t h i r t e e n

Our flight was an hour and 25 minutes and it went by exceptionally quickly. Niall watched his TV show for most of it, only pausing it to go to the toilet or get another snack. I didn't mind though because he let me rest my feet on his legs while I sat on the sofa texting Liv. I only realised I hadn't told her that I was leaving when she asked me if I wanted to go out with her that night. She was over the moon that I had been invited to spend Christmas with Niall and she wasn't even a tiny bit angry when I said I wouldn't be able to go out to our favorite club on New Year's like we always did because I would most likely still be in Ireland.

My heart started beating 100 miles an hour when I felt the plane land and heard the engine stop. I saw Niall smile as he switched off the laptop and turn to me, "Nervous?" he asked. My face must've looked nervous because otherwise he wouldn't have asked.

"Just a bit," I lied but when Niall tilted his head I sighed and told him the truth, "Ok fine, I'm very very nervous."

"Don't be, my family will love you."

I smiled a small, nervous smile and stood up off the sofa at the same time as Niall. The door of the plane opened from the outside and I nearly threw up from nerves.

What if they don't like me. What if I say the wrong thing and then they think I'm the weirdest person in the world. What if I have to fly back to London all by myself because they hate me so much.

"Niall honey are you gonna stay in there all day?" a woman's voice came from outside the plane. Her Irish accent was even stronger than Niall's and it was clear that it was his mum speaking. She sounded happy and why wouldn't she be, her son was home.

"Just coming," Niall yelled back. He looked at me, "C'mon, my mum is dying to meet you."

He planted a quick kiss on my nose before stepping out the plane and walking down the steps. I followed right behind him all the way up to where his mum was stood by a white nissan qashqai. I stood back while Niall's mum pulled him in for a long hug. I knew it had been a while since they'd seen each other and it made my heart hurt because looking at Niall and his mum reminded me how much I missed mine. I refused to let my emotions get the better of me though so I took a deep breathe and put on my best smile in hopes I wouldn't come across as a totally boring 20 year old.

"Mum this is Lily, Lily this is my mum Maura," Niall introduced us and I shook her hand politely. 

"Your even prettier than I imagined. I mean, Niall said you were the prettiest girl in the world but you've somehow managed to exceed my expectation," Maura said. I blushed and shot a quick look at Niall who was rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment because his mum had just exposed him.

"Thanks," I said, a smile appearing on my face from her wonderful comment.

"Mum where are Lily's things?" Niall asked Maura.

"There," she replied, pointing behind me. I turned to see a man dressed in a navy fleece wheeling my suitcase and bag over to the three of us.

"Here you go Niall," the man said as he placed my bag on the floor next to my suitcase. Niall thanked him quickly and gave him a quick wave as he walked away.

"Ok, let's get these in the car shall we," Maura said and took hold of the handle of my suitcase before I could. Niall picked up my other bag and I was left feeling useless so I just followed the others to the boot of the car but they had already put my bags in by the time I got there.

"Shall we go?" Maura asked in a happy voice.

"Yeah," Niall replied. He seemed tense and I wanted to ask him what was wrong but it would feel weird if I did when his mum was right next to us so I stayed quiet until we were sat next to each other in the back seats of Maura's car.

"Something's bugging you, tell me," I said. Maura was singing along to the radio and it was clear she wasn't listening to us.

"I'm fine," Niall lied and looked out the window to avoid looking at me.

"Babe tell me," I said and nudged his arm.

"Babe?" Niall tore his eyes from the window and looked at me with a smile, "I like that name."

"Well I'll never call you it again unless you tell me what's wrong," I said stubbornly.

"Nothing is wrong princess. I'm just kinda annoyed that my mum loves you so much when your dad literally hates every part of me," he confessed.

"What? He doesn't hate you," I told him and it was true. My dad had agreed that he didn't hate Niall.

"Ok he doesn't hate me but he doesn't like me anywhere close to how much my mum likes you."

"Yeah that's true," I said and giggled a tiny bit.

"What's funny?" Niall said with a smile.

"You really care about what my dad think of you huh?"

"I mean kinda. I just feel like cause your his only daughter and I'm your boyfriend that I have to impress him."

"Why?" I'd stopped giggling and my voice had turned pretty serious, "Is it not enough that I love you?"

"Of course it's enough. I don't deserve you after what I put you through yet you gave me another chance," he sighed, "Sorry, I will no longer care about what your dad thinks of me, only what you think."

I smiled, "I love you... babe."

"I love you... princess," Niall kissed the tip of my nose. I wanted to kiss him properly and I knew he did too but it would've been far to weird in the car with his mum so we kept it as a small peck on my nose.

"I am here remeber!" Maura suddenly spoke from the front seat when I rested my head on Niall's shoulder, "So no naughty stuff!"

"MUM!" Niall shouted but we all laughed. We laughed and joked and talked all the way until we reached Niall's house and it felt effortless talking to Maura and Niall both at the same time. Maura reminded me of my mum a bit in that she was constantly joking and smiling and laughing at her son just like my mum always laughed at me.

I had no idea why I'd been so worried.