Ariana's POV
I sat down in my seat, closing my eyes, not even wanting to look out the window, in fear of seeing him crying even though he wouldn't be there. I slowly fell asleep as we started to take off.
[6 hours later]
"We will be landing shortly so please fasten your seat belts and return your seats to the upright position and thank you for flying with us."
The voice echoed through the plane and woke me up. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in my seat. I looked at the seat in front of me and saw something that made all the memories flash back to me.
It was a magazine from a month or two ago.
It had a picture of Niall and I and in big bold letters said, "Has Niall finally found his princess?"
It made me smile slightly but gave me a billion questions.
Does Niall think of me as his princess?
What is he doing right now?
Is he thinking about me?
Is he crying?
Sleeping?
I sighed. I've seen him in the last 24 hours and I already miss him. It's not even just not seeing him. It's the thought of him forgetting about me that worries me. There are so many gorgeous girls that adore him. He could have any of them. And he's going on tour, seeing all of them while I'm thousands of miles away.
What if he's mad? What if he thinks dancing is more important to me then him?
Nothing is more important to me than him.
I got up from my seat and got off the plane. I stopped at Starbucks before I exited the airport. The cold wind hit me, which made me miss California even more. While I waited on a bench for my rental car to be ordered, I logged onto twitter, which I haven't done in a while.
Don't listen to the hate.
Niall's voice echoed through my head as my feed came up. I skimmed through the hateful tweets, not reading them. I came across a tweet that literally brought tears to my eyes. Happy ones.
@NiallOfficial: Everybody root for @ArianaGrande on #sytycd this season! You're gonna do great! Love you Princess! xx
Princess. He does consider me as his princess. There were thousands of retweets and fans retweeting about it when I decided to tweet back.
@ArianaGrande: @NiallOfficial I miss you already! Skype me tonight! <3 xx
@NiallOfficial: already planning on it, love. ;) @ArianaGrande
I smiled at his tweet when my car pulled up. I paid the people and they gave me the keys in return. I got in the car and drove to where all the contestants were staying at.
I pulled into the parking lot and walked into the lobby with my luggage. I checked in and they gave me room keys. The elevator took me up and I immediately went to my room. I laid on my bed right away and let out a sigh.
Tomorrow will be better. No goodbyes tomorrow. I got those over with. I realized dating a pop star really does come with a lot of good byes.
I took out my phone again to see my screen blinking. I looked up at the time to see it was 10 at night already. So that means it's earlier in California for Niall. I saw he was skyping me so I opened the app and accepted it and his face soon popped up on the screen. A smile immediately formed on my face as well as his.
"Hey!" I said waving at the screen.
"Hey!" he said, dragging out the hey and waving dramatically, which made me giggle.
"How was the flight?" he asked.
"I don't even know. I was sleeping for most of it." I chuckled.
He laughed along then said, "Wait. it's like seven here which means it's like ten there... shouldn't you be sleeping?" He said with a concerned look.
"Yeah I have to dance tomorrow." I said.
"Well I don't want to keep you awake!" he said.
"Yeah I'm exhausted.... Talk to you tomorrow?" I said.
"Of course. Love you!" He said, smiling.
"Love you too." I said smiling at the camera. He blew a sloppy kiss into the camera and I pretended to catch it, giggling.
"Goodnight!"
"Night." I sighed then hung up. I plugged my phone in and changed into sweatpants and a tank top.
"Love you." I said quietly to myself. It rolled off my tongue so naturally and it made me smile.
I laid down in my bed and shut the lamp off. I surprisingly, soon fell asleep.
[Next Morning]
I woke up the next morning and walked into the bathroom. I threw my hair up into a messy bun, and put some makeup on.
I brushed my teeth and decided to take a shower after breakfast so I wasn't late.
I threw on yoga pants and one of Niall's sweatshirts and walked to the elevator.
Once I was in the lobby, I walked into the buffet room and saw the 19 other contestants. Keon ran up to hug me and I returned it, seeing he was my only friend here so far.
I walked to the buffet and got a plate, and put some eggs, bacon, and toast on it. I sat down at a table with Keon and we chatted for a while until a girl came up to us.
"Oh my god!" I heard a squeal next to me.
"That's Niall Horan's sweatshirt!
Where'd you get it?" she said.
"From Niall." I said, taking a bite of toast.
"Don't be silly! I'm being serious!" She giggled. I turned to face her and she let out a gasp.
"You weren't kidding! You're Ariana Grande! Niall Horan's girlfriend!"
"Yeah." I chuckled. I don't know why girls fangirl over me. Just because I'm dating him doesn't make me some big deal.
I finished my breakfast and walked back to my room. I got into the shower and washed up quickly.
When I was finished, I wrapped a towel around me and stepped out. I brushed my hair, dried it, then brushed it again. I put on my outfit for today's rehearsal.
I was wearing a pick crochet lace bra top, grey banded shorts, tan tights, and my twilas, then I slipped TOMS on over them. I put my hair in a bun, slightly messy with a braid, and fixed my makeup.
(Outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9124530&.svc=copypaste&id=113398112)
I grabbed my pink Nike duffel bag with my dance stuff in it, then walked to the studio nearby. I walked in and saw most of the contestants entering, with the host there. There were cameras setting up which made me more nervous.
15 minutes later we were starting. The cameras were on Cat Deeley.
"Today, the girls will be picking their partner for the rest of the season until they're eliminated. Then the guy in the partnership will pick the style of their first dance!" Cat said into her microphone that really wasn't needed with her loud voice.
A couple of girls went, then it was my turn. I stepped up to the bowl and picked a ball of paper out. It said 'Keon' and I jumped for joy.
"Who is it?" Cat asked.
"Keon!" I said and Keon came in and hugged me.
He picked out of the bowl next and I sighed in relief when our first dance was contemporary.
We all went to our assigned studios. We have one of the best choreographers and her name is Sonia.
We walked into the studio and said hello when she started talking about the dance.
"This piece is about leaving someone you love. And I'm sure you went through that when you came here? I want you to share those stories with us other two, so we can get into the mood of the story." She said. Keon started, and I was dreading when I had to talk. Keon said he had to leave his mom. And his story of their good byes were so sad.
"Ariana?" Mia asked.
"I had to leave my boyfriend." I said looking down at my fingers.
"What about your parents?" she asked. That's when I really got worried about crying. A stray tear started coming down but I quickly wiped it away.
"My parents died." I plainly said.
"I'm so sorry to make you talk about it Ariana. But now, you will have so much emotion in the dance." I nodded and smiled, my tears were controlled now.
Stay With Me buy Sam Smith started playing through the speakers.
Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me
This song fits perfectly with the theme. Keon was leaving me in the dance but I wouldn't let him go. I really had to display a lot of emotions, and I probably have a lot of bruises from crawling on the ground after him. We finished it and I was so excited, on how perfect it was.
[Couple of days later]
It was the day of performing our dances and I was getting into my costume. I had a beautiful navy blue costume, and the hair and makeup people did a great job on me.
(Outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/m/set?.embedder=9124530&.svc=copypaste&id=113398112 )
I was standing backstage, trying to shake the nerves off.
"And our first dance tonight will be Ariana and Keon performing, Stay With Me!" Cat Deeley announced.
I took a deep breath and walked on stage.