When I Wake Up Next To You

The next morning we were (rudely) awakened by a loud banging on the hotel door. Niall's arm was slung over me, and I buried my face in his chest trying to ignore the door best I could.

"Make 'em go away..." Niall mumbled sleepily, "Don't wanna wake up."

I giggled, "Poor baby," I said as I gave him a kiss, "Did you not sleep good?"

"Nope, had the best sleep of me life. Just a certain someone kept me up pretty late..."

I laughed, smacking him lightly on the shoulder, "Weirdo."

"NIALL, COME ON. IT'S NEARLY 9."

"Niall," I said quietly, "That's Liam. And Liam always has a master key."

Niall looked down at me, then peered over the bed taking note of our discarded clothing, "Probably not the best idea fer him to come in right now."

"Nope." I whispered.

"HOLD ON A SEC LIAM, I'M GETTIN' DRESSED." Niall shouted and then whispered to me, "Grab your clothes and get dressed in the bathroom."

I giggled, "Right." I got up to grab my things when Niall grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to give me a kiss.

"Sorry, wasn't quite ready to let you go yet," He said with a grin.

"Sok." I replied, returning his smile, "But I doubt Liam will wait much longer so..."

Niall let out a sigh and reluctantly let me go, "Alright love, go get dressed."

As soon as I shut the bathroom door, I heard the room door open and the boys loudly enter. I smiled to myself as I pulled on my clothes, I had definitely missed this.

"So where's Alice?" That was definitely Louis.

"Hm? Alice? She went back to her hotel room. But she forgave me s-"

"No way, mate. After all the effort we put into to putting the whole thing together, she had to have spent the night." ... That could only be Harry of course and I had to stifle a giggle in my hand. Always the dirty-minded.

"I told you, she went back to her hotel room. She was tired!"

"Oh now we definitely know she's still here hiding." Liam said, "You're denying it too much, mate."

"Yeah! Come on Niall, we all know you and Alice got down and dirty last night. Make-up sex is the best!" Harry added on, and I could practically feel the smirk that was sure to be on his face. Despite Niall's protests I heard the boys begin to prowl around the room in search of me.

Which is when my nose decided it was a perfect time to sneeze. I tried my best to muffle it in my hand, but within a second of my sneeze, the bathroom door swung open and I was face to face with the boys.

"Hey..." I said with a weak smile, "What's up guys? Just you know, brushin' my teeth."

"Bet you are," Harry said grinning, "After the night you ha-OW!" I cut him off with a quick smack to the arm.

"Perv." I muttered, as he rubbed his arm and stuck his tongue out at me.

"So you two are back together then?" Zayn asked, "Bout time."

Niall grinned, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist, "Yup, she decided to give me idiot self a second chance."

"You'd be a complete moron to mess this chance up." Liam said, "So don't, or next time the lads and I won't be there to help you fix it."

"I don't think he will." I said looking at Niall with a smile on his face, "Besides, I can't blame him that much, more of the blame lies on your management."

"Speaking of said management, Simon's already fired and hired a new team. So need to worry about dodgy deals anymore." Liam told us, putting a hand on my shoulder, "We never liked them much anyway."

"In happier news!" Louis said, pushing Liam aside, "We all have the day off, so we're going to the beach. You're coming along, A.J."

"Says who?" I retorted, "Maybe I have plans, Tomlinson!"

Louis crossed his arms, giving me a bemused look, "Oh really? Do you have plans?" he asked.

I pouted, "Well...no..."

"Exactly. And what better way to spend your day reunited with your boyfriend having fun at the beach? Half-naked, well I mean you spent the night completely nake-"

"You've been spending too much time with Harry." I rolled my eyes, cutting him off before he could continue, "Of course I'll go. Just let me go get my swim suit and stuff."

"Great! Meet us in the lobby in say, fifteen minutes?"

----
Fifteen minutes later, I was dressed in my bathing suit and was ready to leave. I stood by the front desk, checking my phone while I waited for the boys to come down.

"You look absolutely lovely." A voice said as arms snaked around my waist.

"Oh do I now?" I asked with a smile, turning around to face Niall, "Well you're not too bad yourself."

"Naw, nothing compares to you." Niall replied, planting a kiss on my lips.

"Alright, Alright, enough of the snogging." Louis said, pushing us towards the door, "Hurry it up."

Ten minutes later we arrived at the private beach that was available for the boys to relax at. There were a few people there, either suntanning or swimming, but we were assured they wouldn't bother us.

"Hold on a sec guys, I wanna go buy some sunscreen at one of the shops." I said, setting my things down, "I'll be right back."

I made my way up the beach towards the row of shops, and stepped inside one, relishing the shade of the store.

I quickly found and grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and a bottle of juice, along with a few snacks. We had brought a few snacks, but I knew Niall would easily eat them all soon enough, if he hadn't already. As I made my way to the register, the rows of magazines stopped me. I stared at the magazines, wide-eyed and incredulous.

"CHARLENE AND NIALL - DONE SO SOON? - Is his ex the reason for the cruel break up? Charlene's heartfelt statement!"

I snorted, completely in awe at the sheer ridiculous of the cover. She was quick to act, to be sure. "Statement" my butt, she probably leaked the entire story, and of course made herself out to be the victim. I grabbed the magazine on impulse and slammed it down on the counter with my other items.

