Dreams

I headed back to the picnic table where my backpack laid, Lann walking next to me. Sweat was already starting to accumulate on my forehead. 

“It is so hot, I can’t even.” Lann said, dropping her tennis bag next to mine. I giggled.

“Get use to it, we’re going to be out here everyday.” I said, smirking. Lann groaned. I laughed quietly to myself. As we waited for the rest of the team to come out of the dressing room, Claudia came over and talked with us. 

“How’s Harreeehhhh?” Lann asked, winking at her. Claudia chuckled.

“He’s great, thanks. How’s Niall?” Claudia winked at me. I rolled my eyes.

“You have the ability to find out yourself, so don’t ask me.” I said, filling my water bottle. 

“Sassy, are we?” she said, laughing. I smirked.

“When is she not?” Lann said, teasingly. Claudia and I began to laugh. 

“Alright, alright. Where will you be when our practice is over?” I asked Claudia.

“Well, I’ll go hangout in the library for the time being, then I’ll come out at.. 5ish?” she said.

“How about either Lann or I text you when we finish?” I said.

“Yeah, that’ll work.” Claudia said.

“Alright, see you!” Lann said. Claudia waved, then headed in the direction of the library. Practice was typical. Our coach was still deciding who made it into top 6. To be honest, I was hoping to make it this year. In order to be able to rank everyone, he made us play each other with either doubles matches or singles. So far, I had won 2 singles matches, and 1 doubles match, Lann being my partner. My personal opinion was we made a pretty good team, but it was up to my coach who played with who. Soon enough it was 5:15 and we were free to go for the day.

“We’ll discuss rankings at the match on Friday.” our coach announced as everyone was packing their bags.

“Fantastic, he has now put us into suspense.” Lori said sarcastically, quiet enough so only I could hear. I smirked, giving her a glance to assure her that I heard her. Lori was a year younger than me, but was a maniac in tennis. She could be a pro. There was no denying she’d be ranked number 1, even in the upcoming years. I was dreaming big, hoping to be in top 4, but what will it hurt, just to hope?

I grabbed my phone out of my bag and sent Claudia a quick text, telling her I was finished. Lann came by me. 

“I can’t stand.. this heat.” she said, taking a big gulp of water. I laughed softly, shaking my head. I packed up my things quickly and began heading toward my card, Lann walking with me to her bus. 

“You sure you can’t come with us?” I asked Lann before she got on the bus.

“Yeah, Gloria’s expecting me.” she said, dully. 

“Hmm, alright. Ask her about coming over this weekend.”

“Will do! See you tomorrow bubs.” she said. 

“Bye, love.” I said, turning around to head to my car. Gloria was Lann’s Nanny. She wasn’t the most considerate when it came to making plans for hanging out but if we would plan ahead, she usually gave in. I threw my bags into the trunk of my Land Rover, quickly grabbed my phone, then got into the driver’s seat. I unlocked my phone, reading a text Claudia had sent me.

Yayy, you’re done! I’ll meet you at your placeee. -Claudia said.

Sounds like a plan see you there. - I replied. Setting my phone down, I put the keys into the ignition and turned my car on.

Sunlight blinded me as I pushed open the heavy school door.  A slight breeze blew into my face as I walked into the outdoors. I blinked a few times for my eyes to adjust to the sudden light change. It was that time of year again… school. However, it was my junior year, so I was determined to do well. As much as I hated school, I was happy to see my friends again. The past summer was so busy with travels, not to mention with the other events that took place; it was just hard to see my other friends.

“I honestly did not want to wake up this morning,” my friend Lann complained. I smirked.

“I know what you mean, girl.” I said, squinting. It was the last week of August, so where we live, it’s still hot. Just walking a small distance made you sweat. “This heat is going to be ridiculous at practice today.” I said.

“Oh, I know. Today just sucks entirely.” She said. I laughed. I loved tennis. No doubt about it. The only thing that really bothers me is the humidity. Playing tennis in humidity isn’t fun, AT ALL. What kept me happy was the fact that Lann made it into the Varsity team, so it would be a lot easier to hang out with her. 

Lann was a couple years younger than me. However, that didn’t change a thing in our relationship. We were so close to each other that age didn’t matter at all. We always acted strange together. Anywhere we would go, we’d be the loudest people in the room. Lann and I had a lot in common as well. We could practically be soul mates. Harry Potter, One Direction, and Hunger Games are what brought us close together, as well as music. I’m guilty when it comes to Lann’s minor obsession with One Direction, but it didn’t bother me because it just made our friendship stronger. 

“Sooooo, how’s Niall,” she said, winking. I rolled my eyes. 

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him yourself?” I snapped back. Lann laughed.

“Hey. I’m not the one that has his number,” she threw back, smirking. I narrowed my eyes at her, then smiled. “Seriously! Anything going on with you two?” she asked.

I looked down at my racket, spinning it in my hands, then sighed.

“No, not really. We try to talk as much as possible but it’s hard. He’s got work, and now I’m back in school.” I said.

“When’s the last time you two talked?” Lann asked.

