S.O.S. ✘ One Direction

28: Dinners & Zebras

“Aww, Louis, you’re not old,” I said. “You’re easing into your adult years. It’s natural.”

“Harry be quiet, you have the most youth out of all of us,” he replied. “I’d kill to be twenty again.”

Niall perked up. “We should sacrifice Harry for his youth.”

“Uh, let’s not,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “How about we sacrifice Niall for his godly laugh?”

Niall chuckled. “Or Louis for his surprising sense of humor?”

That made Louis snort. “Or Zayn for his insanely good looks?”

“Aw, stop it,” Zayn replied, hardly bashful. “But at least you know.”

Before we could continue the conversation, the door clicked open and in walked none other than Liam, wearing a fresh suit and a pair of sunglasses even though it was February and there was literally no sun out. “Hello, friends,” he said, pulling off his beanie and grinning widely at us.

“Hey, buddy,” said Niall. He bumped Liam’s fist before looking him in the eye. “Where’ve you been?”

Liam put down the bag and took a seat in one of the seats. “Well, kids,” he said with a gleam in his eye, “I had to do some things for a friend. She teaches a yoga class and I dropped in to tell everyone to go home.”

My eyes immediately widened because of me suddenly gaining interest in Liam’s words. “Yoga…class?”

Niall quickly shook his head. “Ugh, I hate yoga.”

“How can you hate yoga?” I asked, appalled. “Yoga is amazing. It’s so relaxing.” I turned to Louis. “Remember that time we did yoga together and then you kicked me in the face and then you broke my phone and then-” I paused. “On second thought, yoga isn’t that great.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Well, why did you have to do it? I get that you’re trying to be nice, but couldn’t she have just called everyone?”

“Okay, I’m going to be honest here,” said Liam. “This friend, who will remain nameless, just happened to wake up in a swanky hotel in Switzerland yesterday morning and doesn’t know how she got there. She called me for help.”

“How do you just wake up in Switzerland?” Zayn said, raising an eyebrow. “Like, how is that even possible?”

Niall nodded. “Yeah mate, you should probably ask her about that bit. Either she’s lying to you or something’s very wrong and she got kidnapped.”

“That would be so cool, though,” I breathed. “You wake up one day in some room and you don’t know how long you’ve been there, and then you just hear someone telling you you’re never getting away and somehow you fall in love.” I sighed happily.

The boys were silent for a few moments.

“Did you just describe Stockholm Syndrome?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Niall laughed loudly. “Here we go again. Will it ever end?”

“I’m so done with you guys,” continued Louis. “Please stop.”

“But this is a once in a lifetime thing,” said Zayn.

Louis stood up and began making his way towards the stairs. “I’m leaving.”

Liam frowned. “Don’t go! It’s not the same when you’re gone.”

“It’s not good to be all alone,” I said, nodding in agreement.