Passenger Seat

The Bring Me The Horizon video shoot for “Sleepwalking” was mental, but in a good way. I spent hours in white lingerie (bloomers my ass Oli, they were no more that frilly knickers!), a killer white cloak and white makeup. We basically had to walk around a woodsy area for a while, and then circle around the band. I wasn’t sure exactly what the concept was, if there much was one really. I had fun shooting though, with Amanda and Molly, who I finally met and who was such a sweetheart. And true to his word, Niall was a fantastic wingman to Josh, which apparently worked because she agreed to go on at least one date with him.

Niall was enjoying himself too. He was getting along with all the guys amazingly. They joked around and gave him a hard time for being in a boy band, but he took it all in good spirits, and they all accepted him with no problem. Surprisingly, he got along really well with Matt Nicholls. They spent most of the time discussing alcohol and drunken stories.

I was also enjoying the hungry look Niall gave me every time I caught his eye. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone look at me with such lust in their eyes, but I have to say, coming from him, I didn’t hate it. It was kind of a turn on.

“When we get home, you’re mine,” he whispered to me between takes. The husky tone to his voice made me want to let him take me right then and there in front of everyone!

Blue was also running around the shoot, snapping picture after picture. I was used to seeing her like this; in her zone. She was all over with her camera; hair and makeup, during takes/between takes… pretty much capturing everything.

By the time we had wrapped it was about 6, and we had a 2 hour drive back to London.

“Are you knackered, or are you up for a party?” Niall asked from behind the wheel.

I shrugged, “I could go for a party. Is it a big one?”

“Nah, it’s at Nick Grimshaw’s house. Just a house party.”

“House party with celebrities,” I laughed, “Sounds fun.”

He laughed with me, “I don’t know how many celebrities will be there, but Harry and Liam said they’d be going.”

“Cool. Let’s get food though first. And can we stop by my flat so I can change?”

He reached over and laced his fingers with mine, “Of course.”

*****

By the time we got to Nick’s house, the party was in full swing. There were a lot of people there. Not like a huge raging crowd like at Oli’s last party, but enough to fill the house and to not run into the same person twice to soon if you got separated.

Niall pulled me through the house by our laced fingers until he got to the kitchen where we found Liam and Harry among a handful of people.

“Hey, there you are,” Liam greeted. He kissed my cheek and gave me a small hug.

“Took you long enough,” Harry commented, kissing my cheek before slapping Niall on the shoulder.

Niall smacked him back, “It was a long drive.”

“Oh yeah, how was the shoot?” Liam asked me.

“Good. Awkward, but good.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Niall argued, “She was brilliant. Just wait and see.”

“Niall, is this your bird!?” We heard yelled from behind us. I glanced over and there was BBC’s best DJ Nick Grimshaw.

“Hey Grimmy,” my boyfriend greeted as he joined our little group, “This is Ayden.”

Nick pulled me into a massive hug, “Hello love. I feel like I already know you with how much Niller here goes on about you.”

“He talks about me, does he?” I smirked at Niall, who was turning bright red.

Liam and Harry snickered, “Yeah, all the time,” Liam added.

“Why doesn’t she have a drink in her hand Ni? I thought you were Irish, supposed to B-line it to the alcohol!” Nick practically shrieked.

Niall rolled his eyes, “Want a drink?”

I nodded, “Yeah, whatever you’ll have I’ll take too.”

Nick threw his arms around my shoulder, “Aw, she’s perfect, isn’t she?” he said as Niall walked deeper into the kitchen to get us a drink.

I laughed, “Why are you talking like I’m not here?”

“He does it to everyone,” Harry added.

“So what’s it feel like to date a real life boy band member?” Nick asked.

“Um,” I laughed, “good?”

“Ah, doesn’t sound to convincing,” he smirked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, I kind of forget he’s in a boy band to be honestly.”

“Just wait til we’re back on tour,” Liam said, “You’ll remember,” he kind of winced at the end there, and I squeezed his arm affectionately. I haven’t had to deal with being in love with someone who’s gone 10 months out of the year yet, but these boys did, and my heart went out to them. Soon I’d understand though, and I wasn’t in a hurry to find out.

Niall came back handing me a cold bottle of Stella, “Thanks,” I said as I kissed him on the cheek. I glanced over his shoulder though, and someone caught my eye, “Is that Aston from JLS?”

“You like JLS?” asked all four of the guys around me.

I sent them all a glare, “Yes!”

“Well let’s introduce you!” Nick said.

“Niall come with me,” I grabbed his hand as Grimmy started pulling me in the direction of Aston, “I think he’s really fit so you need to keep me in check.”

“Ah yes,” Niack said sarcastically, “Nothing like having your boyfriend there to keep you from dry humping another guy.”

I eyed Nick then, “I like your cheeky attitude, we’re going to get along great.”

“I was hoping we would!”

*****

At this point Niall and Liam were pretty wasted. I had met a few people around the party, including Aston and Marvin from JLS, which I tried so hard to keep it cool, but Niall and Nick sold me out, telling Aston how I fancied him. I chatted easily with Marvin about his wife, and his baby on the way. It was so cute how excited he was. There were a few others that I had good conversations with, like Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne.

At one point, I left Niall and Liam giggling on the couch to walk out to the backyard to get some air. There were a lot of people in the house and it was hot, and loud.

I found Harry out by the pool by himself nursing a beer. He was just staring out into the water, leaning back in a poor chair.

