Niall’s P.O.V.
Ding! The elevator beeped as the doors opened. I smoothed my shirt and headed for Char’s flat. I saw El, Dani and Perrie heading my way, giving me huge smiles.
“Hey girls!” I told them as I walked by. Perrie slowed down for a second and bent her head next to mine.
“She’s a keeper she is.” She smiled warmly at me, nodded and gave me a friendly shove in the other direction before she went to join to the other girls in the elevator. I blushed and started walking again; so they did finally meet her. I’m glad they like her! I thought with a smile to myself. I arrived at her door, took one last breath and gently knocked on the door. A few seconds later the door swung open to reveal Char. She was wearing a blued long sleeve dress that looked absolutely gorgeous on her. My eyes scanned up and down her body before resting on her face. I looked her in the eyes the same second she looked into mine after scanning my body. I saw her cheeks blush and knew I was blushing too.
“Wow, you look absolutely beautiful.” I told her truthfully. I saw the blush on her cheeks deepen and smiled to the fact that I could make her blush so easily.
“You look pretty handsome yourself.” I felt my cheeks get even redder and offered my arm out to her, like a gentleman.
“Shall we go?” I asked her with a smile. She took my arm, closed her door and we headed off to the elevator. I glanced down to see she was in sandals, perfect.
We made small talk while in the elevator but I stopped her before she went out of the lobby.
“I just want you to know, there will most likely be paps following us at some time tonight. I asked the boys to try and get their attention tonight but the paps will most likely notice I’m missing and some might try to find me. If they do, I want you to be prepared. I will be here with you and help you, just don’t be scared.” I told her in a soft voice.
“I won’t be scared as long as you’re with me.” She stated and I smiled at how she answered. I quickly took her hand and led her outside. There were only two or three paps outside, and they were across the street, which I was thankful for. I opened the car door for her and then quickly got in the driver’s side. As soon as I pulled out I turned the radio on softly. “Carry On” by Fun. Came on and Char immediately turned up the volume. She sang along softly, and I couldn’t help but glance at her every few seconds. She had her eyes closed as she was singing and I could tell that this song meant a lot to her. I began to sing along with her and she smiled and opened her eyes to look at me. We were both belting out the lyrics by the end of the song which lasted all the way to Nando’s, seeing as it wasn’t very far away. We were both laughing as I parked the car and hurried over to open the door for her. I grabbed her hand to walk her in as there were a lot more paps there and they were crowding us. We hurried into the safety of the restaurant and I went to the hostess and she immediately seated us. I had requested a seat that was far away from the main doors, but also next to the windows that overlooked the city. It was a beautiful view and Char gasped slightly at the sight of it.
I helped Char with her seat before sitting down. We both immediately reached for the menu and I smiled, I was glad that she loved food, and over the last two weeks I had learned that she loved food almost as much as I do. Almost.
“So, you are the King here, what’s the best food here?” I let out a breath, how was I supposed to choose just one? “Oh, and I really like spicy food!” She added.
“Huh, well then, I guess you should try the peri-peri chicken for your first time here. It’s their signature dish. I’m gonna get a couple other things though, so how about we just order a bunch and try everything?” I asked her.
“Sounds perfect! I’m starving so that should work!” She said and I smiled at her appetite. The waitress, who was an elder lady and thankfully didn’t recognize us, came over and took our order. I ordered half the menu; with both of our appetites we would probably eat it all.
“Ok, so I say we play 20 questions. We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk and there are still a lot of things we don’t know about each other. You up for it?” She asked me as the waitress handed us our drinks. She got lemonade and I got coke. I smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
“Sounds great love!” I noticed her blush and smirked again at how easily I could make her blush. “But, we have to tell the truth. NO exceptions. If there is a question we don’t want to answer just say that.” I stated. She let out a breath as a smile plastered itself onto her face. I loved looking at that smile. It just made the whole room light up.
“And I think that we should ask the other twenty questions in a row, and then they get to ask the person that just asked twenty questions in a row. Does that make sense?” She asked me.
“Yup it does. Me first! Favorite color?”
“Easy, green.” She told me.
“Same here. Okay, top five pet peeves.”
“Girls fishing for compliments, when people are on their technology when I’m trying to talk to them, umm, when people are rude for no reason, when people are hanging out and practically everyone is on their phone or computer, and when someone shows me sympathy or pity.” She rambled. Why would someone show her sympathy or pity? Was there a specific reason? I asked her that and she gulped. “I’ve been through a lot in the past few months, and people tend to feel bad for me and look at me differently because of that.” I could sense she didn’t want to talk about that right now so I changed the subject.
“Number one turn on?” I asked her. Her eyes went wide as she started to laugh.
“Oh wow, umm okay, well I actually find it extremely attractive when guys wear beanies or snapbacks.” She told me, a blush starting to appear as she kept laughing. I joined in on her laughter. I had worn a snapback practically every day I was with her, no wonder I kept seeing her biting her lip after glancing at me.
“Nice one! Okay, most relaxing place?”
“The beach.” She answered immediately. I smiled. She would love the rest of the date then.
“Where do you go when you are thinking about something?”
“Umm, either the beach or I go to a swing set in a park.” She finally replied.
