In Other Words (Niall Fanfic)

Chapter Seventy-Seven

In Other Words…Chapter Seventy-Seven 

Roxy’s POV

The routine of it all was getting to be, well, routine. Every time I start the process, I find myself thinking about the countless times the boys have been asked in interviews what they’d like their superpower to be, and wondering in earnest why not a one had ever answered “teleportation”, because it seems like half the time I spend traveling is actually dedicated to getting ready to travel. And that didn’t even include packing.  

A month. The days had gone by quickly, but that didn’t make the nights seem any less lonely. It was probably just as well that he had been gone, considering just how little time we would have actually spent together. A month. God, I missed him. I even started leaving the TV on- tuned to footie recaps, of course, while I scrounged in the fridge for enough bits and bites to call a meal, forcing myself to imagine him sitting just in the other room, feet kicked up on the coffee table, beer resting on his little tummy as he grunted and groaned at the commentary.

I’d packed my bag, locked up the house, and stood in my bare feet in the security line, only to be chosen at random for a lovely frisking. I sat through a ten hour flight with one crying baby whose noise was, thank God, muffled by a fully charged iPod. The second I finally saw my last name scrawled across the white paper held by the long line of hired drivers, my heart started to race.  The air was dry and hot, summer still fully-on in sunny Phoenix, Arizona, and I quickly ducked into the air conditioned back seat of the car. The boys had a few day stretch of free time before their week of shows at the Staples Center in L.A, and even though it would have been nice to make my visit a complete surprise, it was pretty much a given I’d be making the journey, given that Niall’s birthday is tomorrow.

They’ve been going pretty much non-stop, a random day here and there scheduled in for R&R. Niall didn’t mind that though, as he’d rather bang out the shows one after another if it meant they’d get home a little sooner. But I know that the fact that he’s had to stray a bit from his usual charity birthday event did piss him off a little bit.

This year, Maura just arranged for a bunch of his old stuff to be auctioned off at a fancy dinner event held last at the Grosvenor House Hotel. It was a lovely evening, actually, and although it would have been my choice to have Niall there in person, my dad proved an equally entertaining date, even though he was so unnecessarily nervous the whole time. My parents got the chance to meet Maura and Bobby, a formality I was anxious to get out of the way. Niall owed me one for having missed that one, even though it went off without a hitch; the dads talked sports and weather, and I politely ducked out of any and all conversation between our mothers on the topic of our wedding. I just wasn’t ready to deal with all of that hullabaloo.

The car pulled up in front of the hotel, the exterior of which was very modern southwest, standard cacti flanking the granite walkway leading to the huge glass-enclosed lobby. I checked in at the front desk as Niall had instructed, receiving with a smile and old bottle of water, a copy of the key for his room. “You’ve already seen the show, babe.” He had said this morning when I called as I waited to board at the gate. “You don’t have to be there tonight.”

It was silly, because of course he knew I wouldn’t even consider it. I loved to watch him perform; All of them, actually. I wanted to see it from every vantage point, try to spot the nuances show-to-show. The boys were already soundchecking at the venue, which meant I had a couple of hours to myself before heading that way, which was fortunate, because after a day spent in airports and on the airplane, I was looking just as beat as I felt.

I let the door close gently behind the bellman, embarrassed that I didn’t have any American money with which to tip him, but I knew if I went through Niall’s laundry pile I’d be sure to find a little something to hit the guy with on the way out. The room was very minimalist, clean lines, crisp linens; which was all done away with by his heaping mess of a suitcase thrown haphazardly in the corner. Niall’s dalliance with patience and organization had clearly been short-lived. That or he’d been burglarized.