Save My Love

"Alright, alright. Where is he taking you?"

"He said out to dinner."

"Did he say if its formal or not?"

"He said it's nice."

"Well that's helpful," Sammi sighed, staring into my closet.

"You go get your hair and makeup stuff laid out, and when you come back, I should be done."

I didn't hesitate and left the room to get my things together. I took as much time as I could, knowing how indecisive she could be. Eventually, I got bored of stalling and walked back in.

"All done?" I asked.

"All done!" she confirmed, stepping out of the closet with a bundle in her arms. She laid out a black dress that fell right above the knees, a gray cardigan, and black flats.

"Won't I be cold?" I asked, looking outside at the slight wind.

"You're wearing nylons, missy."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Arguing with her persistence was pointless, so instead of fighting back I rolled my eyes as she pulled out a pair from her purse.

"I knew you probably wouldn't have these laying around," she handed them to me, urging me to hurry before shutting the door behind her. I felt myself slump forward as I looked at the uncomfortable outfit that I'd be sporting in just minutes.

I walked out soon after, looking at Sammi with dread clouding my eyes.

"You look gorgeous, and he'll think so too. Now let me do your hair. I'll even let you do your own makeup."

I felt like it took all too long, but I'll admit, it was worth it. I looked put together and felt better than expected.

"I don't wanna go downstairs looking like this, Zayn's gonna laugh at me."

"He laughs because he doesn't have a date on a Friday night," she assured me.

She led me down the steps, making sure the coast was clear before motioning me down. My mom was in the kitchen, and Zayn was no where to be found. I was almost cleared for a straight getaway until my mom called us.

"Don't you dare think I forgot about your date!"

We both sighed.

My mom hurried out, looking surprised when she saw me.

"Honey, you look beautiful."

"See? You look stunning!" Sammi nudged me.

"Who looks stunning?" Zayn's voice sounded from the hallway.

"Whoa. Where are you going sis?"

"On a date!" my mom answered for me.

"Is it with the mail guy?"

"Yes," I muttered, just wanting to leave at this point.

And as if someone read my mind, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" I shouted before anyone else could, scurrying to the door.

I didn't think to calm myself before opening it, so when the pair of bright blue eyes met mine, I was a bit taken back.

"Good evening, Miss," he grinned at me.

"Hey," I replied, in a daze.

"May I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, of course! Sorry," I stammered, embarrassed already. I opened the door wider for him to enter.

"You must be Niall!" my mom gasped.

"That's me," he greeted, very politely and charming.

"I'm Pippa's mother, so glad to finally meet you."

"You as well!"

"And I'm her brother," Zayn chimed in quickly, as if he were the father figure.

"Pleased to meet you," Niall held out his hand, and Zayn shook it reluctantly.

"What time should I have her home?"

"Before 11."

"She'll be back by 10:30," he stated, causing Zayn to cock an eyebrow.

My mother and Sammi waved us on, hoping a good time for us. We were almost out the door when I remembered something.

"Oh, shoot, wait just a second!" I ran up the steps and into my bedroom, immediately locating the scarf and wrapping it around my neck. I quickly made my way back to the front door, stopping at Niall's side. His face lit up as he spotted the new addition to my outfit.

"Couldn't leave without this," I smiled up at him. He simply chuckled as he guided me out and shut the door behind us.

"You know, I meant to tell you that you look astonishing, but I didn't want to get on your brother's bad side."

"Oh, he's a big softie. He tries to act tough."

"I figured as much. But I thought it'd be fun to humor him," he laughed a little.

I'd never seen someone like him in real life before, opening doors for ladies and not only being polite to adults, but to everyone. I admired it about him. I didn't see one flaw in him until we were seated in that restaurant.

"Hello, my name's Harry and I'll be serving you tonight. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

I don't know if Niall knew the guy, or maybe he just rubbed him the wrong way, but something about the lanky waiter brought a slight scowl to his face. He wasn't bad looking, tall, big green eyes, and dark, curly hair. He seemed nice enough.

We both ordered waters, although I noticed he gave a small wink before he turned to leave.

"What's with him?" I asked curiously.

"I've met him a few times. I don't like him all that much."

"Why not?"

"He's a bit arrogant."

"Oh."

It was the first awkward silence I'd experienced with him, but it didn't last long as he quickly switched to another topic, and we were chatting like normal again.

The night continued like that. We'd be conversing, then Harry would show up, and turn Niall off for a few minutes before we were up and running again. I found it just a tiny bit amusing, but didn't say anything.

When Harry left the bill, Niall paid with cash and was the first to stand up to leave. I didn't question it, knowing exactly why, and began to trail right behind him. Suddenly I stopped, as someone grabbed my wrist.

"Have a nice night, lovely."

I snapped my head around to see our waiter wink one last time, before letting go of me and going on his way to serve another table. I looked ahead of me to see Niall a bit further away, seemingly oblivious to the situation. I hurried to catch up with him, trying to ignore what just happened.

"I had a great time tonight," I told him, as he started up the car to leave.

"Oh, we're not done yet!"

"We're not?"

"Unless you want me to take you home. That's not a problem."

"And be interrogated by my mom? That can wait," I stated, making him laugh.

"I was thinking we could take a walk, we didn't get to talk much back there."

"Sounds nice."

I smiled when he pulled into the lot of the park where we met. He got out, urging me to wait for him to get the door. I couldn't help but crack up at him, he was so focused on being a gentleman.

"I can already tell you're gonna be cold, so here," he shrugged off his coat and handed it to me.

"Thank you."

He helped my out of the car, shutting the door for me before we started on the little path that led into a bunch of trees. We didn't hold hands or anything, just talked and got to know each other more. He really was an interesting guy who seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and I don't think I'd ever been so fascinated with a guy before.

I hesitated a tiny bit as we approached the trees, looking into the dark hole. I didn't have a problem with scary movies, but walking through a potential idea for one didn't suit me well.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you," he stepped closer to me, our arms occasionally brushing. Normally, that phrase alone wouldn't do much for me, but he sounded to sure, I'd be a fool to question it.

I lifted my hand out of my pocket, not having to say anything before he took out his own to grab mine. The last things on our minds was romance, and quite honestly, I was frightened.

"Trust me?"

"What?"

"I said, do you trust me?"

I found it odd that he asked such a random, and blunt, question on our first date.

"Yeah."

He smiled and tugged on my hand, leading the two of us into the darkness.

Notes