#sugsol

And then, their peaceful morning was interrupted by a string of yelling in portuguese. Eden leaned her head against Niall’s shoulder, closed her eyes, and sighed.

“It’s time to go!” Eden’s mom Alda yelled, in their native tongue, her voice sounding closer and closer with each word. “We’re going to be late.”

Niall’s body shook Eden’s as he laughed silently. She groaned at the thought of spending hours in the car with her mom as the drove to Dublin to begin wedding planning. It had been six months since Niall proposed. They’d been living on a high of future plans and love until they came crashing down, suddenly, two weeks ago when Eden’s mom showed up on their doorstep with talks of a large wedding in the spring.

“Save me,” she mumbled.“I’ll be there in time for dinner.”

She sat up and looked at him with a plea in her big, brown eyes. He laughed. Eden’s relationship with her mother had not been the same since the accident six years before. When they were together things were strained, forced, and awkward but as soon as Niall, with his rosy cheeks and booming laughter, walked in the room Eden’s mom turned from the coldest icicle to the warmest person in the world. She loved Niall and couldn’t wait to have him as the son she always wanted.

“Not soon enough.”

There was a moment of silence before a knock sounded at the door. Eden sighed and stood from the bed, opening the door just as her mom opened her mouth to yell again.

“Mamãe,” Eden smiled serenely and closed the door quietly behind her. Her mom blinked at her and smiled tightly before turning and leading the way outside. Eden grabbed the keys from a hook and threw a wistful glance at the door to her bedroom. What she wouldn’t give to be warm under the covers with Niall instead of in the freezing cold with her mom.

///

The ride into the city was quiet, long, and torturous. Eden preferred driving with the music on, loud, so she could sing along. Her mom preferred a silent car so that there was nothing to distract her, even when she wasn’t driving. Eden turned the music on; her mom turned it off. They had yet to meet in the middle.

The icy sidewalks and snow flurries outside matched the atmosphere inside the dress shop. They’d been there for three hours, most of the morning since arriving in Dublin, and couldn’t even agree on what color Eden’s dress should be.

“No, no,” Alda said. “That’s eggshell, you should wear ivory.”

Eden shared a glance with the owner of the dress shop and sent her an apologetic smile. She ran her hands over the creamy colored lace of the bodice and looked in the mirror. A smile forced itself on her face as she imagined walking down the aisle towards Niall wearing that dress. It was perfect, despite the scowl on her mom’s face as she stood just behind her playing with the ring on her thumb.

“I love it,” Eden whispered. The noise made Alda stop fidgeting. Her brows furrowed and her chin quivered as she let go of her scowl and really looked at Eden in the mirror. Tears clouded her vision and a sob escaped her mouth. She covered it with her hand.

“Edie,” Alda took a deep breath and pushed past the tears. “You look beautiful.”

Eden cleared her throat and smiled at her mom in the mirror.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Maybe some things could change.

///

Or, as Eden was finding out, sometimes things wouldn’t change. Sometimes things got better before going back to the status quo. In the flower shop down the street, an hour after deciding on the perfect dress and eating lunch at the cafe next door, Eden and Alda were twenty minutes into a fight over flowers.

Peonies or anemonies? Pink or purple? What color ribbon?It should match the colors of the wedding.

No, it should be an accent color so that it can stand out.

Mom, we’re doing a neutral color scheme.

But this pink is so cute!

Eden and Alda were staring each other down as the flower shop owner walked to the front of the shop to let someone in. Eden crossed her arms over her chest as Alda looked down at her and it was like Eden was fifteen again covering for her sister when she missed curfew. A lump settled in Eden’s throat. She pushed it away. A flower shop was no place for tears.

“My beauty,” a familiar voice boomed from behind a rack of succulents. Eden wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye as she turned to face Niall. He wasn’t supposed to be there for hours. It was barely lunchtime. He must have finished at the studio early.The smile dropped from his face as he saw the look on Eden’s face. He took her face in his hands, one on each cheek, and placed his forehead against hers. He hated to see her like that and know that he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Edie,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffled and shook her head against his.

“Just thinking about Elisa,” Eden said. Niall lifted his head with a sad sigh and brought Eden in for a hug. He placed a hand on the back of her head and hid his in her hair. It had been years since they talked about her sister but he knew how much she missed her.

“We don’t have to do this today,” he whispered in her ear.Eden took a deep breath and leaned back, out of his arms, with a watery smile on her face.

“I want to.”

Niall nodded and placed his hand on the small of Eden’s back as if to give her the strength to make it through the rest of the day. She would need all the strength she could get.

///

The house was quiet that night after a successful afternoon where Niall was able to field Alda’s questions and suggestions while getting everything that Eden wanted. The right dress, the right flowers, the right centerpieces all in the right colors. The only sound was Eden sobbing in Niall’s arms.

