eighteen ∣ one direction

chapter twelve

"Isn't that pretty popular?" Zayn asked, shocked. 

"Yeah... I mean Dream has almost 23 million followers on YouTube."

"That's huge! And what about you?" asked Harry. 

"I have around 10 million on YouTube."

"That's amazing, Ophelia! I'm glad you have something that you are obviously so passionate about," Niall said supportively. 

Their conversation was interrupted by an alarm on Ophelia's phone going off. Reaching for her phone, Ophelia swore.

"Shit. Sorry, that's just my alarm to remind myself to stream... I guess I don't need to though... How is it already nine?"

"It is?" Niall questioned, not quite believing six hours had already passed since he first met his soulmate.

Ophelia hummed in response as she checked her messages. There were a few from Diana and Cass. God, they were probably worried sick.

"I should probably call Diana now. Let her know to pick me up..."

"Don't!" Zayn interrupted, causing Ophelia to pause her motions.

"Yeah don't. We'll drop you off. No need to have your sister go out of her way." Liam agreed with Zayn. He did not want to part with Ophelia just yet. 

"I'm pretty sure the house is out of your way," Ophelia stated, looking skeptical. 

"Just let us do this, Ophie." Zayn insisted. 

"Ophie?" Ophelia was shocked. When she was younger, she wanted a special name that only her soulmates would call her. Her entire life, she saved that nickname for her soulmates, insisting that everyone call her Lia. Even though it was small, she was touched that Zayn had come up with it. 

"Yeah... Do you not like that? I can call you something else..."

"No! It's perfect." With that, she stood up from Niall's lap and stretched out, her sweatshirt riding up a little. She then started stacking the dishes on the table and wiping up all the crumbs as the others got their stuff ready to go. Harry was on the phone. Ophelia guessed the call was to arrange for his driver to pick them up.

"Ready, darling?" Liam questioned, walking to stand next to her.

"Yeah. Just texting Di to let her know I'm safe..." She answered as she sent the text out.

Liam hummed as he moved to hug Ophelia from behind, burying his face in her hair. Content, she leaned back into him, letting him hold up her body weight.

"Our driver is here. C'mon" Harry interjected, taking a hold of Ophelia's hand and leading her out to the SUV. Before she could get too far, she reached back and took a hold of Liam's hand again, squeezing it.

"I guess I'll sit in the back since I'm the smallest," Ophelia stated, trying to figure out the logistics of the seating. 

"Yeah you, Louis, and H will sit in the back row. The rest of us will be in the middle." Liam explained. 

When they reached the car, Louis climbed in first, followed shortly after by Ophelia, who had to be helped up by Liam. As Louis sat down, he held his arms open for Ophelia to climb into a hug. She reciprocated before shifting into her own seat and buckling up. 

As the others piled into the car, the conversations came to a pause. The car settled into a comfortable silence. Everyone was a bit overwhelmed with all that had occurred and the quiet was welcome. Even so, they were still very clingy.

Harry had his arm over Ophelia's shoulders and was rubbing the back of Louis' head, who was holding on tight to her hand. Her unoccupied hand was reaching over the seat to hold Liam's outstretched hand. It was touching, really, that her soulmates were so reliant on physical contact with her. She really was not looking forward to parting for the night. 

When the driver pulled up to Chris' LA home, Ophelia's heart sunk, knowing what was coming next. She wasn't ready for the goodbyes. Even though it was only for the night, that was too long to be apart from her newly found soulmates.

Harry helped her jump out of the too-tall car and wrapped her into another bear hug, sniffling into the top of her head. Rubbing his back, Ophelia whispered, "Hey, it'll be okay, sweetie. We'll see each other tomorrow, right? It's only one night Hazza."

"Let the rest of us say bye, ye bastard," Niall interrupted the moment, his arms crossed and his face sporting a smirk. Harry gave her one last squeeze before going over to Niall and hitting him upside the head.

Before Ophelia could react to this, Liam took her hand and said, "Let's walk you to your door."

"Okay... You know you don't have to. Saying bye here is fine Li." She said as she kissed his cheek.

"No. We will be gentlemen." Liam stated before starting to walk. Ophelia reached out to Zayn, who took her other hand in his and joined the walk. "Kiss you goodnight at the door. Bring you flowers - shit we forgot flowers."

"Liam it was perfect. I couldn't imagine a better meeting."

"Really?" Liam questioned. He could think of a few things that could have gone better. 

"Mhm!" She hummed in affirmation, pausing walking to jump up to kiss his cheek. 

"But for next time. What flower do you like, sweetheart?" Zayn interjected as they arrived at the door, turning completely towards Ophelia. 

Ophelia paused, considering. She had never been asked that before. Turning back towards the car, she noticed the other three were goofing around. She was glad. The sight reminded her of the old days when the band was together.

"Lavender... or Lilac. Anything purple really," she answered after a while, turning her head to look back at Zayn. 

"Purple. Of course." Liam chuckled, remembering the very first night together. That tweet that came out of it started a worldwide trend. It was still insane to him that they had that kind of fanbase. 

"It's my color, Li." Ophelia exclaimed, nudging Liam with her elbow teasingly. 

"What is with your fascination with purple anyway?" Zayn asked, curious to learn more about Ophelia. 

"It's my favorite color. And a part of my brand, I guess. Everyone associated my friends and I with different colors... Dream's green, George is blue, Sapnap, is orange. I'm purple."

"Like we had our mic colors?"

"Yeah, kinda."

Suddenly, Niall ran up behind her, hugged her, and dramatically exclaimed, "You left!"

"No, I didn't! I was escorted to my door. You were too busy smacking Harry to notice!" Ophelia stated, mocking indignance.

"Still!"

Ophelia chuckled at her soulmate before becoming somber again. "Well, I guess this is it, huh?"

"I guess so." Louis sighed in response. He was not looking forward to going to sleep without a dream to look forward to tonight. At least he could look forward to seeing her tomorrow. 

"C'mere." Ophelia opened her arms and pulled the oldest into a big hug. She pulled away with a kiss on the cheek and continued on to the others. Once Harry got his hug, he went to hug Louis knowingly. 

"Wait! I need your numbers!" Ophelia exclaimed, realizing that she still did not have a way to contact them. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it before handing it to Liam, who entered his own and passed it along. When they were finished, she sent out a quick group text so they would have hers. 

The night had come to an end, and she knew it was time. "Goodnight!" She called as she went in through the front door, giving her soulmates one last wave. 

After Ophelia shut the front door behind her, she screamed and jumped around, her fangirl side finally catching up with the fact that she just met her idols. 

The boys heard her little celebration through the door. Laughing, they all headed back to their car. 

"She's perfect," Niall mumbled. They all agreed. 

~~~~~

I don't like the ending of this chapter but it's the best I could do lol.

Thoughts?
Suggestions?
Predictions?

xxx