Chapter 107: His Own

True to his words, Niall had tried to give it his all at the little spar between he, Murray and Nolan.

Unsurprisingly, though he’d started out amateurishly, by the time they’d begun reaching the last holes, he was already in top form.

Enough that he’d eked out a victory amidst both parties.

In any case, after bidding both parties farewell, he’d proceeded to return to his new home in Silverlake.

But before he did, he happened to take a picture of the storied golf course and its clubhouse, and sent it to Camille.

Niall had started making that a habit, taking pictures of sights his girl would like and then forwarding it to her with a little caption.

Currently on the drive back home though, he’d decided to call in on his parents to check up on them.

They also happened to have been at Camille’s when he had, prompting the couple to engage in a little conversation of their own after he was done checking in on Becca.

"Hey, Sugah." she sweetly began.

"Hello, Red." Niall reciprocated, a deep smile forming on his features.

"So... I just watched that interview." Camille’s tone had an undeniable hint of loving amusement mixed with pride.

"And?" Niall glanced at the road ahead, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"And you were adorable." she said and Niall could swear he almost heard the swoon in her voice.

Which was quite... something, considering that they’d pretty much been together for over a year now.

Still,

"Adorable?" Niall couldn’t help but repeat, his eyes creasing into an amused slit.

"Mhm," Camille’s Appalachian lilt purposely became a little more pronounced as she spoke;

"All calm and collected, sittin’ there lookin’ all handsome and philosophical."

"I was answering questions." Niall chuckled in amusement, his eyes on the road.

"You were flirtin’ with the camera." she joked.

"I was not." he defended.

"You absolutely were." she doubled down, her normal accent returning as she giggled from the other end of the line.

"I assure you Red, I wasn’t." Niall bantered along, the happy smile in his voice evident.

"Mm-hmm. You keep telling yourself that, Sugah." Camille replied, her cherubic chuckle doing things to him he honestly couldn’t quite pinpoint.

As a result, he simply shook his head lightly, amusement creeping further into his expression.

Just as he was, Camille added, far too casually;

"You should probably read the thirst tweets, though."

"The what now?" Niall’s brow furrowed, a genuine concern already forming on his features.

"The thirst tweets." she repeated, the amusement seeping back into her tone.

"Red..." Niall’s voice carried a playful drawl.

"I’m serious." she laughed and then added;

"Folks on the internet have apparently discovered that you’re drop-dead breathtaking."

"And apparently, that navy shirt you wore gave everybody a fresh reminder." she added knowingly, especially since she was the one that gifted him said shirt.

To that, Niall rolled his eyes in amusement and Camille, seemingly having expected it remarked;

"I’ll bet you’re rolling your eyes right now,"

"Scratch being a witch. You must be a sorceress at this point," Niall responded, a light chuckle escaping his lips.

"A very hot, smoking sexy sorceress, too." her voice became smug, and Niall could bet she was nodding to herself in pride at the very moment.

Then she quietly mumbled to herself, though Niall managed to pick it up nonetheless;

"Dang it. I still haven’t managed to show him my Halloween get-up. Better pack it with my luggage when I’m heading over in October."

Niall found himself shaking his head again, a genuine chuckle escaping his lips as Camille casually returned to their conversation;

"I’m just sayin’,"

"You might wanna take a little time tonight and read what people are sayin’. Some of it’s... wow!" she continued, clearly enjoying herself.

"But I will say this much..." her voice then softened into an amused drawl as she said;

"They can look aaaallll they want,"

"And?" Niall asked with a knowing yet loving smile, his head tilted slightly.

"You’re still my Prince Charming." she declared lovingly... not that it hid the smugness in her tone either.

Niall’s smile on the other hand had widened, deepening so much his eyes crinkled at the edges as he said;

"I love you, Red."

"I love you more, Sugah." she replied in kind.

"That’s debatable." Niall joked.

"Not even a little." Camille countered, a sweet giggle escaping her.

Hanging up the call after that with a loving smile on his features, Niall soon arrived home.

