Lost at Sea || Niall Horan (In Editing)

Chapter 37

Erica's POV

I shuffled nervously in the car seat as we drove down the freeway towards my home. As a child I grew up in Kenmore, the suburb built on the hills. We had a stunning view over the valley from our balcony.

Thankfully the house was left to me in Mum's will so I still had a key. Niall and I would spend the night here before heading to Beth's funeral tomorrow afternoon.

Niall was sitting in the passengers seat holding my hand that sat on the gear stick humming almost silently along to the song playing on the radio. My other hand clutched the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles had turned white.

I watched as we passed through the all too familiar suburbs leading to my home, the Asian Market, the pet store were we bought Figaro, the café Dad and I went to every time he was on the mainland.

My breath hitched as we reached the intersection where my Mum died. There had been a small, white cross placed at the base of one of the traffic lights. Tears began to pour silently from my eyes which I failed to wipe away.

Niall must have caught the glistening water through the side of his eye seeing he told me to pull over.

"Ezzy what's wrong?" I burst into tears, still grieving the loss of my Mum. Niall reached awkwardly over the gear stick and wrapped his arms around me.

It took me several minutes for me to be able to calm myself so I could tell Niall. He listened intently as I told him about all the memories as we drove through here and then the beautiful cross someone had placed at the intersection.

He insisted on driving as I gave him directions instead of me driving. 10 minutes later we pulled up at the driveway to the house. It still looked incredible, so beautiful but so sad.

We walked hand in hand through the archway of Jacarandas to the front door made of twisted pipes. It truly was an art of work. Niall's jaw dropped as we walked through the door. As you walked through the door you entered a horizontal corridor.

Off to the left lead to the living room, laundry and garage. Together we walked to the right which led into a large living area. To the right of us was our large, open plan kitchen that was attached to the laundry.

Straight ahead was another corridor that led to the bedrooms. To the left was Mum's art studio, still filled with her recent artworks. The wooden door was closed and I didn't plan on opening it.

"Come on, I want to show you my room."

He grinned and nodded allowing me to drag him ahead. Our bare feet slid against the polished wooden floors. The walls were covered in photos of Mum and I together on all of different adventures.

The first door on the right was firmly shut and I didn't plan on opening it just yet, it was Mum's room and contained far too many memories.

The door directly opposite on the left was closed waiting to be opened, my room. Directly in front of us was the open door that led to the bathroom. I sucked in a deep breath and opened the door to my room.

My nose was filled with the sweet perfume I sprayed excessively as a teenager, it seemed to have been absorbed into the paint so the room always smelled like lavender and rose. The room was still as I remembered it. My white dresser covered in Polaroid photos of my friends and I.

My large bed still covered in my bears, waiting to be hugged. I sighed with a small smile on my face. I loved this room so much, I spent a lot of time with Veronica having sleepovers in here.

Niall seemed to sense my trance and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.

"Its beautiful babe, just like you." I smiled and leant into his embrace. Together we sat on the edge of my bed just embracing the feeling of being home.

I picked up a Polaroid that had been sitting on my pillow. It was a photo of Mum and I from the night before she died. We were curled up on her bed wearing our fluffy pajamas watching Princess Diaries and she decided to take some photos. In this particular photo she was kissing my cheek as I squealed in surprise. A tear slid down my cheek as I brushed my fingertips across her face.

I turned it over and furrowed my brows as I saw small writing scrawled across the back. My beautiful Erica, I love you very much my dear. This photo will always be my favourite, it shows you're real beauty and silly side. The two things I love the most about you, my darling child. No matter what happens, I will always stay in your heart so I will be with you forever, even when I am gone. I love you, Mum xx

I smiled and kissed the photo placing it back on my pillow. Niall smiled gently and kissed me just as gently.

"now I don't know about you but I feel like going for a swim in that gorgeous pool I saw in your yard."

We spent the next 6 hours playing around in the pool. Our neighbor had been kind enough to treat the water while I was away so the water was crystal clear and absolutely stunning.

That night we curled up on the squishy coach watching re-runs of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air while eating nachos and popcorn. All in all it was the most incredible night, he somehow had managed to help me forget everything despite being in the one place that contained the most memories.

Though it would take a miracle to cheer me up at this moment. I was standing in front of the full length mirror in my room wearing the dress I had bought for Beth's funeral.

In 1 hour I would be saying my last goodbye to one of my best friends, again. My dress was made of black satin and sat above my knees with spaghetti straps.

There was a wide band under my bust allowing the skirt to slow easily. After gathering the courage I had gone into Mum's room long enough to find her favorite black heels before running straight out. According to Niall I looked like a beautifully sad young women.

The service was being held in a small church in Kenmore where friends and family gathered to mourn the lost of their loved one. The lads sang Much Too Soon by Michael Jackson which brought the entire congregation to tears. It was such a beautiful service and I cried the entire time.

Thankfully I hadn't been asked to make a speech or I'm sure I would have passed out from lack of oxygen I was crying that much. Niall had faithfully stayed by my side throughout the entire day making me fall for him that little bit more.

Though when we went to the grave site, I insisted he stayed with the guests. Only Nathan, Stella and I went with Beth's parents to the grave.

The lesson I learnt that day was that I needed to cherish the people close to me. Cherish them and adore them, show them that you love them and show yourself that you need them in your life. I never realised how much I really loved Beth until it was too late.