It Sets In

I noticed during the final scene of the 2013 version of Romeo and Juliet that Niall had tears in his eyes.  I twisted my body so that I was facing him. "Niall... are you crying?" I asked him, yawning at the end. "No, I just got something in my eye," he said stubbornly. I laughed and dismissed it. If he thought denying that he was crying is manly, so be it.

As the credits rolled with the beautiful soundtrack in the background, I noticed Niall had started drifting off to sleep. It was 1 A.M. after all. I got changed into a t shirt and spandex shorts in the bathroom.

I slipped under the covers next to Niall and I kissed his forehead before turning off the beside lamp. Niall (probably in his sleep) grabbed me and pulled me closer to him, and our faces were almost touching. With that happy thought and sight, I fell asleep.

Only to be disturbed by a nightmare though.

*flashback-y nightmare thing* (just a note - the word 'Tata' is a nickname for Dad or father in Spanish)

I had my flashlight in my left hand, and a first aid kit in my right, and Michael had the same next to me. Tata, Michael, and I were camping out in the woods in the autumn. It was a tradition. I was in Year 10, and Michael was in his last year of uni. I wandered through the woods to where I had left my Tata. Earlier, we went to go birdwatching while Michael went fishing. But Tata has slipped on a rock and gotten a stick of some sort stuck in is leg, and he couldn't walk. I ran to my brother and we got the two first aid kits as well as flashlights in case it got dark.

We wandered for over an hour, not being able to find Tata. I know exactly where I left him, and we searched the general area, not finding anything. Not a blood trail, not a mark, nothing.

The next day we went back to London and told Mum and the police. They searched, and to this day, nothing has been found. After three months, we had his funeral. That's when I first talked to him since the day he disappeared. Once everyone had left, I stayed. "Hi Tata. I don't know if you're even dead right now. We don't even have your body to bury. Who knows, you might be off living somewhere else. But why, Tata, why? I love you," I choked out, sobbing. "We all do. If you truly are dead, why did God take you from us? If you aren't, them why didn't you come back? I need you. Michael needs you. Mum needs you. I'm sorry," I crumbled down to sit on the ground. "I'm so sorry," I repeated over and over, crying for hours, hugging my knees, sitting next to the gravestone.

*Back to reality*

Someone was shaking my shoulder and I jerked up. It was dark in my room, and I saw Niall's face next to mine. His eyes looked scared. "You were talking and crying in your sleep," he told me quietly, putting a lock of my hair behind my ear. I touched my face to feel it wet, wiping it with the back of my hand. I felt a pang in my stomach and I curled up in a ball. Niall opened his mouth to speak again, "Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head and mumbled, "I just want to sleep now," hoping the pain would go away as well.

*******

I woke up early as usual, and opened my eyes to see Niall already awake. In fact, he was looking at my face with a small smile. "Do you do that to many people?" I asked sassily. "Do what?" he retorted.

"Stare at them while they sleep," I lifted an eyebrow. His face turned slightly pink.

I skipped on my rings and my necklace that were on my nightstand, and got out of bed and wen to my closet, grabbing the first things I could lay my hands on, which happened to be my maroon tank top, a zip up grey hoodie, and grey skinny jeans (outfit pictured). I headed to the bathroom to change when I nearly had a heart attack.

My mum was home already, and she was just about to come upstairs. Shit, I told myself.

I ran back into my bedroom, locking the door. Niall gave me the strangest look. "What-" he started but I slapped my hand over his mouth before he could finish. I whispered, "My mum is home earlier than scheduled. And we need to get you out of this house before she notices." he whispered back, "And how do you propose we do that?"

"Just... Stay in my room while I distract her. I'll come and get you. Don't do anything loud or obnoxious. If you hear her coming just go into my closet." My heart was racing. This is the kind of thrill I live for - trying to sneak someone out of the house without Mum noticing. I only did it one time before, and it was successful.

Going out of my door and shutting it right behind me, I came face to face with Mum. "You're home!" I happily hugged her. She chuckled a bit, "Honey, I missed you too." I guided her back down the stairs after she dropped of her bag in her room. "Let's make breakfast," I told her, trying to get her as far away from my room as possible. She said, "Alright, alright. Don't you just want to go out to the bakery down the street or something?"

