"It won't take all too long." Aunt Karen promises as I sit down next to her. "Depending on your answer, of course." She adds.

"What is it?" I want to know and hope that it's not about Niall.

"What are you doing the first week of the new year?" She asks, brightly smiling at me.

"Why?" I ask before I mention anything about flying to LA with Niall.

"We'd like you to come with us to New York." Her eyes start to sparkle, hoping that I say yes, but I'm afraid that I have to say no. On one side, I'd love to fly to New York with aunt Karen, her husband, Anna, Taylor and of course Sam. It would be so much fun and not like with mum, aunt Karen doesn't want to do the touristy things. She would let us - Sam, Anna, Taylor and me - go off on our own and explore the city without any parent leading the way. Aunt Karen and her husband, my uncle, would just give us money to get around, a map of the city and a time to be back at the hotel. We'd be on our own and could decide if we want to do touristy things or not. With mum, everything would go like she plans. Mum would decide where we're going and on what we spend our money on. As much as I love my mother, aunt Karen is just better to travel with, really.

But despite all that, I have to say no.

I already planned with Niall to go to Los Angeles with him. He has a knee surgery and as a good girlfriend it's my duty to be with him. Besides that, I would just love to spend time with him with and no one except us around. We would go on walks in the middle of the night like we have planned, before the surgery. And after his surgery, I would always bring him food from McDonalds or other restaurants. I would be by his side, even when it's boring in the hospital. I wouldn't leave him alone and I'd make a boring situation to a fun one. Only when the visitors time is over, I'd leave and once I would arrive back at the hotel, I would immediately call him. We have that all planned and I can't cancel. Especially when it's in less than two weeks from now.

"We will stay at the Plaza Hotel like in Home Alone and we will go to a christmas dinner with someone live singing and everything else will be spontaneous. But we're for sure going to Brooklyn and Queens and New Jersey. Great for pictures!" She smiles and gets all excited just talking about it.

I shrug. "As much as I'd love to, I must say no. I'm sorry." I say and start to feel uncomfortable all of the sudden, just because I said no. I mean, yeah, it's a great opportunity to just be in NewYork, but really, I much rather spend my time with Niall before Uni starts again.

Admittedly, if Niall wouldn't have surgery, I would say yes to it, because I haven't been in New York since I was 13. If he would just stay in London, I would say yes immediately and fly off with my relatives, but now I just want to be with him.

"Why's that?" Aunt Helena asks. "Uni doesn't start right after New Year, does it? Or do you have anything more important already planned?"She winks at me, knowing that I have a boyfriend now. Both my aunts know that, but I'm not quite sure if they know that it's Niall Horan, one fifth of biggest boyband.

"I-I am flying to Los Angeles." I explain. Mum looks at me with widen eyes, surprised by that because I haven't told her yet. Not until now. "Niall is having a knee surgery and wants me to be by his side. It's nothing serious but we already have everything planned and, you know, I can't cancel anymore." I rub my palms on my jeans and feel my throat drying out.

"Niall,your boyfriend?" Aunt Karen asks and I nod.

"Isn't one lad of One Direction called Niall?" Aunt Helena asks and I nod yet again. "The Irish one, isn't it? Blond hair, cute smile?" She asks and I just nod. I don't know if I should tell them that that's my boyfriend or not. I mean, there's no point in not telling them, because eventually they will find out. But like, I really can't be bothered to sit here any longer and answer their questions about him.

"Isn't the Irish one your celebrity crush?" aunt Karen asks and I nod. I look at mum and she looks at me. She doesn't know if she should say something and lets me do all the talking.

"He is." I say and look down. I'm actually kinda surprised by how much my aunts have remembered the stuff that I've told them a year ago.

"Well lets hope your boyfriend Niall isn't jealous of One Direction's Niall." aunt Helena laughs. I burst out into laughter as well and so does aunt Karen. Only slowly mum and Mr.McAllister start to laugh too.

Unnoticed, by my still laughing aunts, I push the chair back a little, take the coke bottle, the glasses and resume back to the living room.

"You've been gone for a long time, haven't you? What did mum talk about this time?" Sam laughs when I close the door behind me. Ethan is here as well, sitting on the floor next to Taylor.

"New York." I tell him as I pour myself a glass of coke. "and before you ask, I said no."

"Why? "Sam wants to know and I tell him the same as I told his mother.

"I'm flying to LA with Niall. He's having a surgery and I want to be with him." I explain.

"Wait, so your boyfriend's name is Niall?" Penny asks and I nod.