“Umm.. I think a couple days ago.” I said, as we walked toward the locker rooms.

“Well, that’s not too long ago.” she said. I smiled. “You like him a lot, don’t you?” she asked. I looked up at her and nodded.

“You know I’ve had this crazy crush on him since before I met him. Now it’s different. We’re actually friends, and talk and everything… and when we kissed..” I trailed off, a huge smile on my face. I looked back to Lann, finding her smiling at me. “Let’s just say, I’m really happy.” I said. Lann laughed. 

“I am so glad that you are.” she said, giving me a smile. I smiled back at her. We changed into our athletic wear, then headed back out to the courts.

When we got down to the lobby, to my surprise, Niall was with Harry, who was wearing dark jeans and a white dress shirt under a black blaser. Niall was in a tight, light blue t-shirt and jeans, his hair parting to right. I could feel my heart pounding as our eyes locked. I smiled, still starstruck from his appearance. His lips parted into a beautiful smile, his blue orbs brightening at the sight of me. Harry had a huge smile on his face, not removing his eyes from Claudia. He handed her a boquette of flowers, kissing her on the lips. I moved me eyes back to Niall, who was watching me. He blushed when we made eye contact again. I smirked, looking at my feet. 

“Hey, I’ll see you soon, kay girl?” I looked back up to see Claudia smiling at me. 

“Yeah! Have fun!” I said, giving them both an encouraging smile. Harry smiled at me and grabbed Claudia’s hand.

“See you dude.” Harry said to Niall. He nodded in response. I smiled.

“Hey Styles.” I said with a smirk. He turned back. I pointed my index finger in his direction. “I want her back before 10.” I said in a deep voice. He rolled his eyes.

“Yes, sir.” he said, smirking. I narrowed my eyes as Claudia and him chuckled, going out the lobby door. I shook my head then turned back to Niall. He smiled as soon as I faced him. I couldn’t help but do the same. We started walking toward each other at the same time. 

“Hey.” he said, smirking. I smiled, the heat coming back to my face. Butterflies were fluttering madly around my stomach.

“Hey.” I finally breathed out. He smiled.

“You ready to go?” he asked. I raised an eyebrow.

“Wait a minute, how did you get here?” I asked. I knew he couldn’t be driving here in the US.

“Oh, well a security guard was planning to drive Harry and Claudia to dinner, and I knew he was picking her up, so I figured I’d come and meet you first.” He said, smiling. I looked at him curiously, smiling.

“That was really thoughtful of you.” I said, chuckling. He laughed, grabbing my hand. I blushed.

“You look beautiful, just letting you know..” he said, not looking at my face. I looked up at him, slightly caught off guard. 

He just called me beautiful…. He.. just called me ….beautiful. That can’t be right. I had to be imagining things. I’m not attractive, beautiful, pretty, whatever. He looked up, staring into my eyes. His gaze snapped me back into reality.

“You really do.” he said, as if he knew I didn’t believe him. I looked down, blushing. I wasn’t smiling. I shook my head to get a couple strands of hair off my cheeks, then smiled, look back up.

“Let’s go.” I said, turning back to the elevator. Right as I walked in, Niall grabbed my hand again. I turned back to him, finding him really close to me, that I had to really look up to see his face. He pushed the button of the garage, without braking eye contact. 

“Please don’t let go.” he said, squeezing my hand. I couldn’t break away. I shook my head.

“I won’t.” I said quietly. We stared intently into each other’s eyes for what seemed hours. Suddenly, the elevator dinged, making me jump and snapping me back into reality. I looked away then walked out of the elevator, pulling Niall with me. When I reached the rental car, I let go of Niall’s hand. He walked over to the passenger’s seat as I climbed into the car. He slumped down in the seat next to me as I started the car. “So where am I going?” I asked, as I drove out of the garage. 

“Here, I’ll put the adress in the GPS.” he said. I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road. When I got to a red light, Niall activated the guidance. We were at the shopping center in about 5 minutes. He called Zayn to ask him where he was, telling me that the boys were at American Eagle. The challenge was trying to find where American Eagle was, because the shopping center was huge.

“Wow.” I said, looking around. There were 4 floors and they were filled with almost everything; clothing and apparel, fast food restaurants, elegant restaurants, game stores, music stores. There was even a laser-tag room. I was still in amazement when Niall grabbed my hand, and started leading me into the shopping center. I looked at him, finding a smirk on his face. “What?” I asked, smiling. He looked at me, smiling.

“Nothing.” he said, shaking his head. I smiled at him, squeezing his hand and coming closer to him. He smiled, leaning down to give me a quick peck on my temple. After a bit of walking, talking, and giggling, I had the feeling we were lost.

“Okay, please tell me you know where you’re taking me, Horan.” I said, laughing. He snickered, nodding his head.

“Yes, I checked a map. The place is just huge.” he said, throwing out his free arm. I laughed.

“Well, that’s not a lie.” I said. He laughed, slightly nudging me in the ribs with his elbow. I giggled, shoving him softly with my shoulder. Niall chuckled, shaking his head. Suddenly his phone started ringing. He took it out of his pocket with his free hand.

