Before You Leave Me

9. Never Going Back Again

I pass them to Vic and start cutting the vegetables.

"What was the shirt thing about?" Vic asks turning to me.

"Well, I'm going out and I didn't want to stain my shirt" I answer; " Does it bother you?" I ask with a grin.

"Not at all"

Well, she's seen you with a lot less than a pair of jeans and socks on.

Oh, wow, brain; thank you so much for that.

The doorbell rings and Vic shakes her head.

"I'll get it" she says, "Liam!" I hear her exclaim after she's opened the door; "you're early"

"I was bored at home so I thought maybe you could use a hand"

"Yes, yes we could" Vic answers, and they walk up the stairs again.

"Hey, mate; how are... woah! Woah!" Liam can't contain his surprise when he sees me.

"Niall is stuck in traffic and will be late, I was all alone versus fajitas for seven and Dan was going out but has decided to stay and help me" Vic explains, "Last minute idea so he didn't want to change back to his home clothes"

"All right" Liam chuckles nervously, "Chef Payno is in the house so you don't have to worry about anything. Do you have an apron or something? I could take my shirt off as well but I don't think Niall would like that idea, to be honest"

Very funny, Liam.

I hand him a couple of peppers after he's put an apron on and just a couple of minutes later, the fajitas mix is cooking in the pan and I put my shirt back on.

"It's already boiling. Just add more seasoning if you feel like it, and it's done" I say buttoning up, "Hasta mañana" I add to Vic giving her a hug, "nice to see you, Liam" I add turning to brunette boy and giving him a handshake.

"Bye, mate" Liam says.

I smile at him and walk down the stairs. I almost bump into whoever was on the other side as I step outside.

"Woah! Sorry, almost knocked you down!" I chuckle, "Vic!" I call putting my head inside the house again.

"Yeah?" she shouts from the kitchen

"Niall and Zayn are here!" I shout, "I'm off to have dinner. Have fun" I say patting Niall's shoulder and walking away.

I have a great time at the dinner and apparently so do Vic and the boys because when I get home after midnight, Vic, Niall, Harry and Valeria are all squeezed on the sofa while Liam, Zayn and Natalie are seated on an inflatable mattress on the floor. On the TV, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is playing.

"Dan!" Natalie smiles when I enter the sitting room, "Have a seat! Join us!"

I chuckle taking my shoes off and sit by Liam.

"You're keeping your shirt on?" he teases with a smile.

"Asshole"

"I'm joking, mate" Liam laughs loudly.

"Does anyone want more popcorn?" Vic asks standing up and walking to the kitchen.

The boys mumble "yeah" and "please," their eyes still locked on the screen.

"Dan?"

"Yes, please" I answer watching Ron grumbling about following the spiders.

"Dan"

I look at Vic and realise she wasn't asking me, she was calling me. I stand up and walk to the kitchen as well.

"What?"

"How free are you next Saturday?"

"Huh?"

"Next Saturday" she repeats, "Are you doing anything?"

"I... I don't think so" I answer, "Why?" I grin, "Are you taking me out somewhere?"

"Yes" Victoria cheekily grins back, "Yes I am"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[PLEASE READ ME!!!

All right, as you may / may not have noticed, we've come to the part of the story that corresponds to If You Let Me Know... but it's (all) being narrated from Dan's POV.

How are you feeling about all this?

I'm getting a bit self-conscious because no one wants to read the same things twice and I feel like the changes I'm making are barely noticeable.

I kinda want to tell some things from Dan's POV (because there will be some things that Victoria didn't tell and may/may not make your heart melt) but I don't want to make it too long and I feel like the chapters are super long but not much is happening in them. Is it just me?

Anyway, please, please let me know your feelings about it, cause I'm getting a bit frustrating.

Also, sorry for taking forever to upload. You won't believe the amount of work, papers and stuff I have to study. Victoria didn't express well how hard Medicine University really is, hahaha.

Hope you're all good. If you're not, know that you can always come and talk to me :)

Much love, x.

PS: This A/N almost ends up being as long as the chapter sorry lolz]