Vigilant | N.H.

Twenty Nine.

April 9th, 2016.

BLAIR'S POV
"Good morning, sunshine," my Mom creeks the door open. I jerk up at the sound of the nickname—it sounds weird hearing it come from anyone who isn't Niall.

Oh shit, I need to text Delaney.

"Good morning, Mom," I say as I fumble for my phone on the nightstand. I laugh at the words I type out, knowing it's the perfect way to tell her.

"Good morning, I'm dating Niall," I press send and smile at the words.

Incoming call from Delaney Bridgers.

I answer and say "hello" just above a whisper. "HELLO? DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY?" her voice shouts on the other end of the line. I nod my head and chuckle at her reaction. "You did," I confirm as the line goes silent. She probably passed out.

"Blair do you know what this means? You guys are like, official, and like, you could end up together for good-" I cut her off and hush her. "You're so loud, I need to make sure nobody hears," I lightly warn her as she lowers her tone and giggles. "I'm sorry, I'm just so damn excited for you, especially since you both aren't the relationship type," she explains. "I know, I know. Well, looks like we're both officially off of the market. I love you, I'll talk to you later!" I say my goodbye. "Bye, I love you!" the line disconnects.

I sneak into my bathroom and prepare a quick shower. Once I'm done, I let my hair air dry and apply mascara. I throw on a pair of blue skinny jeans and a white cropped sweater. Today, I'm going to show Niall around town, and then we're going to hang out with my Mom. There's not a whole lot to do here but I have a few good places picked out for us.

I grab my phone off of the counter of the bathroom sink and make my way out of my room and into the kitchen. The smell of pancake batter and bacon grease flows through the air as I sit down at the table. "Look at you," I stare at Niall in a white apron, flipping golden brown pancakes. "You like it, yeah?" he turns around and flaunts his new look. "I love it," I giggle as I make my way over to him and steal a piece of bacon off of the plate.

"You're ruining my plans for my plate presentation," he rolls his eyes and continues to make everything. "Yeah, yeah," I quickly speak as I lean against the counter. "Maybe you should close your place and open a diner," I jokingly toss the idea up in the air. "If I ever do I'll be sure to never leave any food unattended," he chuckles as I make my way over to pick at the pancakes. "Smart man," I nod at him before grabbing a plate out of the cupboard.

He swats my hand away as soon as I try to put food onto my plate. "No," he shakes his head. "I made breakfast so I'm serving it," he says. I kiss him on the cheek before pouring 3 glasses of orange juice for all of us. "You're so cute when you're defensive," I say as I go to check on my Mom.

"Hey, need a hand?" I enter the tiny laundry room. "You know I always appreciate it," my Mom thankfully responds. I begin to fold socks, pairing them up with their matching ones. "You picked a good one, Blair," she genuinely states. "And you know how cautious I am about men, especially when it comes to who you date," she raises her eyebrows at me, letting me know she's referring to her past.

"I did, didn't I?" I can't help but to smile like an idiot. "I really like him, Mom," I tell her even though she knows. She stops folding for a second and turns to face me. I stop my motions too and direct all of my attention on her. "What?" I ask, confused by what she's doing. "That's a damn lie," she chuckles. "What do you mean," I ask, confused about what she's talking about. A smile comes across her face as she softly speaks out his name.

"Niall," she says which instantly brings the widest smile to my face. "You've always been a smart girl, Blair—stop lying to yourself," she advises me. "What do you mean?" I start to get annoyed. "That's the smile of someone who's in love," she lightly brushes against my shoulder as she exits the room, leaving me alone to reflect.