The Broken Beat |One Direction|HS|

Chapter 37

“Wake up, Rose,” a voice murmurs in my ear as my senses are awaked with my mind, “We’re in London. We’re home.”

“Really?” I ask, surprised at the short amount of time that has seemed to pass, “Are we really back in London? That quickly?”

“Love,” his voice says, chuckling quietly, “You’ve been asleep for nearly four hours; the plane even went through some severe turbulence and you slept right through it.”

“Oh,” I say, a bit embarrassed, “Why didn’t you wake me? You were probably really bored, weren’t you?”

“No, not really,” he says, staring down at me, “I was preoccupied with something actually.”

“What were you preoccupied with exactly?” I ask, a bit curious; I mean, wouldn’t anyone be?

“You,” he says, looking away and standing up from his seat and stretching his cramped up muscles.

It’s only then that I realize the plane wasn’t moving and the amounts of people lingering in the cabins are scarce. Seeing the realization hit my face, Niall shakes his head and hides his laughter horribly. Placing his hand out for me to take, I hesitate for a quick moment before grabbing it and allowing myself to be hauled off of the somewhat comfortable airplane seat. With an odd sense of spirit, we hastily empty the overhead storage compartment over our head and bring our carryon bags to the floor with a thump. Quickly, we leave the confines of the plane and step into the tunnel connecting the sanctuary of the plane to the chaos of the terminal. I guess news of Niall’s return had gotten out because before we had stepped out, security turns up out of nowhere and escorts the two of us to some underground tunnel, leading to the garage. There was a black, tinted car waiting patiently and peacefully in the middle of the dark garage. Thanking them, Niall and I climb into the car and are met with a familiar face.

“How’s it going kiddos?” Paul says from his perch in the driver’s seat, “Had a good Christmas?”

“Paul!” Niall and I say simultaneously, both rather excited to be seeing the lovely man.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, a happy grin on his face, “It’s me; don’t have to wet your breeches with the happiness of seeing your security guard, you two.”

Niall and I laugh as Paul smiles at us through the review mirror. Pulling out, the older man tells us about his Christmas, all of the gifts and being able to see his family again. The way his eyes light up with every memory makes me smile, and how could you not when the usually business oriented security guard is letting his walls down and actually enjoying himself? He’s quite adorable when he’s so energetic like this, I have to admit. When he finishes, he asks about our Christmas break. I see a slow reddening creep up Niall’s face as I launch into the story of his two cousins and their adorableness.

When I brought up his baby pictures, he tried to cover my mouth and shush me, which only resorted to him being shoved off and elbowed in the stomach. Earning a loud groan of pain from Niall, I continue to tell the story with a satisfied smirk on my face. Paul’s face lights up in cheerfulness as I finish and Niall’s face is rosy. Physically racking his brain for a subject change, Niall asks if the boys were back yet. It was a pleasant subject change yet my gut feel like its constricting. Paul tells us what each boy’s been up to with great spirit, knocking off each boy with a finger of his free hand.

“Well, Zayn went home to Bradford, you know that much, and Erin flew in from the Sates to meet his family. Apparently, they all hit it off; you couldn’t imagine the little boy joyfulness in his voice over the phone when I called in to check up. I think they’re going to go public in a week or so,” Paul says, smiling at us with a wink, “Liam and Olivia went to Wolverhampton on Christmas Eve and visited his family and on Christmas day went to see her family in Westminster. They seemed to be having a riot, which is only expected with someone like Olivia.”