Love Will Tell Us Where To Go

I’m confused for a second when I first wake up bundled in a sleeping bag. It had been cold all night, and still is, but not too bad. The tent kept out the wind, and this sleeping bag is quite cozy.

I didn’t use my phone much last night in hopes that it wouldn’t die before morning. Luckily it worked, so I look to see what time it is. It’s only 6:15. We all agreed on getting up at 7:00, but I really don’t feel like sleeping anymore. I wonder if Harry is awake yet. I hate to wake him or Niall up, but I just have so much on my mind. Talking to him before anyone else is up would help a lot.

I look over to Chloe who is fast asleep. If she’s anything like she was when we were little, I’ll have no problem getting out of the tent and leaving her undisturbed.

Carefully and quietly, I make my way out of the tent and Chloe doesn’t even move. I mentally let out a sigh of relief before turning around and almost running right in to Harry.

I cover my mouth in reaction to keep myself from screaming. I hit his arm as he begins to cover his mouth and laugh. I give him a glowering look.

“Come on.” he whispers as he takes my hand and leads me away from the tents. We end up going just a few steps past the beginning of the pathway and step away from it a bit so we are hidden by the trees.

“Did you sleep well last night?” he asks before yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Pretty good.” I reply. I yawn too before adding, “That is once I fell asleep.”

“Me too.”

“Were you thinking about what Louis said last night?”

“Yeah…what about you?”

“It could work, you know. Telling my mother that I’m visiting a relative of yours with you.. I’m sure she’d let me do it. We could go about three weeks before I’m suppose to leave, that way-“

“Or you could just wait until you’re eighteen and leave legally.”

I know that that is the most logical option…to most people, anyway. I just can’t imagine having to not only spend so much time away from Harry, but so much time with my mother.

Sometimes I feel bad about not wanting to spend time with her. But it’s not that I don’t want to it’s just…I don’t know her. It might sound crazy that I don’t know my own mother, but I don’t. Not the real her. I’ve only seen the business side of her. I honestly wonder if there is another side of her.

I’ve tired to bond with her so many times, but it always ends disastrously. To be honest, one of the reasons I stopped trying was because it started to hurt too much. It felt like a lost cause. All it became was a constant reminder that I’ll never have a decent relationship with her.

“Are you alright?” he asks as he lightly grasps both of my arms. I guess I zoned out for a bit.

“Yeah…just thinking.”

I look around at our beautiful surroundings and can’t imagine ever leaving it. I’ve been to a lot of places and have lived in a lot of houses, but this one is by far my favorite.

“Megan, it would really help if you could tell me what you’re thinking about.” he says with a smile. “I just want to make sure we make the best decision.”

I tell him how I feel about having to stay with my mother for so much longer, and he listens intently and nods every once in a while.

As soon as I get done talking, he pulls me close to him and hugs me tight. “I just want you to be happy, Megan. That’s all I want.”

“All I need to be happy is to have you.”

We hold each other in silence for a while. It’s still dark, but the sun is slowly rising. It won’t be up until at least another hour, though.

“Why does life have to be so complicated?” Harry asks after what seems to be a few minutes.

“I’ve been asking myself that question for years.” I lean back to where I can look at him. “Maybe we’ll figure it out one day.”

He smiles and for a moment, everything is fine.

“Maybe we’ll even figure out how to make it uncomplicated. Or at least not as much, anyway.”

“Alright, sounds good to me.” I reply.

“So is it a deal?” he asks.

“It’s a deal.”

“Now to seal it with a kiss.” he says as he brings his face slowly closer to mine. His fingers gently wrap around the side of my neck as I run my hands through his curly hair.

Suddenly feeling very aware of how many people are so close to us, I pull away. “We better go.”

“What time is it?” he asks.

“Ten minutes until seven. We can start another fire while we wait for everyone else to get up.”
We walk hand in hand as we make our way back. We’re careful not to be too loud so we don’t wake anyone up, but then I hear laughter. A very distinct laugh.

And then I see them; Niall and Chloe sitting on the trampoline. We’re not very close to them, but I don’t want to risk them seeing us. As soon as I see them I stop very suddenly. This causes
Harry to jerk when he tries to keep walking.

“Whoa, what?” he says quietly. I take his hand again and walk back into a more wooded are so we won’t be spotted.

“Look over there!” I whisper excitedly as I point in their direction. They are sitting next to each other; very close. They laugh often and they’re smiling a lot.

“Where? I don’t know what you’re talking about. What are you - oh!”

“Do you think they like - “

“I think so!” Harry replies before I even finish the question.

“So…what do we do now? Should we wait for them to leave? Do we wait until someone else gets up? Or -“

“Or we could just walk up on them.” he smiles deviously.

I think for only a second. “Let’s go!”

We quietly get closer and somehow don’t get noticed. By the time we are really close, Niall leans in to kiss her.

I start hitting Harry on the arm and freak out. “Oh my gosh!” I mouth.

He smiles at me before looking back to them and clearing his throat. He does it again, but a lot louder.

They heard him that time.

