24 Hours

Part 24

Winding through the beautiful trees, I again became mesmerized by the beauty of Heaven. Everything was perfect. It smelled sweet and looked even sweeter.

Colorful leaves slowly spun to the ground, landing on one another. They softly crunched under our feet as Ariana lead us to Perrie.

I was severely worried. Perrie is stronger than I am, which would result in her also being more stubborn. Luke easily pulled me out of my tantrum, but how would he save Perrie? I didn't want to doubt Luke, but my mind had other thoughts.

"How long have you been in Heaven?" Luke asked Ariana, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Couple of years."

"How's it been?"

"Tortue." Ariana bluntly answered.

"How so? If you don't mind me asking." I wondered.

"It's why the majority of us hate this place. We miss our loved ones." Ariana sighed.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" I asked.

"Not boyfriend, brother. His name is Frankie." Ariana grasped a falling leaf with her small hands, "now if you don't mind, can we drop this conversation?" She crushed the leaves to bits.

"Touchy subject, I suppose." Luke said.

"Okay, Mr. Heartless, tell me about your loved one then. What's her name?" Ariana scoffed.

"Correction, what's his name. It's Michael."

"Oh." Ariana said.

"Problem with my boyfriend?" Luke asked, glaring at Ariana.

"Of course not. My brother plays for the same team as you, douche." She rolled her eyes. "What about you, Harry?"

"Louis. His name is Louis." I said, wanting to dismiss the topic as soon as possible.

Ariana must have read my mind, as she changed the topic.

"What are your relationships with Perrie? Just friends, I suppose?"

"I don't know about Luke here, but I am. Her boyfriend, Zayn, is a good friend of mine." I answered.

"I consider Perrie a friend, thank you very much, Styles." Luke rolled his eyes.

"She should be just up here." Ariana said, extending her arm in front of her.

Making our way through a number of more trees, Ariana suddenly stopped. The tree to our left had a black smudge on it, which I guessed was Perrie's mascara. There was no owner to the mascara, however.

"I swear this is where I left her." Ariana quickly said.

"Fucking hell, Perrie. Where could you have gone." Luke muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Time to start looking, I guess." I said.

"How? We could be walking in the complete opposite direction for all we know." Luke said, his voice rising.

"We could start with the broken leaves." Ariana said, pointing out a path of crumbled leaves.

"We?" Luke asked.

"I brought you this far, and it's partly my fault she wandered off. I should have kept my eye on her for longer, but I gave up too soon. I might as well help you guys, unless you'd like otherwise." Ariana explained herself.

"We could use the company." I said.

Ariana nodded, leading Luke and I once again to find our broken friend.