Falling (Niall Horan)

Chapter 18: Settle in Seattle

A phone call that served as my alarm woke me up. I groggily answered, "what?"

"Dianne! It's 12pm! Have you packed? We're leaving at 8pm and we need to be in the airport at exactly 6pm!" Cary said, not stopping at all to breathe.

"Shit. I forgot to pack last night. I fell asleep." I swore silently again in my head. Cary is a very time conscious woman. It's one thing that makes her so organized.

"Yeah, I thought so. Which is why I'm downstairs! Open up! I'll help you pack. Brought my baggage also so we could go to the airport together." 

"Alright." I dragged myself downstairs, opened the door and saw a Cary holding half a dozen of Red Velvet cupcakes on one hand and a huge luggage on the other. 

"Figured I'll find you like this so I brought wallow treats!" She exalted. I hungrily took the cupcakes from her and took a huge bite. Ahh, heaven. "I love ya!" I told her and the cupcake at the same time. 

"I know" Cary answered and hauled me once again upstairs and shoved all my clothes in my suitcase. Good thing my clothes are neatly folded. I checked my phone and saw texts from the lads, mostly saying they knew about Niall's plan to send me to one of their concerts and they totally loved it. There's one from My Extremely Hot Boyfriend. What gift was he talking about?

I smiled relentlessly at my phone as Cary threw a beige, chiffon, spaghetti-strapped top at me. "Quit fantasizing about your boyfriend and get dressed!" 

I didn't reply to their texts anymore since I know they won't be able to read it. I showered and got dressed. Cary loved dressing me up so I let her choose my clothes. I wore a white skinny jeans, paired with my Nine West beige wedges and the top that Cary threw me. I look like I'm modeling some sort of clothing line. 

I collected my car from Zayn's, fetched Cary from my apartment along with our luggage and headed to The Landmark to kill some time. We're still too early. The Landmark is the name of the mall that Louis took me to when we shopped for Ellie's gift. It's conveniently near to Park 'n Fly (where I'll leave my car before going to Seattle) and to the airport. 

It's 4:47PM. "Let's go?" Cary offered and we strolled to the parking lot. I left my car to the hands of Park 'N Fly and we were given a ride to the airport. 

"Ms. Robmyer and Ms. Hastings?" The girl in the check-in counter said, and we nodded. "Both of your flights have been upgraded to first class. It says here that it's complementary." She pointed at the screen as if we could see it and continued; "the seats are already vacated for both of you and it would be a waste if you didn't take it" she smiled at us.

Cary looked at me in shock. I instantly remembered Niall's "gift". "Niall did this..." I told Cary, and she was already smiling ear-to-ear. "Dianne, you might hate me for this, but I love your boyfriend right now" I playfully smacked her arm and we headed to the immigration and then proceeded to the waiting area thereafter.

First class is the best. I made a mental note to properly thank Niall for this. But when I laid my back, a familiar voice woke up my lethargic system.

"Dianne! What a lovely surprise! How have you been lately?" I cracked an eye open to confirm my worst nightmare. Niall's gift had just backfired. Christian was grinning down at me. 

“I’m anything but good right now, Christian.” I lied, “so go away” I closed my eyes once more and gently massaged my temple. “Nice to see you and I being on the same flight, eh? Join me in my seat, I don’t have anyone with me.” He persisted.

This is just getting irritating, “Christian, what part of ‘go away’ don’t you understand?” I glowered at him,

“You’re acting like a child, Dianne. I just want someone to have a nice conversation with.” I looked over at Cary, silently hoping that she’s awake. She’s not. There’s no getting out of here.