“Well, this is it.” Maura showed me to the guest room in her large farmhouse. “This is now your space. I know it’s not much-“ My jaw dropped. Not much? This room was bigger than my mother and I’s apartment back in New York.

“It’s great, really.” I assured her, setting my bag down on the ground. She looked down at my duffle bag and frowned. “Yeah, it’s all I have.” I shrugged. Who needed more than a few outfits and the essentials? I sure didn’t. Plus, buying food for the fridge was more important than buying some thirty dollar shirt.

“I do laundry on Mondays. The hamper is in the closet.” She pointed over to the door, which I assumed was the closet. The other door, I wasn’t sure where is led, but I figured it was some sort of en suite bathroom. This house was huge, I wouldn’t be surprised if every room had it’s own bathroom. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Make your self at home, Zayn.” She smiled and gave me a side hug before leaving the room. I sighed heavily and walked more into the room.

Compared to my old room, this room was easily three times as big. The walls were these crème colors with one of those wallpaper borders that had farm-esque qualities to it. You know, chickens and shit. There was a king sized bed against one wall that had too many pillows for it to be possible for anyone to sleep on it. Though, I was impressed by the size of the bed. I had never slept in anything bigger than a twin, which was the only thing that would fit in my room back at home.

Home.

No Zayn, you were home. This was my new home. This big, echoing farmhouse with decorations that screamed “barn yard bliss,” was my new home. Better get used to it, I guess. I walked over to the door Maura pointed at earlier and opened to see a simple closet. I half expected it to be a whole other room, but no. For once, something was normal size in this house.  The hamper was inside, like Maura had said. I closed the door and moved onto the next. Just like I had thought, it was a bathroom, complete with shower tub, toilet and vanity. It was weird, because it was all mine.

I left it behind and wandered over to the last pair of doors that caught the most of my attention. There were large, window paned doors that led outside to a porch. I grabbed both handles and opened the doors. An intensely sweet, yet musky, dry smell invaded my senses. I wrinkled my nose and stepped out onto the covered porch. There was a small garden-style table with two chairs facing out towards the barn in the back of the property.

I placed my hands on the railing that held the porch together and leaned over the edge, poking my head out and watching the blonde boy wrangle in the horses. Maura had told me that Niall, her son, was going to the same high school that I was going to be enrolled in. I think she said something about him being the grade below me, but dear god, I had never seen sophomore’s look like that. I stared as the muscles in his back contracted and extended each time he pulled the horse into the large red barn. After a few minutes inside, and me still watching like a creep, Niall reappeared near the barn doors.

I watched as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared up at the sky. His body glistened with hard-working sweat. Ah, hell. When people say that country boys do best, they really meant it. The twinks in the city had nothing on this shirtless, toned, blonde, sweaty, oh my god. He saw me.

“Hey!” Niall waved his whole arm in the air after seeing me. The smile on his face was bright enough to power an entire house. Dear god. I pushed away from the railing and raised my hand slowly, greeting him. This was out first interaction and now this kid probably thought that I was some queer from the city. Well, I was, but hell, that wasn’t what I wanted to be known as in my new life. “When did you get here?” Niall shouted. I only then realized his small, yet noticeable twang.

I shrugged. “Half hour ago?”

“Cool.” Niall chuckled and it was the most contagious thing in the world. My throat reverberated as I started to laugh. I stopped suddenly, realizing that I hadn’t laughed in months since that moment. I cleared my throat and nodded at Niall. “I’ll see you inside in a bit! Gotta get Patches in from the field.” He pointed out the fenced in lot. There stood a horse that had blotches of different colored fur on his body.

“Yeah, I’ll see you.” I waved at Niall as he began to walk over to the latched fence. He turned to face me once more and just smiled even brighter. How, who the hell knew? Maybe there was a solar panel attached to the back of his head. Wait, did people in the country even have that kind of technology? Now that I think about it. I hadn’t seen a television yet in this house.

