I Wish (Niall Horan)

Chapter Thirty One

I rolled out of bed at five the next morning, a pale sunrise slowly making its way through the clouds.  Half asleep, I wandered into the shower, changing into a new pair of sweatpants, tee shirt, and a hat afterward.  I ate a quick breakfast, gathering all my suitcases and my backpack before leaving the flat at 5:30.  I hailed a cab and threw my things in the back, instructing the driver to take me to the airport.  I found the boys in the lobby and I put all my suitcases with theirs.  Zayn was asleep in a chair.  Harry and Louis were talking quietly for a bit before leaving together to get coffee.  Liam, however, was overcome with excitement, despite the time of day it was.  

A few fans were in the area, watching us intently.  There weren’t many—there would undoubtably be fans at the airport we were to land in, to welcome us.  There would be tons when we came back home, though.

We had a little less than an hour before our flight departed, so I savored the silence, taking a seat near Zayn and shutting my eyes. 

I was just about to fall asleep, Liam tapped me on my shoulder.  The baggage guys were here to get all our luggage.  It was sort of astonishing how many bags the five of us needed just for a short trip.  He gave us a sheet of stickers with our information on them to stick on our bags, and Liam and I began putting them on.

The guy came back and carted all our things away, aside from our carry-ons.  Our flight was called, and we were notified that it would be taking off in five minutes. 

I was waiting for our flight to be called. Then I couldnt believe my eyes. I saw Sophia walking towards me, with tears in her eyes. "Sophia!!" I shouted happily running towards her. I hugged her tightly. Her arms were wrapped around my body. "What are you doing here! Werent you in Chicago?!" I asked her. She smiled at Liam and said "Liam called me two days ago. How could I not say goodbye to my best friend before going on tour!" Oh, so thats who Liam was calling in the bar. 

"Im so happy you are here!" I hugged her more. "But Niall, I want us to be more than friends." Sophia quietly said.

I stared at her not sure if it was a joke or real.  “I want to be with you,” she mumbled into my shoulder.

“I mean it.  I want to be with you, Niall.  I know that now. And I’ll be here when you come home.”

An uncontrollable grin pulled across my face then, and my heart overflowed with happiness.  “Are you sure?”  I asked.  I didn’t want her to feel guilted into a relationship, but I couldn’t contain my hopefulness.

"I want to be with you Sophie! I love you so much!" I said getting closer to her.

Sophia answered me by closing the small space between us, her lips soft on mine.  She kissed me slowly and I savored it; it finally felt real.  Her fingers clasped in the collar of my shirt, mine on her waist, it felt mutual.  It felt honest.  For once, I was satisfied with myself.

“I’m going to miss you so much,”  she mumbled into my neck.

“Two months will go by quick, I promise,”  I told her, gently stroking her back.

“It can’t go fast enough.”

 I smiled sadly to myself and kissed her hair.  As much as I wanted this tour, all I wanted right now was to stay with Sophia.  “I know, love.”  

 She unlatched herself from me and turned to give Liam a hug. Harry and Louis came back shortly after, and I nudged Zayn awake.  Sophia said hey to everyone, and the boys were clearly relieved to see her again.

Our flight was called then, and I felt my stomach curl uneasily.  I didn’t want to go yet.  I turned to Sophia, my eyes wide.  “This is really going to be hard without you.”

Sophia didn’t even take the time to reply.  A formal goodbye would’ve taken too long.  She just brought her lips to mine and kissed me, dragging me as close as physically possible with her hands on my jaw.  I drew her in by her waist and kissed her strongly so she could feel how much I was going to miss her.  She mirrored me with similar intensity, but the kiss ended when Liam told us to hurry up.  “Two months,”  Sophia said softly, unmistakable regret drowning her voice.

“Two months,”  I repeated, kissing her multiple times on the lips, savoring every last bit of her.  I planted one final kiss on her forehead before turning away.  Sophia’s fingers slipped through mine, and I felt a pit in my stomach, absolutely hating myself for having to leave her there without me.

I handed a woman my ticket, and headed onto the plane without turning around.  I knew I would have ran right back out to her if I had.  Zayn through his arm around my shoulders.  “She’s a strong girl, Niall.  She’ll be alright,”  he reassured me.

“I hope so,”  I replied as I took my seat by the window.  Soon, the plane took off and we were in the sky, headed for our first destination.  Liam smiled at me from the seat across the aisle, and I smiled back. I was very thankful that the guys had called her. I felt strangely contented, given the situation.  I put my music in, leaning my head on the window frame.

Before I knew it, I’d dozed off.  I had a restless sleep the night before, anyway.  I thought about when all this started, we were in an airport, too.  And Sophia came right up to meet me, wrapping her arms around me.  I thought about how good that would feel when we came back.  With seeing her one last time before we got on the plane, I knew it was enough to hold me over for two months.  I was just holding onto the anticipation of seeing her beautiful face in the sea of people in sixty days, and finally being able to run straight to her and kiss her this time, for real.