“Hey, what are you doing out here by yourself at a party?” I asked as I took the chair next to his.
He shrugged, “Didn’t feel like mingling I guess.

I sat up, “Oh, should I-?”

“No, you’re fine,” he insisted, “You can stay.”

I sat back in my chair and we fell into a silence, minus the music and chatter coming from the house and back porch.

I glanced at Harry from the corner of my eye. He just seemed a bit off. Had since we walked into the party, but now I could actually tell. He just looked down, not the upbeat guy I first met.

“You okay?”

He shrugged, taking a long sip from his beer. He kept staring blankly into the pool.

After a long pause, so long I thought he wasn’t going to answer, he cleared his throat, “Dakota and I are officially broken up.”

I’m surprised I didn’t get whiplash with how fast I turned my head in his direction, “What?”

He gave me a confused glance, “She didn’t tell you?”

“No,” I said in disbelief, “I haven’t talked to her since we all left the cabin two days ago.”

He nodded slowly, “Oh. Well she broke up with me on the car ride home.”

If I said I didn’t feel awkward in this moment, I’d be lying. It wasn’t because I was with him, it was just because I had no idea what to say. “Are you like… are you okay? I know I already asked you that, but you never answered.”

“Honestly no,” He said turning back to stare at the pool. “I still don’t know what happened. I thought maybe you did, she’s taken a liking to you.”

I shook my head, “She hasn’t said anything to me except for a few weeks ago when she said she didn’t know what was happening either.”

Harry sucked down the rest of his beer before placing the empty bottle at his feet, “Just wish I knew what happened. So I could fix it. But she won’t tell me and she’s not answering my texts or calls.” He let out a shaky sigh, “I don’t know what to do Ayden.” He turned and stared at me with this haunted, sad look. It wasn’t Harry Styles sitting next to me anymore, it was a broken hearted boy who was trying everything in his power to not fall apart at the seams.

“It’ll be okay Harry,” I reached over and laid my hand on his shoulder, “Maybe not right now, but it will. I can try talking to her?”

He shrugged, looking away again, “I don’t even know if I want you to get in the middle. You shouldn’t have to deal with it.”

“No,” I shrugged, “But I don’t mind trying to help.”

“Louis said I should just give her some space. Let her clear her head.”

I nodded, “Yeah, maybe that’s what she needs.”

He let out a frustrated groan, “I just wish she would communicate to me, you know? Like, where did I go wrong?”

It hurt me to see him so hurt. I hadn’t known him that long, but I already cared about him. He was a part of Niall, which in some ways now meant he was a part of me. Dakota too. I could only imagine what was going on with her. “I don’t think you did anything wrong, we don’t know what happened.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” he said bitterly.

“Hey,” I sighed, “We’ll fix this yeah?”

“We?”

I nodded, “Yeah. I’m willing to help if you want it.”

He glanced up at me like he was seeing me in a new light, “You’d do that?”

I shrugged, “You’re Niall’s best mate, you’re like his family. So you’re a part of mine then too.”

He sent a small smile my way, “Niall really lucked out with you, you know that right? You’re too good for him,” he chuckled.

I smirked, “Yeah, but I like slummin’ it,” I joked.

He nudged my leg playfully, “Seriously though, you’re one of the best things that’s happened to him. Don’t let anything or anyone make you think otherwise,” he said seriously.

I bit my lip and nodded, “Okay.” We sat back in out chairs and let a comfortable silence engulf us once again.

“You really wanna help me with Kota?” He asked after a while.

I nodded, staring up at the night sky, “Yeah, if you want me too.”

I hear him sigh so I turned my head in his direction. He was staring off into the pool again, “Just… if you could find out what happened, that’d help me a lot.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

*****

“Are you staying over?” Niall said from the passenger seat. He was drunk. Really drunk.

“Uh, sure. Since I’d have to drive your truck to my flat to get home,” I shrugged.

“Good,” he sighed contently, “I like sleeping next to you. Can I hold your hand?” His hand shot up, pointing to mine on the steering wheel.

I laughed, letting him take my hand and lace our fingers together, “I like sleeping next to you too.”

“It feels like home,” he mumbled.

I glanced over at him quickly, “What does?”

“Sleeping next to you,” he repeated. “It takes me ages to fall asleep, but when I’m with you, I’m out instantly.”

My heart melted when he said that. I loved and hated when he said such adorably cute things like that. It just made me fall deeper into the rabbit hole. I didn’t know how to reply to his statement, so I just squeezed his hand, which he squeezed back.

Niall sobered up a bit when he noticed a few paparazzi in front of his building, “Buzz kill,” he muttered.

We latched on to each other before walking briskly past all the photographers. I was more holding onto Niall so he wouldn’t stumble or anything.

When we got up to his flat, I was more than ready for bed. “I’m gonna smoke real quick,” Niall announced.

I nodded, “I’m just going to bed.”

He kissed my lips briefly, “I’ll be there in a minute. You can change into something to sleep in.” I nodded as we headed in different directions. When I got to Niall’s room I changed into a pair of his sweats and a wife beater, before crawling into his bed.

I laid there for about 10 minutes before I heard Niall come in the room. He shuffled around for a bit, stripping down to his boxers before he crawled into the bed next to me. He smelled of beer and cigarettes and his aftershave. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back against his chest.

“My clothes look better on you,” he mumbled into my neck.

I laughed, reaching down to lace my hand with one of his, “Thank you.”

He placed a kiss on the back of my neck, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”