“Why does she hate me?” She cried. Niall shook his head and placed a kiss to the top of her head.

“She doesn’t hate you,” he whispered. “She just…”

“She hates me.”

“It’s a hard thing to deal with.”

“It’s hard for me, too,” Eden cried. “I’m still dealing with it, too.”

Niall couldn’t say anything to that. He simply put an arm around her and brought her in closer, as if that were possible, and held her while she cried. Because there was nothing else he could say to Eden that would make her feel better.

“I’m never going to be like that,” Eden whispered.“You’re going to be an amazing mum.”

She beamed up at him, the tears seeming to stop in their tracks, and nodded. “The best.”

“Remember when you told me you couldn’t skate?” Louis said as he glided backwards, facing Sadie as she stared into his eyes. They were more of a slate blue today due to the dark blues of the frozen pond and the dark greens of the evergreen trees. It was a beautiful day, one that Sadie never expected she’d ever experience, but she was growing quite fond of New York.

She raised a hand to her mouth to muffle her giggles. “I just wanted you to catch me when I fell.“

“Pretended to fall,” Louis grumbled.

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Same difference.”

Louis exaggerated a shake of his head and sighed before turning his back to Sadie and slowing to skate next to her. Sadie linked her arm through Louis’ and leaned her head on his shoulder. They skated in silence for a long time enjoying the view of the empty farm.

“What do you want to do after?” Sadie murmured, her eyes closed, her body being propelled forward on the ice by Louis’. He looked down at the top of her head and quirked an eyebrow even though she couldn’t see him.

“After what, babe?”

“After hockey.”

The thought of doing anything other than playing hockey for the rest of his life made Louis stop in his tracks. Sadie leaned against his chest and he placed his arms around his waist. The apples of her cheeks were blooming a bright red and the brightness of her eyes matched that of her smile. The smile he was falling in love with.

What did he want to do after his hockey career? He opened his mouth to speak but closed it and bit his lip instead. It didn’t matter what he did after his career, as long as she was there to share it with him.

“I’m not sure,” He forced a laugh. “I haven’t thought that far. Have you?”

Sadie nodded. “If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have said a retirement in a warm, sunny place is all I wanted but now…"She looked around from the trees with their icicle tipped branches to the deep scratches in the icy pond from their pick up game of hockey earlier that morning. From the white sky, the clouds hiding the sun, to the quintessential red barn, the empty petting zoo and back to Louis.

"I want this.”

Louis looked around and took in the sights through fresh eyes. When he looked back at Sadie, who was staring at him with such an earnest look on her face, he couldn’t help but smile wide. Because, yeah, he wanted this too. He wanted to give her the world, to keep those eyes shining, and that smile bright. To keep her happy.

“That sounds nice,” Louis tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear before leaning his forehead to hers. “Can I change my answer?”

She nodded against his forehead. He reached a hand up to her face and placed his glove-covered hand on her cheek.

“I want this, too,” Louis whispered.

Impossibly, her smile got wider. She leaned up on her toes to press her lips to his. His hand moved from her cheek to the back of her head. He cradled her head gently and deepened the kiss. For a second, he forgot everything. He forgot about hockey, his status as a hometown celebrity, and even the biting wind. His only thoughts revolved around the warmth of her lips against his.

She leaned back and pressed a kiss to his cheek before pushing him lightly.

“You’re it,” she said. Then, while he was still in a haze, she turned and tore down the ice to the other side of the pond. He blinked and shook his head slightly. Why was it that whenever they started getting serious she always ran away from him?

Sighing, he pushed the thoughts away and smirked as he caught up with Sadie after three pumps of his legs. He caught her around the middle and they ran into the goal. It came loose and they fell onto the ice, cushioned by the many layers of winter wear surrounding their bodies. Louis took the brunt of the fall with Sadie landing on top of him.

She lifted his red beanie away from his eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed and he reached up to straighten them out. She pressed her cheek into his hand and looked down at him. Her walls were down, eyes clear, and he just knew that she would back away and run soon. It was up to him to keep things simple.

“It’s freezing,” she said. She looked away and blew out into the air. Her breath came out in puffs.

Louis placed his hands at her hips and wiggled his eyebrows.

“I know how we can make it even colder.”

Sadie tilted her head back and laughed. The sound of her laughter made butterflies erupt in Louis’ stomach. Butterflies felt like such a weak descriptor. What he felt was more like pucks flying down the ice trying to reach the goal. She touched the tip of her nose to his and stared down into his eyes. He could do nothing as he was mesmerized by her big browns.She looked up at the barn and then back to Louis.

“Maybe there’s a bed in there,” she winked and scrambled to stand up. Louis was close behind. He would stay at her level, her pace, and let her decide where she wanted to take the relationship and when.