Rewrite: A One Direction AU Love Story

Chapter 2: Transitions

There's much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it.

(Diana Trilling)

"Ow Kalonice! That hurts!" Melibea shouted at the raven haired beauty before her. "Is it really necessary to jab me in the arm like that?"

"We don't feel pain nimrod," Kalonice shot back training her twin brown eyes on her fellow Guardians. She took several deep breaths to steady herself. The anger inside of her was threatening to blow. Having these two idiots here was going to ruin everything. Right now they were up in their own world. Kalonice didn't like to be away from her charges. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you realize just how many rules you are breaking?!?"

"Kali please," Hilarion said pulling out his irreverent charm. Kalonice wanted to just smack him. He knew better. "I'm just trying to do Mel here a solid." A solid? Why did he insist in picking up slang from the mortals?

"My name is KALONICE!" Hilarion merely giggled at her fury. He loved annoying Kalonice like this. She turned her fury on Melibea who shrank behind his shoulder. Mel didn't do well in the face of confrontation. It probably explained why her charges had gotten so out of control. "Melibea why on Heaven and Earth are you dragging this idiot into your mess? I thought when I turned you down before I explained that you needed to deal with this on your own!"

"Hey," Hilarion said slightly hurt at this news. "You asked HER for help before me?"

"Well--you see," Mel stuttered. "Kalonice here is a d--direct line to Liam so I just thought--maybe she--please don't be mad at me."

"You're kind of a wuss you know that Mel?" He asked watching as she fiddled nervously with her hands. He grabbed her hands in his own causing her to look up at him in shock. He thought it was cute how easily spooked she got. He smiled at the unnecessary fear in her eyes. Something inside of him was compelled to protect Melibea, who had become a dear friend over their time together. Hurting Mel was like kicking a puppy; needless and cruel. He ignored the butterflies that fluttered in his stomach as she looked up at him. "I'm not mad Mel. I would have tried the same thing." He felt a small warmth spread through him at the sight of her soft smile. He really wished his body would stop doing that whenever Melibea was around.

"Would you two idiots stop flirting for five seconds?" Kalonice snapped. They dropped their hands looking at her in confusion. They weren't flirting. Why did she always accuse them of that? "You can't reveal yourselves to mortals like this. There are consequences to your actions! You need to go back and erase this memory from their minds." Kalonice wasn't sure what the consequences were, but there had to be some. They couldn't just break all the rules and face nothing. There were reasons for the rules. They weren't just made up to toy with them. If Kalonice had been able to just ignore the rules then she wouldn't be having the problem she was with Liam and Sophia right now. She could just ignore the rules like the two dopes in front of her.

"You know what's odd?" Mel said her voice suddenly filled with confidence. "We've broken the rules and nothing has happened so far."

"Yeah Kali," Hilarion smirked. "Not a single consequence yet. You worry too much." Yet. There wasn't a consequence yet.

"Maybe she's a little stressed since she hasn't been able to get Sophia to fall for Liam yet," Mel teased.

"Could be," Hil agreed.

"I don't need to take this from a Joker and a Guardian who can't even manage to get her charges to meet face to face," Kalonice snapped. "At least my pair have met each other."

"Hurtful!" Mel replied. "I'm doing this to fix that."

"Getting mortals involved isn't the way to do that."

"I had to do something. And it could work!"

"Or fail miserably." Melibea had to agree that Kali might have a point there. But at this point what did they have to lose?

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"What do the years I lived in America have to do with anything?" Liam asked his friends. This had to be the fifth time they had brought it up somehow. It was especially weird considering he hadn't even met Eleanor until after he had returned to London.

"El is just curious about what America is like," Lou said jabbing Eleanor in her side so she would nod along.

"Don't you visit Florida with your family every holiday?" Liam asked as he sipped his tea. He recalled the photos she had shown them all of their most recent trip there.

"Well--," Eleanor broke off unsure what to say.

"But you lived on the west coast right?" Louis hurried to ask. "El wants to hear about what the west coast is like."

"Yeah," El happily joined in. Finally they had him talking about his time overseas. Now she just had to steer the conversation to Edie somehow. "What are the girls like?" Louis shot her a look, but she merely shrugged. A transition was a transition after all.

"Um--fine, I guess," Liam said setting down his tea. "Are you two feeling well? Did you get enough sleep last night?" They were actually creeping him out a little. It's like they were hiding something from him.

"We're fine Liam," Eleanor said gripping his hand desperately between her own. Well now it was getting awkward. "Tell us all about the girls on the west coast."

"Okay, you're both creeping me out now. First, the extra drinks at the table and the whispered secrets. And now the weird interrogation about the time I lived overseas. I'm just going to go home." He stood up and raced from the cafe before Eleanor or Louis could stop him. They had failed.

"Well that was an epic failure," Hilarion said appearing beside them casually taking a small sip of his previously abandoned coffee. "Ew! It's all cold now."

"You know it would have been a lot easier if you just stayed put and explained it all to Liam," Louis snapped. "Why did you both disappear? He thinks we're insane or something now."

"A coworker of ours wanted to have a word with us. And he doesn't think you're insane. A little kooky perhaps, but not insane." Louis and Eleanor glared at him. "Besides can you imagine the trouble we would get into if we revealed ourselves to Liam? It's already risky enough that we told the two of you."

"Where's Melibea?"

"She and our coworker Kali are still talking. The nagging was giving me a headache so I decided to see how you two were doing. Are you going to eat that?" Hil asked pointing at the muffin in front of Eleanor. He didn't wait for a response before snatching up the muffin and scarfing it down. Mortal food really was awesome. Eleanor and Louis exchanged confused glances wondering just how this goofy man child had managed to become their guardian.