“What the hell…” I mumble louder than I intended.
Our entire group of friends turns to look at Niall and I. Niall looks stunned. His eyebrows are pulled together and he cautiously raises his hand from my stomach and waves to the blonde.
She smirks at him and I can feel anger building up inside of me. My instinct kicks in and I try and get up to go confront her but Niall’s arms restrain me. I try and pull his arms away from my waist but I don’t get the chance.
He whispers into my ear, “Wait! Look!” He points to the left of the girl. I see the redhead swiftly storming back over to the blonde.
The scrawny blonde doesn’t even see it coming. The redhead girl walks up to her and yells, “You have no right to talk to me like that!” The blonde haired girl has barely turned to look towards the screaming when she is shoved into the pool. A large splash of water spreads over the space she just fell into and laughing erupts from all around the backyard including my group.
She comes up from the water, no longer dry. Her hair is dripping and the luscious curls are gone. Her face is tear-stained and she looks up at her attacker.
The redhead squats near the edge of the pool. “Maybe you should stop trying to take other peoples guys and you would have more friends. Niall and Grace look happy, don’t ruin their relationship too.”
What?
The redhead stands up and walks away confidently with her hips swaying and her hair swinging. The blonde quickly gets out of the water and grabs a towel. Her eyes glance back to Niall and she practically sprints out of the yard, almost tripping with the towel.
“Woah…” Bella breathes.
“What the hell just happened?” I ask shocked from the event that just occurred.
“Calm down. It’s okay,” Niall says trying to soothe me. His arms are still tightly wrapped around me, not allowing me to move.
“No it’s not!” my voice rises. I’m getting angry. Why did the redhead say that the blonde was trying to get in between me and Niall? “Isn’t it obvious that we are together? I’m sitting on your damn lap!”
“Grace, it’s fine, really. That didn’t mean anything. They are just two psycho chicks. Stop making those pretty lips say dirty words.” His lips are pressed up against my ear and my body relaxes back into his. He’s doing his best to distract me from the words that had been spoken in front of us. Our friends have diverted their attention, trying to give us space.
“I’m sorry for swearing. But Niall, it’s not fine. They practically just threatened our relationship.” My voice has calmed down and now I’m mostly just voicing my opinion. I’ve stopped trying to get out of his grip to pounce on the blonde girl.
“It doesn’t matter. They are not going to separate us. You are stuck with me,” his teeth nibble at my ear and I start giggling.
“Niall quit it! That tickles!” I tilt my head trying to get my ear out of his teeth. A growl erupts from deep in his chest and I breathe in a sigh as my eyes flutter closed. My fingernails dig into his arms that are around my stomach and he growls again. His lips trail along my neck and I open my eyes.
“Do you two need a room?” Bella jokes. Everyone’s eyes are watching our interactions and I instantly feel uncomfortable.
Niall quickly stops kissing me and I loosen my grip on his arms. I can feel my cheeks heating up and I look away from their eyes.
“No!” we both say in unison and they all chuckle at us.
“Speaking of rooms,” Bella remembers something. “You guys can all spend the night if you want. It would only be us six.”
Everyone starts talking and trying to decide if they want to stay overnight. I tilt my head to look up at Niall. He looks down at me.
“It’s your choice,” I say. “This may be the last time you get to really hang out with them.”
He nods his head. “Is it okay with you if we stay?” He asks me.
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
I won’t be too thrilled but it really is his decision. His time left is limited and I shouldn’t be selfish and keep him to myself. Even though that is what I truly desire to do.
“Okay, yeah let’s stay.”
I smile at him and look back to the group. We all seem to have decided to spend the night here in the mansion.
“Great!” Bella cheers. “Now we can really party!”
The guys all start cheering while the girls laugh. I close my eyes and rest my head back against Niall’s chest. His breathing pattern calms me down and the warm water around me is making me sleepy. Niall’s arms tighten around my waist.
His lips whisper into my ear, “You can go to sleep if you want. I won’t let you fall in. Promise.”
I just nod my head, my eyes shutting out the world along with my problems.
~~~~~
“Goodbye Grace.” Niall drops his grip on my waist and turns to start walking away. Away from this town. Away from this airport. Away from me.
“What? No! You can’t go! The plane is broken! It’s going to crash!” I grip at Niall’s t-shirt trying to keep him from moving into the doors of the plane. The airplane has something wrong with it. I just know it.
“Grace, stop being silly. It’s fine.”
He kisses my forehead one last time and starts entering the gate.
“Niall! Stop! Please!” The tears are falling now at my desperation to keep him off of the dangerous flying machine. “It’s going to crash!”
“It’ll be fine.” He steps into the doorway and pries my fingers from his shirt. He pushes me away and the doors start to close.
