Truly, Madly, Deeply - A One Shot
For Shwee. Love you, girl xx
I’ll never forget the day I met the love of my life. The two of us were at McDonald’s and I’d accidentally bumped into her, sending the frappe in her hand flying. It spilled everywhere, and she just kind of stared at it, unsure what to do about it.
“Let me buy you a new one,” I said quickly. She couldn’t stop blushing and she shook her head.
“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll just get a new one. It’s okay, really, don’t worry about it, Niall,” she replied. I was surprised that she knew my name but wasn’t screaming like most of our fans did. Something about her was just so… perfect. Everything about her made me happy even though I’d just met her. Hell, even the way she casually spoke to me, as if she’d known me for years, made me happy.
“Please… Let me buy you a new one.”
“If it’ll make you happy, then fine,” she said. I smiled when she finally agreed to let me buy her a new frappe and I quickly went up to the counter and ordered it. When it was ready, I grabbed it and the two of us got out of the way of the other customers who still needed to order.
“Are you in a rush?” I asked. Please don’t be in a rush… Please let me sit down and chat with you…
“Um… No, not really,” she said. “Why?”
“Well, I just bought you a drink and I want to make sure every last sip is perfect.” She smiled and shook her head, probably in disbelief that I wanted to spend time with her. I sensed that she didn’t find anything about herself extraordinary and that she probably thought there were other girls I’d rather spend my time with, but there weren’t. She was the first girl who’d caught my eye in all my years as a member of the biggest boy band in the world.
“Don’t you have to run off and go do a show or something?” she asked politely.
“Nah, I’ve got the day off.” She nodded and led me to a booth in the back corner where I think we both hoped nobody would bother us.
“Let me get this straight… You get a day off and you choose to come to McDonald’s?” Ashley chuckled.
“They’ve got good coffee!” I argued.
“Well… I can’t argue with you on that one,” she said. “I’m Ashley, by the way.”
“Oh, as if I don’t know who you are… I can’t believe you’re… real.”
“Believe it, babe,” I replied. She giggled at me and then began asking all sorts of questions. The two of us talked and talked for hours on end until one of the managers came and told us that it was closing time. Ashley checked her phone and swore under her breath.
“My mom is probably going to flip shit when I get home. I was only supposed to get coffee and go shopping and come straight home… I’m surprised I don’t have fifty texts from her asking where I am.”
“Did you drive here?” I asked as the two of us stood from the booth and walked outside to the parking lot.
“Yeah, my car’s right there.” She pointed to a small, silver car and I smiled. It was small and simple, and I loved it.
“Well… I’m only in town for another day, but I’d love to see you again,” I said quickly. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at me. The streetlight illuminated her face in the most amazing way. She was absolutely stunning.
“Really,” I said. I smiled slightly, ignoring the thousands of butterflies in my stomach.
“Well… I’m free around 5 tomorrow,” she replied.
“Dinner?” I asked. Ashley nodded and the biggest smiles crossed both of our faces.
“Can I have your number?” I nodded and held out my right hand, extending my phone out in my left hand.
“You give me yours, I’ll give you mine?” I asked. She nodded and took my phone and entered her phone number into my contacts while I did the same to her phone.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Niall.”
“You sure will, Ashley,” I replied.
“She’s coming next week?!” Liam asked, shocked.
“Yeah, she’ll be here on Tuesday,” I replied. “I can’t wait for you guys to meet her. She’s seriously the cutest girl I’ve ever met.”
“She must be, if you got her pregnant so damn fast,” Louis said. I rolled my eyes at him – he always gave me shit about my relationship with Ashley. Sure, the way we met wasn’t incredibly romantic, and our relationship was a little strange since we only got to see each other once every other week, but I loved her and I couldn’t wait for her to finally move from Wisconsin to London so that the two of us could be together all of the time.
“Seriously, Niall. You two were dating for like three months before you knocked her up!” Louis teased. I felt my cheeks get warm as I blushed. It felt strange for the five of us to be talking about my love life and not Liam’s or Zayn’s relationships.
“What can I say, she’s a babe,” I replied, trying to be smooth.
“You’ve only seen this girl like eight times in the past seven months,” Harry said. “I can’t believe you’re going to have a baby with her. And that she’s moving here to be with you…”
“I think it’s quite romantic,” Liam chimed. “I really can’t wait to meet her. From what you’ve told me she’s a really great girl.”
“Liam, he hardly knows the girl,” Zayn said. “What if she’s psycho and she’s hid it so well since the two of them hardly ever see each other? She could have one of those tumblr things where she writes creepy poems about you for all we know.”
