Every Storm

20.

Alli’s P.O.V

 The next few days went by in much of a blur. Mum, dad and Max came to the flat and met the other lads and the girls. Mum sent El and I to the store to pick up some things that she needed for supper. By the time we got back, Zayn and Liam had taken Max over to Liam’s flat to play X-box and the rest of the lads and dad were in watching a football match on the telly. Perrie and Sam were in the kitchen helping to find pots and pans to cook with. We set down what we had bought and got straight to work on helping mum with the dinner for everyone. All of the boys were thankful for mum’s cooking. They all hadn’t had a home cooked meal in a while.

They stayed with us for the last days of their trip. I gave them my room so mum would be more comfortable and I said I would sleep in the lounge, but Niall wasn’t having that. He insisted on me staying in his room because his bed was “big enough for 100 people to sleep in if they wanted too”. The rest of the time they spent here was mostly with Niall and me. The boys spent time with Max and he spent a lot of time with Liam playing with Loki and the X-box. But I couldn’t really blame him, Loki is adorable and staying in a flat with mum and dad for a full two days would drive anyone insane. On the last day they were here, mum and I spent the day relaxing while dad, Max and Niall went out. Their flight didn’t leave until late that night so we spent most of it in my bed watching movies.

Saying goodbye was the hardest. I missed them all so much, even my annoyance of a brother, and the worst thing was that I didn’t know when I was going to see them again. It killed me that I would have to spend Christmas alone for the first time ever. But to top it all off it could be almost another year before I get to see them again. Niall couldn’t make it to the airport so Sam came with me and I was so thankful for that.

I don’t think I would have been able to drive home after saying goodbye to my family. I would be a wreck and I knew that Sam knew this as well. The tears really started to pour just as the last boarding call rang out over the speakers. This was it. I kissed them all goodbye and gave them all hugs as mum wiped away some of my tears. She knew just how hard this goodbye was for me. I always had someone to fall back on after they left and now, although I had Niall, I had still lost so many people and it was just a bit overwhelming. They boarded the plane and I walked back over to Sam. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly before we both left the airport. We got back to her flat and I spent the night curled into Sam’s arms crying, while she rubbed my back.

But today is a new day. Although I was still upset over my family leaving, there were so many things that we needed to get done today. Once we were awake I ran to the bathroom to grab a quick shower and see if there was something I could do to make my eyes less puffy. Sam brought me some ice packs to try and get rid of it faster but that didn’t really work, so I just covered it up with the bit of makeup I had in my bag.

Niall came to pick us up around half ten, and he dropped us to get Christmas decorations while him and Liam went to look for trees. Many pounds later we had a successful amount of decorations and both boys had found an artificial tree that fit their liking. Of course Niall picked the biggest one he could find. It’s a good thing our flat has fairly high ceilings…

By the time we got back it was nearly three and the boys had to be gone for an interview by half four. Niall set up our tree before he had to leave and go to the interview with the rest of the lads.

It was half five now and we had most of the decorations and lights up. We had music playing through the TV and Sam was dancing around the room as if she was having her own concert. I laughed as I walked past her and into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.