Heartbreak Weather | Niall Horan

20

There's so much more to art than just brush strokes on a piece of paper. It's so much more than that. Every artist has a different way of expressing their thoughts and portraying an idea in art.

We spent almost the afternoon looking at the different pieces of artwork scattered throughout the museum. I didn't want to miss anything or overlook one. I wanted to be able to appreciate it all.

While we were looking at one of the pop art sculptures, a young girl came up to us. She recognized Niall and asked for a picture with him. I stepped off to the side while the girl stood with Niall and her mother snapped their photograph. The girl spoke to Niall for a few moments, telling him about how she was excited for his album to come out before she and her mother made their way to a different part of the museum.

After many hours spent aimlessly wandering through the seven different floors, Niall and I decided to return back to the hotel.

I could have stayed there forever.

Today's our last full day in San Francisco and Niall's taking me to see the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm almost certain that the Golden Gate Bridge is what inspired this entire trip. Niall knew of my fond memories surrounding this beautiful city, and more specifically the giant suspension bridge, from the photo of my dad and I that hangs in my apartment and the different stories I shared with him from my trip a few years back.

Niall and I got ready quickly, both of us wanting to get a start on today's adventure. Regardless of the weather, we were going to spend today at one of the most meaningful places I've ever been to. I specifically brought my white sundress to wear today, and Niall's letting me wear his windbreaker jacket over top of it until the weather clears up a bit.

We had a short walk to get to the parking lot where our Uber dropped us off to the spot where we wanted to take photos. It wasn't really raining anymore, but the sky was still dark and gloomy. I could see the bridge pretty well from where we were standing in the parking lot. The fog was starting to dissipate, allowing the bridge to become more and more visible.

Niall and I start walking down the trail, our fingers interlocked between us. He kept purposely bumping into my side, nudging me farther to the right, chuckling when I nudged him back. He's always doing playful little things like that, trying to get me to retaliate. Niall's quite an instigator once you get to know him. But he knows that I don't mind him messing with me, if anything I find it just as funny as he does.

It's crazy how much things have changed since the last time I was here. Physically, everything here looks almost exactly the same as it did four years ago, but my life is completely different. If 18-year-old me saw a glimpse at my life now, there's no doubt in my mind that I'd think my life was a joke.

For starters, I didn't think I'd ever come back to San Francisco, especially after my father's death. I always thought that the memories this city holds would be too hard to relive. But here I am. I didn't ever think that I'd leave France, but now I live in London. And I most definitely would have thought that I would be walking down this trail with Niall.

Everything in my life has changed.

This trail, however, looks exactly the same. Everything from the small little fence separating the path from the steep decline to the view across the bay. The only difference is that when my dad and I came here, the sun was brightly shining down on us.

Even from our starting point in the parking lot, the bridge was visible. The fog was starting to become less dense, but the tops of the bridge were still hidden from our eyes. Every step closer led to the bridge appearing bigger and bigger until eventually, it was giant.

The Golden Gate Bridge towered before us, its large red structure reaching into the sky and disappearing into the clouds and fog.

"Even though I've been here before, it still makes me excited." I smile, "I mean the pictures don't even do it justice, you know."