58 | Look After You
Look After You
Molly
“JUST LET ME drive! I’m a great driver!”
“Absolutely not,” Niall shook his head, his hands full with carrying my little sister and her suitcase, since she insisted he had to or else she wouldn’t be able to get on the plane and say goodbye.
Lorraine has her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her head tucked into his shoulder, like she’s a little sloth clinging to a tree.
“He’s a great driver,” Lorraine tries to plead the case of her new favorite person, Finn Marshall. She glances at him shyly and looks away quickly.
“He thinks he is. He hits enough curbs with his Da’s car to prove it.” Niall says, shifting Lorraine’s weight. His tone is dry, but there’s a fondness there too.
“I don’t hit curbs, I caress them,” Finn counters, lugging my other suitcase for me like a gentleman. “They’re romantic gestures.”
I just laugh, shaking my head.
“I swear. I’m the fastest driver in County Dublin, Molly. If you ever need to get somewhere quickly, I’m the lad you need t’ ring.”
“Fastest way to get points, more like,” Niall rolls his eyes.
“I love points!” Lorraine exclaims, as Niall sets her down. We’re at check in now, which is where we’ll have to split off and say our goodbyes.
We already said them to Mom and Jamie back at the house, who are staying behind in Mayville to have a quiet Christmas. Lorraine and I won’t be back until January 3rd, which means we get thirteen days (if we include tonight, when we land) with dad.
“He means like a speeding ticket, Rainey,” I tell her gently, making her small face form an ‘o.’
I was excited to see dad—and Nona, and my aunts, and my cousins—but as I looked at the D????????s sign, I could feel the dread coiling in my stomach. Five months ago, I didn’t want to move here at all, but now I don’t want to leave.
“You okay?” Niall asks me, once we get the bags checked.
His blue eyes were soft, searching mine with that intuitive intensity that always made me feel so seen and exposed all at once.
“Yeah, just... it’s a lot of flying. And I’m gonna miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too,” he says, his hands coming up to cup my face. “You’ve got your ipod?”
I reach into my sweater pocket, holding it out for proof. “Of course, I do.”
“Guys, please,” Finn groans from behind us, covering my sister’s eyes with his hands. “No public displays of affection. That security guard is giving us looks.”
“Piss off,” Niall waves him off, not even looking in his direction.
He kisses me then, his lips lingering on mine for a far better goodbye than words could do. It was another one of those kisses that reminded me there were a million kinds of ways to kiss someone and Niall and I were only getting started.
When he finally pulls back, his eyes are glistening. “It’s only for a couple weeks.”
“Thirteen days.”
“My unlucky, lucky number,” he smiles, and then kisses me again, causing Finn to groan and Lorraine to say “ew!”
We pull apart again. “I really do have to go. I can call you at least twice, though it might run up our phone bills.”
“Like I care.”
“And we can email, too. Keep me updated on Claire, alright?”
She’s been in a clouded slump since the ball yesterday. I was still kinda fuzzy on the whole story, but the whole thing with Stephen Rafferty ended up being some sort of dare by his friends, which JJ found out somehow and revealed to her at the dance.
I thought she was gonna come with us to the airport today, but Niall said she wouldn’t come out of her room.
“I will,” he promises.
“You’ll take Penelope on her playdates with her brother and sister, right?” Lorraine asks him. She made it very clear to him in the car that the only way Penelope wouldn’t be completely depressed by Lorraine’s absence was to make sure she visited Shannon and Atticus as much as she could.
“Of course, Ray. I’ll make sure she’s grand, don’t you worry.”
The intercom chimed, announcing that our flight was boarding.
“That’s us,” I whisper, my heart sinking.
Niall pulls me back in for one last kiss. It felt like he was trying to imprint the feel of me onto his skin for safekeeping while I was oceans away.
“I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more.”
After a lot more kissing—enough to make the security quene audibly impatient—I grab Lorraine’s and walked with her towards the security gates.
They were like the barrier between my old life and my new one.
I don’t want to look back. I know that if I do, the gravity of him will pull me right out of this line and back into his arms.
But at the very edge of the queue, right before we had to show our passports, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I turn around.
Niall’s still standing there, an island of stillness in the rushing terminal. Beside him, Finn was waving at us like a maniac but Niall’s eyes were only on me.
I raised my hand in a wave. Niall smiles—that lopsided, effortless smile that has changed the trajectory of my world. I watch him cup his hands around his mouth, his shout echoing over the noise of the crowd, the rolling bags, and the space between us.
“Good Luck, Molly!”