He's Inevitable || N.H.

F I F T Y - T H R E E

He was there. He was across the room, silently tuning his beloved guitar. Shirtless, every muscle shown as he played with the tuning keys. I was bloody mesmerized by it. The way his fingers ran along the neck of it, the way he grasped the head of it, the muscles of his arms tightening and releasing as he pulled the strings. He acted as if he couldn't see me. As if he were alone in this brightly lit room.

Then he started to play. It was that damning melody, one that I recognize immediately, one that I start to hum. As soon as he hears me, he turns around and faces me head-on. His eyes focused on mine, peering at me questioningly.

"Ems?"

I sit up in my bed, noticing that Janice was no longer here. The sheets were no longer white, but a deep maroon color. This wasn't the room Janice and I had fallen asleep in, it was the one that Niall and I had spent that night in.

What is going on?

"Ems. Princess. Come here." He calls, still watching me. Still playing the guitar.

I try to get up from my bed, I try to go to him...but I can't. It's as if I'm frozen.

"Emma." He calls a bit louder.

"Niall." I whisper.

"Emma!"

"I can't move."

"What do you mean you can't move? Wake up then!" His voice was starting to change, and as I tried to look at him again I noticed he was fading.

"Don't go!"

"Emma? Go where? Wake up!"

And then I'm awake. In a cold sweat, panting, with my arms reaching up and out.

"What is wrong with you?" Janice says with a furrowed brow. "Were you having a dream about Niall?"

I clear my throat, put my arms down and stretch, "Yeah."

"Well, I shouldn't have waken you up then..."

"Why." My voice was eerily calm as I looked at Janice fidget nervously.

"Well, um, it's 10:30."

I turn to look at the clock, my head spinning. "What are you doing standing around then! Get the bags ready! We need to go!!"

"Ems, we're not gonna-"

"GO!" I scream.

She scurries across the room, throwing things into our packs as I run to the look to brush my teeth. By the time I get out, Janice is ready, both packs in her hands and is standing by the door.

"We're ready?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

"Come on then!"

–❈–

"Emma, slow down! We're not going to make it!"

"We're going to make it." I mutter angrily, keeping a steady, heavy foot on the gas pedal.

Janice grips her seat belt, her nervousness filling the cab of the car. "Ems!"

"What!?" I don't dare turn around, keeping my focus on the road.

"You have to turn left at the next intersection..." She mumbles.

"Oh."

"We still have at least half an hour left."

I turn slightly to look at the clock on the dashboard with my peripheral vision, "Half past eleven...we might make it."

"Yeah, but at the cost of my sanity." She says, continuing to grip onto the seat belt. "How did you even get over the whole driving thing so fast!? I couldn't even get you to drive that stupid little car you have, but suddenly you can drive a Land Rover?"

I don't respond, keeping an ear out for any siren or indication that I could be pulled over. I slow down just a tad, going a bit under the speed limit.

"Did you pay Zoe?" I ask.

"She wouldn't let me."

"You should have given her something." I chide.

"I left her a cute thank you note."

"You had time to write a note?"

"Surprisingly."

"Yet, you couldn't manage to wake me up?"

"You have an alarm."

"That suspiciously didn't go off."

She stays quiet. "I may have...I may have turned it off."

"Janice!"

"It was loud! And the bed was comfy!"

"If we don't make that ferry, you better be prepared to swim to Ireland!"

"I...I don't know how to."

"Should have thought of that before."

Silence, and then Janice giggles, "You're going to get to Mullingar, soaked through, looking like a bloody wet rat?"

"Shut up."

"Anything for Niall, I suppose." I could feel the smirk on her face.

"How much longer?"

"Shouldn't be much...Ems?"

"Yeah?"

"Does that say detour?"

I look ahead and see a large orange sign, sure enough it says "Detour."

"Fucking shit. Bloody fucking, fuck it all to hell!" I say slamming the steering wheel.

"Calm down." Janice says surpressing a laugh. "I'm sure it'll be okay!"

I bring the car to almost complete stop, just so I can turn and look at her, "Nothing about this screams 'okay' Jan."

"Just go around. It'll be okay!"

"It will most certainly, not be okay!"

–❈–

Twenty five minutes later, we were just about reaching the port. I was beyond tense, my shoulders, my back, my head, they were all pounding. Janice simply sat there in silence, I already knew she was beating herself up for turning off the alarm.

"It's okay." I mutter. "We'll just wait til tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Ems. I'm sorry I ruined it."

"It's not your fault, we did stay up talking—"

"EMS!"

"WHAT!?" I break, her voice sounding as if the world were about to end.

"ITS STILL THERE!"

"WHAT!?" Sure enough staring straight ahead, there was the ferry. I look at the clock, 12:15pm. "How?"

Janice smiles, "Fate."