"Called it!" Paige exclaims proud. "But your boyfriend isn't Niall Horan, is he?" She asks. My heart starts racing and I feel my cheeks getting hotter. Sam looks me, waiting for me to say something while Ethan just looks at the girls. Both know that my Niall is Niall Horan and both know that it's a secret. I mean, it already took much for me to tell him and others even though I know that no one would ever tell anyone about my and Niall's relationship. I know that my friends, even Aaron who he isn't my friend anymore, would never ever tell anyone about it. But I'm not quite sure about my younger cousins. Anna is fine but Penny, Paige and Taylor? I don't really know if I can tell them or not. After all I didn't even tell their mothers and they are my aunts.

"He's umm... no. He's not. He's just my Niall when we're together." I say and it's actually not a full lie, which clams my nerves a little bit. When Niall and I are together it's just Niall and I and not Niall Horan one fifth of One Direction and his rumoured girlfriend or whatsoever.

"Can we meet him?" Taylor asks.

"Sure." I answer and hope that the conversation is over, but of course it isn't.

"When?" Penny and Paige ask at the same time.

I shrug. The three look at me like I just found a new species and they want to see and play with it. Like having a boyfriend is super special. But then again, they are in the age where the other gender starts to become interesting, or the same gender, who knows.

"Someday...?"I shrug. To my luck, my phone rings but it's not Niall this time, it's Ally. I take my phone, get up and leave the room before I pick up.

"Hel-looooo." She yells into the phone.

"Hey you." I laugh and sit down on first few steps of the staircase. "Are you alright?"

"I am, are you?" She asks back.

"Certainly am, yeah." I smile and start to miss her even more than before. We start to talk about her days with Shawn and my days with Niall, before I tell her about everything that happened between me and Aaron.

"He's such a dick face." She says and I burst out laughing before I continue. While I tell her everything, literally everything, she curses in between which makes me laugh every time. When we come to an end, we make a plan for a girls day and set a date for a shopping tour in the new year after I come back from Los Angles with Niall. Both of us aren't the biggest fans of shopping, but we both need new clothes and lets be honest, we'll shop for one hour and then sit in McDonalds, not really eat but talk, for three more hours.

We end the call with 'I love you girl' and then I go upstairs to change into something more comfy than skinny jeans and a sweater. I change into sweat pants that are Niall's and a shirt that is also Niall's, but for today they are mine. Afterwards, I send him a picture of my outfit and go back downstairs to the others.

"You always disappear on christmas. Are you Santa's secret elf or something?" Sam asks laughing when I come back in.

"No, it's just that I need breaks from you." I joke and sit down next to him. Ethan still sits on the floor while Taylor has taken over the armchair. Penny and Paige sit on the other couch and fight over who had the most popcorn. Definitely my family, I think and lay down, resting my head on Sam's shoulder. Home Alone is over and there's yet another christmas movie on TV.

"Are you wearing Ethan's clothes?" Anna asks and I shake my head.

"It's Niall's." I explain and then it's quiet again. We just watch TV until I get superbored.

"I'm bored." I yell out after few minutes. The movie is boring and everyone is quiet. Not the christmas I'm used to.

"Suggestion?" Sam asks as I sit up straight.

"I don't want a lot for christmas, there is just one thing I need..." I start to sing.

"I don't care about the presents underneath the christmas tree..." Penny joins and it turns into a choir singing when the others start to sing as well. We continue with other christmas songs and soon the boredom is gone. It's like every christmas that we have. We all have fun and I forget what happened the last few days, only the bad bits though. I forget what happened between me and Aaron and just sing my lungs out. The only things that I keep in mind, are things that happened between Niall and I. All the cute moments we had, will always be in my mind. But I forget the problems and the up and downs we had, just for today.

It's christmas and doesn't matter. They day goes on and we have dinner together and stay awake, watching Harry Potter movies until the clock hits midnight. A tradition of ours is to stay awake until midnight and then open the gifts. My uncles, the husbands of my aunts, also came before we had dinner.

Watching movies, singing, eating and laughing. We don't talk about boyfriendsor girlfriends or plans for the future or whatsoever. We just enjoy the time.

Then, when it's midnight we open all the gifts. Ethan got me a shirt that says "Ethan is the best brother" and I swear we didn't plan it but I got him a shirt saying "Olivia is the best sister." We both burst out laughing once we see it. Mum shakes her head at us and when everything is unpacked, there's only one left.

"Open it. It's from Niall." Penny gives it to me, but I shake my head.

"I promised him to open it in the morning." I say and lay it back down under the tree.

"It is the morning." Sam laughs and I roll my eyes at him.

"In the morning when we skype." I clarify "And besides, I keep my promises." I smile at the little box and wonder what might be inside.