Vigilant | N.H.

Forty Five.

July 4th, 2016.

NIALL'S POV
I never got the hype around the fourth of July. I mean, we're living on stolen land anyways. I'm not saying I hate America, but it wasn't even ours, to begin with. I try to overlook that part because there's nothing we can do about it now, but it's just unfair; honestly, the only thing I like about this holiday is the cookouts.

Growing up Irish, I never experienced any American holidays. I always thought that people here were so over-the-top on this day, but now that I do live here, I see why. It's not a religious holiday like Christmas or Easter, it's one dedicated to getting drunk, lighting off fireworks, and chanting "USA!". Of course, we honor those who fought for our freedom too, but you get my point.

"I fucking love being American," Harry says in an American accent. "Like, go USA!" I give him an annoyed glare as he runs up to me with a cold beer in his hand. "Cause baby you're a firework, come on let your colors burst," he belts out the lyrics to Firework by Perry as everyone comes out of their rooms.

My mouth drops open when I see Blair in a white flowy skirt and a red crochet tank top. Her skin is tan with a natural glow and her face is dusted with her light brown freckles. "Hi," she waves before she quickly shuts the door to finish getting ready. I shake my head and try to hide my smile so I don't get shit on by the guys. 

We decided to rent out a lake house on Lake Michigan and party here for the holiday. Harry's family is in, which means Blair is occupied with keeping Delaney calm. "Hey Anne," I shoot her a smile from across the kitchen as she greets me with one back. She's the sweetest soul ever and you can tell that passed onto Harry too, despite popular belief.

After a nutritious breakfast, we all head outside in our swimsuits and head down to the lake. "Come here," Blair says as she squirts a generous amount of sunscreen into her hands. I whine and try to run away from her, but eventually, I give up. "You're super pale so you have to be extra careful in the sun, Ni. No skin cancer here," she says as she lathers up my body. "Thanks, mom," I obnoxiously roll my eyes and smile.

The hot July sun beams above us as we board onto the boat we rented. Earlier I overheard Louis talking about boat tubing which I'm stoked for. As mature as I like to be mentally, there's no denying I'm still a child at heart. I mean, Blair says it best—she's dating someone with the maturity level of an 11-year-old.

We all spread out in the boat and have our separate conversations. The water rocks the boat gently as Liam drives us further away from shore. Blair looks into my eyes with her big, red heart-shaped sunglasses and hands me a wine cooler. Although we both agreed on being sober, we let holidays be the exception. I know that contradicts the word itself—so really, maybe I should say we restrict how much alcohol we consume.

"Okay, okay," she chuckles as everyone turns to look at her standing in the middle of the boat. "I know nobody other than Delaney and I are American, but that's not what today is about. For me, today is about us—it's about good times and all the love that we share for this life that we have. Over the past few months, I've grown to love you guys like family. I suppose since today is about freedom, I'd like to cheers to that. Without it, who would we be? Guess we'll never know. I love you guys." We all exchange smiles; this is the happiest we have all ever been. "I'll cheers to that," Zayn's deep voice calls out as he raises his drink to propose a toast. We all clink bottles and finish sipping our beverages before we decide to get in the water.

In order to anchor the boat, Liam made us refer to him as "Captain Liam." Thankfully, he exempted me from this one. It's probably because he knew that this time I wouldn't just threaten to drown him, but I actually would given our current location. He's a smart man.