Motel 6 // n.h

[12] New York City

Avery Holmes

"How many hours has it been?" I whispered to Niall, who was driving us through the pitch black of the night. He yawned and felt his pockets for his phone, which automatically made me feel bad. He chuckled.

"That's right, you destroyed my phone." He smirked at me.

"My intentions were good, I swear." I giggled. I checked the clock on the car, it was already eleven something. Niall wanted to put a lot of miles between us and Motel 6, and he was fulfilling his wish and taking it a little far. We had already stopped and talked to Shirley, and grabbed our things.

"Looks like we'll be goin' to Verizon tomorrow, ya?" He asked. I nodded, curling up in my leather passenger seat. "Ugh, crap! I was gonna watch some Derby today! I missed it." His shoulders sank.

"I don't even know what that is." I admitted. He looked over at me with mock horror and I shrugged, feeling a bit bad. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I said in a hushed tone, holding my hands up in defense. We couldn't be too loud because Aimee was asleep in the backseat.

"It's football." He explained.

"Oh." I nodded. "Do you play?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Right offense is what I like to play usually, but I guess I'm good at being a goalie, too." I laughed at him and raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"If you like football so much, why do you not know anything about it?" I questioned. "That's soccer, Niall."

He shook his head. "Nah, I forgot you called it that here. It is soccer, but we call it football like all the normal countries do." He teased.

"Right, you're Irish." I reminded myself. "Despite the heavy accent, I always seem to forget. It's so funny when you say things like 'mum'." I giggled. He shoved me, and I realized for the first time that the bruises on my arms were fading away. They didn't sting anymore, and they weren't black and blue. I smiled to myself.

"What?" He laughed at me. "Why're you smiling like that?"

I shook my head, still smiling. "It's nothing."

Before he could interject, I could see giant skyscrapers to our right and realized where we were. I didn't even think Niall knew we were right on the brink of New York City. All I did was point, and Niall could see it. The lights were bright and really, really beautiful. I marveled at it, unbuckling and crawling over to my window.

"You act like you've never seen New York City before." He chuckled.

"Because I haven't." I admit, resting my hands in my lap. I looked over and saw him gasping, this time not even faking it. "What? Just because I live in the state doesn't mean I live in the city."

"We'll find me a disguise, and then go into the city. I want you to see all of the highlights of the city. We'll be like tourists!" He decided, swerving over into the lane where there was a big bridge that connected to the city.

"Oh my gosh, it's so pretty." I said, a smile plastered on my face. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Sometimes." He shrugs. "We played at Madison Square Garden here about a year ago. It was sick." He smiles, remembering. I never realized he was that big of a pop star. I wasn't dumb, I knew what the Garden was. That was the place for people who'd really made it.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Hey, where in New York do you and Jake live?" He asked.

"Oh, along the border of Ohio, we're way far from them." I reassured him, scooting up beside him on the big seat and leaning my head against his shoulder. It only occurred to me now that I was really, really tired.