Pen to Paper [N.H.]

9.4 - Improvements - River

Niall's POV

We walk by the river as I take in the stunning scenery. The waters are calm, the bridges are beautiful even though simpler than the other ones I've seen in this city. There are lots of people here, half of them are drinking, some are having a picnic, there are even some with Bluetooth speakers playing music. I follow her as she picks an empty spot to sit on, far enough in between two different groups of people. We sit face to face, legs flat on the floor with the bottom of our feet touching.

I watch her as she's looking around at everything.

'You're doing it again!' She teases.

'Doing what?' I play along, knowing the answer she's gonna give me.

'You're staring!' She chuckles.

'Well, do you have to be so beautiful?'

'Yeah, I actually do!'

'Oh yeah? And why's that?'

'So you'd have something to stare at!'

'Well, you're not wrong. By the way! Did you talk to your friends? Did you tell them you're coming back on Wednesday?'

'Yeah, I texted Izz before I got out of the house. She had so many questions but I told her that I'm in a hurry and couldn't talk now.'

'She probably wants to know what happened with me.'

She nods silently looking away to the river on her left. I turn in my seat, hanging my legs over the edge and I invite her to do the same.

'No! What if my shoe fell in the water?'

'What??' I ask confused but laughing.

'I always have this weird paranoia that something is gonna fall off into the water, my phone, my shoes, anything.'

'Well, your phone and purse are far enough, they are safe.'

Then I untie her shoes and tie them again, making sure they're tight, but not too tight it hurts.

'Well, they can't fall off now, can they?'

She hesitates but then turns and sit like I am. I move I little closer to her since she's not sitting as close to me as I'd like, and then I put my arm around her shoulders. I get that I'm pushing my luck a little. But if she doesn't want me to be close to her, she'll make sure I know it. So I'm not losing anything.

'Just say you wanted to put your arm around me!' She chuckles.

'Is this okay?'

'I should probably say no, but I kinda don't want to.'

'Who cares about logic. Just follow your heart. What is it telling you?'

'It's telling me that it misses having so close. And it misses your scent and your soft touch.'

I place a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder and another one on her neck. But I go to kiss her cheek she moves away blushing.

'Niall! We're in public!'

'So? We're in Paris! And no one recognised us.'

'Okay, but still, I'm not sure this is a good idea.'

'Alright, sorry.'

I move slightly away, but when I started pulling my arm away from her, she gripped my hand and put it back where it was.