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

In My T-Shirt

Chapter 83
Niall's POV // In My T-Shirt

December 27th - 5 days

After spending the holiday in Ireland with my family, Evie and I hopped on a plane back to Tennessee the day after Christmas. We hated to leave, but knowing that we will be spending a lot more time there made it a little bit easier.

After years of traveling across timezones, my body still has no idea what a sleep schedule is so I was wide awake very, very early this morning. Evie, on the other hand, always gets hit extra hard with jet-lag and refused to get out of bed when I nudged her this morning.

Our plan was to get up early today and start packing up her house, but when I tried to wake her up my efforts were less than successful. I may or may not have been hit with a pillow in the process.

Since I knew my normal methods of gentle nudges and kisses weren't going to work, I went to my next weapon.

Coffee.

I park in the driveway and step out of the car with two coffees from Beck's in hand. I stop half way up the path between the driveway and the front door and I take a minute to stare at this place that she has called home— a place that I came to call home as well.

This is kind of where it all started for us. My mind plays a reel of the memories we've had in this house.

My eyes flicker from the overall view of the house to the front porch. Images of the night of Nora's dinner parter flash in my mind. Evie opened the door for Beck and I and when I saw her she took my breath away. I had dreamed of her since I met her at the airport and I was going crazy at the thought that I would never see her again. I knew there was something about her. It was like my own personal Cinderella story, but instead of a shoe all I had was a memory of her face and those deep blue eyes.

That entire night will always be one of the best nights of my life.

For years I had wished that I could find someone who would make me forget who the world saw me as. When everyone else had left the party that night, Evie and I sat on the couch and talked for what felt like hours. It was easy. And after she fell asleep on my shoulder it hit me that whatever was going on between us was exactly what I had been looking for all these years. She made me forget everything else and everything felt completely natural between us, even after only meeting a handful of hours before. I think part of me knew even then that she was the one for me.

Then I think of the night I asked her out for the first time and we went to Harry's sound check. When I brought her home we sat in my car, parked at the curb in front of her house and I made my first promise to her. She was quick to make playful promises with me that night about coming to my shows and FaceTiming while I was away for a month. When things became more serious between us, it became a bit more difficult to get her to believe in the promises I had wanted to give her from the start: forever.

It took some time, and some days I think she still struggles to believe that this is real, but I will wait as long as it takes and I will remind her with every chance that I get.