Dirty Little Secret // C.H.

Forty-nine

Sienna's brilliant idea to do her schoolwork in bulk so she could finish her work for the semester early—freeing herself of the stress of deadlines—was becoming more delusional by the second. Touring with a rock band, falling in love, and rediscovering herself made it difficult for her to stay driven to complete the assignments. She wanted to rid her mind of all schoolwork, but in order to do that, she had to finish it.

To put it simply, Sienna felt as if her head would explode if she dared read another word. She rubbed her face, letting out a sigh.

She had always been a fantastic student. Schoolwork was easy for her and she often finished it ahead of time. However, the further into the tour they got, the more Sienna wanted to be in the moment and enjoy it. For the first time in her life she felt spending time with the people she cared about and enjoying her youth was far more important than schoolwork. Her new outlook on the matter made it even more difficult to finish her work early.

She didn't want to waste time writing research papers that could've been spent raising hell with her friends.

She forced her eyes back to her laptop in attempt to push on through her assignment, but her mind found it's way to thoughts about Calum. She wondered what he was doing, if he was thinking about her.

She shook her head with another frustrated sigh.

Before she could make another poor attempt at resuming her work, her phone rang and she nearly leapt at the distraction.

"Hey!" She cheered as the video call connected and a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Hey, babe," Niall said happily.

"Recovered from jet lag yet?" Sienna asked him with a chuckle.

"I've barely gotten out of bed until a few hours ago," He admitted, grinning. "But it's nice to be home," He added. "I miss you though."

"Miss you too," She told him honestly. "I didn't get you into too much trouble, did I?"

"Of course not, babe," Niall assured her. "They all understand why I had to go," It was a promise. It eased her mind knowing the other lads didn't press Niall for suddenly taking time off to come to her. "They just got tired of management bitching at them for my absence, but don't worry Louis gave management a run for their money. They've eased off."

Sienna laughed, picturing Louis cursing at the management team.

"The guys all send their love, by the way," Niall said as he remembered their wishes to let Sienna know she'd been on their minds. "I've got something to show you. That's why I called actually."

"Oh?" She grinned, forgetting all about the frustration that had been overwhelming her moments ago.

As the camera on the video call was flipped to view the other angle, Sienna saw one of the guest rooms in Niall's flat had been slightly redecorated. There were framed posters of some of her favorite movies hung on the walls, the bed was newly accented by a yellow duvet, pictures of Sienna and Niall were framed on the bedside table.

"It's not much," Niall spoke up. "But when I mentioned to Louis that I welcomed you to stay with us, we figured you should have a room of your own."

"It's amazing," Sienna breathed, the words a soft gasp of shock and overwhelming happiness. She felt her heart contract at the gesture and the pang of sadness that came with missing him. "I love it."

"Whenever you want it, it's yours," Niall told her proudly, flipping the camera around so she could see his smile once again. "It'll be here waiting." Another promise. "Although I can't promise Louis won't keep decorating. Anything that reminds him of you will end up in there."