Love Me for Me

Chapter Twenty Four

NIALL’S POV

I blinked my eyes as they adjusted to the contacts I put in. I took one last look in the mirror to make sure I looked acceptable for the event. I turned off the bathroom light and walked into my soon-to-be old room. All of the stuff I needed was right by the door and everything else was next to my closet so that Carter didn’t have to search for everything. I grabbed my phone off the side table along with the small ring box and looked around the room one last time. I looked down at the little box and sighed, shaking my head. The gift I was hoping would be the best gift in the world was going to be the worst. I put it in my pocket and turned around, turning off the light and closing the door. I walked into the living room to see Carter already there fixing his sleeves.

“Wow.” I said, trying not to laugh. “You clean up nice, Carter.” He turned around and laughed- we were wearing almost the same exact thing.

“Hey, 2 great minds think alike.” I laughed and nodded, walking towards the front door.

“Come on. We need to get there before Sam does so she isn’t standing there alone.” He nodded and grabbed his phone off the counter.

“Do you have everything?” he asked as I started to open the door.

I looked back at him and nodded. I turned around and looked around the room, remembering everything that’s happened here in the past 4 months. “Yeah.” I said with a half-smile. “I’m really going to miss this place.” I said, turning around to leave. Carter followed me out and shut the door, about to start one of the worst nights of my life.

*~*

Carter and I walked past the park gates and up to the museum doors right next door. Once we got in, I checked my phone to see if Sam was here yet. “Where is she?” Carter asked, looking around at the art.

“She says she’s on her way here.” He nodded and we both started looking around, trying to stay as close to the front door as possible. “Isn’t it cool that after all these years Sam finally gets to showcase them in a museum?” I asked, looking back at the door constantly.

“Yeah. For as long as I’ve known her she’s always loved to draw and paint. I can’t wait to see her face when she finally gets to see her work hanging up in here.” I nodded and started walking back towards the door. Carter followed me and we both stood there waiting for her.

“What time was she coming?” Carter asked. I shrugged, looking at the front door.

“I don’t know. She just told me she was on her way here.” Just then, I saw Sam walk in the museum with a huge smile on her face. She immediately found me and waved, her smile even bigger. I could feel my mouth open, not expecting Sam to look like that. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Carter doing the same thing.

“Would you like a picture? It’ll last longer.” Sam said, now in front of us. She laughed and I smiled, Carter’s cheeks turning red. “Hey Ben.” she said, hugging me.

I smiled, still speechless. “Wow Sam.” I said, looking at her outfit. “You look amazing.” She blushed and looked down at her dress, biting her lip. Her strapless purple dress with gems on the top looked gorgeous on her. She had her hair in a low bun with a  braid, and her silver heels made her just about my height.

“And by amazing” Carter said. “He means hot.” Her cheeks became an even darker shade of pink and I slapped his arm.

“What he means” I said, trying to ignore Carter’s laughing, “Is that you need to wear dresses more often.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “Ha! Yeah right; I don’t think so.” I smiled and leaned in, gently kissing her lips.

She pulled away smiling and stared into my eyes. I’m not sure how long we stood there, but eventually Carter hit my arm and we both looked away. “So do you know where you’re sketches are?” I asked Sam.

“Yeah; they’re over here.” she said smiling. She took my hand and walked me over to where her sketches were. The three of us stopped in front of them and smiled, looking at them. I wrapped my arm around Sam’s waist, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

“This is so cool.” I said, looking at her. She nodded and smiled.

“You have no idea.” She looked at me and smiled, kissing my cheek.

“Oh God, is that all you’re going to be doing all night?” Carter said, slightly whining. “Cause if it is I can always find someone else to hang out with.”

Sam laughed and moved away from me, hitting Carter’s arm. “Shut up.” she said. “We’ll be fine.” She looked back at me and I shrugged, moving towards them.

“I don’t know.” I said, joking around. “You look really beautiful in that dress.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, but she slapped it away.

“Nope.” she said smirking. “We’ll be fine because there are other museums here looking at the artwork. It won’t look very professional if I’m always kissing my boyfriend.”

Sam winked and I laughed. “Alright, fair enough.” The three of us laughed and I grabbed Sam’s hand, walking over towards another group of paintings.

It was about an hour and a half later I was looking at some pretty cool drawings. Sam was off talking to a few of the other artists here and Carter left to get something to drink.

“Hey.” someone said, nudging my shoulder. I looked and saw Carter standing there holding a drink in his hand.

“Hey.” I said, looking back at the painting. Carter took a sip of his drink and looked over at me.

“It’s getting closer. Are you gonna give it to her?” he asked softly. I said nothing, sticking my hands in my pockets. I felt the ring box still in my pocket, and I looked down at my watch to see what time it was- 8:00pm.

I looked over to Carter and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go tell her now.” I looked behind me to see if I could find Sam anywhere.

“She’s near the drinks and snacks. I saw her walking over there as I was walking here.” I nodded and looked in that direction, seeing her back facing me.

“Alright.” I took a few steps what way before I stopped and turned around. “Hey, if I don’t come back in, I just want to say thanks for everything, Carter. It means a lot that you would do this for someone you barely knew.”

He smiled and nodded. “It’s the least I could do. You’re a really nice guy, Niall. I hope everything works out for you and Sam. She’s really happy with you.”

I smiled and nodded, turning around and walking towards Sam. As I came up behind her, I placed my hand on her back. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.

“Hey.” she said. “What’s up?” I took a deep breath and she stood up straight, looking right at me.

“Can I show you something?” I asked smirking, pointing towards the front door. She looked past me and nodded.

“Sure. What is it?”

I took her hand and we started walking towards the door. “It’s a surprise.” I looked back at her and smiled, reassuring her it wasn’t anything bad. Little did she know how bad the surprise actually was.