I was relieved to find the TV in the usual place, the living room when I explored the house. Turns out I wasn’t in such a remote place as I thought. “Dinner will be ready by six.” Maura called from the kitchen. I peaked my head inside and sniffed the air. Man, it smelled good. Maura laughed and waved me over. “Can you grab that spoon and stir this?” She asked, pointing at the large spoon on the counter.

I nodded, picking it up and stirring the steaming pot on the stove. “Uhm, what’s for dinner?” I asked awkwardly. I wasn’t one for home cooked meals. My mom used to cook a lot before she got sick, but for the past couple years it’s been take out and frozen dinners, nothing compared to the delicious smelling concoction in front of me.

“Pulled pork, green beans, and what you’re stirring right there is noodles for the baked mac n cheese I’m going to throw into the oven.” She took the spoon from my hand and stirred the noodles once more before grabbing the handle of the pot and wandering over to the sink to drain the water.

“Sounds good.” I muttered. It really did, but it was definitely not something I was used to. I watched as Maura panned the noodles and smothered them in cheese and what looked like Funions. She placed the pan in the oven and clapped her hands together.

“Come sit. Come on, now. Don’t be shy.” Maura waved me over to her side, placing her hand gently on my back and leading me over to the table.  I took a seat and she sat opposite from me. “Zayn, I want you to know that anything you need, just ask. My husband, Chris and I, were really good friends with your mother, bless her soul, and we promised her that we would take care of you.” I forgot that Maura was married. Now that I thought about it, her husband didn’t seem to be around.

“Thanks for that. I had no place to go.” I stared down at my hands and saw that they were shaking slightly. Maura reached forward and placed her hands on mine, calming me down instantly.

“So anything, and I really do mean anything, you need. Just ask, and we will work something out.” Her smiled was sweet, and as bright as Niall’s, which is where I figured he got it from.

“Thank you Maura.” I hummed in response. She nodded fervently and stood up from the table, cupping my cheek for a second and then walking off. I sighed and leaned back in the chair I was sitting in. I looked up when I heard the springs of the back door squeak open. Niall ran into the kitchen, boots tracking mud wherever he stepped.

“Niall James Horan!” Maura scolded. “You take those dirty barn boots off and throw them outside.” She jabbed a finger back out the spring door and Niall lowered his head. “And then grab the mop and clean up the mess you just made.”

“Y-yes Ma’am!” He chirped, obviously not affected by her harsh tone, almost as if this event had occurred more than often. Niall glanced at me before leaving out the screen door and chucking his boots into the grass. He came back in with a smile on his face. “When I get bit by a snake tomorrow morning, putting those back on, I’m blaming you, mom.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Maura waved her spoon in the air. “Now clean that mess up.”

Niall wandered over to the small closet in the hallway and pulled out a mop and bucket. He quickly filled the bucker and sloshed some water on the ground, cleaning up the mud he brought into the house. I watched him as he cleaned, shirtless still, and each time he rang out the mop, his arms tensed and relaxed with each twist. “You find this amusing, don’t you?” Niall chirped. I blinked a few times and groaned as he had caught me staring… again.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be! Hand me that towel though.” Niall pointed to the towel hanging on the knob sticking out from the wall. I grabbed it quickly and tossed it over to him. He threw it to the floor and moved it around with his foot, successfully drying the floor. He put everything back in its place and sat down at the table, blue eyes staring at me intently. “So where are you from, anyways?”

“Niall, manners.”

“Sorry. Where do you hail from?” He asked again, but this time in a very terrible British accent. I snickered. Again, what was with the laughing, lately?

“Manhattan.”

“Oh, long way from home.” Niall exhaled, slinging his arm over the back of his chair. I could see a few freckles that were spread across his chest. “Well, welcome to Tennessee.” He grinned and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

Yeah, welcome.

A/N: Wooo! First chapter! I love this story already! I hope you do as well! Also, Zayn is an only child and American. Niall has his brother, Greg, who will show up at some point and is also American. This story will be taking place in a small, farm town in Tenessee, a little ways away from Zayn's home in Manhattan. Please vote and comment to let me know what you think about it so far!

Much Love

Jachxx