Pretty Venom |N.H|

34

Jasey Foster

What the fuck.

That was my first thought when I woke up this morning — at a normal time, not three in the morning.

I thought last night was a dream, and I tried to brush it under the rug, or kick the ice cube under the fridge and forget about it until I saw Niall getting breakfast, and I realized it most definitely was not a dream.

I went down to the hotel lobby to grab breakfast around ten this morning, just before they closed.

My dad was there, along with Niall and the rest of the band. They sat scattered around a table, but of course Niall was the only one up and about making himself something to eat. Just great considering that's exactly what I was trying to do.

I almost spilled my damn coffee on him because I had been spaced out, not able to pay attention to anything other than the fact that he ripped the bandage on some wound he had reopened last night.

Whatever that means.

I just want things to go back to normal between us, but the more I think about it, I don't think there ever was 'normal'.

Nothing ever made sense, and I think that is especially true after last night.

I feel bad for leaving him hanging, but I told him I felt positive after he confessed everything, so I didn't let him down completely.

This is all just so much at once.

I wanted to come on tour to see sights and go to new cities, not to hook up with the guitarist of the band and confess our feelings in the middle of the night.

Also, the whole three thing?

I never realized he paid that much attention to me.

The way he felt so guilty about leaving me at the party was pretty admirable though, the fact that he was worried about me and wanted to make sure I was okay. If I knew he had been waiting for me and was jealous of me with Adam, I would have gotten out of there and found him in a heartbeat.

That's what I wanted all along, but he made a snarky comment about me having someone waiting for me, so I assumed he didn't want the same thing as me.

I guess he realized that I'll never know if he doesn't try, which is probably what prompted his phone call last night.

I should be annoyed with him for waking me up in the middle of the night without warning for the second time, but any excuse to talk to him is fine with me. At least I got some of the answers I had been searching for.

"Jasey, can you come here for a second?" someone calls out to me, and I lift my head to find Liam waving me over to their table.

Niall shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

I hold my cup of coffee tightly in my hand as I approach their table, three out of the four sending wide smiles my way. The fourth person, Niall, is occupied doing anything else. His task to avoid eye contact is reading the recycling facts on the side of his 'Reduce Plastic Waste' paper cup.

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, trying to seem as casual as possible as I awkwardly stand next to Niall.

"Hi," I smile, and Harry slides a sheet of paper across the table to me. "What's this?"

"Open it," he points to the paper, glancing at my face then back to the paper like he's waiting for my reaction.

I open the folded paper to find a series of artwork surrounded by the words Pretty Venom in numerous fonts and designs.