The Voice

Of course, it’s no surprise that I was more than happy to see Demi leave. As a matter of fact, I smirked at her while she just rolled her eyes at me, hugged all of the guys, and left, just like that.

I was literally crying as Noah, Kiley, and Madi loaded up their cab to go. We stood around and hugged forever. I made plans to meet with all of them in Nashville after it was all said and done, and they all agreed—even Kiley, who lived in Boston. I hated it, but they had to go. They all had flights to catch because as much as they loved it here, they missed their families, so they got the first flight back.

Then that just left One Direction, Brinley, Harley, and me.

She came down the stairs, smirking as she looked at me. “I’m leaving for the night, Niall. Unlike Everit, I have a boyfriend. Not serious, but I’ve missed him.”

While I got the jab she was making not only at me but also to flirt with Niall, the idea alone made my heart race in my chest. She was leaving . . . which would mean I could be with Niall for a night, right? The guys wouldn’t mind since his judgment no longer matters as far as how well I do.

Niall actually rolled his eyes and nodded. “Okay, Brinley. Too much information for me. Just go see him. Let me know your estimated time back tomorrow. I’ll have the doors unlocked.”

I just happily began bouncing up the stairs, which confused Brinley a lot. Harley was following me, equally confused, but I just smiled down at her. “Have fun. I’m gonna enjoy every second you’re not here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, next week, when you go home, I’ll enjoy it, too.”

“At least I’ll be away from you,” I said, still just as cheerful.

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t stick around. I guess she knew Niall was about to intervene, so she just left.

The very moment she loaded up the cab that was picking her up and it pulled out of the driveway, Niall was in front of me, his eyes gleaming as he smiled lovingly down at me.

To my surprise, he took my face in his hands and kissed me. The surprising part was how gentle the kiss was, and it made my heart go crazy. I had to keep singing the We the Kings song in my head so I didn’t pass out.

Harry laughed from the bottom of the stairs. “Get a room?”

“Sorry,” Niall said, and he walked back down the stairs towards Harry. He stopped at the bottom and looked up to me with shining eyes. “Get changed and then come back down. Sound good?”

“Okay,” I agreed, and I hurried off into my bedroom. Despite the fact that I could change quickly and get down there, I had some internal explosions to calm down.

Not to mention . . . there was a beautiful bouquet of coral roses sitting on my dresser with a note from Niall.

Evie,
Time with you has been crazy and completely mind blowing. No matter the outcome of the night, I want you to know that I love you. More than words can express. We will always have a part of each other, but my heart is yours. I hope you’re still with me because that means I get to be with you sooner, but I can’t say for certain.
Either way, I love you, and I’ll see you again. With the possibility of forever, why wouldn’t we see each other again? Not to mention we’re both crazy for each other.
I hope you like the flowers. I wasn’t sure if I should, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted you to have something to either congratulate you or wish you well. Hopefully the first . . . :3
-Niall

After, you know, I flipped out, hid the card away so that no one would ever find it, and hugged Harley so tight I think he lost the ability to breathe for a moment, I began spinning around in circles, ready to just let out my excitement somehow . . . .

So, of course, I turned on my music and began jamming out. I wasn’t listening to my dance playlist. It was just my favorite songs so that I could sing along.

The song was Fine By Me by Andy Grammer. My pajamas were my soft cotton pajamas, a matching set. The tank top was hot pink with two pills, one happy and one angry, and the happy one is saying, “Take a chill pill.” The pants, which were lime green, had those two pills, a text bubble, and the phrase all over the pants. Since I liked the braid, I kept it in and put on the same shoes I wore to the eliminations.

While the song kept playing, I took out my contacts and washed off all my makeup. It ended about the time I got it all off, so I turned off my iPod dock and ran downstairs as fast as I could possibly manage.

Niall, in a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts with no colored contacts, was waiting for me on the couch with the TV and DVD player on.