“Oh come on, Zayn. She’s not like that. She was so cool when we met; she hardly even acted like I was a celebrity. It was… refreshing. And just because I haven’t seen her much doesn’t mean I don’t know her that well, guys. We Skype each other every single night!”
“Well, I hope it works out for ya, buddy,” Louis said as he patted me on the back.
“Thanks, Louis. Me, too.. She’s flying in and then she’s taking a helicopter to meet me somewhere special… It’s going to be perfect.”
“I had no idea you were such a hopeless romantic,” Harry said.
“Well, now you know,” I replied. “After I take her to dinner, I want the four of you to meet her, is that alright?” They all nodded and I was relieved. My plans were going well, and there were just a few more days to wait before I’d finally get to implement them.
The five of us sat around and I listened as the boys asked me questions about Ashley. She’d been the only subject I ever talked about for the past few months, but the boys hardly knew much about her because I mostly just discussed the conversations that Ashley and I had. It had gotten late, though, and the five of us decided to head our separate ways for the night. I stayed up most of the night, thinking of ways to make Ashley’s arrival even more special. A big party, I thought. I want everybody I care about to meet her. Maybe even Greg, Denise, and Theo can come… Theo can meet his future auntie…
I walked into Wal-Mart, excited to buy the newest book in one of my favorite series. I picked up one of the blue shopping baskets on my way into the store and tried to go unnoticed on my way to the back of the store with no luck. A girl came up to me and started asking me all sorts of questions.
“You’re Ashley, right?” she asked. I had no idea who the hell this girl was or how she knew my name.
“Oh, sorry, I’m Kendra. I recognized you from this magazine,” she replied. She held up a magazine and opened it to one of the pages. Sure as shit, there I was, walking down the streets of Milwaukee, hand-in-hand with the love of my life.
“Wow, there were paparazzi there? Huh… I never even noticed,” I said. I’d grown up in a small town and I always thought that I’d never be able to handle having paparazzi around all the time, but really, it’d gotten to the point where I hardly ever noticed them.
“Are his eyes as blue in person as they are in the pictures?” Kendra asked. I smiled to myself and nodded.
“And his accent? Do you ever get tired of it?”
“Never,” I replied. I missed his Irish accent. I wanted nothing more than to hear his voice at that moment. Well, I really wanted Kendra to leave me alone so I could buy my book and go home and read it, but hearing Niall’s voice was an extremely close second on the list of things I wanted badly.
“So… When are you due?” She gestured towards my slightly swollen belly and I smiled. I put my hand on it before answering.
“April,” I said. “On the twentieth, actually.”
“Wow, that’s a ways away,” the girl replied. I shrugged my shoulders.
“It won’t be too long of a wait. I get to go see Niall next week, and once I’m with him I won’t mind the wait.”
“Aww! Do you get to stay in London with him?” she asked. I nodded again.
“Yeah, I fly out next week, and then I’m taking a helicopter to meet him somewhere. He won’t tell me where, though.” It felt strange having such a casual conversation with someone I hardly even knew.
“Are you happy? About the baby, I mean.”
“Well, I wasn’t at first because I’m young and Niall’s always going to be touring, but we worked a little something out with management and now I just can’t wait,” I explained. “But hey, I actually have some shopping to do, so I’ve gotta run. It was nice meeting you, Kendra.”
“Oh, alright… Lovely meeting you, too!” she replied happily. “Can I get a picture with you?” Why in the hell does she want a picture with me? I’m not famous; I’m just Niall’s pregnant girlfriend…
“Uh… Sure, why not?” I said. She pulled out her phone and I smiled while she snapped the picture. She thanked me and then went on her way. I let out a sigh of relief and went back to my shopping. Thankfully, nobody else stopped to talk to me.
I found the book I was looking for and decided to buy a few baby books, too. I went over to the baby section and found a few cute things that would easily fit into my suitcase and tossed them into the basket. My basket was full and I went up to the front of the store where I used the self-checkout to avoid any more conversations with strangers. I quickly rung up my things, shoved my money into the machine, took my change and my items, and left the store. I drove home, listening to my baby and his band mates play through my speakers.
When I got home, I eagerly showed my mom the things that I bought and she just smiled and shook her head.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you move to England,” she said after I showed her everything. “I’m still not sure how you convinced me to do that.”
“I didn’t, Niall did,” I replied. “He can be pretty manipulative, Mom. He’s just so damn cute. You can’t say no to those baby blue eyes of his.” My mom rolled her eyes at me, laughed, and helped me put my things back in the bag.
