me melt, hugging her to me as tightly as I could.

“He’ll be fine.” I nodded, kissing her hair. It smelled like strawberries and vanilla, the way it always had. I still loved that smell, that one that defined her. My hands rested on her growing stomach, and I began to rub the area, hoping that the baby would kick. I tried ignored the fact that Aria seemed uncomfortable with me touching her, the way her shoulders raised slightly and her breath sucked in. But I couldn’t. I dropped my hands from her stomach and gulped, slowly pushing her up from my lap. She stood in front of me looking a little lost. I was hurt.

“We’re still going on that date, right?” there was a playful tone in her voice.

“Yeah, of course.” My voice cracked noticeably. “Tonight.” Aria tilted her head to the side, studying my face. She nodded with a smile and blew me a kiss as she walked away. Then she turned, resting a hand on the door.

“By the way, Jace went to get groceries, if you were wondering where he was.”

“Did he?” My eyebrows raised. Aria nodded. “Does he know what to get?”

“I gave him a list.” She answered with a small smile. “He said doing groceries was the least he could do for letting him stay here.”

“That’s very nice of him.” I wasn’t too interested in the fact that a person that we barely knew was out doing our groceries. Still, I had to be nice, for Aria.

Aria looked at me again with the same curious expression. “It is nice of him,” she nodded slowly. “And I’m glad that you acknowledge that.”

Less than I’d like to.

“Yeah.”

“You know, Corryn took a liking to him. They met just before he went grocery shopping.”

“Wow,” I forced a smile to my lips. “I guess I’m the only one who was a bit hesitant about a stranger in our house.”

“Not a stranger,” Aria seemed oblivious to the sourness in my voice. “I know him.”

“Right. I wasn’t going to fight her. Even if this was a rather awkward conversation, it was something and I didn’t want to ruin ti by saying something rude, the way I usually did.

“Is something wrong?” her voice echoed through my ears, the sweet sound making goosebumps form on my skin.

“Everything’s great princess,” I nodded as casually as I could. “Everything’s great.”

“Okay.” She nodded slowly again, her eyes darting to the ground. “I guess I’ll just leave you to your work then.” She looked at my computer screen. “Writing more music?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “You’ll love this song.”

“Great,” Aria smiled wider, clapping her hands lightly. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

I watched her as she walked back to the bedroom, the way her hips swayed back and forth gracefully, the way there was a slight bounce to each of her steps. So beautiful.

---

Aria’s P.O.V.

Corryn volunteered to stay the night to look after the children, along with Jace. I could tell that Niall was not at all okay with Jace staying in the house with our children without us, but for some reason, he held back and didn’t say anything about it. I found that odd, but it was nice to not hear any rude comments about Jace. I really did trust Jace.

Niall was dressed casually, in a simple pair of khaki shorts and a fitted black shirt. A pair of glasses was set in his browning hair, and he was seated on the sofa waiting for me. When I approached the bottom of the stairs, Niall looked up at smiled.

“You look beautiful.” He said, standing up to come over to me. He put both hands on my waist and lifted me from the stairs as if I weighed nothing, hugging me so that my feet didn’t touch the ground. He planted a soft kiss on my cheek and set me down.

“Cory, Jace, we’re leaving!” he yelled, waiting for an answer.

“Okay!” Corryn answered from upstairs.

“Have a good time!” Jace yelled in return.

As Niall drove, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. I didn’t know why. This was just another date out of so many others Niall and I had been on. I hoped he wasn’t taking me anywhere too loud and packed with people. I wanted this date to be about us.

On the contrary, Niall drove and drove until we reached a large area of grass and hills. We were far from the city, so the moon and the stars shone brightly above us.

“Does this seem at all familiar to you?” Niall asked, turning the car engine off. At first, it didn’t, but then I remembered our very first date, when Niall had taken me to a place very similar to this in Ireland. It was a perfect first date, with just us. Just what I wanted now.

“Yes.” I exhaled softly, my eyes flickering up to meet his. “Our first date.”

The smile of Niall’s face subsided as he took my hands. “Well forget about that.”

He looked serious, and suddenly I was scared. Was he trying to tell me something? Did he want to divorce? Is that why he wanted to forget this? Of course, I’d been a little distracted lately, but maybe it was too much for Niall. Maybe he realized this was too much for him. Maybe he didn’t love me anymore, and that’s why he’d been asking me so much if I loved him back. I felt tears sting my eyes.

“I’m sorry.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I’m so sorry.”

Niall’s face contorted into a look of worry and confusion. “What? Why are you sorry?”

“Y-You’re getting tired of me, aren’t you?”

Niall dropped my hands and looked me dead in the eye. “I would never get tired of you. Never ever.”

The relief of his words must have shown on my face, because he smiled. “I just want to start over again. It’s obvious things have been really stressful for us lately and I want to pretend none of that’s happened. I just want to get to know the bubbly, amazing woman I fell in love with all over again.”

