Best Friends Forever

Lucie’s P.O.V.

We were all at the airport. Niall, Liam, Zayn, Louis, Harry, Jennifer, Eleanor, Perrie and me. Only Iris was missing. I was about to say goodbye to them because the boys had to be in England for band stuff. Jennifer, Eleanor and Perrie were going with them and soon Iris would join them. I felt a sting of jealousy. Jennifer made a transfer to the University of London to be closer to Liam, Perrie was going to be in London as well to record for Little Mix’s new album, Eleanor wouldn’t be too far because she was going to continue her study at the University of Manchester and Iris would be living with Harry and continue school in the meantime. I felt left out. Niall noticed my disappointment. “Why don’t you come along? I want you with me”, he said. “How?”, I asked. “I have to continue school and pass my finals at the end of the year. Iris has a valid reason to continue school in London. I don’t”, I continued. “I can’t wait till Christmas break. I want to see you earlier”, he responded. “You have no idea how much I want that too, but I have no choice…”, I whispered. It was only the beginning of November. I couldn’t bear to be without Niall till Christmas. Furthermore, Iris would probably be in England till the end of 2014. So that meant I would be alone for the next one and a half month. Great. “We can always skype”, Niall tried. He meant it sweet, but nothing would cheer me up right now. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Niall, again. “Niall, hurry up! We gotta catch a plane, you know!”, Zayn said jokingly. “I’m sorry. I gotta go”, Niall said slowly. “It’s okay”, I responded. But it wasn’t okay. I tried to hold in my tears, but a single one escaped and ran slowly down my face. Niall noticed it and wiped it away with his thumb. “I love you Lucie. Don’t forget that. We’ll be together before you know it”, he whispered and leaned in to kiss me. I wish it could last forever. “I love you too”, I whispered back. They all walked away and looked back one more time and waved before they entered the gate. Niall blew me a hand kiss. I showed a little smile and waved back at them. Suddenly I was all alone. Why are goodbyes always so damn hard?

“Hey!”, Iris exclaimed as I walked in her room. “Why do you look so upset?”, she asked. “I just said goodbye to everyone at the airport”, I responded slowly. “It was hard, wasn’t it?”, Iris asked. I nodded. “You have no idea”, I said. “More than you know”, she responded with a grin. “At least you get to see Harry and the others again soon”, I said disappointed. I looked at Iris and she kept grinning. I thought it was weird, but I didn’t ask why. “You can always skype with him”, Iris suggested. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”, I responded annoyed, “It’s not even close to reality.” “I know, I’m sorry”, she said. “No, I’m sorry. Sorry for being such a bitch”, I said apologizing. “You’re not a bitch. You’re just sad. I would be too”, Iris responded. “Thanks for understanding”, I said. “Always”, Iris said smiling and gave me a hug. “Maybe you can come over several weekends”, Iris suggested. “That could be a good idea”, I said while I cheered up a little. “How long are you still gonna be stuck here?”, I asked her. “I don’t know. Depends on how I’m doing, but at this moment I’m doing great. It sucks that Harry has left, but knowing that I will see him again soon gives me strength. I can really feel my body is getting stronger. At least I can normally walk again”, she answered smiling. “That’s great”, I responded. I was truly happy for her. It was so good to see her doing really well. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Homework is killing me and I really have to finish a project before midnight”, I said. I wish I could stay with Iris, but unfortunately I still had something going on that was called school. “Don’t worry. It’s okay. Good luck!”, Iris responded while hugging me. I waved at her and walked out of the room. I hailed a taxi when I came outside and luckily I got home soon. I walked up to my room and lay down on my bed. I grabbed my phone to see if there were any messages from a certain person. Unfortunately not. Maybe Niall hasn’t even got home yet. I slowly got up, walked over to my desk and started my laptop. I really had to finish this project. My grades were so great at the beginning of the year, but now they started to drop. This project was a great opportunity for a nice compensation. Luckily I was almost done, but I still had some things to correct. I was completely done just before midnight and I handed it in online just in time. I opened my WhatsApp to see if there were any messages. Still not. I opened Niall’s conversation and typed a message. Where are you? Are you okay? Please let me know xx. It was so weird for Niall not to write a message. He always told me when he had landed safe and sound. Was he busy? Did he forget to send me a message? Did something terrible happen to him? My head went crazy. I opened WhatsApp once again, but now to send Iris a message.