“Your flight is on Monday, right?” she asked. I nodded.
“At like nine at night, yeah.” My mom was clearly upset about me moving, but she knew that it was for the best.
“Alright, well… I put your suitcases in your room, you should start packing tonight,” she replied.
“Got it. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” My mom nodded and I turned away and went downstairs and into my bedroom. Instead of packing like I should have, I lay on my back and began reading the new book I’d just bought.
Monday came faster than I’d anticipated. I still had a ton of packing to do in between my numerous trips to the bathroom to puke. Morning sickness sure was a bitch.
I finally got all of my things packed just minutes before it was time to leave, and my mom and I both sat on my suitcases so that they would zip. Niall was paying for the flight and had sent money so that I could check more than one suitcase without it hurting my wallet too much. He was always so considerate.
My mom and I made our way to the airport in Chicago and she was nearly in tears the entire way there.
“I just… I can’t believe my baby’s moving to London! And that my baby’s going to have a baby and I won’t be there for it!”
“Mom, calm down. You know Niall will gladly pay for you and Dad to come and visit us whenever you want to, including when the baby is born. And he’ll probably pay your phone bill if you want to call me every day, too.”
“No, no, I couldn’t let him do that. He doesn’t need to send us money!”
“Mom, this is Niall we’re talking about. He doesn’t give a fuck if you want him to send money or not, he’s just going to do it and then you’re going to feel bad and you’ll use the money for whatever he says it’s for.” My mom smiled for the first time that day.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said. “I’m just going to miss you… You’ll have to come and visit once or twice a year after the baby’s born and big enough to go on planes, okay?”
“Okay, Mom. I promise I will. I’ll even write you letters and send all sorts of pictures.” The smile that was on her face slowly faded as we pulled into the airport parking lot. We were both silent as we got my bags out of the trunk of the car and made our way into the airport to get my ticket. Apparently, Niall had bought me a first class ticket. I smiled when the woman handed it to me.
“You’re all set!” she said. “You’re in gate 6 in concourse E. Enjoy your flight!” The lady asked my mom if she wanted a pass to come to the gate with me and sit with me until my flight came, and my mom nodded. The woman strapped a wristband on her and sent us on our way. We got through security and wound up sitting down for about half an hour before they began boarding my flight.
I stood up and hugged my mom really tightly. I promised her I’d call the second I got to London and told her I’d miss her a lot. I told her I loved her and the two of us cried – she cried much more than I did, though. I swung my backpack over my back and walked up to the man grabbing the tickets. He smiled politely, ripped off my ticket stub, and handed my half back to me. I smiled back at him and walked down the ramp that led me to the door of the plane. I was greeted by friendly flight attendants who showed me to the first class area of the plane. I sat down and took a deep breath – I’m finally going to London.
“GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!” I screamed as I ran into the room where Louis, Zayn, Harry, and Liam were hanging out.
“SHE’S COMING! SHE’S ON HER WAY! SHE’LL BE HERE IN A FEW HOURS!”
“We know, Niall!” Liam said. He was laughing at my excitement.
“We know, Niall!” Harry echoed Liam.
I went over the plan with them yet again and they all nodded. They were familiar with the plan – I’d gone over it at least twenty times that week – but I wanted to make extra sure that everything went perfectly. Ashley was flying into London in the late afternoon. She would be greeted by a man in a suit holding a sign with her name on it, and he would lead her to the helicopter. The helicopter would fly her to the rooftop of my favorite restaurant, and I’d meet her there. After we had a romantic, candlelit dinner, I’d take her to a hotel where the boys and I were staying for the night, and I’d introduce her to them. We’d have a big “welcome to London” party in the ballroom downstairs and everything would just be absolutely perfect.
The day passed by agonizingly slowly and I spent a majority of the day sitting in my living room, already wearing my suit. Lou Teasdale, our stylist, had come over and made sure my hair looked just right and that my tie was straight.
“You really like this girl, huh?” she asked.
“I love her, Lou,” I said.
“Well, she’s lucky to have you. You’re sure she’s going to be up for this extravagant plan of yours after traveling all the way here from the States?”
“If she’s too tired when she gets here, I’ll just move the party to tomorrow, it’s not a big deal.” Lou smiled.
“It’s so cute the way you’re pulling out all of the stops for this girl. I get to meet her, right?”
“Of course, Lou! You and Tom and Lux are all invited! Even Paul is invited!” I had invited not only the boys, but every single person I could think of that I’d wanted Ashley to meet.
“And it’s fancy dress, right?”
“Well, I’m wearing this,” I said. She laughed and nodded.
