Chapter 12
I barely slept. I up until 2, so I got 3 and a half hours of sleep.
I was up finishing my English essay on "To Kill A Mockingbird" until midnight, but then I couldn't fall asleep. For another 2 hours. It was up just checking Twitter, listening to Ed and Mumford & Sons, trying to sleep. Usually they will calm me down enough to sleep but it didn't happen.
I heard something at my door. It was Dexter, pawing at it trying to come in at about one in the morning. He could climb the stairs easily, but Hypotenuse, the bigger dog, had no luck. I let my puppy in and he jumped onto my bed. He snuggled up to me when I climbed in. Having the extra heat coming from him helped me calm down and I started to drift off.
And three and a half hours later I was awake. In the shower and then dressed in a pair of light wash skinny jeans and a navy blue sweater. I put on a little bit of makeup, my usual amount, and then my dog tags, and my herringbone Toms I just bought and went downstairs.
I heard a knock at the door earlier than I expected.
Niall was stopping by again so we could talk to my mother about him, Lou and I going to Ireland over the nearing break.
When I opened the door I saw that it was Niall, and Louis, which was nice, I didn't know if my Mum was going to need extra convincing or not.
We went to sit in the front room. I brought them both coffee and we just sat and talked about tonight. Making the plan solid.
My Mum walked downstairs dressed and ready to go for her day. She noticed Louis and Niall in the front room. She smiled.
"Good morning boys, how are you?" she asked then walking over to us.
"Wonderful and you Mrs. Holden?" asked Louis standing up to give her a hug.
"I'm great. We haven't seen you in a while Louis? How was Australia?" she asked him.
"Very lovely. A worth while experience." he answered.
"Hello Niall. How are you sweet heart?" she asked him.
"Fine and you?" he asked.
"Very happy to see some of Caroline's friends around the house." she said with a smile.
Niall pulled something out of his bag. It was a jar.
"This is for you Mrs. Holden. For having me for breakfast yesterday, and for the coffee today." he said handing it to my mother. "It's my Mum's homemade granola. She thought it would be a kind gesture to bring over."
"Thank you Niall, that's so sweet of you." she said giving him a squeeze.
"It's not a problem." he answered smiling.
Wow, he really could make an impression on anyone. My mother hugged this boy she's known for a day. And she genuinely seemed like she like him. It was, well, sweet.
My Mum walked into the kitchen and poured herself some tea. I had the kettle on for her already. We walked into the kitchen and sat at the stools by the island.
"Anything new happen at school?" she asked us.
We all looked at each other quickly before I answered. This was the golden opportunity.
"Well Mum, actually, us three, we got paired up for a big project for our Global history class." I began.
"What do you have to do?" she asked us.
"Well, we were assigned my home country, Ireland, for an in-depth report on it. It's a large grade so we want to do a good job on it." Niall said.
"There is no way we are going to let it be a rubbish project." Louis added.
"Oh very nice. That is wonderful that it is your home country, Niall. It'll help to have some extra knowledge." my Mum answered.
I looked at Niall. He was ready.
"Well, Mrs. Holden, I was thinking that over November break, Caroline, Louis and myself could go and visit my relatives in Ireland. They already said they would love to take us in for the week." he began.
"I think that would be a great experience for you all. A great way to work on your project." she said.
"Really Mum? I can go?" I said.
"Oh I think it would be great learning. And if your staying with Niall's relatives then I am fine with it." she said.
Niall gave my leg a squeeze. We had to stretch the truth a bit so that we could stay in the cottage, just the three of us. But it was just a little lie. It wasn't going to matter in the long run. Just three friends hanging around in a cottage. That's all.
"Thank you so much Mum! This is going to be a great project." I said to her.
She smiled at us. And stood up to leave the room.
"Thank you Mrs. Holden. You won't regret this decision." Niall said.
"You really are very wonderful for letting Care go with us Mrs. Holden." Louis added.
