Winter Air (Sequel to Night Air)

Chapter 25

*Niall's POV*

My foot shook back and forth, but one could only tell because of my white duvet shaking at the end of my full sized bed. My reflection on the phone was biting his nails while looking not nearly as nervous as I felt. My phone continued to ring and ring while I nervously examined my appearance in the camera which I usually did before FaceTiming with Alyssa. Soon enough, her beautiful green eyes and LA tanned skin popped up on my screen and my face diminished into a tiny little rectangle in the bottom right corner of my phone. Just by the sight of her smile, my butterflies flew away, but I wasn't worried about them. I knew they weren't lurking too far and would be back. "Hey, handsome," she greeted which earned her one of my smiles that I knew she loved.

I chuckled and admired Alyssa's perfectly done hair and makeup that she hadn't taken the time to ruin before bed. I, on the other hand, was procrastinating on getting out of bed and getting ready for work. It was the day that my family was coming in for their photo shoot and, not-so-coincidentally, I was putting my two weeks notice into the studio. Alyssa didn't need to know any of that, though- at least, not at that exact moment. She would have to at least find out about my quitting the studio for when I shared the exciting news that I would be moving back out to Los Angeles. I wasn't going to share that news quite yet, though. Instead, I sat up taller in my bed and gave her a wide smile. "Hi. How was your day?"

She shrugged indifferently and laid back against all of her pillows so her camera was looking directly down on her. "Typical. El and I went to work out before I had to be in the studio and Sabrina is still a bitch. Same old, same old." I cracked a sideways smile. "And before you say 'she's not that bad once you get to know her'-" she mocked my deeper voice and accent, "-just know that that only applies if you're Niall Horan and she wants to get to know you back." Although she was laying down, she still found a way to prop her nose up higher in the air and peer down (up?) her nose at me through the camera. She had to be one of the most attractive creations I had ever set eyes on.

"You know, I'm liking this view," I chuckled. Her nose dropped and she looked at me lost. "It's been awhile since I've had the privilege of looking down on you below." I shot her a wink. Now with slightly pink cheeks, Alyssa slowly sat up and opted for leaning against her pillows so her phone now sat out in front of her. "That's cool," I chuckled. "Maybe one of these days we can make this point of view work, too." Alyssa shook her head and pressed her lips together to avoid letting her laughter out, which just in turn made me laugh which made her laugh.

"I hate you so much," Alyssa said through giggles. I laughed some more with her because I knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. When her giggles stopped and she caught her breath, she sat smiling into the camera. "So when are you coming back out? I miss you." Her smile fell. "My bed is extremely lonely and parties aren't the same anymore. El usually goes off to be with Louis and everyone else always seems to have somebody to grind on."

I quirked a playful eyebrow up at her. "So basically you need me to come back so you can join in on the grinding at parties," I said jokingly.

"Exactly!" She played along which made me smile. "Plus Harry sucks at grinding," she laughed but my smile fell which just made her laugh harder. "I'm kidding, Ni." She giggled some more like she was a damn comedian. "Harry's actually really good at grinding."

This time I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, but, damn it, her never-ending laughter at her own jokes put a smile on my face. "You are the most irritating and adorable human being alive- and I'm only saying that because I know damn well you don't grind with Harry." She laughed again as if to claim defeat over the lies she spilt. "But to answer your question, all I'm going to say is it'll be a surprise when I come back." I sent her a wink, but she sent me an eye roll.