- Have you heard from Harry already?

- Nope. I am really worried. Harry always sends me a message when he gets somewhere

- Same for Niall

- Do you think something awful happened?

- I have no idea. I don’t wanna think about it

- I just saw that Jen is online on whatsapp. She must know something. I’m sending her a message

- Okay

- She doesn’t know anything… She said the boys were acting strange. They immediately left the airport and left Perrie, El and her behind

- What the fuck? I see that Niall read my message, but he didn’t respond and went offline again

- Let it go for now. At least we know there didn’t happen something terrible. It’s just weird
they act like this. That’s so not like them

- You’re right. I’m going to sleep now. Gotta wake up early tomorrow. Good night babe –xoxo

- Good luck at school tomorrow. Good night
and sweet dreams ♥ See ya tomorrow cutie xx

I locked my phone and put it down on my nightstand. I hoped Niall would respond very soon.

The next morning I just went to school. Niall hadn’t responded yet. I didn’t care anymore. If he didn’t wanna speak to me, fine. “Hey, how are you holding up?”, Anna asked when I encountered her. “Not. Iris is leaving for England soon and Niall doesn’t wanna speak to me”, I responded. “What an asshole. You know, it’s his mistake. Not yours. He’s letting go of an amazing person. Soon he will regret it”, Anna said, trying to cheer me up. “Thanks”, I said while hugging each other. “But what could I expect? We’ve been dating for a few months now, but he can get any girl he wants. I’m just an ordinary girl, nothing special. I bet he’s already chasing another girl”, I said when Anna and I walked to class. It surprised me how bad I already talked about him when nothing was even sure. Maybe he was just so damn tired that he forgot to text me or they went straight to the studio and didn’t have the time for something else. I had always trusted Niall and he was one of the most honest and sweet persons I ever met. He would never cheat on me, would he? There must be an explanation for it. I decided to let it rest for a while. I couldn’t always depend on Niall. I had to stand on my own legs too. “Can we come to the hospital with you this afternoon?”, Michelle asked me. “Yes of course”, I responded. Anna, Michelle and Sophie hadn’t even visited yet and I felt sorry for it. “I’m sorry for not asking you guys earlier. You have every right to visit her too. She’s your friend too. I’m sorry… I have been so busy in my head and worrying about every little thing”, I said apologizing. “Don’t worry. We totally understand”, Sophie said reassuring. I smiled a little. “I planned on going right after school. Is that okay with you guys?”, I asked. “Absolutely”, Anna said, answering for the three of them. When we walked to our class, Justin walked up to me. “What do you want?”, I asked fiercely. “Is Iris doing okay?”, he asked. “Like why do you care?”, Sophie asked, interfering the conversation. “You treated her like crap and gave her all those drugs, so practically it’s all your fault. She used the drugs because she was heartbroken of the whole situation. She wasn’t heartbroken because of you, but because of the way you treated her. She wanted a guy who really loved her, not someone like you. I bet it was all just a game to you. She was on the edge of life and death, you know that? And don’t dare to say that she did this on purpose because she didn’t. It was just a fucking accident indirectly caused by a stupid asshole. You. All of this wouldn’t have happened if you treated her like a princess and didn’t give her those drugs”, I continued. I was so fucking mad. “You’re such a pathetic person. I really hope no one will ever fall in love with you again. At least not someone in this school because we will take care of that. We will destroy you till the day you leave this school for good and maybe even then we’re not done yet. We will never ever forgive you for what you did to Iris. We don’t care if you do something to us, but if you do something to Iris ever again, you’re death”, Michelle said to him with anger in her eyes. Justin was totally confused and didn’t dare to say anything anymore. “You’re welcome”, Anna said to him in Awkward’s Sadie Saxton voice. He walked away ashamed. “Ha, I guess he won’t bother us anymore”, I said triumphantly. “But we’re not done with him yet”, Anna responded. “Definitely not. Watch out for the mean girls”, I said with a smirk.