My eyebrows rose. “What are we watching?”

“Is this okay?” he asked with a gesture towards the TV, almost like he was nervous.

I pressed my lips together as I appeared to be thinking about it. The more I looked at him, even with shining eyes, the more nervous he got, so with a laugh, I shrugged. “Your shirt has to go, but you can stay. And we can definitely watch a movie.”

That made him laugh, like I hoped it would, and to my delight, he actually took his shirt off. “Your turn?”

I stuck my tongue out at him and shook my head. “There are others here, you know.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Right. I forget that sometimes. Hey, uh, can I confess something to you?”

Even though this moment was everything I waited for, my heart started gaining a normal rhythm again. It felt strange. “Sure.”

“Your smile is the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, glowing red eyes full of so much . . . love . . . that I was surprised my heart didn’t just explode. After just slowing back down, it started pounding and racing all at once.

It messed up my lung functions, so I’m guessing that wasn’t very healthy. I felt amazing, though, better than ever, so I just shrugged it off and smiled coyly at him. “Can I confess something as well?”

“Of course,” he said, and he stood up from the couch and started walking towards me.

I waited until he was really close, close enough that I could touch him, before I manned up and just said what was on my mind with a confident smile. “It’s usually only there when you’re around.”

The way his already bright smile lit up made me question how it was possible my heart could be moving so fast without exploding. Still, it didn’t explode, so I just went with it and began dancing over to the kitchen, where I noticed he had some popcorn and Mountain Dew cans out. That made me grin, and of course, I put the popcorn in and began humming Chocolate by The 1975.

“You know, before I met you, I never knew what it was like to look at someone and smile for no reason,” I informed him when he regained his composure and stepped into the kitchen behind me.

This time, he had to cover his face with his hands while he had his spastically happy moment. That made me laugh, but I didn’t keep looking at him due to the fact that I had to get a bowl out for the popcorn.

I also changed the subject so that he had a chance to regain his composure completely. “I’m really not looking forward to having to deal with Brinley all by myself . . . . I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she hates me.”

That made him laugh a bit. “I agree. You know, a person hates you for one of four reasons. Either they want to be you, they hate themselves, they see you as a threat, or all of the above. With her, I’m thinking it’s the latter.”

I made a face. “She may think she wants to be me, but I don’t think she does.”

“Why?” he asked, and an adorably proud smile spread across his lips. “Because you’re a little crazy? Not ‘normal’ in any definition of the word? That, Evie, is what makes you so damn special. It’s what makes you, well, you, and that’s why I love you so much.”

To say that I dropped everything in my hand was no exaggeration or expression. The Mountain Dew can exploded after, of course, landing right on my toe, and the popcorn went everywhere. Niall looked very confused, but he was also concerned.

He wasn’t the only one either. Harry and Liam came rushing out of the bedroom with wide eyes.

“Ev, what happened?” Harry asked, and even though he sounded calm, his face showed great concern. “Are you alright?”

“Y-You . . . .” My eyes were still wide as I looked at Niall, who seemed to now understand what made this happen.

He waved his hand dismissively at Harry and Liam, who were still very confused, and pulled me very close to him. “That’s right, Evie. I am madly in love with you, and every day that I spend with you only makes me fall deeper in love with you. I want nothing more than to spend every moment of my life, however long that might be, with you beside me.”

There was no super amazing and cute response that I had, no heartfelt confession that he didn’t already know. He knew I loved him. If me telling him wasn’t enough, Brinley told him plenty of times, and I never denied it.

What could I say to all of that?

Harry and Liam started hugging on each other, dramatically sniffling as they went on about how their little Niall was growing up. Niall rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored them as he waited for me to respond.

“I would very much like that as well,” I said, and I gave him a smile. “You’re the type of boy I’d make a sandwich for. Have I ever mentioned that I make killer PB&J’s?”

Niall started laughing again as he shook his head. “No, but now that you mention it, I really want one.”

