Just as Much

Niall's POV

Forty-four days is far too long.

My toes have been tapping in my shoes since we took off from Japan. I'm so anxious to see Erica. I've never been so nervous in my life. I don't even know why I'm nervous. I just want to see her. I miss her shy smile, her random humming when she's working on a paper of some sort, how she was always making wishes, wishes with fallen eyelashes, pennies in fountains, when the clock read 11:11, shooting stars, and when she saw the first robin. Always wishing for the same thing, that vitamins tasted more like strawberries. We were usually running late to things because she always had to flip pennies to front so other people would have good luck.

I miss just being lazy with her. We don't have to get all dressed up and go out, in fact we hardly ever do. We just sit in my living room, cuddling on the couch, watch films, football games, tennis matches, and golfing. Even if Erica doesn't care much for tennis and golfing, she still watches. I love watching those because she'll usually lay in my lap and fall asleep while I'm playing with her hair. I always wake her up on accident when I'm cheering, I just forget. She always just giggles a little and snuggles more into my lap. I even miss watching those stupid reality shows she loves, I always complain when she picks but I secretly get into them too.

We play board games constantly, Monopoly, Dominoes, Life, Scrabble. She kicks my ass in pretty much all of them. I don't even attempt to play Trivia Crack with her anymore, she beat me in every game we played when we first got it so I quit letting her play with me. We played Scrabble once and it was a nightmare on my part, I was terrible. I can get lucky in life, dominoes, and monopoly so sometimes I can win. She's teaching me more card games like Spaids, Hearts, and Gin but it's hard to learn how to play over the phone or through Snapchat.

I miss holding her hand. She always knows when I get nervous so feeling her thumb glide on the back of my hand is an instant soother.

I miss her legs. Her gorgeous, long, lean legs that run through my mind all day. Legs that can give me goosebumps in heals.

I miss having her play with my hair and style it, when she picks out my clothes, how she wakes me up some mornings by tapping my nose, how she loves to Facetime with Theo. These are all things I've learned about Erica in four months. And it's not enough time. I just want more time with her.

I love how she makes everyone else laugh. She's always thinking of others. When people come over, she's constantly fretting to make sure they have drinks, the food is good, things are clean. I can tell her a million times it's fine, everyone is good, but she's on edge just to make sure everyone else is comfortable. She really just cares for others.

And the notes. She helps me pack but I didn't realize what she did. Little notes in my pockets, telling me to have a good day, enjoy the sunrise, get extra sleep, call your mom, stop for autographs, smile more, telling me she misses me. After I found the first two I dug through all my pockets to look for them, the little things that brightened my day.

Obviously I miss sex. But it's more than that with her. I miss her kisses, always tasting like cherry chapstick, I miss the way she drapes herself across my chest. How she refuses to kiss me in the morning until we've both brushed our teeth. I miss her hugs and smelling her hair. Just being close to her puts me at ease.

She's my home. She's who I want to see everyday, who I want to hear every morning, who I want to chase around and tease. I would take one bad day with Erica over a million screaming fans any day of the week. I'm going to marry that girl someday. I smile at the mere thought of seeing her in a white gown.

“How much time do we have left?” Zayn mumbles, just waking up from a nap.

“Um, the pilot said four hours to go about twenty minutes ago.” Louis looks up from his phone. I hadn't even realized he was awake. I slept for awhile but this nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach just won't go away and I just want to see her, I just want to get there. “Niall is so excited to see Erica I can tell his dick is already twitching.” Louis laughs at his apparently funny comment.

I turn to glare at him. Not amused by him.

“What? It's the truth!” Louis lets out a loud laugh. He always thinks he's so hilarious. “Lighten up. Jeez.”

“Eh, don't listen to him mate, we all know you're just whipped by her.” Zayn speaks from the back of the plane.

“Oh, like you two aren’t!” I turn around and kneel on my seat, looking at them.

“Of course we are, but you've never been so it's fun to get a razz out of you. It's so easy too!” Zayn claps his hands in amusement and pulls his pant legs down.

