Passenger Seat

The Little Mix concert was so much fun. The two hour drive down there was eventful as well. Eleanor and Zayn picked me up about midday and we had a blast joking around and listening to music.

I was worried the drive would be a bit awkward, just because I still somewhat felt like an outsider with this group, but it wasn’t. I felt like I’d known these two for ages, and they treated me the same. One thing I learned about Zayn was that he was bloody hilarious. All three of our sense of humors were similar, so the whole ride we bounced off each other and were laughing nonstop.

We also had an epic jam session to some JLS, singing at the top of our lungs.

Meeting the other three members of Little Mix was exciting. They’re all such sweet girls, and we hit it off instantly. Jesy and I even exchanged numbers to go shopping once tour was done since we realized we had some similar tastes.

Another thing I happened to learn about Zayn was that he is completely and uncontrollably in love with Perrie. It was like, as soon as he was in the same room as her, his eyes were brighter, his smile was wider, and his laugh was louder. It was such a cute thing to see. Eleanor and I jokingly made fun of the couple, but we were really just glad to see how happy they were to be reunited.

The show itself was phenomenal. The girls were killer live. It was like they were made be up there, they were so amazing. Eleanor and I jumped up and down, singing at the top of our lungs up in the VIP box. Yes, me, in a VIP suit! Zayn even joined in on our fangirling, by jumping around with us on a few songs.

We didn’t get back to London until around 5am, but it was an amazing night.

*****

A few nights later I was curled up with Niall on his couch. We’d gotten takeaway and just watch tellie. It was such a good night if you ask me. There wasn’t much on tellie now though so we had it on some random music video channel.

Justin Bieber’s video for ‘As Long As You Love Me’ came on and I surpassed a groan for Niall’s sake.

I guess I had a grimace on my face cause when Niall looked down at me he cracked up. “Why do you hate him so much? Can’t you appreciate his music for me?”

I shrugged, “I’m trying! But this is the most ridiculous music video I’ve ever seen. How are you the same age as this kid? He look’s 12.”

“Watch it,” he warned before laughing again.

“Come on, are you seeing this? He’s getting beat up by the dad from Free Willey! Over a girl that clearly doesn’t want to run away with him,” I argued.

He continued to giggle, “I can’t believe you brought Free Willey into this.”

“It’s a classic.”

He kissed my cheek, “Okay babe.”

We watched a few more music videos after that. I notice Niall’s attention straying though, “Are you tired?”

“What?” He snapped out of his trance.

I laughed, “Well you’re either knackered or your mind is elsewhere.”

He shrugged, “Got some stuff on my mind,” he said nonchalantly.

I reached up and laced my fingers with his hand that was around my shoulder, “Well if you want to talk about it, I’m your girl.”

“I do, actually,” he sat up straighter and turned his body towards mine on the couch. He was looking down and grabbed my hand, playing with my fingers.

He was acting a bit mental, “Well, what’s up?”

He glanced up at me, “So,” he cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck. He looked nervous, it was weird. He cleared his throat again, “Will you be my date to the VMA’s?”

“What?” I asked shocked.

He gave me a small smile, “I want to you at the VMA’s with me. The other girls are going too.”

“It’s in 3 weeks yeah?”

He nodded, “Yeah. And you don’t have to come for the whole week if you don’t want too. Just the weekend.”

I bit my lip and looked at him, taking in how nervous he was, “Okay,” I smiled, “I’ll have to ask for the days off, but if I can get them, I’ll go.”

A giant grin broke out across his face, “Thank god, because I already bought you a plane ticket.”

I laughed and crawled into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, “Of course you did, you nutter.”

He kissed my neck, and trailed butterfly kissed up my face to my lips where he kissed me passionately. It was slow, and hot and just amazing.

When he pulled away he leaned against my forehead, “I have something else to ask you.”

I smirked, “Alright…”

“I also want you to be there when we play Madison Square Garden. And meet my family.”

I pulled back to really look him in the eye then. That was big. I mean, the VMA’s are big, but MSG and meeting his family? That was massive. “Uh, Wh-when is that again? Like 2 weeks after the VMA’s?”

He nodded, “Yeah. You can come for VMA weekend, then come home, then come back to America for a few days for the Garden. All the lad’s families are coming out, and Danielle is even taking a break from her tour to come too.”

I had so many feelings bubbling up inside me as he talked. Nerves, fright, excitement, happiness. “Okay,” I whispered out.

“Really?” He asked. His eyes lit up and my heart swooned at the giant smile he had on again.

I nodded, “Yeah, I’m sure my aunt will be fine with me taking the time off.”

He leaned up and crashed his lips to mine. The kiss was hard, and I could feel his massive smile against my lips. “You have no idea how happy you made me by saying yes to all of that,” he said against my lips.

His excitement was rubbing off on my and when he kissed me again, it was me who couldn’t control my smile.

“I’m nervous about meeting your family though,” I admitted.

He leaned back on the couch, pulling me with him so I laying on top of him, “Don’t be. They’ll love you. I’ve already told them all about you. My mom’s been dying to meet you.”

I ran my hand through his hair lightly as I looked down at him, “Really?”

“Yeah,” he leaned up and kissed me lightly before we got comfortable again, turning our attention back to the tellie.

“I’m so excited you’re coming!” he said after only moments of silence, squeezing me tighter too him. I laughed at his enthusiasm.