“Coming right up,” I said, and I placed a very loving but brief kiss on his lips. “I’ll clean this mess up. Why don’t we go to the movie room so that they can roam around here without worrying about us?”

“Oh, you just want to have sex with him again,” Harry teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “No. I just wanna be alone with him, and you guys can’t stay in there all night.”

“Touché.”

Niall kissed my forehead. “Alright. I’ll move it down there. Don’t worry about the mess. I’ll clean it up momentarily.”

So he very quickly moved everything to the movie room while I very quickly made him a sandwich. Liam and Harry were still in here, unsuccessfully trying to watch us move, and I got quite a kick out of their expressions. In the time it would’ve taken a normal person to get out the jelly, I had four sandwiches made and some more popcorn in the microwave. Niall had the mess cleaned up with me pinned against the counter about the same time I shut the microwave door.

“You have no idea how fast my heart races when I see you,” I murmured, and I surprised him when I tenderly rubbed my finger across his lips. They were so soft, and I wanted them to be against mine so badly. Yet we also needed to wait until we were alone, for the guys’ sakes.

So, I swallowed that back and instead turned away from him, something he clearly didn’t like. Instead of saying anything, I pulled out my phone to see what texts I had.

There were a few, two from Max, one from Chris, and one from . . . Ella.

Chris: Ritty! I’m so glad you got through! It was a nail biter, but I agree that you shouldn’t have been there. Don’t worry. You’ve always got my vote. :)

Thank you, C. (: I was so nervous! I mean, he was all like, “Everit—oh. Wait.” WTF?! I felt like everyone was looking at me and judging me. -.- It was nerve wrecking!

Max: Ev, you can’t do that to us! D8 We were freaking out!
Dude, Demi was wrong! People loved your performance just as much! It’s got over six million views on YouTube!

You were freaking out?! What about me? I was like, “WTF IS HAPPENING?!” D: And yes! I’m just glad she was wrong. :3 Though it’s great that everyone loved it as well. Everything feels so . . . unreal. I can’t wrap my head around it all. They all love me, Max. Me . . . .

Ella: Everit, holy crap! I voted for you, like, as many times as I could! I was flipping! America can’t do that to me anymore. I want you to do so well. You deserve to win this, and I hope you do. Really. I’m gonna continue voting for you and hoping for the best. You’re a great person, Everit, and I’m so sorry you had to go through that embarrassing time. :(

It’s fine, really. (: I’m just blessed to still be here. It was heartbreaking to lose Noah, Kiley, and Madi this week, but I’m gonna continue to go as far in this competition as I can for you, for my dad, for Max, and for myself. (: I wouldn’t say great person, but thanks anyways. It means a lot to hear from you. How are you doing?

Niall actually took my phone from my hands the moment I sent that text, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing when he ran at full speed away from me. Of course I chased him, and poor Harry, Liam, and Louis were just gawking in front of them. I think they were trying to see us but found themselves failing.

It surprised Niall when I was able to catch him, and I tackled him over the couch and into the floor. Neither of us realized how hard I tackled him until the coffee table broke and some of the wood went through my hand and his shoulder.

While he groaned and began pulling pieces of wood out of his shoulder, I did the same thing with my hand. The guys were very much aware of where we were now, and Zayn even came running in to see what happened.

His eyes were wide. “What the hell happened?”

Louis snorted. “Blur here, blur there. Oh look. There they are, and the coffee table’s broken.”
I grimaced. “I didn’t mean to tackle him over the couch . . . .”

Liam came back into the room with a first aid bag over his shoulder. The first thing he did was check and make sure there was no wood, and when he was sure we got it all out, he punished us by pouring the alcohol directly on our wounds. While we grimaced and such, he put some gauze on the wound and wrapped them tightly in Ace bandages. Of course, I knew we would be better by morning, but still. We looked funny.

Niall got this smirk when I held my hand out towards him, waiting. “What?”