“Yeah, I think I can find something that’ll work. I’ve gotta head home and get Lux ready. I’ll see you tonight then, Niall. I hope your date goes well!”
“Thanks, Lou! And thanks again for all your help,” I replied. I led her to the front door and waved goodbye as she left.
I was rudely awakened from my nap by a flight attendant asking me to go back to my seat and put my seatbelt on. She told me we’d be landing in just a few minutes, and I quickly snapped out of my sleepy stupor. I went to the seat, sat down, and buckled the seatbelt tightly. I couldn’t wait until I landed. I hoped that I didn’t get lost in the airport and that Niall had arranged for somebody to get my bags. I looked down at my clothes and reminded myself to change before getting on the helicopter. My black leggings, TOMS shoes, and red fleece jacket just weren’t going to cut it for my first time seeing Niall in almost a month. I’d packed a nice dress and flats in my backpack to change into once I got off the plane. I wanted to look perfect for Niall and whatever his big plans were for me.
The landing was rough, and I nearly threw up the contents of my stomach, but I managed to keep it down. I waited until everybody else was off the plane before standing up. I steadied myself, grabbed my backpack, and walked towards the front of the plane. The flight attendants smiled and waved at me and I thanked them for everything before leaving the plane. I walked up the ramp slowly, as my knees and ankles were killing me from sitting for so long. When I got out into the gate, I saw a bunch of people hugging their family members and friends, but I couldn’t find the man that Niall had told me to look for. I decided to keep walking, and I wound up finding a bathroom to change in before finding the man I was looking for.
I changed into my red, quarter-sleeved lace dress and slipped out of my TOMS and into my black peep-toe flats. I flicked on some fresh makeup since most of mine had rubbed off or faded on the plane ride to London. I fixed my long, curly hair and finally decided I looked good enough to leave the bathroom. Somehow, the man who was waiting for me must have known I was in the bathroom, because he was standing on the other side of the walkway, holding the sign up with my name on it.
“Are you Ashley?” he asked, approaching me.
“Yeah… How’d you find me?”
“Niall told me you’d immediately go to the closest mirror, so I assumed you’d be in the bathroom. You look lovely, miss,” he said.
“Oh, well… Thank you, sir.” I couldn’t believe Niall had told the man I’d go to the closest mirror. It was true, of course, but I didn’t need the whole world knowing it. I made a mental note to yell at him for that later.
“Follow me,” the man said. He was tall and thin with a nice black suit on. I was thankful that I’d packed my favorite dress and shoes in my bag, or else I would have felt severely underdressed. I followed the man to a helicopter and he showed me where to sit down. I buckled the seatbelt and put on the headset he told me to put on. He gave the pilot the “ok” signal and suddenly we were flying straight up into the air. Note to self: Never agree to a helicopter ride again.
The man in the suit, whose name I never actually got, pointed out landmarks and buildings and gave me a little bit of history about London. It was absolutely beautiful from above, and I couldn’t wait to settle down and live there with Niall. Before I knew it, the helicopter was falling down to the ground and I freaked out.
“Don’t worry,” said the pilot. “We’re just landing on this building.” Oh, thanks. No reason to be alarmed, then… Just casually landing on top of a fucking building, no big deal.
We landed and the man with the suit gestured to my left. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go get him!” I smiled and stood up slowly. I opened the door to the helicopter and was greeted by lots and lots of flashing lights – apparently Niall wanted my so-called “homecoming” picture to be all over the media. I tried to shield my eyes from the bright lights, but it didn’t really help much. I figured I might as well smile and make sure that I looked good, since the photos would be all over the place for a while. Roughly five minutes had passed and I was starting to worry that Niall might not even be behind the sea of people trying to get to me. Every time I tried to take another step, someone else would push in front of me and ask me a question. I kept politely answering everything even though I wanted to shove everybody out of my way and cling to Niall. I’d seen paparazzi before and gotten used to them, but I had never been mobbed the way I did that night.
“Niall?!” I started calling out. Suddenly I wanted to cry. Where was Niall, and why did he let so many paparazzi come?
“Alright, enough!” I heard someone yelling. “Back off her, all of ya! Lady with a baby comin’ through, c’mon! Everybody go home, you’ve got your pictures!” Suddenly, the sea of paparazzi parted and dissolved, and Niall was standing at the back of it. He saw me and I watched as his face lit up, his lips parted slightly. We ran to each other and hugged each other close. I was so glad to finally be with him and only him, with no crazy people shoving cameras and notepads in my face. The man in the suit called for Niall and handed him my backpack which I’d almost forgotten about. Niall thanked the man and went back to hugging me.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he said.