I start to scream but nothing comes out. I try and yell his name to get him to stop but my voice is silenced. It’s like I’m in a soundproof bubble. It’s pure torture watching him enter a place that will lead to his fate.
The doors latch closed and I start banging my fist on them, hoping for a miracle that they will open and Niall will walk back through. But they stay shut and I drop to my knees in tears.
~~~~~
I sit up swiftly stunned from the vivid dream. I realize that I’m still in the hot tub and Niall has his arms securely around my waist. All our friends must have got out of the water and the party must be ending. There is nobody outback with us and the bartender is missing.
“What’s wrong?” Niall asks me concerned.
I take a couple deep breaths trying to calm my nerves. I know that the dream was just a repercussion of me knowing that Niall is leaving so soon. My heart is beating rapidly and I lift my hand to my chest in an attempt to slow it down. “Nothing, I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”
Niall is quiet for a second before he asks the question he has been thinking. “Was it about me?”
I turn my head and look at him the best I can from our position. I peer into his sorrowful eyes and answer, “Yes.”
I’m shocked by his next statement. “I have them too. The nightmares. They are always about me leaving. I get on a plane and as I look out the window, you get attacked. I can never save you.” His eyes look distant as he relives the dreams.
I look down at my hands before deciding to tell him my dream. “Mine are about you saying goodbye. We are at an airport and I always have this gut feeling that something is wrong with the plane. I beg you to stay but you never listen. You get on and I’m left there on the ground screaming. But when I scream, nothing comes out. It’s horrible.” My eyes start to water.
The dreams seem to symbolize our lives pretty well. Niall hates the fact that he may not be able to help me if I am ever in danger. Meanwhile, I don’t want to ever hear that something terrible happens while he is away. The silent screaming is probably about how I am afraid that something could happen to him and I will never be able to talk to him again. It’s a terrifying thought.
Niall wipes at the tears that I didn’t realize overflowed. “It’s going to be okay. They were all just nightmares. None of that is going to happen.” He sounds as though he is trying to convince himself more than me.
I give him a weak smile and stand from his lap. The water flows out and laps at the edges of the hot tub. “Are you ready to go inside? I look like a prune. How long was I asleep?”
“Maybe like half an hour. Yeah let’s go inside.” He stands on the seat that he was just on and takes a giant step out of the water.
He turns around and lends his hand for me. I gladly accept it and he gently helps me out. The cold air hits my warm skin and goose bumps rise. My teeth chatter and Niall holds my towel wide open. I walk into his chest and he wraps it around me, standing in a hug.
“You could have woken me so we could have gone in,” I inform him, trying to keep my teeth from clacking together as I speak.
“I know but you looked so sleepy. Plus, it was nice just getting to hold you and watch you sleep.” I look up at him and see his wide grin.
He lets go of me and I tightly hold the towel around my body. He grabs his own towel and secures it around his shoulders. We both pick up our possessions and walk toward the back door. We barely step into the house, just enough to be in the warmth but not so much that we soak the carpet.
There are still a few stragglers and James walks up to us. “Hey guys. It’s about time you woke up Grace.” He chuckles before continuing. “Bella left some clothes for you in the bathroom upstairs. You can shower and change. Niall, I have you some too. You can use the one in the basement.”
“What about our wet clothes? How are we supposed to get to the bathroom?” I worry about ruining the flooring in this beautiful house.
“Oh, that’s fine. Just walk up there. It’ll dry eventually.”
I nod my head and start walking to the stairs.
“Oh! And when you two are done the party should be cleared out and we can all hang out. We’ll probably just be in here.” He nods his head to the living room and I nod again before ascending the steps.
I prance quickly into the bathroom and shut the door. I drop the towel into the hamper and find the pajamas that Bella left for me: red plaid, flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. It looks warm and cozy.
I slip off my bathing suit and climb into the shower quickly cranking the heat to the hottest it will go. The water heats up too fast and I have to turn it back down. I scrub my hair and put in the conditioner. I scrub my body the best I can, trying to remove all the chlorine.
Once I feel like I’ve cleaned up enough, I shut the faucet off and climb out, wrapping a new white towel around my body. The steam has fogged the mirror so I turn on the fan. I dry my body and hair as much as I can before slipping on my underwear and bra that I had prepared in my bag. The pajamas are soft against my skin and I decide that I am going to ask Bella if I can keep them.
I find a brush after rummaging through every single drawer and brush my hair the best I can. I use my hair elastic and braid my hair down my left shoulder. The foggy mirror has finally cleared up a little and I look over my appearance.
That’s as good as it’s going to get.
I put all the dirty clothes into the hamper, use the toilet, and exit the bathroom to search for my friends.
{Picture on Side: The front of the mansion **Whistles**
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