I Will Survive... with Louis Tomlinson?

Chapter 35.

Scarlett's POV

"Can you pass the salt Zayn?" Liam's voice echoed around the dining room. For a room full of people it felt strangely empty. The sound of anyone talking made me jump. We all, the boys and Taylor who had returned sometime this afternoon, were sat around the table eating a pasta dish Liam cooked. Harry is the one who normally prepares the meals but it doesn't surprise me he's being distant, not just towards me, but everyone, although as it stands I'm the only one who knows why. I didn't particularly like pasta, especially when it was coated in a tomato sauce with mixed herbs but I was grateful I was still being served food, I didn't really expect it right now. I watched Zayn reach across the table and pass Liam the salt, he had to make an awkward reach over my dinner, I could have easily passed it but that would mean talking to me. I wanted to scream at them all but I held it together and shovelled a spoonful of pasta in my mouth, swallowing quickly to try and avoid as much taste as possible. Even Taylor was eating in silence, not like I minded, it was almost as if she wasn't there. You could feel the awkwardness around the table beginning to grow the further into the meal we got. I tried to make eye contact with each of the boys, I was determined to know what they were thinking but I'm not exactly a psychic and none of them were interested in looking at me. I did however briefly catch the attention of Niall, he didn't want to make eye contact, I could tell by the way he looked uncomfortable but he was too curious. His eyes fixed onto mine, I flattened out my face, it was a subtle sign to him, he promised he would talk to me, I'm not some devil girl. Instead of any words leaving his lips he flashed a smile, it looked genuine but it soon faded when he turned his attention back to the food on his plate. I looked back down at mine, wondering when all this was going to end. My hand began dragging my fork absent-mindedly across the plate, creating an abstract pattern on my plate. I'm sure Picasso would be proud, I thought sarcastically, mentally rolling my eyes.

"So...was it busy in the city today?" Zayn asked, directing it towards Taylor who was completely zoned out, I couldn't help but wonder why. Had Harry spoken to her? But if he had, why was she still here?

"Uh? Yeah, yeah, really busy." She mumbled, although I could tell she was lying, her left hand always gets jumpy when she lies, I noticed this within a couple weeks of living with her. She had stopped it, she trained herself to stop it after I discovered it, she clearly had her guard down right now, I could take advantage of this, but I hadn't planned anything, going off the top of my mind wouldn't work. I'd end up digging myself into an even deeper hole than I was already in, if that's possible.

"So what did you get? Buy Harry anything?" Niall added, chuckling at the end, although it seemed more of an awkward laugh rather than one with any emotion, I could tell they were trying to start a conversation since everything was so obdurate, but no-one was really up for talking.

"No." She replied quickly, trying to avoid the subject or something of the sort. I was starting to doubt the fact that she even went shopping, she normally buys something, she has to. She can't go shopping without purchasing something, whether it just be a tube of lip gloss but to come home with nothing is slightly suspicious.

"Okay..." Liam mumbled, the tension around everyone clear as day.

"Excuse me." Harry announced before the ear shrieking noise of his chair scraping along the floor occurred, unlike the other rooms in the house, the dining room was lined with pristine wooden floorboards which weirdly matched the wooden table. The rest of us sat in silence as we heard his dish crash into the sink in the kitchen, followed by a door closing, presumably his bedroom door.

"What's up with him?" Niall asked. Everyone shrugged their shoulders, including me, I had to bite my tongue a while longer. I was desperately hoping Harry was going to do something drastic about the whole situation but he didn't, he hadn't done anything. Not one single conversation with any of the boys and as for Taylor, she may as well be a piece of the furniture at the moment.