The Little Shop

The Lazy Day

"Zayn, you okay?" Niall asked. "You've tensed up all your muscles."

"I swear, if Lou's hormones get all over my sheets, I will have his head mounted on the wall in the living room come day's end."

"Let's play a game!" Liam cheered. He slid off my bum and rummaged under his bed for a while before emerging with a deck of playing cards. "Go Fish?"

"Sure," I mumbled. It was better than being sat on, so shoved Harry and Niall off my legs and sat up, back against Liam's pillows. "Deal me in," I said, crossing my legs. 

Harry rubbed his eyes and situated himself between AJ and Liam, so Niall took the last remaining spot, between Liam and me. He grinned at me, and I gave him a closed-mouth smile in return, unwilling to use the energy it took to give him a proper smile.

Once Liam dealt the cards, he suggested we go by age, youngest to oldest, and I was fine with it, until I realized that all the people that are older than me weren't in the room. I almost swore, but instead I just grunted disapprovingly at him.

"Sorry, Zayn," he said, smiling apologetically at me. I rolled my eyes, but gave him a half smile anyway. Liam is always out to please everybody.

"It's all good, Li," I said, then. I felt bad for even complaining in the first place. So what if I was going last? It was a childish thing to be angry about. 

AJ went first. "Harry, have you got any nines?"

Harry frowned and pulled one out of his hand. "Are you psychic?"

"Yeah, Styles. We're all mind readers, except for you," I snorted. "For example, you've got an eight and a three in your hand right now."

Harry widened his eyes. I sat back smugly; lucky guesses were my thing. Plus, Harry's dreadful at holding his cards in a way that you can't see them. He always wonders why he's so shit at card games, but it's because everyone knows what he's got all the time.

"My go," Harry said, shaking off my comment. "Liam, have you got any queens?"

"'Fraid not," Liam said with a shrug. "Go fishin', Styles."

"I'm an awful fisherman," Harry complained.

"Obviously," AJ laughed, watching as he drew a card from the stack. 

"My go, right?" Niall asked, glancing at me. I nodded. "Harry, have you got any fours?"

Harry scowled and handed the pair of fours to Niall, who then set down the entire set. "How'd you get a book so fast?" Liam whined. 

"Your go," Niall said, brushing off his comment.

"Zayn, have you got any threes?" Liam asked. I shook my head. I had a pair of twos, a jack, a seven, and a queen.

"I'll row your fishing boat for you, if it makes you feel any better," AJ said kindly. Liam's pout turned into a soft smile, and he laughed, nodding.

"Thanks, kiddo."

"Got any threes, Liam?" AJ said with a smirk. 

Liam's eyes went wide as he handed over a pair of threes. "How could you betray me like that?" he asked, trying to sound shocked. "Wait, wait, did you hear that?" he asked, holding up his hands, as if trying to silence the entire world with his fingertips. Did he think he was suddenly the conductor of the universe's symphony?

"What?" Harry asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. AJ peeked over the side of his wrist at his hand and smirked to herself. She gets that from her mother, I suppose.

"It's a mystery!" Niall announced, jumping to his feet. "Captain's Log; there is a strange bumping noise coming from Harry's room. I am going to investigate."