I smiled, because he was perfect.

“Hi,” I grinned, sticking out my hand. “I’m Aria.”

“Nice to meet you Aria,” Niall laughed. “My name’s Niall.”

“Niall,” I repeated his name to myself. “Like the river.”

“That’s so overused.” He shook his head and laughed. “But yeah, like the river.”

“So, why exactly are we in a car at eight in the night in the middle of no where?” I asked, still playing along with Niall’s suggestion.

“Well, I don’t know, but there’s food in the back,” he waggled his eyebrows.

“How did you know I like food?” I raised my eyebrows. “We just met!”

“What can I say?” Niall brushed off his sleeves. “I’m good like that.”

I grinned and opened the car door, while Niall did the same. He opened that car trunk and pulled out a large blanket, a gas lamp and a very big picnic basket. He led me to the grass and together we spread the blanket out, then sat next to each other with the soft fabric beneath us.

“So,” I smiled, turning to Niall. “You seem like an interesting person. What’s your story?”

“My story?” Niall raised his eyebrows. “Well, you better sit back, cause it’s a long one.”

“I’ve got time,” I smirked lightly, resting my head on Niall’s shoulder.

“I guess my life really began when I auditioned for X-Factor.” Niall said, snaking an arm around my back. “I honestly wouldn’t be here right now had I not tried out. After my band became a success, I met this really great girl with a broken heart and I wanted to be the one to fix her up.”

“Oh,” I smiled, my ears warm. “Was she really that great?”

“Greater than the greatest. The most beautiful girl in the world. Anyways, our story is extremely complicated, and I feel like you’d understand, even if I didn’t tell you every detail.” Niall smiled smugly, twirling a strand of my hair from behind.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “So go on.”

“I think I fell in love with her this one day in Australia when we confessed our fears to eachother. She told me she was afraid of love and I just knew if she were with me, she’d never have to feel that way. She had a really nice smile and a really beautiful laugh. After I met her, she pretty much was my life. And still is.”

“That’s deep,” I giggled softly, playing with my fingers. “Hope I can meet her someday.”

“You’d love her.” Niall nodded. “But for now, I guess it’s just you and me. So go on, tell me your story.”

“You sure you want to hear it all?” I asked him, cocking an eyebrow. “It’s even longer that yours, but I’ll make it short.”

“I’ve got time.” He retold my words with a knowing grin.

“Well, my life wasn’t much until I met these five amazing guys. Four of them are some of my closest friends while the other guy became even closer. I guess we had something. It was just a little fling, didn’t mean much.” I teased Niall, shrugging as if to brush it off.

“Just a fling?” Niall smirked. “Well you're blushing a lot, so I don’t exactly believe that. Anyways, go on. Was he great?”

“Greater than the greatest.” I grinned. “He obviously wanted to fix me, and he did. I think he was always a little insecure about himself because he got jealous really easy. But I don’t know. Sometimes, I just forgot how to talk around him. Whatever though, he was just a fling.”

“Just a fling?” Niall asked again.

“Yeah.” I chuckled lightly. Niall rolled his eyes and reached over into the picnic basket and pulled out a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. He adjusted the lamp so the light was brighter, shining illuminating his blue orbs. He silently poured wine for both of us, before handing one to me. He raised his glass and spoke.

“To us.”

I raised my glass and repeated him. “To us.”

We hit our wine glasses together lightly and took our sips, the sensation of the wine trickling down my throat. Niall let out a content sigh and set his wine glass down.

“What’s one thing you want to accomplish in the future?” he asked. “Random question, but we just met and I want to get to know you.”

“Well, I’d like to go bungee-jumping.” I answered honestly. “I don’t think that would have been my answer earlier, but it actually seems kind of fun.”

“That’s actually a good idea.” Niall nodded slowly. “Want me to take you bungee jumping sometime?”

“I don’t know,” I smirked. “You would have to get approval from that great girl of yours. You can’t make her think you’re cheating on her.”

“I’d never cheat on the girl I love.” he answered quickly, and seriously. I smiled, knowing he was talking about me.

“I know.” I nodded, speaking softly.

“I give up.” Niall sighed finally, laughing a bit at the end. “It’s confusing to pretend that I’m not talking about you when I’m talking to you. It was a stupid idea anyways.”

“No it wasn’t,” I grabbed his hands. “I think it was a really good idea. Fun, even.”

“I just,” Niall gulped, looking away. The cold wind hit my face, causing me to blink tears away. “I just need to tell you a whole lot of shit. Can you listen?”

“Of course.” I nodded, scooting over so that I was seated directly in front of him. “I’ll always listen.”

