First You Fall

Chapter 31

Niall walked through the door of the mall after Kyle held it open for him. The mild trepidation he felt at walking into a mall quickly disappeared when it became clear no one gave a damn Niall Horan was in their midst. It was the middle of the day on a Wednesday anyway. Anyone who would care was at work or school.

Niall turned to his friend, still rambling about his date with Maisie a few nights ago,

"I feel like we've really gotten over this hurdle."

Kyle nodded as they walked through the mall,

"Maisie can be a lot, but I think the two of you could really be something if you'd get out of your own way."

Niall chewed on his lip,

"I lost a bet. So I planned this uber romantic date."

"Lost a bet about what?"
"Fortune cookies. Whoever had the worst one had to plan the date."
"What was yours?"
"Meh."

"Meh?"

"Yeah, that was it. Meh."

Kyle shook his head,

"That is a terrible fortune. Someone should lose their job for even cooking that into a cookie. What did you plan?"
"Just a basic date. I'm not exactly the romantic type."

"Didn't you just video tape a message asking her out?"

"Yeah."
"Don't sell yourself short my friend." Kyle took a breath, "Look, after we're done here...we'll go grab some grub."

"Alright." Niall looked around, "What are we doin' here anyway?"

Niall asked just as they stopped in front of a jewelry store. Kyle rubbed his hands together,

"We are shopping for a very important piece of jewelry, Young Niall. The most important piece of jewelry."

Niall's eyes widened,

"Serious?" When Kyle shot him a look he quickly smiled, "I mean it's great...it's just...you're gonna marry her?"
Kyle nodded,

"Tomorrow if I thought she'd forego the big white dress. But she won't and to be honest, I kinda wanna see her lookin' all Princessy while she walks down an aisle to take my hand."
Niall laughed softly as he followed Kyle into the store. Both of them shoved their hands in their pockets as they looked down into the cases illuminated with so much light the diamonds sparkled,

"What we lookin' for?" Niall asked.

"Perfection." Kyle answered.

------------------------

"Maze!" Niall had called out to her for the third time in the last 15 minutes with no response. There was one final box of Clarice's stuff left for them to put away and he wanted to make sure he wasn't overstepping his bounds by putting photos and trinkets where she didn't want them. Maisie walked out of her room,

"What?" She asked, rubbing lotion onto her hands, "Sorry I was answering an email."

She seemed a little frantic and distracted. Niall set the box down and reached out to touch her arm,

"Ya alright?"
Maisie wiped her hand over her forehead. She hadn't meant to alarm him,

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"What's goin' on?"

Maisie lifted her hands to her hips as she shrugged,

"My dad was arrested." She finally answered.

Niall's mouth closed as he let out a frustrated sigh,

"When?"

"Earlier today. Drug possession."