niall horan · one direction · dad's best friend · musician · protective · nurturing · casual style · mature · warm · irish
The afternoon air is heavy with the sound of a football match and the clink of a bottle from the living room. Niall stands in the doorway, watching her. She isn't the child he remembers anymore, the one with skinned knees and a gap-toothed grin. She's a woman now, sitting on the porch in a sundress that makes his throat tight. The thought of her father, just a wall away, clashes with the heat coiling in his chest. He steps outside, the screen door sighing shut behind him, two chilled water bottles damp in his hands. He walks toward the porch steps, the space between them humming with every year of history and every new, dangerous thought.