“I’ve missed you too, Niall,” I replied.
“I’m sorry about all that. I only wanted a few people to show up, and I guess news traveled fast. I hope that wasn’t too stressful for little baby Nialler,” Niall apologized. He put his hand on my belly and smiled. “I can’t wait for him or her to be here, but waiting with you will be so much easier.” I smiled up at him and the two of us kissed.
“You look amazing,” I said, noting the suit and tie he had on. His hair looked flawless and I had a feeling Lou had done his hair for him. He looked perfect, and I was so happy to finally be in his arms again.
“You look even better,” he replied. “I love this dress on you, babe. It’s perfect for where we’re headed.”
“And where’s that?” I asked.
Niall and I had a romantic candlelit dinner in the building I’d landed on in the helicopter. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the waiter had brought us our bread and I ate almost all of it. It was the first time I’d been more eager to eat than Niall had been. The food was absolutely delicious and I couldn’t believe that Niall had arranged the helicopter ride and the dinner all for me. When he told me there was more, I was nearly in shock.
“What do you mean there’s more?” I asked.
“You heard me,” he replied. He paid the bill and left a big tip for our waiter and then led me outside. We got into a limo and were driven around for about twenty-five minutes before we finally arrived at a big, fancy hotel.
“Wow, this place looks beautiful,” I said.
“Just wait until you see the inside!” Niall replied.
“Niall, you got us a hotel room for the night?” I asked in disbelief.
“Not just that,” he replied. “C’mon!” We got out of the limo and walked inside, which proved to be ten times as beautiful as the outside of the building. We were greeted by almost everybody who worked there, and instead of going to the front desk, we went down a flight of stairs.
“Niall… Where are we going? Don’t we have to check in?” I asked, confused. We walked down a beautiful hallway and suddenly we stopped at two massive ivory doors with intricate gold lines painted all over them. “N-Niall…” He simply smiled at me before opening the doors. I heard at least a hundred voices yell “Welcome home, Ashley!” and “Surprise!” at the exact same time. I chuckled when Niall groaned.
“Guys, it was ‘welcome home, Ashley!’ Not’ surprise!’” I couldn’t contain my laughter and I looked up at Niall after looking out at all of the smiling faces.
“A party? For me?” I asked.
“Just for you, babe. I wanted everybody I knew to get the chance to meet the love of my life,” he replied.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” I looked to see who had started the chant and saw none other than Louis Tomlinson. I rolled my eyes – he was exactly like I thought he’d be.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” The rest of the boys had joined the chant, and soon after, so had everybody else.
“Well, we can’t deny the crowd what the crowd wants,” Niall said smoothly.
“No, no of course not,” I replied. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. Everybody cheered and when I pulled away, I giggled. Even though I’d never met anybody in that room, I truly felt as though I was home and that I was well-loved.
Everything was perfect. Everybody that I’d invited had shown up to the party, and nobody had crashed it. Ashley and I spent most of the night going around and I introduced her to everyone. She chatted with everybody and I could tell that she felt comfortable around all of my friends and family. She, Denise, and Lou all talked for nearly half an hour about being pregnant and they were all enthused about the new baby who would be arriving in roughly five months. I smiled as I watched Ashley get excited about the beginning of our very own family together.
We danced and had fun at the party, too, of course. Ashley couldn’t believe how much work I’d gone through to make sure she was welcomed to London in such an extravagant way. She joked about how I’d probably through a huge party when we welcomed our first child into the world, too. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe! Who knows!”
Living with Ashley was even better than I could have ever imagined. The two of us were extremely alike but also very different. She hated cleaning, and I didn’t mind if the place was a bit of a mess, so we never argued over the state of our house. She loved eating about as much as I did, but never wanted to cook – that wasn’t a problem for me. I loved cooking dinner for her every night.
Time passed quickly with her, and before I knew it, we were welcoming our baby girl into the world. She was beautiful, and I loved her more than I’d ever imagined I could love somebody. She looked just like her mother with dark brown hair and big, beautiful brown eyes. We named her Sophiana and we each fell more and more in love with her each day.
About three months after Sophiana was born, I asked Ashley to marry me. She cried and squealed and hit my leg a few times with excitement before finally agreeing to. So we got married, and even though it was rough at first when I began touring with the boys again, everything worked out perfectly. We were so in love that we would have made just about any living situation work. I would have done anything to make it work with her and I knew she’d do the same. Hell, she moved to an entirely different country just to be with me.
I loved her then like I love her now, and I’ll love her until the day I die.