She laughed and starting walking out, but not before she added,
"You can call me Katherine. Really, I don't mind."
And then she left. If my Mum didn't mind being called Katherine by my friends she barely knows, then this was great.
"Jesus Niall. You really must have made a good impression on her. You get a hug this morning and now you can call my Mum, Katherine? How do you do it?" I asked him giving him a nudge.
"I'm good with people." he answered smugly.
Then he flashed me that crooked, cheeky smile. His eyes sparkling. Adorable. This moment he looked so content. I smiled back at him.
"We better get going. We have a long day ahead of us." Louis said breaking me from my thoughts.
"I agree." Niall said.
"I'll drive." Louis said.
"Alright. Let me just grab my glasses." I said.
Niall picked them up off the counter behind him and put them into his pocket.
"Can I have them?" I asked slightly confused.
"Don't put them on yet. You don't need to hide behind them." he said to me.
"Just give them here." I said back to him.
"Later." Niall said.
We walked out to Louis' car and climbed in. He put on some of The Script and just drive away.
The day went too slowly. Yet much too fast at the same time. The bell had rang for the ending of the school day.
Now all I was focused on was Josh's party.
I grabbed my coat out of my locker, and waited for Zayn.
"You walking today?" I asked him when he approached.
"Where's your car?" he asked.
"Lou brought me today."
"Well let's get going. You have to get all dolled up for tonight don't you?" he jokingly said to me. "Being the girly girl you are."
I burst out laughing. He put me in the best moods. We walked out the front doors of the school. He took my hand and we walked. Just talking about our day.
"Your painting is looking really nice." he said to me.
"Your drawing is beyond anything I have ever seen Zayn. How do you do it?"
"Just a pro." He said with a smirk.
I was painting a portrait of myself and Ana when we were little girls for my Mum's upcoming birthday. And it was looking very nice indeed. Zayn was drawing a beautiful landscape that he took a picture of when his family visited Scotland.
We were walking hand in hand down the street. It was nice to do this again. I would have to walk every so often. We arrived at our houses. Right next door to each other. He released my hand.
"I'll guess I'll see you tonight." he said then kissed my cheek. "What time are you guys arriving around?"
"I think like quarter of ten. That's when the big group will show up so I think we'll come around then." I answered.
"Sounds good. Now try and rest, you look really tired."
"How did you know?" I asked him.
"Well, it took us 30 minutes to walk home instead of 15." he said with laugh.
"Oh my god. I must really be that tired." I said.
I hugged him goodbye. "See you tonight." I said with a smile
.
I opened the door. Picked up my little puppy and went right upstairs with him.
"Hey Care." I heard Ana say.
"Hi hun." I answered. "What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going to a bonfire with the girls and then sleeping over at Michele's house. What about you?" she answered.
"1 have that party at Josh's house tonight." I said to her.
"Ooo who's going? Is Niall Horan going to be there?"
I always avoided that question.
"All of the girls are coming over at 6, and the boys at 8 and we are leaving at 9:15. Are you still going to be around then?" I asked her.
"Jordyn is picking me up for the bonfire at 9 so yes I will be for a little while."
"Well you can hang around for a little bit with all of us."
"Thanks." she said.
I still had Dex in my arms. He was starting to squirm. I walked into my room and laid down with him in my arms. He snuggled into me. If only I didn't have to cuddle with my dog. I'd much rather have a boy with me. I turned on some music and took a nap.
I fell asleep at 3 and woke up at 5. I was very refreshed. Dexter was sleeping at the foot of my bed like he normally did.
I climbed out from under my quilt and got into the shower. By the time I was out and dry it was 5:30. I threw on a pair of yoga pants and my new pullover and went downstairs.
I walked into the front room and sat down on the couch and cracked open my new book. My iPhone sitting next to me awaiting any text coming my way. Then Ana entered.
"Nice outfit Care." she said sarcastically.
