Dreamcatcher

I spent the next few days with the boys, trying my hardest not think of her at all. It seemed the more I pushed the thought of her away, the more prominent it became in my mind, and to be completely honest, it was driving me crazy. My phone never left my side, just incase she decided to text me, but she never did.

That is, until the last day I had in Doncaster.

It was Sunday, only four days before I was expecting a message from her, when her name finally popped up in the middle of my lock screen.

I had just woken up, the microwave clock glowing 12:35 pm. I’d managed to put on a pair of sweatpants before making my way down to the small kitchen, where Louis was already making lunch, fully showered and dressed. He was singing along to some annoying pop song that was on the radio station when I walked in. He didn’t bother to stop.

“Good mor--” he quickly averted his eyes to the clock, “--afternoon, my friend!” I groaned a hello, of sorts, and sat down at the bar as he turned the music down.

“What’cha making?”

“Figured I’d make us some sandwiches. My special grilled cheese.” Louis really did make a special type of grilled cheese. Mozzarella instead of American, with tomatoes and spinach in between the cheese. It was my favorite.

He turned his music back up and continued his mini concert while I poured myself a glass of orange juice.I felt my phone in my pocket vibrate. With the jug of orange juice still mid-air, I pulled the phone out to glance at the screen, only to be met with a name I wasn’t expecting until Thursday. A moment of panic struck me, still in a groggy, half-asleep state of mind. I managed to get the jug of orange juice safely on the counter, but not without spilling the glass I had already poured onto the floor. I reached my hand out to stop the cup from falling, but instead made the sticky, orange liquid splatter all over the counter and myself.

Louis shut the music off and turned on his heel with a solid stare of confusion.

“What is your bloody problem?!” His voice raised but a few octaves as he said the last syllable. I couldn’t do anything but stare down at the phone in my hand. I hadn’t even opened the text message, yet.

“She texted me.”

“So you break my glass and spill orange juice on my floor? I don’t think she’s hardly worth that.” I rolled my eyes and went back to my seat at the bar. “Niall, are you not--”

“I’ll clean it up in a second, Lou! Calm down, I have to see what she said.” He rolled his eyes and sighed a bit louder than what was really necessary, and instead of waiting on me to clean up the mess, he went right to it, picking up shards of glass to throw in the garbage.

I slid open the message, her little blue box showing up on the left side of the screen.

Hey, I just wanted to tell you I came home a bit earlier than expected. (:

I wasn’t even sure what to say back. What was I supposed to respond with? My thumbs hovered over the keyboard without a thought as to what I was going to type. I heard Louis walk back into the kitchen, muttering something under his breath. He sat a plate in front of me, but I still didn’t look up.

“Cell phones can give you brain cancer.” He opened up the fridge to pour us both a drink as I finally looked away from my screen.

“What?”

“If you use them for too long, they’ll give you brain cancer.”

“Louis, they don’t give you cancer, and I’m sure that theory only applies to phone calls.” He shrugged his shoulders and took a bite of his sandwich.

“What did she say?” I showed him the message. “You’re having trouble replying to that? Good God, man, if you can’t reply to a message as simple as that, you have bigger problems to deal with. Have I taught you nothing?” He snatched the phone out of my hand after wiping his greasy fingers on his pants. He typed away for a few seconds and then handed it back.

Thats great! How was your trip? (:

“Louis, she’s going to know that’s not me.”

“Right, I forgot you don’t speak much English.” He always got on me about the way I typed in conversations. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand grammar as much as I was just too lazy to use it.

A few seconds later, she answered.

It was alright, thank you. How much longer are you there?

This, I could answer.

I leave for Mullingar tonight, nd i’ll be back in the states by friday (:

“Now is when you offer to take her out when you get back.” I nearly jumped out of my seat. Louis’ chin rested on my shoulder as he read my small phone screen. “Do it.”

I added onto my message.

would u like to get together once im back? say, saturday?

“Perfect, send it.”

“Louis I--”

“Do as I say, because if you don’t, I can guarantee you’ll never get nudes from her, let alone a shag.” I shook my head, pushing him off of me. I hit the send button and waited patiently, nibbling on my sandwich. Finally, my phone went off again.

Sure, that works. I have to get to work, so I’ll talk to you then! Have fun xx

“Louis I have a date.”

“I told you.”

“She wants to go on a date with me.”

“Why do you doubt me?” I smiled and finished my meal before heading back upstairs. I had one more day with the lads and I was off to Ireland for the week. As excited as I was to see my family, I couldn’t wait to get back to California. I never thought I’d manage to land a date with her, and I had to keep re-reading my messages to make sure it was real.

All I could do was hope that the week would fly by as much as I needed it to.

Notes