Our food arrived just then and we spent a few minutes grabbing plates and piling it with food. The questions came a little bit slower as I had to ask between bites.
“Favorite song?” I asked her after swallowing my food.
“Carry On by Fun.” She replied. “You could probably tell in the car…”
“That was my first guess.” I told her with a smile. “Okay, rapid fire now. Siblings?”
“Brother, C.J.”
“Birthday?”
“June 23.” It was coming up soon. Today was the 15 of June.
“Best friend?” She hesitated for a few seconds.
“Well it was Kylie, but know its Bri.”
“She was your best friend?”
“Well, she still is, I just don’t get to see her anymore.” She replied sadly.
“Why not?” I asked gently.
“She’s… she’s dead.” What? DEAD? What happened? How? I wanted to ask her but knew it would make her more upset. She was blinking a lot, and I knew she was trying not to cry. I was about to say I was sorry when I remembered she hates sympathy.
“Just because she’s gone, doesn’t mean she’s gone forever. She still lives in you.” I told her, reaching out to grab her hand. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand.
“Okay, next question.” She said, shaking her arms as if shaking the sadness off.
“Celebrity crush.” I tried to lighten the mood.
“Channing Tatum.” Was her immediate response.
“Favorite movie?”
“Harry Potter!!” She exclaimed. I could tell she REALLY loved those movies.
“Which one?”
“Deathly Hallows Part 1, but I love all of them!” I smiled; glad to see she was happy again.
“Favorite theme for a party?” I asked trying not to make my plans obvious.
“Masquerade ball.” She responded after some thought.
“Why?”
“The Phantom of the Opera had a masquerade ball in it and I’ve loved the idea ever since I first saw it!” By now we were all done with our food. I could tell she was full; she had pushed her plate away and was leaning against the back of the booth.
“You ready to get out of here?” I asked her as I found the check on the side of the table and opened up my wallet.
“Sure.” She started to open her purse but I quickly grabbed it out of her hands before she could.
“What were you doing?” I asked suspiciously.
“Grabbing my wallet?” She told me in a duh voice.
“Oh no you aren’t! I am paying for dinner. When you are with me I will always pay. Especially for the first date, a gentleman always pays.” I told her as I put down my credit card.
“That’s very sweet of you, thank you. And thank you for a truly amazing first date.” She told me, putting emphasis on the word date. I blushed, realizing what I had said.
“Oh, it’s not over yet!” I told her. I grabbed her hand and brought the check to the front of the restaurant to pay for the food. I then handed her her purse back and she gladly took it. Still holding her hand I guided her out of the restaurant. Flashes went off as paps took pictures and asked us questions but I just put a hand on her back and guided her through them. She was squeezing my fingers really hard, but I just squeezed back to let her know I was there. I helped her into the car and drove off as soon as I hopped in.
“Thanks, back there. It still kinda shocks me.” She told me.
“That’s alright love, I understand, it took me a while to get used to them.” I told her as I drove the familiar pathway to the beach I went to often. It was in a pretty secluded area so I didn’t have to worry about paps or fans around here. She took in the view as we drove and I could see the curiosity on her face, wondering where we were going. After about five minutes of driving I parked the car and hopped out. I opened her door and helped her out. I saw her face immediately break into a smile as she heard the sound of the waves crashing and inhaled the smell of the water. We both started to take off our shoes at the same time and then threw them into the back of the car.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the sand. I felt the sand squish through my toes and loved the feeling. I looked over to Char to see her face was one of absolute joy as she squished through the sand. We started walking along the beach, not saying a word. It was a comfortable silence, it didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable, it felt…perfect. We both stopped and I looked up at the stars. Since this beach was pretty secluded the stars were easier to see. Char bent her head back and rested in on my shoulder, still holding my hand.
“They are so beautiful…” She whispered, trailing off at the end.
“I agree, but I think you are even more beautiful.” I whispered in her ear. A small smile tugged at her lips as she lifted her head and turned to face me. Our faces were only inches apart. My heart was beating extremely fast and all I could focus on was how much I wanted to feel her lips against mine. I trailed me fingers up one of her arms and felt goose bumps erupt on her skin. I kept staring into her eyes as I continued to bring my hand up. It came to her cheek and I gently swept back a piece of hair that had fallen in her face. My hand continued to brush the hair back until it was resting on her neck. I felt her take in a breath as I slowly leaned in. She willingly leaned in and we closed our eyes. The moment her lips touched mine I felt fireworks explode. Her soft lips felt so innocent, so perfect against mine as I gently began to kiss her. She replied by kissing me back. Her kiss was sweet and vulnerable, and I knew she felt the fireworks too. Her hand moved to the back of my head as she continued to kiss me. We slowly took our lips off each other, and I opened my eyes to find her opening hers. I looked into her piercing green eyes and felt the fireworks again. A small smile tugged at her lips and I couldn’t help it. I gently reached forward and pressed my lips against hers, craving the feeling of them.

Notes

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm SUPER Excited about this chapter!! Please tell me what you think!! I'm sorry, but this will be the last update until sunday night or momday morning. I'm going on vacay! But I would REALLY love to hear your thoughts!!
COMMENT~RATE~SUBSCRIBE