I looked up at her. She was wearing essentially the same thing. Except opposite colors.
"I see where you get half of your sense of style from." I said with a laugh.
She sat down on the couch opposite to me. And turned on the TV. I put down my book and checked Twitter on my phone. My Mum walked into the room.
"When are the girls coming over?" she asked me.
"About 15 minutes. Why?" I asked her.
"Well, I had a gift for you girls. I got your progress report today Caroline, and you have a 99% average. And since I didn't get you anything big for your birthday Ana... well here you are." she handed us a couple of packages.
Ana opened her's up. I looked at Mum. Ana shrieked.
"Mum! Thank you so much! An iPad! You really didn't have to!" Ana said, gave her a hug, and ran off.
I knew what was going on. Ana didn't.
"Pop isn't coming back for a while is he." I said to her.
"No. He isn't. He has a case over there. It's massive apparently. And he won't be home, until, your graduation. At earliest. I'm so sorry Caroline." she explained.
I stood up and went into her arms. Tears started to come to my eyes.
"I miss him so much." I said.
She squeezed me. She was pained to say tell me the truth.
"How are you going to break it to Ana?" I asked her.
My tears weren't falling but they were there.
"I don't know if I can. Not so soon." she answered.
My Mum was crying.
"You don't have to. I will." I said.
She smiled at me. "Thank you. So much. You'll be gentle. I miss him dearly. I don't know how I'm doing this without him. Open yours up sweetie."
I opened up my box which was larger than Ana's. Inside there was a 64 gig iPad, and a 15 inch MacBook Pro. I was strictly an Apple Product person. And she knew that.
"For college next year." she said to me.
I gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was missing him. A lot. I could see the pain in her eyes the past few days.
"I'm going to go get cleaned up before your friends come. The girls are coming in ten minutes and the boys are coming at 8 right?" she asked me.
"That's right." I answered.
"I'll have dinner on the table at 8:15. How many of you?"
"Nine. Liam's girlfriend is joining us tonight so there's an extra."
"Sounds wonderful."
I sat and read for another 5 minutes, then heard a knock.
This is happening. I'm going to a party tonight, and pregaming begins now. Wow.
I went to open the door. Lainey, Belle, and Ava had all shown up together. They were carrying bags with their outfits and everything we needed for the flat tonight. I let them in and I was about to shut the door when Danielle came up the steps.
We were all in practically the same outfits now. Sweatpants or yoga pants, a sweatshirt, or tee. Soon to be transformed.
"Hey Care! Ah it's so nice to see you guys again. We're going to have such a great time tonight." Danielle said while giving me a hug.
"Let's head upstairs." I said.
My mother peaked her head out of the kitchen. She looked a lot better.
"Hi girls. How are you all?" she asked.
"Good!" they said in unison.
"Hi, Mrs. Holden I'm Danielle Peazer,
Liam's girlfriend. It's a pleasure." Danielle said.
She was equally as charming as Liam. They really were the perfect couple.
"Nice to meet you Danielle. And really, girls, you can call me Katherine." my Mum said.
She was really trying to avoid our last name. That's the conclusion I came to. It reminded her too much of Pop.
"Really nice to meet you Katherine." Danielle said.
My mother flashed a smile and we went upstairs.
"Wow, your room is giant." Danielle said. "You have such a nice house."
"Thank you. My dad designed it. He wanted it to be perfect for his two daughters." I said.
I had my big box with the iPad and Mac in it. I set it on my desk. And pulled out the computer. And set it up while the girls were talking.
"Woah, what the hell, Care, when did you get those?" asked Belle.
"Damn! You got a MacBook and an iPad? When! Why didn't you tell us?" asked Lainey.
Not even she who had more money than anyone I know had these herself. She was shocked. And a bit jealous I might add.
"Actually, about ten minutes ago. My Mum got me the both of them and Ana an iPad." I answered their questions.
"What was the occasion?" asked Ava.
