Vigilant | N.H.

Twenty Seven.

April 4th, 2016.

NIALL'S POV
"Hurry up!" I yell to her as she giggles, knowing I get irritated when she's not on time. "I'm in sandals, leave me alone!" her laughter intoxicates my mind as a bright smile comes across my face. "Hi," she smiles into the kiss I place on her lips. "Took you long enough," I sarcastically roll my eyes at her tardiness. "All good things take time," she says as she fastens her seatbelt. "Not that long," I argue. "It only took God 7 days to create Earth and it took you 2 hours to get ready just to get your hair messed up by the wind," I continue to tease her.

"That's not the point," she chuckles. "I know," I respond back as I reverse the vehicle. "You look beautiful," I finally compliment her. Her attitude melts away with a genuine smile. "Thank you, blondie," her sweet voice calls out as she connects to the aux. To my surprise, she turns on something that isn't pop—Halo by Cage the Elephant begins to blare through the speakers.

I look over my shoulder and smirk at her, silently applauding her choice. "You know the only reason I started listening to alternative music is because of you, right?" she reminds me. "I couldn't stand it at first, but now I'm obsessed. It's so good," she admits which makes me smile. "I'm glad you like it, sunshine. I told you that you were missing out," I chuckle as the chorus blares in the background.

I like how we have our little differences. For instance, she hates the Chicago Blackhawks because she's a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I have no idea why, especially since she's from Ohio, but I have no room to talk because I'm not even from this fucking country.

"Are we almost there?" she impatiently whines from the passenger's seat. "Yes, we're almost there," I roll my eyes before I feel her nudge my shoulder. "Somebody's moody," she chuckles in amusement. "You do tend to have that effect on me," I tease at her, knowing she'll start with me. To my surprise, she lets it go.

Damn.

"Look at the dog!" she excitedly points like a kid on Christmas. On the sidewalk, a golden retriever puppy is being walked by its owner. "I want a dog so bad," her smile seeps into her voice. "We should get one," I smile over at her.

"What?" the shock in her voice exclaims. "I'm serious," I chuckle. "Obviously not right now, but in the future," I shoot my eyes over to see her beaming at me. "I'd love that," her tone lowers as her smile melts sweetly. I pull the car into the parking lot and put it in the park.

"We're here," I say as her eyes light up at the sight of ferris wheels and carnival rides. "Navy Pier day, baby," she says as she enthusiastically hops out of the car and begins to skip down the boardwalk. "Wait up," I run after her as I toss on my red and black checkered flannel.

I let my hand intertwine with hers as we pay admission and walk the grounds of the Navy Pier. I feel a tug on my arm before my body jolts forward towards her. "Let's do this!" she screams with excitement as she pulls me towards the spinning teacups.

An absolute child at heart.

As soon as we get on the ride she obnoxiously starts to spin the teacup cart, causing my head to go dizzy. I've never been a big fan of the feeling created when in a spiral, but I'll tolerate it for her—couldn't bear crushing her spirits right now. Her contagious laughter drowns out the sound of pedestrians passing by.

Her long, wavy hair wildly flies in sync with the April air as her smile peaks vividly through her blonde strands. "You're barely doing anything!" she criticizes my work. "Spin it faster!" she giggles as I tighten my grip on the wheel aggressively spin it around.

"Finally!" her laughter explodes as her eyes pinch shut. My head is spinning so fast that the only thing I can focus on is her. Honestly, there's not much to complain about. As much as I hate to admit it, the spinning sensation is quite nice.