The Pianist - One Direction

Chapter 34

Liam was going to take a cab to his flat in London, the one in which we had all been watching a scary movie and had a twitcam once. I said that I was sure my dad could drive him home, too. He said he liked taking a taxi every now and then. Something about keeping his feet to the ground. They all had different ways of dealing with that.

Before I had the time to really doubt it, I could see two waving hands in the air, behind fans and paparazzis and others, and it didn't take me more than two seconds to recognize the owner to these two hands as my father.

I hugged Liam and Paul goodbye before making my way over to my dad, who met me halfway and lifted me up in the air in his arms, making me lose the ability of breathing for a couple of seconds.

"Welcome home, sweetheart." He said and let me down but kept hugging me. "London missed you." He sniffled. Maybe that was his way of saying that he had missed me.

"Dad, are you crying?" I asked him and tried to look up at him. He ran the palm of his hand under his eyes and shook his head fast.

"What? No." He lied quickly and showed me the way to the car. He didn't make a bigger welcoming than that, and for that I was grateful. I lifted my bags in the back and sat in the front, immediately starting to find a decent canal on the radio.

He had never quite enjoyed the same music as I did, so he changed it the second he entered the car. I rolled my eyes but smiled at how everything was the same.

"Tell me, how was it?" He asked when we rolled out of the airport parking lot.

"What part of it?" I asked. I had been doing more things those last months than I had been doing for the last three years of my life altogether.

"Everything! Were you scared of flying? Have you gotten any new friends? Are everybody nice? How was Europe? France? Italy? Wait." I wasn't saying anything but stopped thinking when he told me to wait. "Your hair is red! Issy, when did you dye it red?!" He asked. I laughed because he hadn't noticed that my hair was no longer blonde until then.

"Lou dyed it for about... A month ago, I believe. Maybe less than that." I told him. He looked confused already. "Lou's the one who makes their- or our- hair and makeup before shows and interviews and all that. She follows the band everywhere. And I've gained plenty of friends. I'm friends with more than half the people that came from the plane before me!"

"Her name's Lou?" He wondered.

"No, it's Louise. Uhm, what did you say again?" I tried remembering his questions. "Right, it was amazing! Every country was so beautiful and the fans, oh god the fans. They dedicate their lives to One Direction so once they actually see or meet them, most of them get out of their minds! It's kind of scary, but I guess I understand it."

Dad just nodded slowly, listening to me.

On our way home, when I wasn't constantly talking, he admitted that he had been listening to their album and also seen some of the videos from the concert on youtube.

"I even know their names, actually!" He stated proudly. I was surprised and looked at him with one eyebrow raised like it was a challenge. He took it.

"Okay, it's the blonde one - Niall. He's easy. And the one with the crazy curly long hair is... Harry." I nodded. "Then the one with more tanned skin and black hair is - wait what is his name again?" He thought about the name that was constantly in my mind. Of the boy with the voice of an angel and golden eyes. "Zayn! It's Zayn, right?" He asked me.

"It is." I assured him.

"They are very good. Talented. Too bad everybody believes it's only music for teenage girls. I bought 'One Thing' on iTunes. Anyways, the other two are Liam and Louis. I can see the difference but I can't really, you know, explain it." He told me, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.