You're Just A Daydream Away

Chapter 15

The next few months carried on a lot like that. Work, sleep, Niall, repeat. The only difference was that there was a huge increase in our Skype calls and texts. Some of my phone bills were outrageous because of international texts.

Eventually, I was forced to make a decision about where I would be attending school in the fall. For many reasons, I chose Dublin.

First of all, I had never gotten along with my stepdad. We fought a lot and I hated the way he treated my mother. I always suspected he abused her, but I could never be sure. I wanted to get far away from him.

Second, everyone at my college knew about my previous drug problems. A lot of people from my high school went to the same university as me and everyone found out. Most people thought I still did drugs. I wanted to go to Dublin to start fresh and not have people judging me for things I did what seemed like a lifetime ago.

Lastly, because of Niall. I'd traveled enough to see him to last me a lifetime in just the past few months. I just wanted him to be able to be there when ever I needed him, and if I went back to school where I was, that wasn't exactly possible. I wanted to be able to fall asleep in his arms on any day of the week not just on weekends. I wanted to be able to be spontaneous, in bed and just in general. When you only see each other on weekends it's hard to do that because you plan everything out. Most of our weekends were planned out by the hour.

"Okay so we'll wake up around 9, get breakfast, take showers and get ready to leave. Then we'll go to the zoo, get lunch there, then get to the stadium by 3:30. The boys asked me if we wanted to go out tonight, but I was thinking we could just come back to the hotel early and... yanno ;)" was a text he sent me before I went to see him one weekend. Everything was planned out, and it made it less fun. I guess we were trying to make the most of our time together, but I wish there was an element of surprise somewhere. If I lived with him it'd be different.

The only reason it took me forever to make my decision about school was my brothers. Especially my younger one. He didn't have many friends last I knew of, and I felt bad leaving him home by himself. But he encouraged me to leave, saying that I needed to do what made me happy.

Last night was Niall's last show in America (which of course I attended). The boys had about a month and a half off then the UK tour, much of which he'd be home a lot for. This weekend would be spent with my family, packing my stuff, and shipping it to Niall's house.

We just arrived at the airport and were navigating our way through. I couldn't wait to get home and sleep. I've been so exhausted from the constant travel and no time to recover from jet lag the last few months.

After finally making our way through the sea of fans and people at the airport, we quickly got a cab and threw our luggage in the trunk.

"Haley, this is my first time meeting your family. What do I say?"

"Shit, Ni. It totally slipped my mind that you haven't met them before. You're such a big part of my life that it didn't even occur to me that you don't know them."

"Okay..." he started. "Well I'm kinda freaking out here babe. Got any tips for me?"

I told him to be very formal with my step-dad, charming with my mother, funny but totally the perfect boyfriend type with my older brother, and the cool video-game playing guy with Jeremy. I knew he'd have no problem with any of this; he'd probably do it naturally and didn't need my help, but it couldn't hurt to tell him how to act.

When we arrived at my house, my mom was starring out the window with a huge smile on her face, just waiting for us. We got out of the cab, and she came rushing outside. We quickly gave Niall a hug, not waiting for me to introduce him.

**

My family got along really well with Niall. Currently, he was off with Jeremy playing FIFA while I sat at the table with my mom and other brother having a cup of coffee (tea isn't my thing).

"Haley, be careful," my mother said in a quiet voice. I looked up at her to see a very pained expression on her face.

"I'm out," Luke said quickly exiting the room, probably sensing a serious conversation brewing and doing his best to avoid being part of it.

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Hales, I see how you look at him. You love him don't you? Don't answer that. It's not my business. Just be careful alright? Don't go letting your life revolve around this boy, no matter who he is. Make your decisions for you not him."

I nodded my head; fighting back tears. I've never seen my mom like this. We've never had a conversation like this; that's probably due to my lack of boyfriends really.

"Promise me you're going to Dublin for you, not just for him?"

"Of course, mommy," I said quietly, and got up from my seat to give her a hug. That woman.

**

I awoke to the sweet smell of chocolate pancakes and bacon wafting through the air. I stirred in bed a bit, not quite ready to get up.

"Mmmm," Niall moaned next to me then opened his eyes slowly. "Morning beautiful," he said sweetly to me in his sexy morning voice.

"Good morning handsome," I replied with a smile plastered on my face. I couldn't believe we would have tons of mornings like this very soon. Maybe minus the smell of food though. Neither of us is great at cooking, just eating.

We cuddled for a few minutes before we got up due to the fact that neither of our stomachs would stop growling. We quickly got changed without looking at each other; we can be such children sometimes. I threw on my usual hoodie and skinny jeans while Niall put on his usual tshirt and jeans.

We made our way to the kitchen, pushing and shoving each other through the halls and down the stairs. Breakfast was to us as Christmas morning was to a child.

"Good morning children," my mom said while handing us plates of food. "How'd you sleep Niall? Was your own bed comfortable?" she said while giving him a knowing look. She had assigned him to our guest bedroom for the night, but I knew she wouldn't really care if he slept with me; just my stepdad would, but he didn't have to know.

"It was just fine. Thanks for the breakfast by the way Mrs..." he trailed off, not knowing her last name due to the remarriage and all.

"Edwards. Mrs. Edwards. But please call me by my first name," she answered for him.

"Okay Mrs.Edwards," he relied like the typical dork he is.