"Just this please."
----
I made my way back to our spot on the beach and sat down on one of the towels laid down on the sand and quickly opened up the magazine to see the full "story" Charlene was spitting out.

Pop Star Charlene heartbroken by boyband hearthrob Niall Horan!
-Sources stated that the One Direction star suddenly broke up with Charlene late Monday night, through a text message! According to friends close to the two stars, it was Horan's ex, Alice Juliet, who flew out to L.A. to star in the band's new music video, that prompted the break-up. "Alice was always very vindictive towards Charlene. She never let Niall go, and was determined to break Charlene and Niall up. She knew starring in the music video would tempt Niall, and it was a total catty move for her to do!" Charlene confirmed the split stating in a blog, "Yes, we've split up. While I'm very heartbroken, from the sudden and cruel way I was tossed aside, my number one priority has always been my music and my fans. I hope they can continue to support me, and my album, being released later this year, will of course have plenty of songs reflecting the heartbreak I've gone through. I won't let a boyfriend thief get in the way of my work. xoxoxo "

I could only shake my head in disbelief. She didn't know what true heartbreak is, and she was clearly using the entire situation to drum up publicity for herself. I couldn't even be angry... just totally incredulous.

"What the bloody hell are you doin' reading instead of swimming?" Louis said as he and Harry strolled up, "Poor Niall is getting more action from the seaweed then his own girlfriend!"

"Sorry, I got... distracted." I said with a laugh, closing the magazine.

"What's this rubbish anyway?" Harry asked, snatching it from my hands, "Blah blah blah, does she really believe people will buy this load of crap?"

"Let me see," Louis said, peering over Harry's shoulder, "Oh what a twat! Here's what I think of this."

Louis grabbed the magazine, crumpling it the best he could, then running up to the shoreline and thowing the entire thing into the ocean.

"That's what I think of that rubbish." He said as he returned, "It can sink to the bottom of the ocean fo r all we care."

"I paid money for that you know." I said pouting.

"Shouldn't have wasted your money then!" Louis retorted, "Now come on, Niall's waiting!"

I grinned, looking out at the ocean seeing Niall splash around. He was right, why was I wasting time on stupid magazine articles when my boyfriend was out waiting for me to come swim with him? I raced to the water, coming up behind Niall and splashing him.

"There ya are!" He said, laughing and scooping me up in his arms, "Took you long enough!"

"Sorry," I said, kissing him, "But I'm here now, and we've got all day!"

"Our first full day back together." He said happily, "Been a while."

"But everything's perfect," I said, "It's like nothing ever happened."

----
After about an hour of swimming, and fun in the sun (including dumping ice down both Louis and Harry's shirts), Niall began to complain about being hungry, so he and I trekked back up to our towels to eat.

As I sat between Niall's legs, eating a bag of chips and looking out at the ocean, I felt... content. This was something every girl dreamed about. A day on the beach with her boyfriend and friends, relaxing without a care in the world.

"Alice..."

"Hm?" I craned my head to look up at him, and rested it on his shoulder, "What's up?"

"Have you... gotten any of your memories back? It's... I'm not upset or anything. Just curious."

I was quiet for a moment, "No. I haven't. Maybe I never will. But even without my memories, Niall, loving you is the one thing I feel most strong about. Being with you, thinking of you, my entire... god this sounds so dumb, but my entire being just... loves you. I... don't love you for the memories we have together, although these new memories we've made would be enough for any girl to fall in love with you. But, I just... love you, I feel I was always meant to love you. Nothing could get in the way of us being together, not even memory loss."

I took a deep breath...

"The truth is, I think I know why I lost my memories Niall. It's... god it's so stupid but," I bit my lip, and turned around, sitting on my knees to look at him, "Back in January, Lucy was over and... at 11:11, we made a wish, you know? Like you're supposed too. And, my wish was well, to wake up next to you. And next thing I knew, I did. I woke up next to you, without any memories though. I think... what happened was... well, we were always supposed to meet, but my impatience and well, my wish, made things happen overnight for me, so I didn't get the chance to experience everything."

I shook my head, laughing slightly, "How stupid does this sound... it's absolutely ridiculous. But, I just... I really believe we were always meant to be together. Because when I look at you, even without my memories, I know I can't live without you."

Niall was quiet, and I bit my lip, sure he was going to think I was crazy. I had just gotten him back and here I was hurling out an insane story. But it was what I had managed to piece together and I could only hope he believed me.

"... you don't...you don't believe me, do you?" I asked in a small voice, "I-"

"Alice. When I didn't have you, I was lost. I had nothing." Niall's hands went to cup my face, bringing it closer to his, so much so that our noses touched, "When I was with Charlene it felt so... wrong and horrible. When you say you look at me and know you were meant to love me... I feel the same every time I so much as hear your name. Being with Charlene made me realize that. Being with anybody else feels like I've decided to live without a heart. Because you are my heart."

"I love you." I whispered, wrapping my arms and burying my face into Niall's neck, "I love you so much."

His arms wrapped around me, and he kissed the side of my face, "I love you too, babe. Like you said, we were always meant to be together."

Yes...life had decided that no matter what obstacles we faced... we were always meant to end up in each other's arms.