ChatRoom101

Chapter 26

“Lucy, come sit on the swing, I’ll push you!” Niall shouted.

I giggled loudly before running to him and sitting down on the swing set. He then placed his hands on my lower back and gently pushed me off the ground. I started laughing, feeling like such a child.

After Niall had sweetly sung to me, we just laid down on the blanket before he got this genius of an idea of playing on the playground. So here we were, reliving our childhood and acting like a pair of toddlers. He continued to push me, higher and higher then he just let me go, letting me swing back and forth by myself until it stopped. I noticed him sit on the swing next to mine then he grabbed my hand we swung together, to and fro, in silence.

It was getting quite dark and Niall seemed to have another idea in mind. “Come on, I wanna show you something,” he said, tugging on my hand and leading me away from the play ground.

He led me to a little lake, not too far away and I was awed at how good it looked at night. The scene reminded me of the pond where we first met, except this was much bigger and was filled with more lights. There was also a little gazebo to the side of the lake and that was where he led me to.

“Wait for me here, I just need to get something from the car,” he said. I nodded and he turned and jogged away. While I waited, I looked around at the rest of the park, being slowly lit up with lamps and fairy lights and suddenly, it was a whole new world but just as beautiful as the last.

When Niall came back, I saw that he had brought back a different blanket, his guitar and the picnic basket. “I wasn’t aware you’d brought dinner,” I said, looking at him questioningly.

“It’s just sandwiches again. We can have proper dinner on the way back, if you want,” he said, chuckling.

“I’m sure your excellent sandwiches will be fine,” I joked.

He rolled his eyes, “Come on, we’re not staying here.”

“Where are we going this time, Nialler?” I asked, gripping his hand.

“You’ll see,” he replied.

And so I did. There were a group of small row boats that I hadn’t noticed before and Niall put the things in first before helping me get on. As he stepped on himself, he made it a point to make the boat rocked.

“Ah!” I squealed, holding on to the sides.

He threw his head back and laughed before stopping and sitting down opposite me. I glared at him but he just chuckled again. Then he reached for the oars and rowed us away from the bank and to the middle of the water.

He kept on rowing and talked to me about some of the things in this park that he loved the most. He also talked more about the boys and their music and how much he enjoyed what he does. I felt myself being engrossed in his words and he really fascinated me.

We went under bridges, past hedge sculptures, huge trees, displays and more fields of flowers. It was all magical and I couldn’t help but smiling widely and talking animatedly back, happy that I was here with him. Soon, he stopped rowing and reached towards the basket. He pulled out two sandwiches and gave one to me then he pulled out glasses and a bottle of juice.

I giggled and he looked at me and said, “I hope you don’t mind that we’re dining with juice, I would have taken wine but I’m driving.”

I laughed harder, “Oh Nialler, you should know by now that simplicity is my thing. We’ll save the fine dining for some other night, yea?”

He beamed and took a bite out of his sandwich. “I should take you to the studio sometime this week. I want to show you what we do when I’m not with you, or touring.”

I nodded eagerly. “That’s awesome. I finally get to see what pop stars do behind the scene,” I said playfully then winking at him.

He chuckled, “That you will. Although, don’t be surprised if it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.”

“Oh, I won’t little leprechaun. I’m not that delusional.” He stuck his tongue out at me and continued eating.

After we ate, he got his guitar out again and this time, he just plucked soft notes as we continued on the conversation. The music added more glamour to the night and again, I felt myself just get lost in the moment.

As the night wore on, it got really cold and I shivered involuntarily. When Niall noticed this, he sat beside me, threw the blanket over our shoulders and he pulled me tightly to his chest. I snuggled closer and let his body warmth envelope me as we sat in comfortable silence, looking up at the stars above.

It was getting pretty late, so Niall rowed us back to the gazebo and we both hopped off. He collected our things and led me back to the car. When we got in, he immediately started the engine and drove back to my hotel.

I looked at him and placed a hand over his free one. “Thanks for the best date ever, Nialler.”

He smiled and peaked sideways at me. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

I looked back out my window and leant my head on the headrest. Despite my efforts to stay awake, my eyes slowly drooped close and I let myself drift off to sleep.

The next thing I was aware off was someone lifting me from my seat and clutching me close to their chest. It must be Niall, we must be at the hotel already. I tried to open my eyes but only managed small slits.

“Shh, just sleep,” his voice whispered softly.

I didn’t object and my eyes dropped close again. The last thing I was aware of was blankets covering me and his lips being pressed to my forehead.

“Goodnight, Lucy. I love you,” he spoke softly.