Both of them jump causing Harry to burst out laughing. Niall rolls his eyes. Chloe starts blushing.

“Haha, very funny.” Niall says.

“I thought so.” Harry replies with a smirk.

Niall jumps off of the trampoline and hits Harry on the head. This leads to a lot of “insults” and an “argument.” It’s pretty adorable.

I smile at Chloe and give her a “aww” look.

“Shut up!” she exclaims.

We both laugh as Harry walks back over to me and Niall to Chloe. He extends his hand to help her get off of the trampoline. She takes it, and I see her hide a smile that I no doubt have every time Harry holds my hand.

Soon everyone starts to get up, and instead of starting the fire again, we decide to go inside now. We’ve had enough of the cold.

My mother isn’t here so we won’t have to worry about running in to her.

My kitchen is pretty big, but even it feels crowded with ten people in it.
Some are walking around finding the food they want while others cook for both themselves and others. I’m making eggs. It feels so strange cooking for this many people.

Harry is cooking the bacon, and Niall is putting some bagels in a toaster.

“Where are the muffins?” Eleanor asks.

“In the cabinet to your left.” I tell her.

She asks who all wants one and which kind. That’s pretty much how it works with ever other food option.

By the time we start eating, I am starving. It’s so nice to be eating at the large dining room table with friends instead of people from my mother’s work.

Sounds of various conversations and laughter fill the air. I have to take a moment to make sure I remember this; the feeling of being surrounded by people that not only I care about, but those who care about me as well.

Once we finish eating, the guys end up going downstairs and the girls go to my room upstairs.

I love talking to Perrie, Danielle, and Eleanor. They each have such awesome personalities. I like that Eleanor came out of her shell. I was wrong when I assumed she was shy. She is, but not like I thought. She’s only shy in certain situations. She was just nervous at first.

Danielle seems so nice. I just met Liam, but they seem like the perfect match. I could see them saying together a long time.

Perrie is hilarious. And I hope she gets to join a girl band like she says she wants to. She sang for us a bit, and I was blown away. And a bit jealous as well.

As they began talking about uni, I felt awkward and left out of the conversation. Not because they wouldn’t let me talk, because I didn’t have anything to say.

“Do you know what you want to do?” Perrie asks me.

I wish I did. Actually, I just wish I knew where I’m going to be next month.

I need to answer her. Should I tell her I’ve always kind of wanted to be a writer? I never tell
anybody about how I like to write. Not even Harry. I’m afraid he’ll ask to see the stuff I’ve written.
Most of my early stuff is depressing and probably sucks. I did write some happy short stories too, though.

I had stopped writing a while once I met Harry. Then I started again during our breakup.

I find it not fair to tell them before Harry, so I tell her that I don’t know yet. She says that it’s fine and I have plenty of time left to decide. The conversation then moves on.

After a while, it’s time for the guys and their girlfriends to leave.

Perrie, Danielle, and Eleanor tell me how nice it was to meet Chloe and I, hug us, then head to their cars so they can go ahead and warm them up.

Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn, also tell me how much they loved meeting us.

“Don’t worry, Megan. You guys will figure something out.” Louis tells me as he hugs me.

“Thanks, Louis.”

Niall and Chloe step to the side and start talking. You can tell how sad they both are to be leaving each other. I wonder if they mind having a long distance relationship. I’ll ask her later.

After they kiss briefly and the guys chat a little longer, they leave.

“Don’t screw this up, Harry! She’s a keeper!” Liam says on his way out.

Harry laughs as he replies, “I’ll try!”

After they leave, Harry, Chloe, and I clean the dishes in the kitchen. Then we all agree to go to the cottage house.

As we approach the house, I see a letter barely showing underneath the welcome mat. I almost missed it.

“What’s that?” I ask as I bend down to get it.

“I didn’t even see it.” Chloe says.

“Who is it from?” Harry asks.

There isn’t a postage stamp, so it had to have been hand delivered. A shiver runs down my back at the thought of someone getting so close to my house undetected.

“Wait, how did it get here? Who would walk up to this house and…who is that?” Harry asks once he spots a mans name on the front of the envelope. It’s the only thing written there other than “to Megan”

The name doesn’t ring a bell and neither does the handwriting. I am so freaked out right now. I want to open it, but I’m too scared to.

“Come on, open it.” Chloe insists.

Before I begin opening it, I walk a few steps forward and turn towards them so they can’t see the letter. For some reason I feel like I should read it first. Especially since it was hand delivered to me specifically.

For a second I question why they chose to drop it off at this small house and not the main one or even more logically, the mailbox. But then I remember that Harry and I had make a cute sign to hang on my door that says, “Megan’s house.” Whoever this is from, they apparently wanted to make sure that only I read it.

I open up the envelope that is sealed by tape and take out a piece of paper. It is hand written and the page is about halfway filled.

Chloe and Harry are considerate and allow me to read the letter without questioning me. I’m positive that they would have kept silent long enough for me to read the entire thing. I’ll never know for sure though, because as soon as I read the first sentence, I drop the paper in shock.

Notes