"No, I have work anyways," I realized, looking at the time. 7:30 already. Oh no. I have to leave as soon as possible. "Then shouldn't you be leaving now?"

I cringed, "Yeah... Do you think you could get an oatmeal bar out for me while I grab my stuff upstairs?" Mum nodded, "Of course, take you time." Well, I most certainly cannot do that. I ran upstairs, taking them two at a time, rushing into room. Niall was on his phone, and as he slid it into is back pocket, I grabbed his hand.

I tiptoed out of my room, putting a finger to my lips telling him to be as quiet as possible. Once reaching the bottom of the stairs, I peeked around the corner to the kitchen to see Mum busy playing with the puppies. I whispered in Niall's ear, "Go and wait in my car. I'll be there in a minute." He nodded, and I handed him my car keys.

I went into the kitchen, "Bye Mum I'm going now," and I got the bar off the countertop (also slipping  a bottle of Advil in my back pocket). She quickly hugged me, then let me go, and I ran out as fast as I could.

I sat into the driver's seat and looked at Niall. He had a goofy grin of his face, and we both started laughing. We high fived. As soon as I turned on the car, 'Little Black Dress' started blasting through my speakers. I slammed the button to shut it off while Niall was still practically dying in laughter. "Shut up," I muttered, starting on my way to work.

*******

"Okay, so... I have to go work now. Maybe see you later?" I told Niall once in the shop. He nodded curtly and replied. "Yeah. You can come over if you want. We're getting the schedule for the tour today, so you might want to see that." He left shortly after and I started on my normal routine.

Since I'm going on the One Direction tour in a few days, today was my last day at work. It was a good three weeks, and I learned a lot. I said my goodbyes to Alana and my fellow workers, and left around noon. Alana was kind enough to invite me to come by whenever I need anything. Right when I was leaving I got a text from Niall.

N: Just got the schedules . Come over ?

R: Yeah, I'll be there soon.

I walked to my car and smiled as I sat in. It was just setting in. I'm going on tour with One Direction. At least, working on their tour.

*******

"And just what did you happen to be doing last night, Niall?" Louis asked Niall as we sat in the living room. "Y'know, just hanging out." I almost choked on my own saliva. Now I was just hoping my face wasn't beet red, as that would give it away.

"And so what made you two become friends again?" Louis nodded his head toward me with a smug look on his pretty little face (that I really wanted to smash with a chemistry textbook at the moment), still directing the question to Niall. He sort of choked out, "We... talked." I stifled laughter. Yes, we 'talked'... also known as we had a 'kiss and make up moment'. But it's not like Niall's going to say that. At least I hope he won't. If he does, he also deserves a nice smack to the face with a chemistry textbook.

Louis pretended to buy it. Harry was also stifling laughter, and I looked to see Niall's expression. I facepalmed quietly when I realized his face was very red. There was a bit of a silence. I broke the silence by asking, "Can I have the list for what cities you're going to? Oh, and also the set list for songs." Liam handed them to me and my eyes scanned the first sheet quickly. A smile spread across my face when I saw we'd be in Madrid second stop. "D'you know how long we're going to be in Madrid?"

Liam thought for a moment and said, "Yeah I think we have a few days there before heading to America." The only thing I could think of was that I could visit my grandmother, Mami, on her vineyard she owned with my grandfather, Papi.

We continued chatting all night about how the tour works - how I'll be traveling, where I'll be staying, etc. I'll probably go on a separate bus as the boys with the rest of the workers, be staying in hotels near the venue.

At one point everyone had sort of dissipated into their rooms, or the kitchen. I was left in the living room alone with Niall. He scooted closer to me so our legs were touching. He leaned close to me and asked, "Can I ask what your dream was about?" I stiffened. He wrapped an arm around me and I started.

"Well, when I was in year 10, my father, Tata, disappeared. We were out camping, and we were birdwatching in the woods. He slipped and got hurt so I went back with Michael to help him. When we got to the place, he was gone. The police did a full investigation and found nothing. He was just assumed dead and we had a funeral and everything. My dream was sort of a flashback."

Niall hugged me for a while. Later I went home sometime in the late afternoon to spend so time with mum.

Ay you crazy mofos!

Sorry for the late update...

All the love,

Juliet