“Anna, Sophie, Michelle!”, Iris exclaimed as soon as the four of us walked in her room. She got up and ran over to us to give each of them a hug. “What about me uh?”, I said pouting. “You’ve been here every day and they haven’t been here earlier, but you’ll get a hug too, of course”, Iris said grinning and hugged me. We all sat down around Iris’ bed. “I have news”, Iris said with a smile. “Me too. I’m first!”, I responded smirking. “You’ll never guess what happened at school today. Justin asked us how you were doing. We dissed him so hard”, I continued. “What did you say to him?”, she asked. “That all of this is his fault because he treated you like crap and gave you the drugs and that we would destroy him till his last day on this school. We also said that if he does something to you ever again, he’ll be death”, Sophie answered. Iris looked at us with big wide eyes. “What did he respond?”, she asked in disbelief. “He had nothing to say anymore and left ashamed”, Michelle said grinning. “We put him in the right place. Exactly what he deserves”, Anna said. “That’s so great of you guys. I’m proud”, Iris said with a grin. “But now my news!!!”, she continued. “You look happy”, I said surprised. “They’re letting me go tomorrow! I will leave tomorrow morning, go home, pack my stuff and I have a plane in the afternoon!”, Iris exclaimed. “That’s so great!”, we all exclaimed in unison. “Then I will have to miss you too. I can’t live without you for one and a half month”, I said and pouted. “Of course not silly!”, Iris responded. I looked at her confused. “You’re going with me!”, she said squealing. “What?!”, I exclaimed. “You heard me”, Iris responded with a smirk. “Are you serious?”, I asked in disbelief. “Deadly serious”, she answered, still smirking. “What about…?”, I began, but Iris interrupted me. “Everything’s taken care of. Niall and I came up with this idea and I asked your parents if they were okay. Your parents approved and asked school’s permission. School was okay too. You’re so lucky because they made an exception for you. You don’t have a special reason like I do, but they thought it would be good for you as well to have a little break from everything. You’ll be living with Niall and continue school in the meantime, same as for me”, she explained. “What about you girls?”, I asked Michelle, Sophie and Anna. “We’ll survive together. We’re gonna miss you two, but we’ll definitely come to visit. It’s good that you can have some time to recharge”, Sophie responded. Anna and Michelle nodded in agreement. I smiled and grabbed Iris’ hand. “I can’t believe you arranged all this”, I said. “Niall and I thought it was a good idea for you to have a break. We’ve all been through a lot”, Iris responded. “Was your plan also the reason why Niall ignored me last night?”, I asked her. “I don’t think so. Of course Niall had to arrange some stuff, but this was just weird. I was being completely honest with you. I really didn’t know where they were and Harry really didn’t send a message. It’s still strange, but they better have an explanation”, she answered.

“Are you ready?”, Iris asked me when I arrived at her house. She just got home this morning and still had some time before we left for the airport. I was so excited! Niall still hadn’t sent me a message. I missed talking to him – we talked every night when I was in bed – but luckily I would see him within a few hours. “I totally am. All packed for the winter”, I responded grinning. We would be in England till the new year, so I really hoped it would snow when we were there. When we got at the airport an hour later, we still had some hours till boarding. We already had said goodbye to our parents. It was a more emotional goodbye than I had expected. I wouldn’t be homesick, but I still wouldn’t see them for more than a month. Fortunately our parents were coming over during Christmas break. Iris and I went past some shops and bought a little something for our guys. Our guys. What did that sound perfect. During those two months that Iris and Harry were separated, I felt ashamed every day because I was still with Niall. I was so happy to be with him, but Iris and Harry didn’t deserve this. I never felt completely happy because I knew that Iris was going through so much pain. So did Harry. One of the hardest things in life is seeing your friends in pain and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. Luckily everything was great now. They must be feeling so much joy. “What are you thinking about?”, Iris asked me as we sat down on a seat with our coffees. “About how happy you must be right now”, I answered honestly. She smiled widely. “You have no idea. I never want this to end. That pain was unbearable, although I learned to live with it”, she responded. “We’re gonna have an amazing together with our guys”, I said with a big smile. “You still can’t get over ‘our guys’, can you?”, Iris asked grinning. “Nope”, I answered grinning. “I’m just so happy we’re all happy again”, I continued. “Me too, me too”, she said agreeing.