For the most part, asides from all of his previous stuff he’d moved from his former house, so much of the rooms in the beautiful house remained empty.

Niall couldn’t be bothered to deal with filling them up with the basic stuffs like the bed frames and what-nots as at the moment though.

Instead, he was currently holding the script of [A Maddened Wonderland] his hands as he sat on a patio chair on the lawn... one he’d recently mowed a couple days back.

A picnic umbrella also stood overhead, shading him and the white patio table before him.

The hedges and gardens too had been well-manicured and trimmed, and those were about the only major things Niall had done thus far to make his new home his own space asides arranging his stuff into his bedroom.

The reason he’d prioritized it too, was rather simple.

He intended to make the place his thinking space of sorts, one where he could bask in the quiet sounds of birds chirping, the scent of the water from the lake and the gentle breeze blowing over and into his compound.

On normal grounds, that shouldn’t have been the case. For as quiet as Silverlake was, it wasn’t that quiet and the scent of the it’s beautiful lake shouldn’t be carrying that far.

However, Niall’s Gift of Vitality made it so, enough that when he was trying to focus on something well enough, his senses selectively extended far than they should’ve had any right to.

In any case, the best part of [A Maddened Wonderland] wasn’t its story... which was saying a lot considering the plot itself was genuinely intriguing.

Rather, what made it so interesting and exciting, was the world of Wonderland itself... or at least a rendition of the one Mark had cooked up.

It was also why the plot itself was designed in a way to take one across that fantabulously-mad world over the course of its story... one that happened so naturally, someone without a keen eye wouldn’t even notice.

But then again, without its protagonist carrying someone through that world via his own rose-tinted lens, the wonder and madness that came with it would be all that more subdued.

It was also why, to highlight a bit more of that madness, Niall began considering a curious idea as he flipped through the script upon reaching a certain point.

’Hmmm...’ he inwardly hummed.

’Given the sense of urgency and limited time he’s running on to save her and Wonderland as a whole, wouldn’t it be in character for him if he did that instead of trying to bargain with Chesire whose games are bound to bore him and take him far much more time,’ his thoughts continued.

Tapping a finger on the arm rest, Niall’s head bobbed side-to-side for a while. Then he proceeded to pick up his phone and send Mark a text regarding said idea.

Having dropped the text a while after, Niall then placed the script back on the patio table before him whilst mumbling to himself;

"I’ll need to learn how to dance, if that’s the case,"

"Shouldn’t be an issue though, all things considered," he rubbed his chin gently knowing fully well he just needed to work his ass off to reach the heights he wanted.

’Well, let’s just hope Mark’s on board with the idea.’ Niall concluded, tossing the thoughts to the back of his mind for the meantime.

The general overview of the plot of [A Maddened Wonderland] followed Alistair Hatter, son of the Mad Hatter, who is in a race against time to save Alice’s daughter and equally Wonderland itself from going to ruin after their world slowly begins to lose color, and in turn, the wonder and madness that made its world so vibrant and lively.

Casually, Niall picked up another stapled bunch of papers he’d brought along, casually flipping through it.

This was where he’d drafted out all of the Fate series.

Brushing through the drafted plot for [The Tree of Fate] for the next couple minutes, Niall simply nodded to himself from time to time, mentally mapping out what and where he wanted to improve upon.

Just as he was about to finalize his thoughts, his phone buzzed with a text notification.

Having expected it, Niall casually picked it up.

Seeing that it was in fact from Mark, the young man’s smile widened when he read the text;

I think it’s a great idea. We’ll just need to do a trial run before we start filming tho, just to see if it actually fits the bill.

’Well, I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me again.’ Niall inwardly remarked as he texted a response to Mark.

Not only did he have to write the last book in a couple month’s time, he also had to attend a few interviews regarding [Rink] next month and also, learn how to become a great dancer before they began pre-production for [A Maddened Wonderland].

Niall had to say.

He really was his own antithesis.

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/Caer07