Midnight Memories

t h i r t y // f o u r

"Give me love like never before, because lately i've been craving more... And it's been a while but I still feel the same, maybe I should let you go." - Ed Sheeran

Miami is just one of those places where it feels as if magic can happen.

Every time I would leave the city, even just for the day, it felt as if a piece of me was incomplete. Missing. Gone. But driving back down the interstate in the dead of night, when the skyline begins to come into view... wow, it's like some sort of fairytale. Miles and miles of lights reflected off the water, glittering like the finest jewels and the brightest stars, a wonderland, where every single dream and wish you have could come true.

Tears filled my eyes as one by one, I saw skyscrapers come into view, as if lighting my way back home. Beckoning me to the one place where I belonged. A place that I had once hated, that I had once thrown away, but was actually the single most important thing in my life.

"It's home." I began shaking his shoulder, even though he was in a deep sleep. "Ni, we're home."

"What?" He grumbled. "What's going on?"

"We're home. In Miami." I grabbed his hand in mine, pointing out the window with the other. "God, it's beautiful, isn't it?"

Niall was silent for a few seconds. "I've missed it so much."

Gingerly, trying not to press on my wounded arm, I lay into his chest, the two of us gazing out the window. He understood, he was the only person in this car who would. This city held the words to a story. A fairytale about a princess, and a prince, who had loved with a love more than love. For a second, it felt as if we were back in high school, back in our own little world, a world I had once thought would be our forever. I wanted desperately, for a moment, for it to be that way again.

We'd been driving for two and a half days now. Paisley and Remy had been taking turns driving, with Louis in the passenger seat giving directions. Grier and Ryder were in the next row of seats, and Niall and I were in the back. I needed him right now, his calmness, his stability. He'd done a great job of making sure I didn't start freaking out about the whole situation we were stuck in.

"What exit do I take?" Asked Paisley. "Do we have somewhere in particular we want to go?"

I leaned forward. "Take the one that goes to South Beach. My brother's apartment is there, we can spend the night and decide what we want to do next tomorrow morning."

"Alright." Said Paisley, flicking the turn signal and making a sharp right.

I shivered, looking forward to getting to the apartment, taking a shower, and sleeping in my bed. It would give me a much needed sense of normalcy. Niall gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and I gave him a small smile as we began to pass very familiar sights.

We drove past the Dadeland Mall, past the New World School of the Arts, where my cousin went, past the AA Arena, past the Peréz Art Museum, and across the bridge to South Beach, driving right by Star Island, where my house was. I stared longingly out the window, slapping Niall when I saw his house, which was right on the water.

"Look! When was the last time you saw home?"

Niall pressed his face against the window, a look of nostalgia crossing his face. "It's been so long."

"I want to go back." I frowned. In the scheme of things, my fight with my mother was so unnecessary. I just wanted to go home.

"We will, I promise. It will be just like it always was. I'm serious Stel. You could transfer to UM, I could take my classes at Dade. You graduate, get your masters, I ride this whole fame thing out, and then we get a house on Star Island. Across the neighborhood from our parents of course." He smiled softly. "Then we have a couple of kids, a dog. A normal life."