Moments

Between Then And Germany

The bed's slightly colder, slightly bigger. The house is quieter. I'm the only one in the house. On weekends I still have to work the same hours. I can't bear to have dinner alone on weekends, my brothers are too long a drive away. My parents are on the other side of the planet with sick grandparents I might have to fly over urgently to see or be there for the funeral. I'm not in the mood to watch movies, with no one to sit next to or fight over the last popcorn in the bowl. No one to tell us to stop fighting over the food either. I meet up with Eleanor for dinner Saturday, stay at home with a beer on Sunday. I miss him. The only time I see his face is when we Skype. A while ago he had bought us a tablet each, a Samsung Galaxy tab of 7 inches. And we Skype there. One of us sends a message when we might call, then at the designated time, we call. I call Daniel too, sometimes. It's simply not the way with Daniel as it had become in my late teenage years with Jake. Still, no grudges now. Alles gut.

The kids at the schools I work with either all know about my boyfriend being Niall and don't talk about it, or they're really all oblivious. They love One Direction, don't get me wrong, but they've never discussed their girlfriends and the intimate such. Sometimes when they have mufti days for charities, even the boys get a little excited. You really don't expect it. Lottie and the lot? I don't really talk to them, but I do email the girls. The twins won't stop bugging me about Niall.

One night, my tablet buzzed. It was a message from Niall. Hey, talk in 3 hours? Must be just before their show. Sent just now. Alright then, doing your show? Send. Not long after, when I'm sorting out the files for the kids I see tomorrow at the youth centre, my tablet buzzes again. Yeah, what r u doin? I quickly reply Files for the centre tomorrow. Almost immediately he replied Kay then, c u next wk cant wait. I chuckled. U being horny again? It seems to be a thing with him. Gotta go now. Talk later xx. Yeah aright, you go and sing and look awesome, I'll work and chow down my mushroom pasta. Talk later.

And then it buzzed. Perfect timing, I had just finished and slapped my file shut. I unlocked it, accepted the call. "Hey."
"You finished the show?"
"Yeah. How are you?"
"Brilliant. Just finished sorting out my last file for tomorrow. You?"
"Just got on the bus. I'm staying on the bus tonight with Zayn."
"Well don't stay up too late with him, we don't need you getting sick."
"I'm not going to get sick though," he protested. "I'm fine."
"Well I'm telling you now, you don't get enough sleep, immune system drops, you get sick."
"Oh alright alright, I'll not get to sleep too late then. See? Zayn's Skyping as well." Images of Zayn talking to a screen appeared on my screen. He turned it back to himself. "How long til I get to see you?"
"From now? Just a week."
"Still got a week," he grumbled.
"Only a week, Niall. You guys get to Germany, then I arrive. You have to tell me where you're gonna be as soon as you know. I'll get there by taxi. Hold on, can I talk to Zayn."
"Zayn, stop talking to Perrie for a moment, Annie wants to talk to you." I could hear his voice in the distance explaining to Perrie he was to talk to me and would be back soon.
"Wos sapnin?"
"Just two things: convince him that a week is not as long as he thinks it is, and don't keep him up too late, okay?"
"He's the one being hyper." On good days, Zayn's just as hyper.
"Whoever thought is was a good idea to put two hyper boys in a tour bus alone is an idiot."
"Yeah, you're right. Of course you're right, it was Harry's idea."
"You quit smoking yet?"
"Nah."
"Dude, even if Perrie can't smell it, the rest of us can. It's not good for you, not good for the rest of us. My uncle died of lung cancer. He didn’t even smoke. Didn't do drugs. A clean man. I don't want you to have to go through the same pain he did. He hung on for 3 years. I don't even know if it was a good thing for him. His son remembers him, but he's become a rogue. I don't want your kids to end up like my cousin. Don't start a family and then go die of cancer."
"Not yet, Annabelle."
"Just… don't die, okay?" I sigh. "Give the tablet back to Niall please."
"Here you go." He turned around. Niall was talking animatedly to Perrie. "Niall." No response. "Niall James Horan it's your girlfriend, give my wife back to me," he repeated forcefully. It's actually necessary at times, that boy can't hear you.
"Well, Annabelle? Say hello to your brothers for me."
"I'll do that. Go to sleep soon."
"Just about to, actually."
"Alright then, goodnight."
"Goodnight, love you."
"Love you too." I ended the call. Just another week, and then I go to Germany. I might even fit in a visit to Theresa down south.