“It’s Liam.” he said before answering. “Hey… no, yeah we’re on our way…. you’re where? … when did you see us?” Niall looked down at me with a confused look. We stopped walking, standing near a wall. “Oh so you left that store… gotcha… okay, see you soon.” Niall hung up. “We actually just passed the store that they were in.” he told me.

“What? Where are they now?” I asked.

“Hot Topic, apparently.” he said, making a weird face. I nodded.

“Best place for graphic tees in my opinion.” I said, shrugging.

“For some reason, I’ve never liked it.” he said, scrunching up his nose.

“Why not?” I asked, laughing. He shrugged.

“The store always seemed a bit creepy. Along with that other store Spencer’s. I saw one of those in Virginia. The only cool thing were the hats.” he said. I started laughing. 

“Figures you’d be attracted by the hats.” I said, giggling. He smiled, sticking his tongue out at me. “Come on, we better go catch them before they change stores again.” I said, laughing. He grabbed my hand, then started walking back the way we came. It wasn’t that far away from where we had stopped. I began walking toward the store. I felt my arm being pulled back a little more with every step. I turned around, finding Niall making a weird face at the sign that read “Hot Topic”. “Niall?” I said. He looked back at me. I wasn’t completely sure what his expression was supposed to mean, but I walked up to him. “It honestly isn’t a bad store. Actually.. they’re selling Catching Fire Merch right now so I really want to go in!” I said, trying my best to encourage him. He sighed, looking back up at the sign, then moving his eyes back to mine. “What do you sayyy?” I asked, pulling off a persuasive smile. He smirked, finally nodding. “Awesome.” I said, squeezing his hand. I got on the tips of my toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before turning around and leading him into the store.

Catching Fire could of easily been the name of the store, because that’s all I was seeing in the first part of the store. 

“Oh my gosh…” I said. I was practically screaming inside, jumping slightly on the outside. I spotted a few t-shirts and started looking at them. While holding out a t-shirt infront of me, I felt Niall put his arm around my waist, placing his head on my shoulder.

“I like it.” he mumbled into my ear. It sent chills down my spine. I straightened my back and nodded. 

“I wanted one when Hunger Games came out but they sold out before I could get it.” I said.

“Get it.” I felt him shrug.

“No.. I can wait.” I said shaking my head, putting it back on the rack. Then, something gold caught my eye. I turned my head, my cheek hitting Niall’s. I moved away slightly, looking into his face. He looked at me smiling. I smiled back, turning my head to try and find what had caught my eye in the first place. Then, I laid eyes on it. A mockingjay necklace. “Noooo!” I said in disbelief. I walked quickly toward it, grabbing it. “Oh my gosh! I thought they weren’t going to bring this back!” I said, shaking my head. Niall came next to me. I showed it to him, slightly squealing. He chuckled at me. 

“Do you want it?” he asked me, smirking. I nodded my head, laughing. I checked the price on the back. Twelve dollars. Okay, I’m sure I’ve got the money. I took out my wallet from my bag. When I opened it up, my heart fell. Ten dollars. The smile I had on my face started to drift away. “What’s wrong?” Niall asked, snapping me back to reality. I blinked a couple times, then shook my head.

“Don’t have enough money.” I said, dully. I put it back in the basket. 

“Oh.. maybe I can-“ 

“There you guys are!” said a familiar voice. Both Niall and I turned our heads to find Liam walking toward us. I smiled.

“Hey Liam.” I said. He smiled.

“Hey babe! Where have you guys been?” he asked, looking from me to Niall. 

“We were heading to American Eagle at first.” Niall said.

“Ohhh, yeah that’s a bit far from here, but at least we found you!” Liam said, smiling. I laughed.

“Very true.” I said.

“Guess what.” Zayn said, walking up behind Liam. 

“What?” I said.

“They have a laser tag arena here!” he said. I laughed.

“Yeah, I saw it.” I said, smiling.

“Louis set up a session for only us 5!” Liam said.

“Really?” Niall said.

“Oh my gosh really?” I said, enthusiastically.

“Yeah I did.” Louis said, walking toward me. I giggled.

“Nice call, Tomlinson.” I said, smirking. 

“I know what the people want.” he said, smirking. I rolled my eyes, nodding.

“Sure.” I said, giggling. 

“Let us pay for our stuff, then we can head up there.” Zayn said. I nodded.

“Yeah! Go ahead.” I said, smiling. They smiled, then headed toward the cash register. I turned back to Niall, smiling. “Sounds like fun, yeah?” I asked. He smiled, nodding. 

“Have you ever played laser tag?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I suck.” I said. Niall started laughing.

“We can make an alliance. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.” he said. I smiled.

“Thanks.” I said, nodding. He smiled.

“Let me go wait with them, okay?” he said.

“Okay.” I said, smiling. He chuckled, then headed toward the cash register with the rest of the boys. I sighed, looking back at the Catching Fire Merchandise. After a few minutes, they returned. I noticed Niall had a small plastic bag in his hand. He definitely didn’t bring that with him. I was a bit suspicious, especially since he didn’t stand beside me on our way to the laser tag place. I talked with Liam about some of our interests on the way, laughing almost the entire time. We were beginning to have a really good friendship. We had so much in common, it wasn’t even funny. He was always so sweet and funny, that it wasn’t hard for me to love him, but in the way you would love a great friend.