“Whatever.” I try to brush it off, but honestly I don't even care. I just want Erica. And if that means listening to these two assholes for the next four hours then so be it.

“Aw, little Niall upset?” Louis still pushing a bit. I keep reminding myself to just relax, let it fall off my shoulder. No sense of getting upset about stupid things.

“Nope, because I know when I get home I'm getting it in.” Bit of a low blow to him but I can hear Zayn erupt in laughter towards the back of the plane so I don't care. Louis pulls his blanket up around him and crosses his arms, looking straight ahead, avoiding any more conversation.

Landing at the airport, I swear I can hear the crowd of girls cheering outside of the airport. Even if it's all the way across the building. I cringe at the thought. I'll never get used to that, the thought of being mobbed basically still scares me. No matter what time we arrive, there are always people here. Where are their parents? Shouldn't they be sleeping in bed? I check my phone, it's after midnight on a Monday, so they should be sleeping.

I tighten my backpack after we go through customs, I swear I know all their questions and mannerisms by heart by now. It used to make me nervous, they're so serious, but now it's just like second nature. My passport has been filled and extra pages added so many times I've lost count. The boys and I have already said our goodbyes, splitting before we get to the main entrance to deter some people.

Thanks to our security I manage to get to the SUV without injury. I originally climbed into the back seat just to avoid the crowd, but once we got going and away from the airport I made my way to the passenger seat. No need to sit in the back with just one person in the car.

Erica is waiting at my house. Probably already sleeping with the fact that it's after one am now and she has class tomorrow. I can't wait to see her, even if she's sleeping. She looks like an angel when she's sleeping anyway.

Dale helps me with my bags when we arrive and I'm just rushing. The house is dark when we pulled up so I know she's sleeping. I punch the garage door code in and duck inside before it's all the way up. I leave my trunk and suitcase there by the door, push the garage button to close and quietly creep into the house. It's clean. Erica isn't my housekeeper anymore but I'm getting used to the new lady. She isn't as bad as I had once thought.

I navigate my way through the house in the dark, using the small motion detector lights strategically placed in the hall. Once I get to my room I use my phone as a guide, slipping my back pack off and putting it down on the rug, I don't want to wake Erica up so I pull my desk chair out carefully and take my shoes off, strip my shirt and skinny jeans off with a little struggle, and find a pair of shorts to wear. I can see her silhouette in the dark, lightly moving up and down with her breath, sheets clinging to her form.

My nerves are just bouncing. I'll finally be feeling Erica's skin against mine. Peeling the bed sheets back I carefully sit on the edge, I don't want to wake her if I don't have to. She's like a bear when you wake her up, not very friendly. I slide my legs in and I hear Erica groan just a bit. I can see her outline in the dark, laying on her stomach, one leg hitched up, one arm under her pillow, the other just under her hip, I already know how she sleeps.

I lay down, propping myself up with my elbow and kiss her shoulder, scooting as close to her as possible.

“Mm, I missed you.” She murmurs in her sleep and I feel like my heart skips a beat just hearing her voice in person. “Hi.” Her eyes flutter open and she smiles at me. Instantly I'm relaxed.

“Hi.” I lay on my back and pull her towards me. I missed the weight of her against me.

“I'm so glad your back.” She kisses me quickly, my selfish self pulling her back for more. I need to feed my addiction.

“Me too.” I whisper against her mouth, pulling her in for a tight squeeze.

“We have lots of catching up to do.” She kisses me again as her hand starts to graze down my stomach.

“Yes we do.” I smile and move her on top of me. “Yes we do.” I repeat as I run my hands down her back. And that familiar takes over her face, I know we'll be making up for lost time.

Notes

Tried to update a while ago but I think the site was down or something, I couldn't even get on it. Hope you all love this chapter, cute little Niall missing Erica.

Happy weekend! Friday the 13th...eeks. Wishing everyone good luck today!!

xoxoxox