The Lift (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter Eight

   "Are you jealous?" I tease.

   "Honestly, I am," Niall admits. "But only a bit."

   He pauses and looks back at me. We share a smile before he resumes leading me to the door. He knocks on it.

   "Liam!" Niall yells. "Liam I want you to meet someone!"

   "Come in!" Liam shouts from inside. "But be careful! There's water on the floor by the door!"

   Niall opens the door slowly and we sidle into the room. While his and Louis' still had some messiness too them, Liam's is completely spotless. Not clean in the sense that it looks like he's maintained the room; there isn't a single piece of clothing anywhere. Everything is in the opened suitcase upon one of his chairs.

   "Erin!" I turn to the right to see a shirtless Liam walking towards me with his arms outstretched. I freeze immediately.

   Holy shit mother of pearl lord baby Jesus. Liam Payne isn't wearing a shirt and he wants to hug me. I do a tiny mental jig and look anywhere but at his exposed skin.

   "Hi," I squeak as Liam embraces me. Oh dear, what beautiful mitzvah did I do to deserve a blessing such as this? Liam is incredibly warm and I admit I go faint for a millisecond.

   "Nice to actually get to talk to you!" Liam exclaims after unfortunately releasing me. "Niall's been talking about you nonstop since Wednesday!"

   I blush and push some of my hair back behind my ear. I'm surprised it hasn't fluffed up yet. It's been perfectly straight throughout this whole night. Eh, I'm not one to mess with a good thing.

   "It's nice to meet you too," I say quietly. "Your concerts were really great."

   "Aw thanks, love," Liam grins. "Honestly, I think tonight was one of our best yet. But I see your sister didn't think so."

   I laugh a bit. "She's not used to staying up so late. She loves you guys, she really does."

   "It's a shame we didn't get to meet her as well," Liam pouts. "Was that woman your mum?"

   "Yeah that's her," I respond, my cheeks turning slightly crimson.

   "She doesn't look like you or your sister," Niall chimes in. "Her hair isn't red."

   "Nobody else in my family has red hair," I explain. "My great-grandmother used to, but now Katie and I are the only ones left."

   "Well it's a lovely color," Liam says cheerfully.

   I thank him and we continue chatting. I try to make jokes but it seems that a few of them fly over his head. I like to consider myself fluent in English and sarcasm but I forget that sometimes other people are not. Other than him not understanding all my attempts at jokes, we seem to get along fine. I compare him to Louis and decide I'm much more comfortable around the former since our conversation was more of a back-and-forth script of quips and jokes. Liam is really nice though and I had no fear of him not liking me, since he seems to be okay with everyone. That's two out of four who've accepted me as a friend of Niall's. Two to go.

   I got this.

~~~~~~~~~

   "Yo!" Niall shouts for the third time. "Zayn can I come in!" Zayn hasn't said a peep and Niall's getting a bit worried.

   "Why don't you just open the door?" I suggest, trying to be helpful.

   "What if he isn't dressed?" Niall looks at me worriedly.