We finally reached the laser tag arena, which was located on the 3rd floor. We spent about an hour, shooting each other, scaring each other, and jumping around. The boys were absolutely psychotic. They were so into the game, I didn’t have a chance. It was only when Niall found me, that I began to stop dying so frequently. He would always step infront of me or put his arm out to cover me, as if he was seriously saving my life. In the end, we had the best time. We started heading back down to the exit, laughing about some of the event that had happened in the past hour. 

“Well, that was really fun!” Louis said. Everyone nodded, laughing. 

“Thanks for inviting me, I had a great time.” I said, smiling. 

“No problem, we hope we can do it again sometime.” Zayn said, smiling.

“Next time, with Harry and Claudia though.” I said.

“Oh of course, definitely wasn’t the same without them.” Liam said. I smiled. We were silent for moment. 

“Well… do you think you and Claudia could come to the airport tomorrow? For you know.. a last goodbye?” Louis asked. I bit my lip, but nodded. 

“Yeah..yeah why not.” I said, smiling slightly. It was hard, honestly, to accept the fact that they were leaving to such a long distance the next morning.

“Cool.” Louis said, smiling.

“See you tomorrow then?” Zayn said.

“See you tomorrow.” I said, nodding. They all smiled

“Bye babes.” Liam said, giving me a small hug. Zayn, Liam, and Louis began to walk away. I turned to Niall who hadn’t moved an inch. He had a sad expression on his face. I titled my head frowning. 

“Hey.. it’ll be okay.” I said, walking up to him. I rubbed his arm. He smiled slightly at me, then held out the little black bag that was in his hands. I looked at him, confused.

“Open it.” he said, smiling. I smirked, giving him a weird look, but did as he said. I stuck my hand into the  bag, pulling out a small piece of cardboard out wrapped in plastic. I turned it over, and to my surprise, the mockingjay necklace was inside. I gasped.

“Oh my.. Niall.” I said, looking up at him. He was smiling. I shook my head. 

“You shouldn’t have gotten me this.”  I said.

“You wanted it.” he said.

“But..”

“No but’s. Take it.” he said. I looked up at him, and smiled.

“Thank you.” I said quietly. 

“You’re so welcome, love.” he said, smiling. I smiled, laughing.

“Hey Niall!” we heard a distance shout say. Niall turned and yell back.

“Yeah, I’m comin’!” he shouted back. He turned back to me.

“Go. You need the sleep.” I said. He frowned. I smiled at him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, then started heading to the rental car. I turned around as I walked down the parking lot. Niall was walking toward a suburban, watching me. I smiled. 

“I’ll see you in the morning.” I shouted. He smiled, throwing a thumbs up in the air. I giggled, getting into the rental car. I drove back into the garage of my hotel, then headed up to my room. I dropped off the car keys in my parents room, then went into the room Claudia and I shared. Surprisingly, she was already there. She was sitting on her bed, in her PJs, watching TV. 

“You got here after me? I can’t believe this.” she said as soon as I walked in. 

“Can’t believe it either.” I said smirking.

“What did you guys do that took so long?” Claudia asked. I told her how half the time, Niall and I were lost, and the other half, laser tag.

“You guys played laser tag?! Oh my gosh, Harry’s gonna be pissed.” she said, smiling. I laughed.

“Why?”

“He loves laser tag.” she said, laughing. I smirked.

“Ahhh.. glad I’m not the one who’s going to tell him then.” I said, laughing. Claudia laughed. “So what did you two do?” I asked, smiling.

“Well, we went to dinner.. that’s where we talked about everything..” she said, beginning to trail off. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

“And..?”

She was silent for a moment, as if she was trying to find words that would best describe her feelings. Finally she raised her head to speak. “He loves me.. he really really love me.. And I love him.” she said, looking up at me. Knowing Claudia, admitting that she was in love with someone, let alone falling for someone, was something she normally didn’t do, especially in such a short period of time. A smile gradually started to form on my face, escalating to squeals. I jumped, pulled her into a bear hug, squealing of course. She instantly started laughing. My squeals started to form in laughter.

“Ahhh, sorry! Oh my gosh… I’m just so happy for you girl!” I said, smiling. She laughed.

“Thanks.” she said with a huge smile on her face. We started to giggle again, like a pair of two little girls, when suddenly, there was a knock on our hotel room door. Claudia and I looked at each other in confusion. “Your parents?” she asked.

“Maybe..?” I said, shrugging. I got up from the bed and walked over to the small hallway that led to the door. I unlocked the bolt, swinging the door open. 

“Harry?” I said in a surprised tone. He smiled at me.

“Hey… Claudia’s here right?” he asked. I smirked.

“Right in front of you, Styles.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. He rolled his eyes.

“You know who I mean.” he said, shaking his head. I chuckled.

“Yeah, she’s here. What are you doing here, though?” I asked.