“I’m too excited!”, Iris squealed as our plane landed on English ground. “Same”, I agreed smiling. I looked at my phone and sent Niall a message. Can’t wait to see you. Love you. “How are we gonna get to Harry and Niall? I don’t even know where they live”, I wondered as we walked through the tube to arrivals. “I don’t know. Harry hasn’t said a word to me since the day they left”, Iris said. “Guess we’ll have to look up the addresses on the internet”, she continued jokingly. “And then we show up in front of creepy man’s house. Perfect idea”, I added grinning. “I will send Perrie or Jennifer a message. They won’t ignore us. Maybe they can pick us up or something”, Iris suggested. In the meantime we walked over to the luggage claim. Suddenly I stopped walking. I pinched Iris’ arm. Apparently a bit too hard. “Ouch. What the fuck Lucie, why did you do that?”, she asked indignantly. “Look”, I said while pointing to the windows. The arrival hall was detached to this area and you could see people standing at arrivals through the windows. Iris squealed as soon as she saw what I meant. Harry, Niall, Jennifer and Perrie were standing behind the windows, waiting for us. They held a huge banner which said WELCOME ‘HOME’!!! We walked over to the window in awe. I put my hand on the glass and Niall did the same. Unfortunately we couldn’t hear each other – the glass was too thick – so I mouthed ‘You’re cute’. He smiled. “Let’s get our luggage, I can already see them coming”, Iris said and we walked off. In a few minutes we would be reunited again and although it was only a few days we hadn’t seen each other, it felt like a lifetime. When we grabbed our luggage from the band we walked through the gates to the arrival hall. Niall ran over to me and hugged me. I kissed him passionately. Then I pulled apart and gave him a serious look. “Why did you ignore my messages?”, I asked. I pretended to be really mad at him, which I never could. “There’s a reason for it, but I can’t tell you right now”, he responded softly. He looked really sorry. “I was joking. I don’t care. All that matters is that we’re together now”, I said and hugged him. I walked over to Jennifer and Perrie and hugged them as well. “And Jen, what do you think of London?”, Iris asked. “It’s amazing! I absolutely love it. I really don’t regret my transfer. I wish I could stay here forever with Liam”, she responded smiling. “You look so in love”, I said grinning. “You should look at yourself”, Perrie said to me with a smirk. I blushed a little. “Where are the others?”, Iris asked. “Zayn, Louis and Liam are still in the studio recording their solos. They couldn’t leave. El already went back to Manchester, unfortunately”, Harry answered. “When is your new album coming out? I’m so excited!”, I exclaimed. “Just a few more weeks left. It’s coming out on 17 November. We’re almost done. Only the finishing touch”, Niall responded grinning. We all walked to the exit of the airport. Harry hailed a cab. “To the Syco Music studios please”, Harry told the driver. I looked at Niall with a questioned look. “Why are we going there?”, Iris asked. Neither Harry nor Niall responded. I looked at Jennifer and Perrie but it seemed like they didn’t know it either. After an hour we set foot into the studios. “Just tell us why we’re here!”, Iris insisted. “Just a few more minutes babe”, Harry responded. We walked into a room when I saw Louis, Liam and Zayn in the middle of a recording session. As soon as they noticed us, they stopped and came out of the recording booth. “Hey, you guys arrived!”, Zayn exclaimed. We all hugged each other. Harry turned to Iris, Jennifer, Perrie and me. “There’s a reason that we brought you here. We wrote a song with the five of us and it’s dedicated to you, our girls. The album is coming out in a few weeks, but we wanted you to be the first to hear it”, Harry told us. “Wait, what about El? She has to be here as well”, Jennifer responded. “I’m here!”, a voice shouted. Eleanor came running into the room. She looked like she had rushed to be here. “Just in time!”, Louis exclaimed smiling and kissed her. “Sorry, my train got delay. Pfff, there’s always something”, she said grinning. “Now, why did I have to be here?”, she continued asking. Louis told Eleanor the same Harry had told us. “That’s so sweet”, she responded with a smile. The boys quickly went into the recording booth and put headphones on their head. Niall started singing. Stained coffee cup. Just a fingerprint of lipstick’s not enough. Harry now began. Sweet, where you lay. Still a trace of innocence on the pillow case. Then they all started singing the chorus. Waking up. Beside you I’m a loaded gun. I can't contain this anymore. I'm all yours, I've got no control, no control. Powerless. And I don't care it's obvious. I just can't get enough of you. The pedal's down, my eyes are closed. No control.

Notes