"Well, she had some bad news that she only told me. Not Ana. It would break her." I said. "But she said in front of her that it was an extra birthday gift. And for me good grades."
"What happened dear?" Danielle asked.
"My Pop isn't coming home, maybe until graduation. And my Mum says that's the earliest. He picked up a huge case over in America, so he'll be gone for a while." I explained.
"Aw. Care, I'm so sorry." said Lainey.
"It sucks." I said.
They all stood up and gave me hugs.
"Well, let's start getting ready. The boys are going to be here in an hour." said Belle.
I didn't realize we had been talking for an hour. Ana came in and sat with us while we were getting dressed. She really did fit in with us now. It was a little strange. She had grown so much. We had all of Justin Bieber's albums blasting to get us pumped up. Believe was definitely the best album of all of his.
We were all dressed up and ready to go.
Danielle was wearing a pair of dark wash tight skinny jeans, a sheer, emerald green, flowy top with a black bandeau underneath it. A pair of cheetah print Keds too. She had pretty makeup and a little silver pendant on with hers and Liam's initials carved into it.
Belle was wearing a tight, royal blue dress. It really showed off her body. For Josh, well at least I think. Then she threw her favorite flannel over it to dress it down a bit. Put on a pair of black heels, plenty of make up. Exactly something she would wear.
Ava had on pretty much the same thing. But she had on a printed scarf instead of the flannel. And still a lot of make up.
Lainey had on the dark pink, ruffled shirt and black skinnies that she bought with me. And the nude heels. And had on all that make up too.
I had the jean shirt, the mint jeans, my dog tags and Toms. Just what I said I would wear. I went to the mirror and put on an emerald green eye liner to make the green in my eyes pop. And then some mascara. That was all I wanted to wear. But the girls forced me to put on some eye shadow. I went for a light greyish/brown. You could barely see it. Then I grabbed my chapstick and was ready to go. It was quarter of 8. The boys would be here soon.
I heard Ana call for me and Lainey. We went into her room.
"Can you pick something out for me Elaine?" she asked very sweetly.
Lainey and I laughed. "Sure hun." she said.
"Come here Ana, I'll put a bit of my good makeup on you." I said to her.
She smiled at me. Lainey found a ruffled, purple blouse, much like the one she was wearing herself, and a pair of white jeans. She picked out a pair of leather ankle boots. I put on her some of dark blue liner, and gold shadow. Pink lip gloss. And than Ana got dressed.
"That looks awesome. I love it." said Lainey.
Ana smiled. And she left to go downstairs. I went into my room to get my Ray Ban glasses and I put them on before Niall could take them away from me.
Us girls went to walk downstairs. The doorbell rang and my my opened it up as we arrived in the front room.
There was Niall's smile. And Liam's, and Louis' and Harry's. They walked.
"Hello Katherine, thank you for having us all tonight." Niall said giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Anytime boys." she said with a smile, going down the line of the of boys who also hugged her and kissed her cheek. "I'll have dinner on the table in about ten minutes."
"Thank you." said Liam with a smile.
Ana spotted him. He held out his arms.
"Hello Liam." said Ana giving him a hug.
She loved Liam for some reason. He was my best friend, so I think that had something to do with it. She waved at Niall, Harry and Lou.
We all sat on the sofas in the room. Liam and Danielle squeezed into one of the chair-and-a-halfs. Niall plopped down on my right side, and Harry on my left. Louis and Lainey went for the floor and Belle and Ava sat with Ana on another couch. We were all settled in.
"So the plan is set for tonight?" I asked the girls.
"Well, actually, there is one very minor change. My sister's boyfriend is still picking us up and bringing us to her flat, but she's going to leave us there alone. She's going over to her boyfriend's for the night. Is that alright with you all?" Ava asked.
"I think that is even better. We won't bother them." said Belle.
The rest of us girls nodded in agreement.