“Oh, well.. she left this.” Harry held out a small plush toy of Batman. I looked at it curiously. What the heck did they do today and where did she get that?

“Uh, ha..ha.. um Claudia?” I called, turning down the hallway.

“What do you waaaannnnntttt?” she called back. Harry started chuckling, as I rolled my eyes back, sighing. When Claudia got to the hallway, she looked startled. “Oh…oh! Harry! Hi, uh what are you doing here?” she asked, walking up to the door, slightly jumping. Harry laughed.

“You left this guy in the car, babe.” he said, smirking and moving the plush toy back and forth. Claudia’s eyes widened.

“Oh my gosh, Harry! Thank you so much! Ahh!” she said, as he handed it to her. She got on the tips of her toes and kissed him. I awkwardly smiled, then turned away, walking back to my bed. Twenty minutes passed and Claudia still hadn’t come back to bed. I looked over to the clock. 11:47. I shook my head, smirking. Finally, I heard Harry call out to me.

“See you in the morning, Clauds!” he shouted to me.

“Bye Harr!” I called back. Claudia closed the hotel door, then came back to her bed, hugging her plush toy. I raised an eyebrow at her. 

“What?” she said in an innocent tone. I smiled.

“Don’t worry, I don’t blame you.” I said, smirking then looking back down at my phone. “Where’d you get it anyways?” I asked.

“The plush?” she asked. I nodded. “Oh well, after dinner, we went to this amusement park type of place.. and he won me it.” she said smiling. I looked up at her.

“Well, dawwwwwww.” I said. She laughed. 

“Well… we better get to bed. We can pack in after we get back from the airport.” I told her, turning off my phone. I looked up at her, seeing the enthusiasm fading from her eyes quickly. 

“Right..right… night..” she said, quietly. Claudia turned off her lamp. I sighed, turning mine off as well.

***

Getting up the following morning wasn’t difficult at all. Claudia and I decided to stay as happy as possible, getting away from the fact that they were leaving. As soon as we got to the airport, we found Paul and a group of security guards. Thankfully, there were only a handful of fans, but I did my best to hide behind the guards. Claudia stayed next to Harry, hugging him, kissing him, all the things cutesy couples do. As happy as I was for her, it slightly bothered me. Only because I wanted that so bad, however. I glanced over at Niall, who was giving my a sympathetic. He walked over to me.

“Niall-“

“You shouldn’t be hiding.” he said.

“But the fans-“

“Who cares?! I want you to be with us.” Niall grabbed my hand. I blushed, looking up at him. I nodded.

“Okay..” I said. He smiled, kissed my cheek, then lead me over to the guys. As soon as I got to them, Paul came up to us.

“Boys, we need to go.” My heart sank at his words. We all looked at him sadly.

“Right.. ok, we’ll be there soon.” Liam said. Paul smiled, slightly, then walked toward security. We were silent. Finally, Louis spoke up.

“Well..it’s been an amazing tour boys, and we’re so happy to have met you two.” he said to us. I smiled in response. Louis looked at me thoughtfully. “Oh, come here.” he said, walking up to me and pulling me into a big hug. I buried my face into his shoulder. He stroked my hair softly with his hand. “Gonna miss you kid.” he said quietly. I smiled.

“Gonna miss you too, bro.” I said smirking. Claudia was hugging Liam, from what I saw from the corner of my eye. Louis smiled, then walked toward Claudia. I turned to Harry, giving him a hug. As we broke off, he smirked.

“Talk to you soon, twit.” he said.

“Will do, loser.” I said. He smiled with his cheeky, breathtaking grin, then turned to Claudia. Zayn came up and hugged me, kissing my hair.

“Have a safe trip back.” he said, looking at me.

“You too.. gonna miss you.” he smiled.

“Me too. See you soon hopefully.” he said sadly.

“Hopefully.” I nodded, sighing. He smiled, kissed my forehead then headed behind Paul and Louis. I turned to Liam, finding him with an extremely sad expression on his face. It honestly broke my heart to see him upset. I smiled at him, then walked into his big embrace. 

“We’ll keep in touch, right?” I said into his chest.

“Absolutely, babe.” he said, giving me a small squeeze, then letting go. He frowned again. I smiled slightly, waving. He waved back then, walked after Liam, Harry following. That left Niall. I sucked in a gulp of air, then turned to him. He was walking toward me with a frown on his face. I frowned in response. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shirt. Tears were beginning to form. I felt him sigh.

“This is going to be tough..” he said, quietly. I smiled.

“What is?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Not being with you..” he said, looking into my eyes. I frowned again. He stroked his thumb softly against my cheek, kissed my forehead, then let go my hand. “Bye babe..” he said, sadly. It was hard.. really hard. But when is goodbye easy? He walked backwards a few paces and waved. I waved back mouthing, “bye.” He smiled, then turned around, following Harry. I clenched my jaw, trying hard to hold back the tears. I felt Claudia loop her arm in mine. I looked at her. She was smiling at me.

“Let’s go.” she said quietly. I nodded. Claudia and I waved one last time, then turned around. As we began to head back toward, I heard someone shout.

