A Light in the Dark // Flicker Series Part I #wattys2019

Tie Me Down

Chapter 48
Niall's POV // Tie Me Down

Evie fell asleep before we could discuss where she would be sleeping last night, and while I knew what her answer would probably be, I didn't want to assume and force her into anything. But personally, putting her in the guest room across the hall was pure torture for me.

I was happily surprised when I stirred to find her snuggling next to me this morning. The feeling of her warm body and cold toes sliding into bed with me had been more fulfilling than I ever dreamed it could be.

I've woken up tangled in sheets with girls I barely knew more times than I care to admit. In the moment some of them felt good, some of them felt hopeful, and some of them felt downright awful —it was no fault of the women I had given myself and my time to, but rather my own fault in not having better judgement at times.

But this, as everything else with Evie has been, this felt different.

This time, there were no drunken memories of the night before and wondering if we had done anything we would regret later. There was no hangovers. There was no regret or fear that she would go running to the press. It was just us in love, and in the purest form of that phrase.

We haven't slept together. We haven't had sex. And yet, here we are. Here I am, feeling happier in a relationship than I ever have before.

I find myself waking up next to a woman that I am madly in love with in a way that is more than physical.

Truthfully, I'm enjoying this different way of loving. This love that is based of of pure mutual attraction, and not physical reactions. Taking it slow and figuring each other out. Working through our feelings and loving that much deeper for it.

This weighs heavily on my mind as I make quick work of getting ready for the day, while all the while she is cozy in my bed and not going anywhere in the near future.

Having her here means the world to me.

This feels perfect.

She's home. And whether we're at my house or her house, or anywhere else in the world, she is my home.

She anchors me and ties me down and keeps me focused in a way that only one other person ever has.

My mum.

I return to the doorway of my ensuite and the breath leaves my lungs as I see that she's dozed back off in my absence and is softly sleeping, cozied up in the cocoon of my bed.

She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Her curly blonde hair in it's natural state, lies messily around her face. Her skin is flushed in the prettiest shade of pink, and her lips are plump and pink and parted just slightly as her breath goes in and out.

And she's mine.

I love that she's mine and I can't imagine it any other way.