My Mum called us in for a quick bite to eat. Her homemade, from scratch sauce and little macaroni, with bread on the side. The boys ate, quite a bit. But she didn't seem to mind.
We finished around quarter of 9. And started to get ready to leave. We had a half hour, but had to get things in order. The girls and I went to grab our bags for the night. I put my new iPad in too just in case we needed it.
We came back downstairs. The boys were sitting around talking to Ana and my mom in the kitchen.
"Alright girls, let's get a picture of you all." said my Mum.
She always wanted pictures for every event. It was a good thing she wasn't going to see us after tonight. We were going to be wasted. I knew it.
The five of us crowded in to get a picture. The boys sat laughing from their stools. Ava loved pictures. So she always wanted a ton of them.
"Hey, why don't you guys get in a few?" I asked them with a smirk on my face.
They groaned but didn't object. We were all squished in. Belle on the end, then Louis, Ava, Liam, Danielle, Niall, me, Harry, and Lainey on the other end. It turned out to be an adorable shot. We all looked really good.
I didn't even see what the boys were wearing until now.
Liam had on a gray half button down shirt and khaki pants with a pair of white Converse. His usual look. But his hair looked fantastic. I think he did something new to it.
Louis had on his favorite striped tee shirt and a pair of jeans. And no surprise, he had on Toms as well.
Harry had on a gray-scale American flag tank top on underneath a navy blue blazer. A pair of khakis as well and gray kicks.
Niall had on his gray Comme de Garcon cardigan with a white undershirt and a pair of jeans, and his white Converse as well.
They all looked adorable.
"Can you get a picture on my phone Katherine?" asked Harry. "I want to Instagram it..."
"You are obsessed with it Harry." said Lainey.
She was right. He Instagrammed a lot of useless things.
It was 9:15. We really had to get going. By the time we had all of our shit in the car, it was five minutes later. I kissed my Mum goodbye. The rest waved at her.
Liam and Danielle took the front seats. Louis, Ava, Belle, and Lainey squeezed into the back bench seat. Harry had a seat to himself. And Niall and I had to share. So I ended up just sitting on his lap. Harry insisted he had his own seat. He said his curls were in perfect order.
This was happening. I was going to the biggest party of the year. For the first time in my life. I was nervous. But we were ready. My iPhone in my back pocket, my friends by my side, and my glasses on the front of my shirt. We pulled onto Josh's lawn. Wow, his house was giant. There were a lot of cars. We all climbed out.
"I'm gonna go and find Jack. Ava, Belle? You wanna find Josh and Preston?" asked Lainey.
"Sure. Talk to you guys later?" said Belle.
She didn't wait for a response. The three took off. Niall nudged Harry.
"Go." he said. We all knew what he meant. Harry had to keep an eye on Jack the whole evening do that Lainey didn't do anything she would regret.
It was cold out. So we hurried to the door. Just as I expected it was crazy and packed. I looked at Liam. He gave me a reassuring nod. Josh greeted us at the door. He already had a few drinks. We could tell.
"Hey guys. Glad you could make it." I heard Zayn's voice say through the noise.
"You the responsible friend this evening?" asked Liam giving Zayn a hug.
"I'm not being Josh am I?" he said.
Zayn had a cup in his hand. But he wasn't downing anything. By any means. Give it the night.
We all started to split off a bit. Danielle spotted one of her friends, Liam found Harry and helped him scope things out. Niall disappeared somewhere with Louis. I saw a few girls from my indoor football team by a keg and went to talk to them.
Josh's brother had a great playlist set up and going for the whole night. It was all upbeat and danceable. They cleared out their hallways and the main room for dancing. And everyone was scattered elsewhere.
The girls and I talked about the upcoming season and how we would dominate even more than already this year. They were all younger than me on the team but I got along with them really well. I drew a drink from the keg and started wandering off a bit. Seeing who was there. I saw Ava's older sister Meg and said hi to her and her friends.
