Mae ran down the stairs as she heard a knock on the door at 6:23 with a smile on her face, knowing it was Niall. Even though he was late, she was happy he had finally arrived. Once she reached the front door she opened it quickly to see Niall standing there in a black polo and blue jeans. He smiled once he saw Mae and kissed her cheek as he put his hand on the small of her back, causing her to smile. She had never received a kiss on the cheek from a cute boy, but only from old relatives that weren’t satisfied with just a hug from her. She never enjoyed them because they made her feel uncomfortable.

But the ones from Niall, she loved.

“Hi,” Mae said quietly as she grinned at Niall.

“Hi,” Niall said as he removed his hand from Mae’s back and followed her through the foyer and into the kitchen, to see Mae’s mother finishing up dinner with her father at her side.

“Mom, Dad,” Mae started, getting their attention. They both turned around. Mae turned and looked at Niall. “This is Niall.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Niall,” Tom said happily as he extended his hand for Niall to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you, also, sir,” Niall said politely as he took hold of Tom’s hand and tried to give him the manliest shake possible.

“Just call me Tom,” he said.

Niall nodded as he shifted his gaze towards Mae’s mom. “It’s nice to meet you, too, ma’am.”

“LeeAnn, please,” Mae’s mother said happily as she shook Niall’s hand gently. “It’s great to meet you. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving,” Niall said, his smile growing wider. “Thank you for having me over, by the way.”

“No problem at all,” LeeAnn said, her tone full of happiness and enthusiasm. “I’m just finishing up dinner, so you all can just have a seat at the table if you’d like.”

Mae led Niall over to the kitchen table, where they sat down next to each other. Tom walked over and sat down so that he was across from Niall. Niall looked over at Mae.

“I hope you weren’t upset that I came over so late,” he began, knowing that he should have been over at Mae’s way before 6:20. “The guys and I went out, and we kind of lost track of time. I feel awful.”

“It’s okay,” Mae assured him, a smile on her face. “You didn’t mess anything up.”

“Well, Niall,” LeeAnn sighed as she set a ceramic dish down on the table. “I hope you like Chicken Florentine and cooked veggies.”

“Never had it,” Niall said. He looked into the pot, before looking back up at LeeAnn and smiling. “But it looks great.”

“So, Niall, where are you from?” Tom asked as he handed the spoon to Niall, so he could get food for himself first.

“Thank you,” Niall said as he took the spoon from Tom and got himself some Chicken Florentine. “I’m originally from Mullingar in Ireland. Then we moved to England a long while ago, when I was about six years old.”

Tom nodded. “Those places both seem nice; we’ve never been there. Do you like what you’ve seen so far down here? It’s a pretty nice area; we like to come here.”

“I do like the area a lot, actually,” Niall said, keeping conversation. “The beach is really nice, and where Mae and I went the other day was a lot of fun. The little shops were really cool and it’s a lot different from what I grew up around.”

“Are you homesick yet?” LeeAnn asked curiously. “Don’t you want to go home after three weeks?”

“Nah,” Niall chuckled. “I like being with my friends, and Zayn’s parents are great. They aren’t extremely hard on us so they don’t make us miserable to the point where we miss home, thankfully.”

LeeAnn smiled to herself and nodded. “So, tell us more about yourself, Niall.”

+

After dinner, LeeAnn began to pick up everyone’s dishes and what was left of the dinner. Mae began to pick up the silverware that wasn’t used and the empty glasses, causing Niall to feel bad about not knowing how to help. He looked around the table and began picking up the hot pads that the ceramic dishes were set on, and he took the empty vegetable dish off the table and walked it over to the counter, where Mae and her mother were standing. LeeAnn looked up at Niall and laughed.

“You don’t need to help, dear,” she said as she took the dish from Niall’s hands. “You and Mae go do something; I have everything under control.”

“Do you want to go outside?” Mae asked as she looked over at Niall. “We can sit by the water or something?”

“Sure,” Niall nodded, before Mae led him through the kitchen and the family room to the back door. They walked out together and once they got onto the porch they took off their socks. They made their way down the porch stairs and towards the cool sand, and they sat down next to each other when they got far enough from the house.

“Your family is nice,” Niall said, glancing over at Mae. “Thanks for having me over.”

“You’re welcome,” Mae replied. “Sorry about all the questions.”

Niall shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me. So, tomorrow would you want to go fishing on the pier or something? Do you even like to fish?”

“I’ve never been fishing, really,” Mae said. “But that sounds like fun.”

Niall nodded before he and Mae both fell silent. Neither of them knew what to say, but that didn’t make things awkward; they were in a comfortable silence, and Niall liked that. He didn’t feel the need to talk all the time when he was with Mae, and as stupid as it sounded, he just enjoyed her being there with him, whether or not she had something to say. He tried to push the negative thoughts of what would happen to them at the end of summer out of his head, not wanting to mention it in case Mae got sad, or weirded out, about it. He wanted to just enjoy his time with her without thinking about the future.

Niall glanced over at Mae to see her eyes closed as she let the cool, Florida wind hit her face and comb through her hair, and he couldn’t help but smile. He had no idea why he thought she looked so perfect at that moment, but his smile was uncontrollable. She looked so relaxed and so calm, even with Niall around, and that made him feel good.

“Wanna lie down?” Niall asked as he leaned back and put his arm behind his head. Without saying a word, Mae began to lie down beside Niall, who put his arm out to support her head (and to get even closer to her). Mae didn’t show any sign of discomfort as she lied back against Niall’s arm, and Niall looked down at her to see her smiling at him.

“What?” he asked, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

“This is just so cliché,” she sighed, adding a quiet giggle. “I like it. Is that weird?”

Shaking his head, Niall smiled. “I don’t think so.”

A few seconds later, Mae sat up just enough so that she was hovering over Niall. She never made a move on a guy, but she had a random surge of confidence that made her want to. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted him to kiss her back, and she thought it would be perfect to do it on the beach at night. She looked at Niall to see that he was already looking at her, a tiny smile on his face. And before she knew it, she was putting her lips against his.

Mae felt Niall smile into the kiss, which made her smile. He sat up slowly, their lips never disconnecting, and put his hand on the back of her neck to deepen the kiss. Mae pulled away a few seconds later and grinned.

“I didn’t think you would ever kiss me first,” Niall informed her, laughing quietly.

“Sorry,” she said as she felt her cheeks heat up. She placed her hands on her cheeks in embarrassment. “I don’t know how I got the confidence, honestly.”

Niall laughed loudly. “I honestly didn’t think you had it in you. No offense.”

Mae gasped and slapped Niall softly. “And you do?”

“I was planning on kissing you like…tomorrow, maybe?” he chuckled. “I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about it, though.”

Mae slowly lied back down, only to be joined by Niall seconds later. He put his arm around her once again as she scooted closer towards him. Niall sighed to himself as he rested his head on top of Mae’s, inhaling the strawberry scent of her hair. He liked feeling her body against his, feeling her heat, and he couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the day.

Notes

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