“Niall? Where are you going?”

I swung around, finding Niall jogging towards us. I let go of Claudia’s arm, walking toward him.

“Niall? What are yo-” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence because before I realized, Niall’s lips were on mine. It lasted for about a minute, but it felt like forever.. It was so perfect, I didn’t want it to end. He broke off, smiling. I looked up into his eyes, giggling.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” he said, laughing. I smiled, blushing. My face felt so hot, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around his neck, got on the tips of my toes and kissed him. The second time, we both broke off laughing.

“Me too.” I said, giggling. He scrunched up his nose in the adorable way he does, laughing, then kissed me one last time softly on the lips. We broke off, smiling, placing our foreheads together. 

“I’ll talk to you soon, I promise.” he said quietly.

“Stay safe please.” I whispered back. He kissed my forehead one last time, then finally let go. He ran back to security, fists held high. I started to laugh so hard. The boys began cheering, making my face go red. I turned back to Claudia who had a huge smile on her face. Probably one of the best goodbyes…ever.

The fact that they were giving us full on stares made me uneasy. That’s when I noticed what one of the girls was wearing. It was a One Direction T-Shirt, one that I had seen at the concert last night. I turned to face the ocean again, pretending I hadn’t noticed them. I began to sit really still. Niall must of noticed the tension that came over me. 

“Hey..” he said. I looked at him, a bit worried. “Babe, don’t worry.” He kissed me on the forehead, making me smile. He smiled, then looked up. “However.. we should leave before they stop arguing.” he said. I turned my head to look at the girls. They were arguing quietly, probably trying to figure out what to do. I shook my head then turned back, finding Niall standing over me and holding his hand out. I grabbed it, and he pulled me up swiftly, as if I weighed like a feather. As we began to make our way back to Liam, Zayn, Louis, Harry and Claudia, Niall grabbed my hand as we walked along the water. I looked up and smiled at him. He smiled back, giving me a kiss on my temple. When we finally made our way back to them, Louis started “awww”ing. I rolled my eyes, noticing Claudia and Harry weren’t there anymore.

“Where did Claudia and Harry go?” I asked. 

“Harry went back to our hotel, and I think Claudia’s up at yours. She said something about not needing to tan anymore?” Liam said, laughing. I laughed at the old joke, but was still confused.

“Why?” I asked.

“Oh, he asked her to dinner.. since this is our last day here.” Louis said, sighing. We all got quiet for a moment.

“Well, that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun!” Zayn said happily, trying to break the tension. I smiled. 

“What can we do?” Niall asked. Zayn shrugged, and Louis shook his head, not knowing what to do.

“We could just, go out and explore?” Liam suggested. 

“Oh, yeah that could be fun.” Zayn said, nodding. Louis and Niall agreed. I nodded.

“Yeah, okay. Let me go change and check on Claudia, so um.. let’s meet where?” I asked. They all thought for a moment.

“Well, there’s this shopping center near the restaurant Harry wants to take Claudia, maybe we can go there?” Louis said. I squeezed Niall’s hand, then let go. He made a pouty face at me and I smiled, turning back to Louis.

“Oh, yeah, yeah! That sounds goods. Alright I’ll see you guys around.. 7ish?” I said walking backwards toward my hotel. 

“Yeah! See you then!” Liam said, smiling. I smiled and waved, then turned toward my hotel. When I got to the hotel room, I found Claudia doing her make-up. She was wearing sweats and a t-shirt. 

“Oh! Oh my gosh. Please help me! I can’t find anything to wear!” she said, rushing to her suitcase. She had clothes all over the place. I shook my head and walked over to my bag. I found the best dress that I had brought, then held it out in front of me. 

“How about this?” I asked loudly, trying to get her attention. She turned to me. Her jaw dropped as she laid eyes on the dress. It was bright purple, and one of my favorites (here’s the dress http://www.polyvore.com/laser_cut_skater_dress/thing?id=62928859 ). 

“Oh, Claudia I love it! It’s so pretty!” she said, admiring it thoughtfully. 

“Then its yours for tonight.” I said, handing it to her. She smiled brightly, gave me a small hug, then went to change in it. I picked out a tank, blaser, and skinny jeans, then began to take of my beach clothes. As soon as my hands grabbed the shirt, something snapped. “Oh, crap.” I said out loud. I forgot to give Niall back his t-shirt. Damn it. And I had left my towel at the beach. I let out a groan of frustration. 

“What’s wrong?” I heard Claudia asked. 

“Ugh, I forgot to give Niall back his shir- oh my gosh it looks so good on you!” I said, facing her. She smiled.

“You think?”

“Yes! You look beautiful! Harry’s gonna love it.” I said smiling. She smiled, clapping her hand together. “Here, let me do you hair.” I said.

“Okay! Now.. you’re going to have to tell me how that shirt ended up on you.” she said, smirking. I rolled my eyes grabbing the straightening iron. 

“Weren’t you kind of there?” I said. She slumped down next to me. 

“No, I came up here after you guys sat down.” she said. I shook my head, smirking. 

“So you guys were watching us hmm?” I said. She laughed.

