Still My Idiots // One Direction [Book 2: Idiot Series]

Chapter Three - Vivid Pictures

Mica.

The boxes that occupied the end of my father's wardrobe were filled with mounds of bullshit that there wasn't a chance he needed anymore. I dug around in cardboard boxes for what felt like hours, hoping Liam and Zayn wouldn't walk in to the room they were staying in and catch me rooting.

I pulled out a shoe box from the corner, pulling the lid out and taking out the large amount of photos that sat inside. I began to flick through them slowly, instantly remembering them all so vividly.

They were the pictures from that summer; they were what I was looking for.

I looked through them, my memory registering each one as if it was yesterday. I stared down at the picture at the top of the pile after I slid the last one to the bottom and stared. I was sat on Louis' shoulders, his arm wrapped around Harry. I remembered how tiny I was; how simply it was for them to lift and carry me, like I weighed nothing. Although I was taller now I still felt tiny, yet I grew in all the right places.

I felt a knot developing in my throat as my eyes flickered over the gashes that littered Harry's body, staining his skin. They were obvious in almost every photo, some worse than the other.

As soon as I heard foot steps coming up the stairs I dropped the photos back in the shoe box and slipped the lid back on before standing and shutting the doors to the wardrobe. As I walked out, I instantly made contact with Zayn, who grunted when my chest hit his.

"Mica," he said, "what were you doing in my room?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked down at the box in my hands. "Uh, just needed some shoes," I mumbled.

Swiftly, I slid past him and made my way to my room, but was stopped by his voice once again.

"Mica, wait."

I turned around, my eyes shooting up and in to his as I gripped the box tighter. "Yeah?"

"How... um, how did you sleep?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Fine, yeah, fine." I nodded sheepishly as I watched him try and look everywhere but my eyes.

"How do you feel?"

He wanted me to talk to him, to trust him.

"I'm okay, Zayn, thank you." I smiled as he did, his eyes glimmering when I spoke more than one word to him. He nodded, gesturing towards the stairs as he turned and walked down. 

As soon as I was sure he was gone, I sighed and finally turned around and made it to my room, shutting and locking the door behind me.

The shower was on in my bathroom, meaning I had time while Harry was in there. I sat on my bed and began to continue searching through the box of photos, staring deeply at each one as the nostalgic memories flooded back.

I was so distracted by the mounds of photos that I didn't hear the shower turn off. I didn't even hear Harry walk out of my bathroom. I didn't notice he was there until I could see his shadow from the corner of my eye and I jumped slightly, eyes darting up at him.

"What've you got?"

He was clad in only a towel wrapped low around his waist. He used another to dry out his hair that hung wet over his face as he glared down at me. I wanted to move to try and hide them, hoping he hadn't noticed what they were; from the look on his face I know he already did.

His eyes widened ever so slightly and his eyebrows raised as he sat next to me, dropping the towel he was using on his hair down to his feet as he reached for the photos, slowly taking them out of my hands. I handed them over without argument, watching as his face held a look of shock as he flicked through them, stopping on one that consisted of him, Louis and Liam, all shirtless at the beach, grins on their faces as they spoke.