Pretty Venom |N.H|

74

Niall Horan

August 15.

I'm about to be in some deep shit.

But before we talk about that, let's go back to yesterday at the pool.

After Harry nearly proposed to my girlfriend, we hung around outside for a little while longer, all of us beginning to burn in the sun after just an hour and a half thanks to the blazing Nevada sunshine. We went back inside, got dinner with the five of us, which was honestly really fun, and then we all went back to our room.

All of us. I was in mine, and Jasey was in hers.

We were both tired, and we also needed to pack our things up completely, cleaning up our rooms a bit, and we both decided that we would just stay in our own rooms for the last night in Vegas, rest up, then chill out on our own before flying back to Florida.

This was her way of saying, 'You need to go spend time with your friends before we leave.'

This morning, I woke up at three, had breakfast, packed the shit that I was supposed to pack last night but didn't, then hung out with Harry in my hotel room while we waited for the car to come to take us to the airport.

Fast forward a little bit more, now we're at the airport.

We checked our bags in, went through security, found our gate, dispersed again like we had when we flew here while waiting for the flight to board.

Fast forward a tiny bit more...

I'm now hiding in a souvenir shop many gates away from the one I am supposed to be at.

I look down at the time shown on my phone screen.

4:58 a.m.

Our flight boards at five, and I have no intention of getting on that plane.

I sound like a child, but my reason is actually a lot greater than it may seem. It's not about me wanting to stay, or me not wanting to leave. It's not about me trying to be a pain in the ass, because I have already checked the other flights, and I have already planned purchasing a ticket for a different flight.

I just can't get on that plane.

I have a perfectly good explanation too. Jasey will understand.

Any bit of self-assurance that she will understand is suddenly ripped out from under me like a rug when she steps in front of me, her breathing unsteady as she has probably been running around looking for me.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asks in a scolding tone. Her hand reaches for my arm, trying to pull me out of the store. "We're going to miss the flight!"

"Good," I nod, keeping my tone casual so she notices that I am in no way worried about this arrangement.

"Good?" she asks before shaking her head, her eyes dropping to look at the floor as she takes my hand in hers, turning the opposite direction. "No, that's bad. Come on, if we run we can probably make it."

"Let's miss the flight," I say, pulling back on her hand. "We can fly back on our own."

"Niall, no. You have a show tomorrow, or tonight, I guess," she mumbles to herself. She looks back up at me, rubbing a hand over her face in frustration when she notices that I am in no rush. "We have to get back to Tampa with everyone else so we can get back on the road."

"Where are we going next? Miami?"

She nods.

"It's a four hour drive," I remind her. "It's fine."