“Give me my phone,” I insisted.

His smirk turned smug when into the kitchen, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and plate of sandwiches. Instead of even looking at me, he just walked towards the movie room. So, I knew there wasn’t much I could do except follow him and try and get it there.

I grabbed the drinks on my way in there, and when I got there, I saw that the title screen for Taken was on the huge screens with the loud surround sound playing the appropriate noise.

“As much as I love this movie, it doesn’t change the fact that you have to give me my phone,” I informed him.

He grinned. “Who says I have it?”

“Niall!” I playfully whined. “I’m serious. Please give it back. Where is it?”

“It’s in my pants,” he informed me, and when I looked, I saw that it was in fact barely sticking out of the waistband of his pants. “Come and get it.”

I had a smirk of my own when I crossed the room, before he could register my movement due to the fact he was still new to this, and pulled it out before it could sink into his boxers. “Got it.”

He pouted. “Aw.”

I just giggled a little and happily plopped down on the huge fluffy couch set up in here. “So, Taken it is then?”

“If you want,” he said, and to my delight, he jumped over the back of the couch so he could jump right down beside me. Immediately when he sat down, I laid my head on his lap and ate some of the popcorn on the snack table in front of us. “We can watch whatever you would like, Evie.”

So tenderly, so affectionately, he started rubbing his fingers through my hair, letting his nails ever so delicately scrape against my scalp, my eyes fluttered shut while a bright smile crept on my lips. “Taken with the exception that we make it a double feature with Taken and Taken 2.”

“Oh, that’s definitely a deal,” he laughed, but he didn’t move to play it. Actually, he didn’t change his position at all. He just continued to softly rub my hair.

Despite the adorable moment, I knew there was something I needed to say. My song made him realize I realized my mistake, but that didn’t just fix it. I still had to apologize.

Very carefully, I sat up and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about earlier. I just get jealous sometimes when I think that someone could make you happier than I could. I guess it’s my insecurities acting up because I know I’m not the prettiest, smartest, funniest, or most exciting girl in the world. I do, however, know that no matter how long or how hard you look, you’ll never find anyone else who loves you as much as I do.”

“I disagree with everything you said but the last part,” he informed me. “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and trust me, love. I’ve seen quite a few. You’re a brilliant girl. I’ve seen it, despite your blonde moments. You’re honestly extremely funny. It’s one of the huge reasons I began feeling an attraction to you. Girls who make me laugh are the best in the world, and you do every day. As far as exciting goes, come on, Evie! I’m turning into a superhuman, and one day, you and I are going to singlehandedly take down a massive corporation of mad scientists experimenting on babies. Where is that not exciting?”

“I just . . . I’m a broken mess, Niall,” I whispered. “Promise me. Promise me that you won’t leave, no matter how broken things get. No matter how hard I push you away.”

He smiled and kissed my forehead. “You know, Evie, it’s okay not to be okay. No one is perfect, so you can’t expect yourself to be perfect all the time anyways. You’re my definition of perfect, though, and that’s what matters to me. And, you know, maybe things won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. I can’t promise things won’t be broken, but I promise that through it all, through all the hardships and sorrow, I’ll never leave. You’re stuck with me now, lassie. Get used to it.”

Despite how selfish I felt, that made me laugh. “Oh darn.”

The way he laughed made my heart soar. It was a beautiful thing, something anyone was lucky to hear. Yet I was lucky enough to get to hear it every day of the rest of our forever. Niall and I were stuck together. Call it stupidity or call it love. Either way, I was his, and he was mine.

Nothing could or would ever change that.

Notes

The lyrics are from Brokenhearted by Karmin. :)

You guys are awesome. :D Your feedback makes me smile. I'm glad you guys enjoy reading this so much! Though I'm sorry it gives you bad sleeping habits. x3 It did the same for me. Haha.

I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. :3 Cute Niall/Evie chapter. :D Let me know what you think.