Somebody tapped my shoulder. It was Belle. She pulled me into the mud room where it was quiet and nobody was there.
"What's up?" I asked her taking a sip.
Niall would be happy. It was a good brew.
Ava entered when Belle started. "Well, I never told you and I feel bad now after all of the stuff that went down with Lainey and Jack. Two summers ago Ava and I were up at my camp and we were hanging out with a group of boys for the majority of the time. We got on with them very well and Ava and I kissed a few of them. I just wanted to let you know." Belle explained.
"I figured. You two aren't the ones I'm worried about. I thought you've kissed a few boys before. It's fine. I could honestly care less. Got it? Ava, Belle?" I said to them.
I honestly didn't care at all. I even think they had told me before. Just because I'm a senior in high school, and I've never kissed a boy, didn't mean I was jealous of everyone.
"Got it." They said nodding.
I shooed then away so they could go and party. I'm not huge on the whole getting full on drunk and all of the high school party things. I walked out of the mud room and started wandering the crowd again. I saw Preston. He didn't seem to be drunk yet. But he was drawing from one of the kegs.
"Hey, Care! So glad you came." he said giving me a hug. "Where's the crew?"
"Well I'm guessing you've seen Ava and Belle, but I'm not too sure where everyone else is." I answered him.
"I saw Jack and Elaine dancing a while ago too. Did you get Harry and Niall to come?"
"They're here somewhere." I said.
"Well get out there." he said while filling my cup back up.
We were about 2 hours away from the end of the party. It was one in the morning now. I texted Ana to make sure she was at her little party alright. She asked me about the party. I answered her it was fine. And told her to make sure she didn't tell Mum I was drinking tonight. She said to not tell her she was with the boys again tonight. We agreed.
I continued wandering Josh's house when I hit the kitchen. There were medals and trophies on a shelf along the wall. His father was an Olympic runner in his prime. And a pretty good one. He won a gold at one point. I was looking around at all of the things.
I put my glasses on to read the placks. I heard a door an felt a hand touch my waist. It lingered until I turned around. Of course I knew who it was.
"Caroline. How many times do I have to tell you. You don't need those." Niall said taking my glasses off and putting them on the counter behind me. "And why are you wearing this much makeup? You don't need it. It was those girls wasn't it."
He ran his thumb across my cheek taking some of it off the makeup off. Then he brushed some of the hair out of my face. My heart was racing. Nobody had ever done this. Not any of my boys. Ever. This was different. His hand stayed on my cheek. His beautiful blue eyes looking strait into mine. The butterflies were all throughout my body. Those damn butterflies.
"Don't hide." he whispered getting closer to me.
His hands reached up to surround my cheeks. He was wiping away the makeup still, I think. Our eyes locked on each other. He came in even closer to me. One hand came down only to take mine to rest on his hip. My other hand followed. We were close. He took my face in both hands and our foreheads came together. Niall took me in even closer if that was possible, pushed me against the counter. His nose brushed mine. My heart. I think he felt it beating. He tilted my face up using his hands. He leaned in, and kissed my lips softly. My eyes closed, I kissed him back. I could feel his body press against mine. My hands moved up to his back. He was pushing into the counter even further, and kissed me more passionately. His hands moved to my waist, mine to his shoulders. He lifted me up in a hug and sat me on the counter. My hand ran through his hair. After a minute or two we released from each other. It took me a long while to process what happened. He looked me in the eyes.
"I found the right one Caroline." Niall whispered.
And leaned back in. I met him halfway. I wanted more. And so did he. It was shorter this time.
"Did I convince you to stop hiding?" he said with a smirk.
I was falling harder now for Niall James Horan.
End of Chapter 12.
Ahh! What did you all think? Please please please leave comments. I really want to know.
What do you think about Niall now?
Tweet at me @ElHolden1D or email me ElHolden1D@gmail.com. Or inbox me here!
Thank you all for reading.
I love you all.
xx
El.