Chapter 17
(Aubrey's POV)
"Ladies and gentlemen, your plane has now landed in Ireland. Please wait until the airplane is at a complete stop to unbuckle your seatbelts and get up. Thanks for choosing our airline," I hear the flight attendant announce, and I shake Niall's shoulder to wake him up. He opens one eye.
"We're here," I tell him with a smile. He opens his eyes totally and unbuckles his seatbelt. He grabs our bags from above our seats and we exit the plane.
Since Niall can be located really easy, we take the back exits to meet his mum. She looks so happy to see us, I can't help but smile.
She holds her arms open for a hug. "Oh, Aubrey. It's been too long! But, I'm so glad you're here. You don't know how much I've missed you."
"I know. I'm sorry for being gone so long. I've missed you too." After all, she is like my mother too.
"Wow. My own mother hugs Aubrey before her son." She chuckles and hugs Niall.
She kisses him on the cheek. "I spoke to you just yesterday. Oh, how I'm glad to see you together again." I look at Niall and he winks. "Well, you two must be so tired from your flight. Let's get you home."
"I'm sure Niall isn't that tired. He slept the whole plane ride," I say, getting in the car. Maura laughs.
"Oh, please. We all know you were sleeping too." He playfully sticks out his tongue at me.
We arrive at his mum's house and Niall unloads our bags and puts them in his room. I stay downstairs and talk to Maura.
"I can't believe how big you've gotten. Wow, the last time I saw you you were 13," she exclaims as she sits next to me on the couch.
I laugh. "It's been too long. You look great, though."
"Oh, you're too sweet. How have you been?"
"I've been doing okay. It was rough, but I think I'm all right now."
"I'm glad to hear. I wish I could've done more... You and Niall were so close and it heart my heart to see you go through that. At such a young age..."
I smile and notice Niall is downstairs now too. He sits on the other side of me. "Mum... I don't know if she wants to talk about this..."
I put my hand on his knee. "No, it's quite all right. I haven't really talked about it with anyone except Kelsey really. I kept pushing people away. I just didn't know how to handle the situation."
"That's understandable. How did Kelsey take everything?"
"Better than I did, that's for sure. But, I don't know if she was feeling more than what she let on."
"She probably thought she had to be the strong one," Niall says. "Because you were so young and now it was her job to take care of you."
"When I saw you both at the funeral, my heart just broke," Maura says. I remember that day quite clearly. "But, you're here now and that's all that matters. I knew you would come back eventually." She winks at me. She gets up. "Well, I have to start getting ready. I'm going out tonight. You two have any plans?"
Niall looks at me and I shake my head. "No," he says. "I think we are going to stay in tonight."
Maura kisses us each on the cheek. "I'll see you two later, then." She points at Niall. "Don't do anything stupid." I laugh.
He puts on an innocent face. "Never."
She heads upstairs and I lay down with my head in Niall's lap. He looks down at me. "Hey, can I ask you something?" I ask him.
"Yeah, anything."
"Why didn't you come to the funeral? Or the wake?"
He sighs and brushes some hair out of my face. "Well, I wanted to. But I didn't want to hurt you anymore than you already were. And don't try to tell me I wouldn't have hurt you because I would have. It would have hurt you to have had to see me and then leave all over again. And I didn't want that. I didn't want to cause you any more pain than you were already feeling."
"Oh, okay."
"Are you upset about it?"
"No, don't worry about it. I understand. You were always looking out for me."
He kisses me. "Haven't stopped."
I must have fallen asleep soon after that because when I wake up, it's dark out. I hear Niall messing around in the kitchen. I get up to see what he's doing.
He sees me and smiles. "Sleep well?"
I roll my eyes. "Great, thanks."
"You want dinner? I already ate. Couldn't help myself..." He says. I laugh.
"Sure," I take the plate he offers me and I sit down to eat. He sits next to me.
"So, you up to babysit Theo tomorrow? Greg asked me to watch him while they go out."
"Awww! I would love to meet Theo."
"He'll love you. I mean, my mum did hug you before her own son."
"Would you let that go?"
He shakes his head. "Never."
I shrug. "I can't help it!"
He laughs. "You want to help me wash these dishes?"
"Sure." I get up and drop my plate in the sink.
He throws a towel at me. "I'll wash, you dry."
A few minutes later, Niall was covered in suds. I giggled. "Niall, maybe I'll wash next time."
He looks down and back up at me with an evil smile. Oh no.
I start to run away but he chases me. "Niall, no! Don't you dare!" I scream.
He laughs. "Aubrey!! Just one hug."
He eventually catches up to me and envelopes me in a hug. He kisses my forehead. I look up at him.
"You," he says as he pokes my stomach. "Are so stubborn."
"And you are so annoying."
"But you love it," he winks.
"Debatable."
He juts his bottom lip out in a pout. I kiss him.
"Sometimes," I add. I point to the sink. "I'll wash, you dry. Yeah?"
He laughs. "Yes."
OKAY!!! Hello. This is being uploaded on Thanksgiving so Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it.
Thank you for all the reads!! I appreciate it. Keep reading and voting! Please check out some of our other stories!!!
I'm thankful for all of you and Mel!!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. XOXOXOXO, Olive :)