“Guilty.” she giggled. I smiled.

“Well, I guess he noticed I got kinda cold… then gave it to me.” I said, shrugging.

“What did you guys talk about though!” she said. I was quite for a moment, concentrating on her hair. “Claudia! Tell me!” she complained.

“Oh my gosh.. okay… well.. we kinda just..told each other..that we liked each other…” I said, feeling the heat come to my face. 

“Oh my god. Are you serious?!” Claudia exclaimed. She tried turning around to face me, but I stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder blade and pushing her back to the position she had been.

“Stay still or I won’t be able to do it right!” I said, checking I hadn’t ruined her hair.

“Sorry! Sorry! I just got excited.. so did he ask you out or something?” she asked curiously. Something hit me, hard. He actually hadn’t. I thought for a minute. Maybe.. maybe he didn’t like me to that extent..? No. No.. I shook my head. 

“No, he did not. And I don’t think there would be a point if he did. He’s leaving tomorrow. And we have school starting in a couple weeks. Come to think of it, I have a tennis match in a week.” I said, a bit unhappily. I unplugged the straightening iron, and replaced it with the curling iron. 

“That’s true… this is the first time Harry and I are actually going to be really apart..” Claudia said, thinking. 

“Hey, at least you’re going out to dinner, so you can talk about the “L” word thing?” I reminded her.

“Oh yeah…yeah. Yeah I have to tell him how I really feel.” She said, straightening her back. 

“And..how do you feel?” I asked, finishing up. She sighed. I unplugged the curling iron, as she turned to face me.

“I love him. I really.. really do.” she said. I looked into her eyes and smiled. 

“I’m really happy for you.” I said, putting my arms around her and giving her a small squeeze. She smiled. “Alright, I’m going to change really quickly, then we can go down to the lobby together.” 

“Okayy!” she said, smiling. I quickly changed into my outfit, put it a small amount of make-up on, and put on a couple accessories. My beach hair looked decent, so I approved of its wavy-ness. I did one final check in the mirror, grabbed my bag, then headed out the door of our hotel room. I stopped by my parents room to tell them we were heading out and to grab the keys of the rental car. Like any good parents do, they told us to be safe, have fun, and to not to come back too late. We said our goodbyes, then headed toward the lobby.

When I woke up, I laid in bed for about an hour, thinking. I always thought too much. It was a habit. The feelings I had for Niall were still unclear. I cared about him a lot, I honestly did but what was holding me back was the real question. Was it the fact that I was still unsure about him liking me back? Or maybe I’m just not ready for another relationship… Maybe I just wanted to stay friends with him. These thoughts were racing through my head, along with tons of more theories. I snapped back into reality when I heard the door of our hotel room open. My head snapped up as Claudia walked toward her bed. 

“Morning!” she said, seeing that I was awake.

“Morning.” I said.

“Beach?” Claudia asked, hopefully.

“Why not.” I replied, getting up from my bed, grabbing my bikini, and heading into the bathroom to change. We stayed at the beach for about a few hours, soaking up the sun. I was laying down on my towel with my eyes closed, when I started hearing some familiar voices. 

“Is she awake?” someone said, with a deep voice and british accent.

“Does she even know that we were going to come?” someone said with an Irish accent.

“No! Now shh.. we have to catch her off guard.” another voice said, a girl. I began to stay really still, not knowing what to except. Suddenly, someone grabbed my ankles.

“Shit!” I yelled, my eyes flashing open. I started kicking frantically to loosen the grip around my ankles. I looked up to find Louis laughing on the floor in front of me. I took in that all five of the boys were surrounding me, laughing. They were all in their swim trunks, Niall was the only one wearing a t-shirt. My heart couldn’t help but start pounding a bit faster. Claudia was standing next to Harry, laughing as well. I made a face.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny, scare me half to death, will you.” I said, sitting up and frowning.

“Are you upset?” Zayn asked. I looked up at him and shook my head.

“Just tired..” I said, laying back down. 

“Claudia, come on. Don’t be such a lazy ass.” Louis said, grabbing my hand and trying to pull me up. I started groaning.

“Louuuuuuu…” I said, sitting up. Harry, Claudia, Liam and Zayn walked toward the water, laughing. Niall stayed at Louis’s side, giggling. He grabbed my other free hand and pulled me up. “Guyyyss..” I said, slumping into Niall’s arms. 

“Are you really this tired?” Louis asked.

“Yes! Yes I am. I am exhausted and I don’t want to do anything, but sleep.” I said. Niall started laughing, while Louis shook his head.

“You bum.” he said, walking away. I smiled. Niall put his arm around me and rubbed my arm. 

“Do you want to lay down again?” he asked. I sighed.

“I mean.. I’m standing up now..” I said. He started chuckling. I rolled my eyes. We walked toward the water, our arms almost touching. We spent possibly an hour in the water, splashing each other, skim boarding, looking for crabs, etc. It was so fun. Around 3 we headed back to our towels and sat down, talking. Before I was able to sit down, Niall put his mouth to my ear.

