the lonely hearts club || n.h au

ten

Aside from the incident where he froze when asked about his parents, Niall had a great time with Alexandra and her family.

It was daunting, he's not going to lie, when Alexandra introduced him to her family members. He kept expecting someone — Holly, maybe, because Alexandra warned him of her — to call them out on their bullshit. Or for someone to tell him: 'no, I don't believe you're Alexandra's boyfriend because I don't think she'd date someone like you.'

But no one did or said that — he was just being paranoid.

They did, however, ask them questions like how they met (they went to the same school), how it happened (Alexandra reached out to him, they started talking and agreed they wanted to make their relationship official) and how long they've been together (a few months). They also asked him some questions despite Alexandra's protests, claiming they needed to know him better if he was going to be around more.

So, all things considered, he thought it went smoothly.

Yesterday was the first time he really enjoyed his Christmas — his uncle would be thrilled to know that he didn't spend the day brooding. Niall wonders, briefly, how his holidays will look like next year, if he'll be as happy as he was yesterday or at least half as happy, or if he'll return to his regularly scheduled programming where he'll brood and spend the day cooped up in his flat.

He doesn't get to dwell on it long, though, as the sound of his phone chiming breaks the silence in the office that was, at some points, his uncle's second home. Now it's Niall's.

Cara Armstrong: cute couple alert!

And there, below the text is a picture taken yesterday with Alexandra's family. As surprised as Niall is to see the picture, he's even more surprised by the fact that Cara is now following Alexandra on Instagram — the devil works fast, but Cara Armstrong works faster.

Niall doesn't have his notifications on for Instagram seeing that he doesn't use it regularly — he might tweak that later — so he's unaware of the picture Alexandra posted on her Instagram. He's also unaware of the fact that she has approved his follow request and they're now following each other. Because when he opens his Instagram, the Christmas picture — posted twenty minutes ago — is the first thing he sees. He's tagged in it, too.

They took that picture several minutes after everyone had arrived. Although Alexandra had warned him that they'd be taking pictures on Christmas morning, he was taken by surprise when Claudia told him to be in the pictures as well. He was so certain that he would be the one standing behind the camera. Not in front of it.

As Niall made his way to stand behind the couch next to Alexandra as instructed by Claudia, he felt a tinge of guilt. He's not supposed to be there in the first place, let alone be in the family picture. It's not like he'd be around for long. One day, he thought, they'll regret asking him to be in this picture. Or maybe they'll cut out his face.

But his thoughts and his worries died in their place when Alexandra looked up and smiled at him. And all he could focus on was getting his heart to settle.

Niall could vividly remember how his heart kicked up a notch when she stood closer to him — not as close as she did when they took the pictures earlier, though. They were just following Claudia's instruction, but did the details really matter? Because everything else was real: from the warmth that surged through him when Alexandra asked him if he was okay, and to the pure, unadulterated delight he felt when the family joked about not giving him and Alexandra sparkly jumpers next year because they made everyone else paled in comparison.

And he sees it now. How happy he looks in the picture and if he dares says it, he and Alexandra look good too.

Cara Armstrong: Fionn thought you two look cute too