Malibami / 1d

chapter twenty-seven

I walked down the stairs one last time, the dogs following me every second of my way. "Lily, we have to leave now, otherwise we have no time for tea and that would be rude." My father said, making me nod.

It was currently eight in the evening, my father and I were on our way to my grandparents on Christmas Eve. Not for too long, because we had a flight to catch. We just had to drop off Charlie and Bailey at them so they could take care of them for as long as needed.

I hadn't seen them yet since I came back which felt rude, since I was only seeing them on the day I was leaving, but really, it was better this way.

The little cut in my lip was completely healed. My black eye had given me a slight grey area on my face but it was not too obvious. I was wearing a nice scarf, just because my neck still looked horrible. My stomach became better really slowly, which was good.

I put the last suitcase in the car before getting Bailey and Charlie on their leashes. My father got in to the car and I put the dogs in the backseat and then slipped in to the passenger seat eventually.

"Let's go." My father smiled, rubbing his hands to warm them up even though they were in gloves. It was freezing cold, just like every Christmas Eve should be. 

During the drive we listened to Christmas songs on the radio and soon enough we got to the nice little house my grandparents lived in. Before we had gotten out of the car, the front door already opened and they both rushed out of the house.

"Lily!" They yelled, both leaping me in to a hug. "Oh darling we missed you so much." My grandma said, I smiled and wiped a little tear on her cheek away. "I missed you guys too, sorry I couldn't stop by sooner." I said, showing them an apologetic smile. "It's all fine darling." My granddad said.

My father walked over to us with Charlie and Bailey, who both jumped up to say their hello's to my grandparents.

"Let's go inside I'm freezing." I then said, smiling. I followed everyone inside and then closed the door.

"Mum, the bag with care products for the dog's is in the kitchen." My father said, walking out in to the hallway again. I took the dogs off their leashes and opened the living room door. They both walked in, excited to be here again.

"Did you already boil water?" My father then asked and my granddad nodded, walking with him back in to the kitchen. I followed my grandmother in to the living room and sat down on the couch, their cat walking over and laying down in my lap.

The dogs noticed this and rushed over, checking her out before leaving her alone again. They came here quite a lot so they had a special relationship.

My father and granddad walked back in with a tray and stuff for tea. We had some basic chatter as I told them about Liam, Camilla, school, acting as if there were no problematic things in my life but I just was here for a short visit home.

The time passed by super quickly and before I knew, we had to leave to get to the airport. 

"It was so lovely to see you again dear." My grandmother said while hugging me for the last time. "I really missed you." She said, kissing my cheeks. "I missed you too." I smiled, letting go to hug my granddad.

After saying goodbye around ten times, we got in to the car and drove off to the airport, a slight hurry was now in my father's head. "Dad, we'll be on time, don't worry." I chuckled, staring at him. 

"Besides, look at the snow, the flight will probably be delayed anyways." I then said, widening my eyes because that made him even more stressed out.

Luckily we got there on time, we checked in and sat down on some chairs. There were almost no people, made sense, who goes somewhere on Christmas Eve. A few lost travellers here and there, probably also catching the last flight home to make it on time for Christmas Morning.

Everything went by pretty quick, it was nice. Before I knew it, we were sat on the small aircraft that would fly us to the United Stated. It was a little less than halfway empty which gave my father and me plenty of space.

Since it was a nighttime flight, I could sleep and wake up in the morning. Before I knew it, I was crashed and asleep on the flight. This might be the last rest I get before all hell crashes down tomorrow back in Miami.

"Lily, darling, wake up." I took out one of my earbuds and opened my eyes, staring at my father. I looked outside to see we were flying over the beach. This was Miami. "We're about to land." My father said, smiling at me. He had never been here before so for him this was exciting. 

I started tidying up, rolling up my earbuds and stuffing my magazine back in my bag. In no time we were going down in a fast motion, about to hit the ground. When we did, there was a soft bump and then we were back on the ground again.

"Welcome to Miami, dad." I smiled, grabbing hand. "You don't know how happy I am that you are here." I said, thanking him. "I am happy I am here too." He said.

We waited until we could get up, letting everybody leave before us. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to extend this period of time, knowing everything would change once we left this airplane. Eventually my father basically had to drag me out of the plane.

We waited for out luggage and then started walking again, over to the big doors.

I walked out, looking for the familiar face. "Rob!" I smiled, rushing over to him. "Hey Lily." He replied, hugging me and holding on to me tight. "Welcome home." He said, smiling at us. 

"Hi, nice to meet you." My father held out his hand and Rob took it, shaking it. "Thank you for getting up this early to pick us up from the airport." My father then said, smiling at him. "Of course, we're really happy you are here." Rob said, grabbing my suitcase and then we started walking again.

We walked back to the parking garage and made small talk, I told him about the few days I spend in London and how I really enjoyed it to be home for a few days. Then we drove off. My father offered to sit in the backseat.

I looked around to see the city hadn't changed that much. It was cold, there was no snow, sadly, and there were no clouds. But here was family and friends, so it made up for it kind of.

When we entered the neighbourhood, Rob cleared his throat. "There is one thing you should know, Lily." Rob told me before parking the car. I raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

He parked the car and then turned to look at me. I looked around to see a few more cars then usual, I immediately recognised two. "Christmas is celebrated a little different here." Rob said, staring at me and then over his shoulder to my father.

"Liam's friends are all here, they always spend Christmas Eve here and your mother makes a big Christmas breakfast in the morning." He said, staring at me. I widened my eyes. "So they are all here?" I said, panic started flashing in my eyes.

"Lily, calm down." My father said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"They don't know you're coming, they all think you're with Zayn." He said, pronouncing his name through gritted teeth. "And they don't know that we know. But we know they know." He then said, making me confused. 

"Maybe it's better if we just go inside." I said, taking off my beanie and staring at the door. "I think that's best too." My father said, making Rob nod.

"Alright, we can get your suitcases later." Rob said, we nodded and followed him to the door. When the door opened and we could hear the busy chattering fill the house. My mother walked in to the hallway and smiled.

She made a happy squeal and rushed over to me, giving me big hug. 

"What happened?" I heard out of the dining room. I widened my eyes, I did not want to walk in there. "Come, come." My mother said after greeting my father. She grabbed my hand and basically dragged me in to the living room.

"Lily?"

"Liam."

"Dad?"