Pinky Promise

Chapter 5

While he's gone, I throw my clothes back on and clean the brushes.

Niall comes back with two water bottles and we make small talk until I finish. I step back from my work, proud. It's now 7:30 and I've accomplished all four walls.

"This one's my favorite." Niall whispers, looking at the one I just finished.

It's a big colonial house on a lawn. In the corner, I wrote in big black letters, 'This isn't home. This is.' With an arrow pointing to a group of children signifying family.

"Can I stay to see their reaction?" I ask.

"Seeing as how you did the entire thing, yes."

I clean up all the paint cans and organize them in the cardboard boxes.

"I feel like a horrible person, come here." He lightly grabs my wrist and tugs me behind him.

I trace his foot steps down a few hallways, the chances of him kidnapping me getting higher as the doorways become fewer and fewer in between. Eventually we enter into a small bathroom. He runs the tap and I stick my head under the faucet, the crusty paint falling into the sink.

After a few minutes, I step back and flip my hair over, whipping it through the air. I finger comb it and put it in a braid down my back as Niall cleans up the rest of the paint.

"We have four hours to spare, what do you want to do?" Niall asks, walking out of the bathroom.

"Do you have a guitar?" I ask, stepping in his footsteps, flat tiring him every step I take. He doesn't seem to notice.

"Yeah." I wait while he disappears again, admiring my artwork some more. He eventually comes back with two acoustic guitars.

"Two?" I ask surprised.

"One is mine, and the other is some other guys."

"I'm taking yours."

He shrugs his shoulders but hands me one. "You know how to play?" I ask, strumming my fingers over the cords.

"I used to. Before the accident, I guess I was some 'musical prodigy' or something, but now I'm useless."

"Accident?"

"Long story."

"Well you can tell me while I teach you. It'll be payment."

He sighs and rubs his neck. " Fine." I smile and set the guitar on my lap.

"We're going to learn the chords to one of my favorite songs, Misery Business by Paramore. The first chord is an D."

"What the hell is that?" He asks, staring at the strings. laugh and adjust his fingers.

"There, now strum." He copies my motions.

"Now follow that by a G."

"I've forgotten everything!" He says, frustrated.

"Here, I'll help you."

I abandon my guitar on the ground and crawl over behind him, leaning over his shoulder. I snake my arms around his neck, in a backwards hug. I pick up his fingers and place them on the chords.

"Here." I whisper into his ear, smiling when he gets it right.

We stay like this for the next few minutes until my arms start to feel a little heavy. I give out a little sigh and drop my arms for a few seconds.

"Come here."

He places his guitar down and picks me up, setting me down his lap. I fit comfortably. I wiggle into his back, our legs parallel to each other. I put my fingers back on the strings of the guitars and he places his big palms over mine.

My breath hitches into my throat for a second but then I relax. Niall sets his head on my shoulder and I can feel his breath on my neck, tickling me. After a few hours he's got the gist of it.

"Okay now you play by yourself."

I climb out of his lap and face him. He bites his lip and puts his fingers on the strings, strumming uncertainly. When he finishes the song, I clap which arises a blush in his cheeks. I giggle and take the guitar I've been using.

"How long have you been playing?" He asks.

" Ever since I was little. My first song was Twinkle Twinkle Little Song."

"Play me something."

I'm taken aback, but comply. I complete Try Hard by 5SOS. He smiles. " Another song!"

This goes on until I've basically sung my throat sore. I rub my tired eyes. He looks over my shoulder and smiles.

"Close your eyes and play one more please!"

"My throat hurts!" I complain. I lazily strum the first few cords of Teenage Dirtbag.

"Close them!" Niall demands.

I sigh and soon my eyes are closed like he wants. I swear my fingers are bleeding and the cords feel like blades scraping against my skin. I pout but still play. Once I finish, I hear multiple hands start clapping. I'm shocked. I open my eyes and then I see a crowd of kids. Little kids in the front, and the older and taller kids in the back.

I smile and pick up the guitar. Some guy shyly smiles and puts his hand out. This must be the ' other guy'. Niall hands his guitar back to him and he melts back into the crowd.

A woman parts the crowd with Aubrey attached to her hip. Her eyes are watering and she's smiling.

"Did you do this?" She's looking at Niall, obviously mentioning the walls. Niall points at me.

"It was all her."

"What's your name?" She asks.

"I'm Brinley. Nice to meet you." All the kids look at each other then at the same time run over to different parts of the room, staring at the walls.

After a few minutes Niall calls, " I think this deserves something!"

All the kids yell at the same time, "Group hug!" In a few seconds, I'm being tackled to the ground by everyone. The group hug has changed from a group hug to a dog pile.

I'm on my back, staring up at Niall. I'm pinned in between the floor and his chest, suffocating. The kids make no move to bother standing up. I smile up at him and he looks down at me.

"Thank you." He whispers. On an act of impulse and idiotic bravery, I lean up and brush his lips lightly against mine. He smiles and kisses me back. There were no hands on my back, and I wasn't romantically running my hands through his hair,  but it was perfect.

Both our arms were pinned to our sides. I can hear a chorus of "Ooohs!" and "Get it!" scatter throughout the pile. I lean back down, laughing. He bites his lip and smiles too.

How the hell did we go from tackling each other a few hours ago to now kissing? 

"I thought you hated me?" I ask. 

"Opinions can change." He says, smiling. 

Oh and if you could check out my new series, 'Imagines' - they're just imagines of all the boys - that'd be awesome! Thank you!