Not So Normal

Chapter 32

   Tonight is Niall's last night in LA before he has to leave to go to New York City and and join the other guys to start doing band promo and prepping for the upcoming tour. They don't leave for tour until the end of May, but they have to start getting ready and doing stuff for it. It's going to suck when they have to leave and go on tour.

   Niall, Lindsey, and I are going out to dinner at some fancy restaurant in downtown LA, so we're all dressed up and fancy. I didn't want to go anywhere fancy, but Niall insisted on taking me and Lindsey to dinner, so I figured that arguing wouldn't do me any good.

   After we've ordered our food and gotten our drinks, we start talking about the future of  mine and Lindsey's careers.

   "Are you guys going to come out with another album? Or maybe go on tour again?" Niall asks. I shrug. I don't know if we will. I would love to, but I wouldn't be crushed if we didn't. I notice that Lindsey tenses up a little bit.

   "What's wrong?" I ask her, worried. She sighs and clears her throat.

   "I was going to wait and tell you until after Niall left, but I guess I'll tell you right now. I'm dropping out of The Piano Girls." My mouth drops open and I almost drop my glass.

   "What!?" I want to yell, but I say it as calmly and quietly as possible.

   "I'm really sorry, Elissa. I didn't know how to tell you. I've been offered a job with a big orchestra in New York, and I'm going to accept. And they're paying for me to go to college to get my music and business majors. I couldn't turn that down," Lindsey says, sounding a little guilty. Good; she should feel guilty.

   "What's supposed to happen to me?" I ask, trying not to sound angry.

   "I don't know! You're good enough you could probably go solo if you really wanted to. I don't know, maybe Niall could pull some strings," she says, looking expectantly at Niall. He looks like a deer caught in headlights.

   "I could probably do something," he says awkwardly. He probably wasn't expecting this. I wasn't either, so we're on common grounds right now. I let out a sigh and rub my fingers in circles on my temples. I tend to get headaches when I get into arguments.

   "Let's just talk about it later," Niall says, rubbing my back. Lindsey nods obediently, and we don't bring it up the rest of the evening. We just enjoy our delicious dinners (I'm glad I didn't argue my way out of this one) and talk about happier things.

   When we get back to the house, we all put on pajamas (if Niall putting on sweats and walking around shirtless counts as pajamas) and watch a movie. We watch White House Down (action for Niall, and Channing Tatum for me and Lindsey) and I pop a bunch of popcorn for us. I sit right next to Niall on the couch, my arm touching his bare side, and the giant bowl of popcorn sits between Niall and Lindsey.

   "I'm going to bed. I'll make breakfast in the morning," Lindsey says randomly in the middle of the movie, getting up from the couch and leaving the room. Weird. But... since it's just me and Niall...

   "Two steps ahead of you," Niall whispers, turning the TV off and grabbing my hand. He drags me to my room and shuts the door behind us.

   "She probably couldn't handle seeing you half naked and not getting some of you," I say teasingly, running my hand down Niall's torso. He shudders a little bit and smiles. I practically melt. That smile could achieve world peace.

   "I love you," Niall whispers, softly pressing his lips against mine. My hands rest on Niall's chest as I kiss him back. We slowly make our way over to my bed and Niall gently pushes me down onto the pillows. His arms are on either side of me, holding himself up while he trails kisses down my neck.

   We spend a while making out, but then we decide to go to sleep because Niall's flight leaves early in the morning. Niall gives me a long kiss goodnight before we huddle under the covers, falling asleep quickly.

   When my alarm goes off in the morning, it feels like I've only been asleep for like ten minutes. I hit snooze and then roll back over, wanting ten more precious minutes of sleep. I feel Niall get out of bed, but I'm too out of it to say or do anything. I'll just let him get ready while I sleep. I doubt he would mind...

   30 minutes, and 2 more hits of the snooze button later, I'm slowly rolling out of bed. It's 6:45, and it's way too early for me to be awake. I don't know how people can get up this early every day. That's a perk of the job I have, I guess. I get to sleep whenever I want.

   I get up and put on jeans and a t-shirt and then go downstairs for breakfast. As promised, Lindsey is in the kitchen, finishing up making us all french toast.

   "You're the best, Lindsey," I say, taking a couple pieces and grabbing a plate out of the cupboard. 

   "Oh I know," Lindsey says sarcastically, probably rolling her eyes. I start eating my french toast, and Niall comes into the kitchen, his hair still wet from being in the shower. I can't help but stare, because it's pretty cute. He walks past me and shakes his head, getting me- and my breakfast- a little wet.

   "Hey!" I squeal, reaching behind me to whack him. He jumps out of the way and just laughs. He sits down next to me and Lindsey brings the rest of the food and stuff to the table. We eat in mostly silence, but it's not awkward silence. We're all just tired. And I'm sad that Niall's leaving. I'm not going to see him for almost two months, unless we somehow find a couple days for one of us to visit the other, but that probably won't happen. Even then, I'll only see him for a week before the guys leave for tour.

   When Niall is all packed and ready to go, we say bye to Lindsey and head out. We stay silent for most of the drive, but Niall holds my hand the whole time. I could keep driving like this forever. But I can't. Niall has to leave, and it sucks.

   At the airport, I go as far as I can with Niall before he has to go on by himself to board the plane. We stand in each other's arms, not speaking, for a few minutes. The emotional strain on both of us right now is almost palpable. Neither of us wants to be away from the other, but there's not really much we can do about it.

   "I'll call you when I'm in New York, okay? I love you so much, princess," Niall says, hugging me really tightly to him.

   "I'll miss you terribly. I love you," I whisper, burying my face in Niall's neck. He strokes my hair for a minute, but then someone tells him it's time for him to go.

   "Bye princess," Niall says, kissing me. I savor the feeling of Niall's lips on mine, knowing I won't get to feel this again for much too long. After a minute we pull apart (thanks to another reminder that it was time for Niall to leave), and Niall walks away, looking back at me sadly.

   "I love you!" I call after him. Even though his back is to me, I can see the smile form on his lips.

   As I start walking out of the airport, paparazzi swarm around me.

   "Elissa! Where's Niall?"

   "Elissa! Did you really break up with Niall? Is he heartborken?"

   "Elissa! Is it true that you're pregnant with Louis Tomlinson's child?"

   The idiots. They all follow me to my car, and I have to honk a few times before the people will get out of my way so I can leave. Stupid paps and their stupid rumors. Who even starts those anyway? I haven't even seen Louis almost two months.

   As I drive away from the aiport, leaving the paparazzi drama behind me, I can still feel Niall's lips on  mine.

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Sorry for the filler, guys. I've had a ton of homework. My AP world history class is killing me. And all my other advanced classes. So basically just school. 

So anyways, time is going to start skipping around in larger amounts, but there will more stuff going on between most of the time jumps. I'll just see how it goes...