I had been out of high school for over a year but it didn't seem possible. Instead of going straight to college, I had decided to work for a little while to get a break from studying and to spread my wings a little. I didn't spread them very wide, though - I convinced my parents to let me "rent" the in-law apartment so I could have my own space, but they didn't charge me much and they still covered utilities. And I ate with them most of the time since I didn't make a ton of money leading tours in Mammoth Cave and working in the gift shop.

It gave Niall and me a bit more privacy, but his parents still didn't allow him to spend the night for obvious reasons. It should have seemed strange that I was a working girl and Niall was still in high school, but it didn't. His age never mattered to me and he always seemed to be my equal but every once in a while, I'd tease him, saying things like, "It's a shame you weren't even old enough to vote when Obama was elected." He had an odd obsession with Barack Obama that I never understood, but he would always point out that I hadn't been old enough to vote at the time either. I would banter back at him, saying if I had been old enough, I definitely would have voted for McCain." That pissed him off sometimes, but we always made up and eventually decided to never let politics divide us. I honestly didn't have a firm political stance yet anyway - it was all innocent fun just to get him riled up.

I'd been working full time at Mammoth Cave for a year, but Niall kept nudging me gently, reminding me not to wait too long to go to college. And so it was that Niall and I both applied to university at the same time, late in the summer of that year. He applied to Stanford and with his grades and extracurriculars, he was sure to get in. I, on the other hand, planned to stay closer to home and hopefully attend Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. I applied there as well as to Bowling Green State University while Niall applied also to Purdue and Notre Dame. Stanford was his number one choice, though, and it always had been.

We hadn't talked yet about how the distance would affect us. I secretly hoped that he would get into one of the Indiana schools since they were both a half day's drive away, versus Stanford, which was over 2,000 miles. But I also wanted him to go to his dream school.

Niall was the classic overachiever - he had always gotten straight A's, as far as I knew, he excelled in sports and had  many trophies to show for it, he had done various volunteer projects like spending a week on a mission trip to the Ozarks, and he had been elected class president every year. Now that he was going into his senior year, he was poised to succeed yet again since he was already on track to become the class valedictorian.

I, on the other hand, was not as much the scholar as Niall was. I enjoyed school all right and I wasn't failing or anything. I just wasn't a perfectionist like him. I didn't feel the internal push to excel in everything. I was content with my life and that's what mattered. That was my same approach with college. I was very interested in archaeology but I honestly didn't know exactly what kind of career I wanted to pursue. If I wanted to participate in digs, I would likely have to travel extensively, and that wasn't what I wanted. I liked my little hometown and my family and I wasn't looking to move all over the world in pursuit of my career goals. So while Niall had his future clearly mapped out, I was kind of stuck.

On Labor Day weekend, our parents decided to take a camping trip together, but neither Niall or I could go. He had cross country practice, and I could make overtime pay for working on Labor Day. So Niall and I planned the weekend for ourselves, aside from work and training.

We decided to go on a nice date on Sunday night, in celebration of two years together. The actual two-year mark had been in July, but we never properly observed it. Besides, he didn't have practice and I didn't have to work on Sunday, so we made a day of it. Niall made reservations at a steakhouse in Bowling Green. Neither of us was the fancy French Bistro type, so a steakhouse suited us just fine. Niall wore a tie and I let him convince me to wear a cute skirt that Kirsten had forced me to buy.

We held hands all the way there and back, just enjoying our freedom to be together without the constant watchful eyes of our parents. (Niall drove and miraculously, we didn't die.) When we got home, however, I started to feel a bit apprehensive, the weight of adult responsibility nudging its way into my mind. 

Niall and I had decided to take our relationship to the next level. You know, sex. We had been able to resist for a long time, both content with heavy makeout sessions and cuddling. But I think he wanted to prove something more to me, that he was in love with me and always would be. I wanted to show him the same thing, but that didn't change the fact that I was completely on edge.