“You wanna take a walk?” he whispered. I looked up to his face to find him smiling. I smiled, nodding.

“I’d like that.” I said. He smiled.

“Awesome.” he said, grabbing my hand. We walked to the water’s edge. I started kicking the water lightly as we began to walk along the edge between the sand and ocean. Niall was smirking at me. I looked at him.

“What?” I asked, smiling. He shook his head, smirking.

“You look like a toddler, messing with the water like that.” he said chuckling. I rolled my eyes. 

“Judgmental much?” I said, turning away from him, smiling. I heard him chuckling, making me smirk. We had walked a good distance, so we stopped. I began to bury my toes into the sand. 

“Claudia?” Niall said. I turned to face him and smiled.

“Yeah?” 

“I want to talk to you about something..” he said. He kept looking into my face, then his feet. My heart skipped a beat. 

“Okay… about?” I said, turning to him. 

“Well, I wanted to…I mean.. like where we left off yesterday. I wanted to tell you.. that.. I-” Niall stopped, looking up. He was staring at something, making a weird facial expression. I then realized what was happening. 

“They’re watching us, aren’t they.” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah…” Niall said, moving his gaze from them, to me. I rolled my eyes. I could feel the boys and Claudia watching us from a distance. Niall laughed. I sat down on a dry area of sand. I motioned Niall to come sit next to me. He smirked, slouching next to me. “Okay. I’ve tried telling you this..who knows how many times now.” Niall said, grabbing my hand. I looked into his eyes. “Claudia. I like you. A lot. Like a lot, a lot.” he said, holding my hand tightly. I was staring into his beautiful blue eyes, looking for confirmation to what I’d just heard. I smiled, finally letting the words sink in. 

“Really?” I said, breathlessly. He nodded.

“Yes…ever since the day we met… I don’t know.. you were just.. special..” he said, stroking his thumb over my hand. “And I didn’t know how I was going to tell you, or if you felt the same, then I didn’t know when was the best time to tell you..” Niall had increased the speed of how he was talking in a matter of seconds.

“Niall! Niall!” I said, laughing. He stopped in mid-sentence, looking up to me. I took in a deep breath. “I like you too…like a lot, a lot.” I said, giggling. Niall’s expression brightened.

“Are you serious?!” He said, squeezing my hand. I giggled, nodding my head. “Aw, babe..this is too great.” Niall said, his smile brightening as he spoke. I smiled, rubbing my hands on my arms as a breeze blew in my direction. I then realized I just in my bikini. Well no wonder the sea breeze felt freezing. Niall noticed. “Oh, here.” He began to take his t-shirt off. 

“No, no no! Don’t do that, you don’t have to!” I said, to him. I didn’t want him to be cold, but seeing him shirtless wasn’t that bad, however. He handed it to me. “Niall, really I’m fine.”

“Love, I insist.” he said, placing it on my lap. I sighed, looking him in the eyes. 

“Okay, fine..” I said, smiling. I put the t-shirt over my head and straightened it out on my torso. The scent of his cologne filled my nose. “Ohh..my god..” I thought. Butterflies began to fill my stomach. I turned again to him, finding him smiling.

“Better?” he asked.

“A bit.” I smiled. I turned back to my feet, digging my toes into the sand. By accident, I flicked sand onto Niall’s leg. I gasped, laughing. His mouth made an “o” shape. He kicked some sand onto my leg. “Niall!” I said, giggling. I shoved him aside slightly. He started laughing, hysterically. Somehow, my giggling ended up escalating to my real true laugh. I covered my mouth, trying to hide my laugh as best as possible. Niall started laughing even harder. He wrapped his arm around my torso and I put my head on his shoulder, both of us crying from the laughter. As he began to calm down, he turned his head to face me. I giggled, looking at him but not removing my cheek from his shoulder. He kissed my forehead slightly. I could feel my face burning, probably blushing. I took a peek at Niall’s face as he looked across the ocean, and found his cheeks slightly rosy as well. I smiled, snuggling up to him. He smiled.

“You know what… I didn’t even finish telling you everything.” Niall said, looking down at me. I looked up.

“There’s more?” I asked, smiling.

“Well, yeah! I never told you who the song was for!” Niall said, smiling. I laughed.

“I think I have a pretty good idea now.” I said, giggling.

“Oh well…” Niall said laughing. I smiled, wrapping my arms around his stomach. Niall tightened his grip around torso, giving me a peck on the cheek. He kept his lips on the side of my head, looking down to beach. I smiled, staring out into the ocean. I honestly could of stayed there forever, and have been perfectly happy. “Claudia..” Niall said quietly.

“Hmm?” I said, not moving an inch. Niall sighed. I looked up at him. His expression was extremely sad.

“I’m going to miss you.. so much.” he said. My heart sank, remembering that he was leaving the next morning. I bit my lip and nodded.

“I’m really going to miss you too.” I said, slightly frowning. He looked at me with brokenhearted eyes. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and snuggled up against him again. He pressed his lips to my forehead again.

“Uh-oh.” he said. I looked up.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking around. That’s when I spotted a couple girls, probably a few years younger than me, staring at me and Niall.