This Town~

This town - Niall Horan

It’s late. Everyone’s knocked out, some on the mattresses, others on the floor. Music was still playing in the background, turning more solemn and slow from the raging noises in the evening.

I can’t sleep.

Sighing, I get up from my little cushion on the floor, walking up to the balcony. It’s almost dawn. 

Time passes so quickly sometimes, doesn’t it?

The breeze flows through my hair, chilly and soft. I cuddle into myself, arms gathered together to keep warm. The first lights of the day reflect off the shore, the sun slowly making its way up. It’s breathtaking, really. I smile a little as the music trickles into the open space, my body swaying to it, alone. The waves crash into the shore, the sound of water meeting sand mixed with the melodies from the night. The birds flapping through the air, looking for their worms. I smile brighter when I hear the light snores from my loved ones back in the room. 

Perfect.

There’s no other way to describe my life right now. I have everything I could ever wish for, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

I lean against the railing, getting lost in the feeling. The feeling of loving. I close my eyes as the rays warm my face, shooing away the biting cold of the wind.

One song changes to another. The happiness of living and the pleasure of life stay, until the first notes play.

“Waking up to kiss you when nobody’s there,”

My smile drops slowly as waves of nostalgia crash into me, sudden and unforgiving.

“Smell of your perfume still stuck in the air,”

The long nights of longing, sobbing and longing.

“It’s hard,”

“Yesterday I thought I saw your shadow running round,”

Nights of curling up into a corner, cursing the world.

“It’s funny how things never change in this old town,”

Nights of praying he would come back, just to dance with him again.

“So far, from the stars,”

Nights of wanting to be loved, again.

“And I want to tell you everything,”

“The words I never got to say the first time around,”

“And I remember everything,”

“From when we were the children playing on this fairground,”

“Wish I was there with you now.”

My smile turns bitter as the chorus begins, pictures of my younger self playing in my mind. Pictures of the tears rolling down her face as this part comes on. Pictures of her swiftly twirling across the floor on her toes, a little smile on her face, imagining him. Pictures of her staring longingly at a corner, wishing for him to materialise out of thin air. Wishing he would come back into her life and pull her into his arms again. Wishing for herself to stop missing him.

Oh, if only she knew.

The next verse begins as arms wrap around my waist, another person joining me on my little escapade. 

“I saw that you moved on with someone new,”

He envelopes me with his heat, his face burying into my hair groggily.

“In the pub that we met he’s got his arms around you,”

I intertwine my fingers with his, leaning back into him.

“It’s so hard,”

“So hard,”

I sigh.

“And I want to tell you everything,”

“The words I never got to say the first time around,”

“And I remember everything,”

“From when we were the children playing on this fairground,”

His lips brush against the shell of my ear as he whispers into it, “Wish I was there with you now.”

He turns me around and loops my arms around his neck.

“If the whole world was watching I’d still dance with you,” 

His hands pull me closer, until our bodies flush together.

“Drive highways and byways to be there with you,” 

He sways slowly, along with the music.

“Over and over the only truth,”

His head dips down, softly connecting to mine. 

“Everything comes back to you.” His low voice murmured the last line with the song. My eyes glaze over as I stare at him, into his eyes, the only pair of eyes I’ve ever loved.

“I’m so glad you came back.” I whisper, my voice breaking. His lips curl into a smile, before he leans down to peck mine.

“I’ll never leave, ever again.”

//second chances//