“Okay.” Niall took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “You know that I love you. I really truly do. And I want the best for you and our family. But I feel like you’re drifting away. I mean you’re still physically here, but there’s something missing. You don't smile the way you used to, and your laugh is empty. And I love you, so I’m worried. And I know I’m not supposed to worry because that makes you worry, but I can’t help myself. You already told me what's wrong, and I understand that and all, but...I don’t know.”

I nodded slowly, smiling when I was close to tears. “And thats why you wanted to start over. In hopes of helping us be the way we were.”

“Yes.” NIall answered. “But we’ll never be that way again. We’re never going to feel safe, and nothing is ever going to feel secure. I feel so bad, being so negative, but I can’t hold it in, Aria. I’m scared as hell, too.”

“But that will make us stronger in the end.” I told him softly. We were both smiling, tears brimming our eyes.

NIall took a shaky breath and picked up his glass of wine, taking another sip. He reached over and grabbed my hand, playing with the wedding ring on my finger.

“I love you so much.” he whispered, meeting my eyes.

“And I love you.” My throat clogged up as I tried to speak. “Always remember that.”

Niall pulled me in, our lips meeting with such force and passion. His lips moved against mine with experience knowing just when to enter my mouth. My heart pounded at a fast pace as he picked me up, setting me on his lap, my legs wrapped around his torso. Our kisses were desperate, screaming our love for eachother with every second of contact. He caught my tongue between his teeth and tugged on it teasingly. I let out a giggle that was soon covered up by his lips again. As his lips traveled down my neck, Niall lay me down on the blanket and crawled over me, his fingers combing through my hair.

“We’ll find a way.” he nodded, looking down at me. He pressed his lips to mine and kept them there, breathing in my scent. “We’ll get through this.”

“We will.” I agreed. I sat up and kissed him again, then grabbed his wrist and made him lay down next to me.

“Look,” I pointed up at the sky. “The big dipper.”

“Nah, that’s the smaller one.” he said, then pointed to a different constellation. “That’s the big dipper.”

“Since when did you know anything about science?”

“I’m not stupid.” NIall laughed. “I know what a star is.”

“Really?” I gasped. “Shocker. Truly a shocker.”

Niall attacked my sides with his fingers, tickling the shit out of me. I yelled and tried to control my laughing, begging him to stop. I know he enjoyed seeing me beg, but honestly, tickling was a cruel, cruel thing. I elbowed him in the arm and made him yelp, causing his arms to fly off of me.

I rolled away from him and into the soft grass as soon as he let me go, running away from the parked car and the blanket.

“You little fucker!” Niall gasped from far behind, chuckling as he ran after me. He caught up to me in a matter of seconds, catching me from behind. Niall pulled me back while I tried to keep running forward until I gave up and melted into his strong hold.

“It’s not fair,” I pouted. “I could’ve run faster if I wasn’t pregnant.”

“I would have caught you either way.” Niall grinned, tickling me under the chin. I tried to bite his finger, but he pulled it away on time. “You’re so cute.”

“You’re cute, too.” I grinned, knowing Niall hated to be called cute. “And you’re adorable and so pudgy and just so extremely precious.”

Niall seemed unaffected by my words tonight, kissing me deeply instead.

“I love your baby bump.” he smiled, pulling away to rest a hand on my stomach. “It’s so cute.”

“Just like you.” I smirked.

Niall ignored me and bent down to kiss my stomach over the fabric of my dress. “I can’t wait until it’s bigger. You honestly look sexy with a baby bump. Drives me crazy everytime I see you.”

“You’re weird.” I looked at him strangely. “How is a big stomach classified as sexy?”

“I don’t know.” Niall shrugged. “But you always look sexy so it doesn’t really matter.”

I blushed and wiggled out of his grip, running back towards the blankets and the food. Niall ran after me, meeting me back by our spot.

We spent the rest of the night talking, spilling out our feelings about everything that had been going on lately. It was an emotional night, with tears coming from the both of us, and for the first time in a long time, things truly felt normal again.

It was just what I wanted.

It was just what we needed.

This night was what brought us back together as one.

Notes

Hi guys! So I'm finally done with the stupid project and that means I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY can focus on writing again!!! CAN I GET A WHOOP. I'm so sorry for not updating for almost a month, so I made this chapter extra long. It's like eleven pages on a word document :) Thank you to those who were patient and I really really appreciate anyone who is still up to reading this series. Hopefully I haven't lost any readers! :)

P.S. Okay I'm just going to give my opinion on the You and I music video right now.
First of all, what is with Liam's beard. He looks like he is thirty and honestly he needs to shave. Louis and Harry both need hair cuts. Niall needs to put his hair back in a quiff because he looks really tired when he puts it down. Otherwise, the video was really cool, how they moved into their frozen bodies and stuff. PRETTY AWESOME SHIT. YYAAAASSS.

Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates! Go get some plastic eggs and chocolate! :)