so far away

Chapter 1 'See you soon grumpy.'

Charlotte’s POV

‘I’ll miss you’ he said and he kissed my forehead.

‘But I’ll come and watch you perform whenever I have time. Which will be soon because it’s almost vacation for me’ I said and smiled. He removed my brown curly hair and put it behind my ear so he could see my eyes. He looked directly into my eyes, like he looked trough them. It's weird to say that he looked into my soul, but that's what they always say in movies when somebody lookes directly into their eyes. So yeah, he looked into my soul I think..  I loved his bright blue eyes, so innocent so carefree. He smiled at me and pulled me closer against him. I could feel his heart beat. It was a constant rhythm. My arms around his waist, holding him tight, tighter than ever before. I was so gutted that we had to say goodbye, I was so gutted that I wasn't going to wake up next to him for the next couple of weeks. I wanted him around, every day. Not just for a couple of days. But that's one of the consequences of choice I made, I fell for him. I could've said no when he asked me out. But I didn't, and I don't regret it at all.

‘Plane 1490A to London will leave in 45 minutes.’ A women’s voice echoed through the hall. It was time to say goodbye, for now. I took a step back so we could speak properly to eachother again. He was wearing a grey hoodie, a pair of jeans and his white supras. No surprise. And even though it was winter, he was still wearing a pair of sunglasses on the top of his head. As he says it 'Just in case I need them, it's possible the summer begins today'. Funny guy.

‘Well, I think it’s time then for me to go’ Niall said ‘Bye Lottie, I’m gonna miss you so much.’ He opened his arms waiting for me to come for a hug. I just couldn’t refuse this one. I rested my head on his chest, with my arms wrapped around him. The same kind of hug as we had two minutes ago. I didn’t want him to leave, he had just been here for a week. I wanted him to be around every moment of the day, that sounds a bit creepy. But I really liked the idea that after school somebody was waiting for me at home.

‘Bye Nialler, I’m gonna miss you too, of course. But now get your fat ass over to that check in counter because you’ll be leaving in 45 minutes.’ I let go of him and started laughing. Way better to say goodbye while laughing than crying. I'm not a person who likes to cry. When I cry I feel stupid, defeated. I can't explain why, my mind just tells me you're stupid when you cry. I kissed his cheek, took his hand and squeezed it a little. I let go of his hand so he could grab his bags. 

Niall grabbed his bags and started walking to the check-in counter. I watched him as he walked away from me. It all started to get real now, I realised he was leaving. And our contact would become less. No more hugs, no more kisses on my forehead, cheek or lips, no more watching movie at night in bed, no more cuddling up when I'm cold. I was going to miss him, I thought. As soon as he stood in line he turned around.

 He winked and I smiled back, because I can't wink.

One final wave.

The best week so far was over. And everybody was allowed to know about me and Niall and dating. I was happy, and so was he. When we just started dating, we decided to keep it secret as long as possible. We kept it secret for one week, and that was really hard to be honest. But a photo of us holding hands was taken on day 8, and of course the photo appeared in the newspaper on day 9. It was a really vague photo, taken by a phone with a really bad camera. It was taken at a fieldhockey match where me, Niall and my older brother Tom went to. It was a match from the Dutch women's team against the French women's team. It was a great day: cold, but the sun was shining. We just sat in the audience and I thought nobody spotted us. He wore sunglasses and a beanie so we wouldn't be recognised. But we were wrong, we were naive. Of course there would be someone who recognised him. And he or she secretly took a picture and tweeted it. Tons of retweets followed and soon after that, the entire world knew about us. On the other side we felt relieved, relieved that we didn't have to keep it a secret anymore. Because although we decided to keep it secret as long as possible, I did want to share with my friends, and the world that I was that lucky girl.

Time to go home. I grabbed my bag from the ground and turned around with my back to Niall, on my way to the exit of the airport, or entrance because it was the same. But then I realised that I wasn’t going to see him for almost 2 months, which looked like a lifetime at that moment. In a reflex I turned back and ran to the check in counter, and while running I noticed he hadn’t turned around, he was still facing me. I reached out for him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me a bit and it felt like those hugs people always do in movies, I’m sure it didn’t look like one but it sure did feel like.

He put me back on my feet on the floor and gave me one final kiss on my lips. A gentlemen’s kiss; short and sweet. I smirked, and I felt stupid for being so dramatic, or how do I have to call it? But I did feel a feeling I had never felt before, and I was going to say that to him. Because he had to know how much he meant to me. 

‘This is weird, I’ve never had the urge to run into you and never let you go. Never felt the feeling that I was going to miss you, until a minute ago.’ I said and Niall looked at me a bit weird, why was that? What did I say wrong. I was confused. I just told him something that I would normally not tell anybody, just because I hated it to express my feelings. And now I did it and the person I told it to looked at me like I was some sort of freak. Did I make a mistake by telling him? Why was being in love so complicated, I'm doubting about everything. ‘Did I say anything wrong?’ I said and looked him in the eyes.

‘No you didn’t. I feel happy, really happy. Charlotte, I like you so much!’ I smiled and in return he kissed me one more time on my lips. I smiled again, and I felt like the happiest girl on the entire planet. That was the response I wished for, but didn't expect. I expected a burst of laughter, right in my face. I expected that he would tell me I was stupid, and that my feelings were wrong. I don't know why I thought that because if he thought so about our relationship, then why did he stay here in the Netherlands, at my house, for two weeks? I hated it that I was so insecure. I didn't have to worry about us. Everything was fine, and with Niall's response I knew for sure it was. 

‘But now I really have to go, otherwise I will miss my plane. See you soon grumpy.’ He joked.

Niall liked to call me grumpy but I didn’t really know why. It’s not that I was grumpy most of the time, I think. I just liked complaining sometimes. Everybody does, well I think they do. Life's not perfect, there's always something to complain about. If you have nothing to complain about, you're really really naive. But to get back to the story: that's how I got my nickname 'grumpy'. 

‘Thanks mate. Text me when you’re back home and safe’ I kissed him on his cheek and took a step back. We now had two proper goodbyes, it was enough ´being-lovebirds’-stuff for today. I didn't really like to be in love, that sounds weird but I'll explain it. Being in love is amazing, being loved by someone is amazing. But it's a feeling that I never had before, Niall's my first real boyfriend. He gave me my first kiss. I just don't really know how to deal with all these emotions and experiences and everything. I mean, I didn't fall for a normal schoolboy. No, I fell for the boyband boy. So I justed jumped in the car and took the ride. WIthout having the oppurtunity to realise what was happening. Being in love was dumb, but felt amazing at the same time.

Another final wave. But I was sure this was the last one for today. He checked in and off he was. Off to London, back to his own house, his own bed. We were both alone again. Maybe I could visit him next weekend, it had been a while since I've been in the UK. I wanted  to go, now I just had to convince my parents. 

I was walking to the exit of the airport, when I spotted a photgrapher in one of the restaurants on my left. He was taking pictures of me, and he had probably taken tons op pictures of me and Niall. God, I hated those photographers. I think they liked it to ruin people's privacy life. I wanted to hit them, in their faces, with an hammer. But then I would get arrested, so I decided to continue my walk to the exit. I took my phone out of my pocket and went on Twitter. 

@Charlottie95 '@NiallOfficial save flight home, see ya soon blondie.' SENT

Now it was official, me and Niall were dating and nothing could stop us! well....

A/N The twitteraccount I used is probably real. that's not me and I certainly don't know that person. sorry if it's you. :) I hope you guys like my story.