The Story of us

Chapter 24: People tend to grow on you

Manhattan, New York - 212 miles

It hadn't really hit me that our road trip was actually coming to an end until we reached New York. Why New York, one might ask? Well, to put it simply, New York meant Brooklyn, which was where we were dropping Niall off, but it also meant Manhattan, which was where Travis would finally go home.

Despite having spent a considerably larger amount of time with both Niall and Nyla, there was something about having to accept the fact that Travis was actually leaving that made me feel like crying. Maybe it was because he had been by my side for so many things that summer, but deep down, I was pretty sure that I knew the real reason why. Because Travis leaving meant that I was one step closer to having to say goodbye to Harry, and part of me wondered if I would ever be ready for that.

I had assumed that things would be awkward between us once again, but somehow, the two of us had managed to confirm some sort of unspoken agreement, one where we would pretend like everything was normal–or, if I were to put it more bluntly, like we hadn't hooked up (twice). I think that it was mainly because neither of us wanted to spend our last days together pretending like the other didn't exist, but at the same time, it was getting harder and harder to pretend like this was how I wanted things to turn out with us. I didn't want to be just friends with Harry, I had made that clear to him on countless occasions now. And, for a while, I believed that he had wanted to take our relationship to the next level too. But if I had learned anything about him over the past month and a half I had known him for, it was that a) he didn't know how to talk about his feelings, and b) he had a habit of breaking his unspoken promises. I simply needed to learn how to deal with that, and how to move on. He clearly had–unless there was nothing for him to move on from. And the thought of that happening hurt far more than I had ever expected it to.

"Park here."

I sat in silence as Harry parked the car in front of a tall apartment building that Niall supposedly called home, at least for the time being. It felt strange to watch him get out of his bags and retrieve his key as he got ready to go back to where he had come from; for some reason, I had never once thought about where Niall lived, or where he went to school, or who his family was. The only life I had ever known about was the one that he had shared with me on our road trip, but now I found myself upset over how I had never taken advantage of our time together and tried to really get to know him better.

"Well," Travis said after a minute, once we had all piled out of the car and onto the sidewalk in front of the apartment building. "I guess that this is goodbye."

"Not for you," I pointed out. "You two sons of bitches live in the same city, so you'll be able to see each other as much as you want. I live in fucking Florida."

Despite the distressed expression that had previously clouded over his face, Niall's smile grew as he pulled me into his chest for a hug. "Is that your own fucked up way of telling me that you're going to miss me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please. You drive me crazy."

Tugging on my ponytail, he shot back, "You know, you're one to talk, you crazy girl." He paused and then, beaming, he exclaimed, "I should call you that! 'Crazy Girl'. It fits."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Harry clenching his jaw as he registered what Niall had just suggested he call me. I knew that he meant no harm since Harry had never really called me Crazy Girl very much around other people, but for some reason, I didn't want Niall calling me that. It was our thing–one of the only things I had left that I could share with Harry, just us two. Which was why I laughed awkwardly and shook my head at him. "No. Only Harry calls me that."

His head shot up at the sound of his name, and I watched as the tight grip he had on his jaw instantly eased. And then, for the first time in what seemed like forever, he smiled at me. It wasn't a cocky smile, or an awkward, uneasy one, it was genuine, and the mere sight of it was enough to make my heart inflate. And I honestly think that's when I realized it for sure: I was in love with him.