*****

After my shift the next day, Dakota picked me up so we could go shopping. Well, more shopping on her part than mine.

“Come on, try on a dress with me!” She whined stubbornly.

I looked around at the clothes in Forever 21, “Not really my style Kota.”

She gave me a sour face, “All you wear is jeans and a t-shirt.”

“Hey, I have a few dresses and skirts. I just prefer being comfortable and casual,” I argued.

She sifted through the rack she was in front of and pulled out a black skater dress, “What about this? You’d look cute in this!”

“Where would I wear that?”

“Anywhere,” she said slowly like I was mental. “You can wear it to a club.”

“I don’t go to clubs.”

“You’re dating Niall, you’re bound to get dragged to a club sooner or later,” she reasoned. “What are you wearing to the VMA’s and MGS?”

I sighed. I honestly had no idea. I’d given it some thought since last night but not much. I shrugged, “I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“You’re gonna have to wear a dress love.”

I rolled my eyes at the clothes in front of me, “Yeah, I get that.”

“What about this?” She held up a dress that I honestly didn’t completely hate. It was black with sequins, about knee length and had a pink sash in the middle.

“Well I don’t hate it,” I admitted.

She beamed, “Splendid, you’re trying it on!”

I smiled but rolled my eyes at her insanity. “What are you wearing to the VMA’s?” She shrugged and didn’t answer. When I looked over at her she had sad look on her face. “Hey, what’s up?”

She shrugged again, “I don’t even know if I’m going. Things with Harry have been… tense. I told you.”

I nodded slowly, “They haven’t gotten better?”

“Nope,” she said as she grabbed a few more dresses from the rack, “If anything, they’ve gotten worse.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said softly. “Maybe you guys need time away or something. Like go on holiday for the weekend together.”

She paused and glanced up at me, “That’s not a terrible idea. We could go to Harry’s families’ cabin.”

I smiled encouragingly, “Yeah, do that!”

*****

I ended up getting the bloody dress. Honestly, it looked really good on me. That and now I didn’t have to worry about what I’d be wearing to the VMA’s.

I went over to Niall’s later that night. It was almost becoming a habit to spend the night with him. My flat was practically empty at nights now since Blue and I rarely slept there.

“What are your plans for this weekend?” he asked as soon as I walked in.

I shrugged as I kissed him hello, “Nothing I guess.”

He pulled me with him into the kitchen where he grabbed pop from the fridge for each of us, “Do you want to go up to Harry’s cabin? Harry, Dakota and Louis and Eleanor are all going up and Harry called and invited us.”

What did Kota do? Niall was looking at me expectantly, “Um, sure. I can only go over night though. I can’t ask for more time off since I’m taking all those days off for the VMA’s and Madison Square Garden.”

He smiled and kissed me affectionately, “Sure, that’s fine. I’m gonna go out on the deck real quick and smoke and call Haz back, yeah?”

I nodded, “I’ll be out in a second.” He nodded and headed out of the kitchen. I pulled my phone out and called Dakota.

“Hey Ayden.”

“What happened? I thought it was just gonna be you and Haz?”

She sighed, “It was, but then he invited everyone. It was out of my control,” she said almost desperately. “But maybe it’s better this way? Maybe being around functioning couples will help us get back on track.”

I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me, “Well I guess I’ll see you this weekend then.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you’re coming. Maybe it’ll be fun?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you later.”

When I hung up I made my way out to where Niall was. He was sitting on a deck chair looking out at the cityscape as he blew smoke from his mouth. He had a nice view from his flat. I watched him for a moment, even though I hated that he smoked, I can’t lie and say I didn’t find him completely fit while doing it.

He smiled over at me when he saw me, “Hey.”

“Hey,” I said as I made my way over to him. I sat in his lap and leaned against him and looked out over the city. We sat in comfortable silence as he finished his smoke, he rubbed random shapes into my back. I was so comfortable sitting on him with my head resting against his neck. I loved that we could just sit together and be completely content.

Even after he stubbed his cigarette out we still sat there. I was so comfortable I felt like I could fall asleep.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Niall mumbled.

Okay. Now I was completely and totally awake! I sat up and looked down at him, “Whaaa, what?” I stammered.

He squirmed beneath me awkwardly, “Shit, that is not how I wanted that to come out,” he leaned his head back defeated, he threw a hand over his eyes.

I just sat there, on his lap, frozen in place. After a moment of having it sink in I snapped out of my trance, “Do you mean that?”

He sighed pulling his hand from his face and looked at me, “Yes,” he sighed. “I think so. I know we haven’t been together all that long, but I think I do. I just wish that wasn’t how I told you.”

“I think I love you too,” I said before I could even think. It just came out of nowhere.

Now it was his turn to look shocked, “Yeah?”

I bit my lip and nodded slowly, “Ye-yeah. I think so.”

The massive smile that I knew I loved crept it’s way on his face, “Well, at least we both think we know what we think.”

I let out a laugh, “What?”

He laughed with me, “I don’t know.”

I leaned down and captured his lips with mine. I don’t know why, but I wanted to be so close to him, if that makes any sense. Like I had an ache to just… be a part of him almost. Not like in a sexual way (although I’m always down for that), but… I don’t know, I really can’t explain it. Is that what love was? And unexplainable feeling?

If so, then I think I was in deep.