Niall, however, knew just how to reassure me. He got his guitar and asked me to sit down so he could play me a song. He had gotten very good and he had a fantastic voice. I could listen to him for hours.

As he sang the song, it didn't really seem to fit our situation but I still enjoyed his talent.

Going out tonight
Changes into something red
Her mother doesn't like that kind of dress
Everything she never had she's showing off

Driving too fast
Moon is breaking through her hair
She said it was something that she won't forget
Having no regrets is all that she really wants

The chorus actually spoke a lot more about how fast things were changing but in the end it was a promise that things between us would never change.

We're only getting older baby
And I've been thinking about it lately
Does it ever drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes?
Everything that you've ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up
But there's nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change me and you

"I loved it!" I said, clapping wildly. When he put his guitar down, I jumped into his arms and luckily he caught me. There had been times when I caught him off guard and we both toppled to the ground, but not this time. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he walked us into my bedroom, locking the door behind us. Just in case.

"Don't be nervous, okay?" Niall said as he set me down.

"I'll try, but how can you be so calm?"

He laughed, a sound that I loved more than life itself. "I'm nervous as hell, I'm just trying to hide it for your sake." We both laughed, causing some of our anxiety lift.

Niall cradled my face in his hands and kissed me in a way that made me want to arch my back and curl up inside of him, like a cat being spoiled by its owner. "I love you, Meg," he said, brushing that rogue strand of hair out of my face, the one that always seemed to be in the way. "Forever."

"I love you so much," I reciprocated.

Soon he was unbuttoning my shirt and untucking it from my skirt. I swallowed slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. Niall and I had seen each other naked throughout the years and we had touched each other in a lot of places. Still, this was entirely different.

When he leaned in to kiss my neck, I felt like I would cry but not in a sad way; in a very excited way. My hands massaged his back as he continued kissing my skin everywhere. It briefly occurred to me how funny it was that I'd spent all those years begging my mom not to talk to me about sex, and a giggle bubbled up from my throat.

"What's so funny?" Niall asked, placing a peck to my lips.

"I was just thinking about how I used to think sex was so disgusting. It made me so uncomfortable when my mom tried to 'educate' me."

He laughed once again. "Tell me about it. Can you imagine my dad giving me 'the talk'? Ugh, it was horrifying."

"It doesn't seem nearly as gross now, just so you know," I teased him.

"Oh really?" He said, pretending to be insulted. "Well I'll do my best not to be repulsive."

"Shut up," I chuckled and then pulled him to me by his shirt collar. I unbuttoned it swiftly and removed it along with his undershirt. We drew together like magnets, enjoying our bare skin pressed together and we stood that way for a long time, absorbing each other's heat.

Gradually, we moved on to taking off the rest of our clothes. It was a little shocking to see him naked like this, but I didn't want to be shy about appreciating every part of him. And I'm pretty sure he felt the same exact way about me.

I pulled the blankets back while Niall dug in his wallet and climbed in next to me. We wrapped around each other instantly but took our time getting to the act itself. I couldn't believe this was going to happen, but then again, I couldn't imagine it with anyone else besides Niall.

He was trembling and we were both scared as fuck. I giggled nervously just before we connected, and when we did, I moaned in pain. I muttered several swear words under my breath which made Niall laugh nervously, but then I would tell him to stop because that made it hurt more. We finally relaxed into a rhythm; I knew Niall felt bad for hurting me, but I was expecting it. We went slow, appreciating every moment of our first time together, and despite the lingering ache, we were both quite content when it was over.

I laid in the crook of Niall's neck, his hand skittering up and down my back as we began to drift off to sleep. "I'm gonna miss you when you go to California," I whispered. He hadn't been accepted to Stanford yet, but somehow I just knew that's where he was headed.

"I'll miss you, too," he whispered back. "But we still have a year before we even have to worry about that. And when I'm gone, we'll talk and Skype. And there's that new app called FaceTime that we can try."

"I know. I just wish you didn't have to go so far."

"I know, Meg, but I'll always come back for ya."

* * * * *

Any thoughts? :D