The Little Shop

The Man Wearing a Hat

"Nothing. Oh, look, you died, little lady," Louis says quickly, pointing to the screen of AJ's abandoned game. She frowns and taps the screen, putting her game face on again.

"We have to tell her, Lou," I said, crossing my arms. "It'll be worse if we  surprise her."

"How can it possibly worse? She's going to hate it either way. Let's just let her enjoy not knowing for a while longer," Louis said, not removing his eyes from her as she played the game, eyes flitting passionately across the screen. By watching her expression, I could tell what was going on in her game. She was like Lou; everything was a big deal. A poke in your side is a punch in your stomach, a flick on the nose is a smack in the face, and some banter is full on harrassment. 

"Don't speak about me as if I'm not here," AJ commands, looking up from her game to scold us. Louis shrunk back slightly, which is odd because he laughs when Liam scolds us. Maybe it's the younger brother versus younger sister thing...

"Sorry," Liam mutters, although he wasn't the one that needed to apologize. I mutter my own apology and Louis mimics my speech, crossing his arms and trying to get comfy without touching poor little AJ, who seemed scared, but at the same time amazed. I hope she's ready for that to be amplified 100% in a few minutes.

AJ and Louis led the way out of the limo, holding hands, as we were swallowed in a sea of screaming, which was only amplified when we exited. There was a ring of higher pitches, shouting questions and greetings and rude comments, and the moment we saw a poster about our willies, Louis scooped AJ up and gently pressed her head into the crook of his neck, covering the ear closer to the crowd. AJ slowly slipped her little arms around his neck, snuggling into him. It was sweet to see, and I heard lots of the girls cooing.

"What do you want to eat, sweetie?" Liam asked. He was walking beside Louis and she turned to look at him, smiling slighty. Liam Louis certainly had the hang of this, Zayn too. I felt a bit useless, so as the three of them helped her decide what she wanted for lunch, Niall and I stayed back a bit, walking in step with each other through the car park and into the back door of the book store. The signing was meant to start in about half an hour.

"I'm worried about AJ," Niall admits after a moment, when we're a bit further away from the fans. "I mean, how long has it been since she saw her mother that she went looking for her? AJ seems a bit too smart to go out after an hour or something. What if something is wrong?"

"I'm sure everything's fine, Ni," I said reassuringly, patting his back in a supportive manner as we're usehered into the building. When the big heavy door shuts behind our security, the sound of the fans is dulled a bit, and AJ lifts her head from the crook of Lou's neck, looking around at her new surroundings.

"This is the book store," she says, raising an eyebrow. "You don't work here though, do you?" She asks suspiciously.

"We do today," Louis says evasively, smiling at her. They look kind of sweet together, which is nice because she's comfortable with us now and we might see her again after today. I hope we do; she's very cute. No, not in a creepy I-love-little-girls way, in a my-baby-sister-is-so-cute way.

"Where do you normally work?" AJ asks, turning to Liam. I suppose she's deduced that Louis won't be telling her anything.

"See if you can figure it out," Liam challenges, smirking. 

"You're on," AJ says. There's the Zayn in her again; competitive and always up for a new challenge.

"If you can figure it out before lunch is over in about 15 minutes, you can have dessert," I throw in, smirking.