One Direction.
Is. In. My. House.
This is absolutely insane.
I don't even know what to say, or do. Right now I'm just standing here like a complete idiot staring at them.
Harry breaks the silence, introducing himself, and then, Louis, then Liam, then Zayn. Zayn smiles at me, and we make eye contact for a second.
Ryan breaks the uncomfortable silence, proclaiming that it is time to eat breakfast. I quickly walk around Bobby and follow Ry into the kitchen, with everyone else trailing behind. I take back my seat at the counter, scoop 3 pancakes onto my plate, and continue working on my crossword.
Niall takes the counter seat on the end, and Zayn takes the seat next to me. Ryan, Harry, and Liam take seats at the table, with Bobby and Maura, and Louis stands at the counter opposite from me.
I can feel them all staring at me, but if I've learned anything from school, it's to just ignore them. So I keep concentrating on my crossword.
'5 down, European Boyband, 12 letters.' One Direction. Of course it's One Direction. I don't want to write it.
Niall also seems to know what it is. "Oh, 5 down is-"
"I know what it is." I cut him off.
"She speaks!" Louis yells. Gosh he's loud. Niall piles 3 more pancakes on his plate.
"Niall you eat too much!" Ryan yells at him.
"I don't care!" Niall yells back.
"Where are you from?" Liam asks me.
"Uhhh long story." I tell him.
"Ooh now you have to tell us!" Louis states. "You can't just avoid the question, it's the rule."
"What are you talking about? I don't have to answer." I refute.
I really don't want the most popular boyband in the world to know that I was deported. Having Niall and Ryan know is bad enough.
"It's the unspoken rule." Harry explains, "If you're asked a question and give an answer that lets you avoid actually answering the question, then you have to answer it."
"Then I'm breaking the rules." I say sarcastically.
"Why won't you tell us?" Zayn asks, "It's just a simple question."
"Not for me it's not."
"I can tell you." Ryan says jokingly. But the boys do not seem to be in the joking mood this morning. They are dead serious about finding out the answer to this question.
Niall lowers his head and focuses on eating his pancakes. He sure likes to eat a lot. But the boys notice how quiet he'e being.
"Wait a minute- Niall knows!" Louis squeals.
Damn it.
"No! I'm not telling you!" Niall yells, shoving 2 whole pancakes in his mouth at once to avoid answering the question.
"England." I say quickly and quietly, to save Niall from having to answer. No one heard me, except Zayn.
"England?" He repeats quietly while the rest of the boys torment Niall for the answer. "But, then why is your accent American?"
"It's a mix between American, and British actually, but anyways, I moved there with my parents when I was six, but they died, and my foster parents kept sending me back so they deported me back to England, and then Ryan said I could stay here." I explain quietly.
"Wow. I'm sorry" He says. I shrug my shoulders.
Niall's still being harassed by the guys. I have no idea why they're obsessed with finding out where I'm from. It's just a tiny little detail that doesn't even matter.
"You guys missed it she said her answer." Zayn yells at them.
"Aw come on!" Louis yells. "So where are you from?" He starts pestering me for the answer again.
"I told y'all the answer, and if you missed it than that's your fault. I'm not repeating it again. And don't bother asking Zayn cause he won't tell you either." I say, as Louis begins to shift to where Zayn is sitting. He pouts but doesn't push it anymore.
"How old are you?" Harry asks.
"17. But my birthday's next month." I answer
The guys all share a look.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothin'" They all mumble
I look to Ryan but she shrugs her shoulders.
"Well your mom and I have to get going." Bobby stands up, and puts his plate in the sink. "Have a good day."
He and Maura kiss Niall and Ryan on their foreheads, as well as the rest of the guys. They noticeably skip over me, creating an awkward situation between me and everyone else.
"I'm sorry" Ryan says, as soon as the door closes. "They didn't realize-"
"It's fine. I don't care" I cut her off. I feel my eyes start to water a bit, and turn back to my crossword so the guys wouldn't notice.
I finish in about 10 minutes. No one's said a word.
After another 5 minutes of uncomfortable silence, I stand up from the kitchen counter. "I'm going to go find the bathroom."
"Up the stairs, first door on the right." Niall tells me.
I run up the stairs, happy to get out of that awkward situation. I hear the conversation starting up again as I leave, so maybe it won't be as awkward when I go back. I go into the bathroom and lock the door. I take out my phone, and call Joe. I know it's early there but I'm hoping that he'll be up anyways.
It rings three times before I hear the voice of my boyfriend.
"Hello?" Joe answers. He sounds really tired. I must've woken him up.
"Hey, it's me."
"Hey. Are you okay?" He asks concerned.
"Yeah, it's just um, Ryan-"
"Did something happen?" Joe cuts me off.
"No, it's just uh, her brother is uh, Niall Horan from One Direction." I say, and wince, when there's no reply. "Joe?"
"Oh, sorry, uh, are you serious?" Joe is a pretty big One Direction fan. He plays me a lot of their songs on the guitar.
"Um yeah. They're literally all sitting in my kitchen right now."
"That's insane-"
"Yeah." I cut him off, tears beginning to slip down my face.
"Are you okay? You sound upset." He asks me concerned again.
"Yeah it's just uh, something happened this morning, and it was the most subtle thing, but it was so noticeable, and it just kind of made me feel like everyone here is a family, and I'm just like, imposing on them. I don't know what to do."
"Aw I'm sorry." Joe said, "I'd give you a hug if I was there, but-"
"It's okay," I sniffle, "Hearing your voice is all I need."
I hear Joe yawn on the other end of the phone.
"You should go back to sleep." I tell him. "We can talk later."
"You sure?" He asks.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll text you with an update later."
"Okay. I love you." He tells me. Wow. He'd never said that before. But I could tell he meant it.
"I love you too." I tell him, tears still rolling down my face.
"Bye, Bri."
"Bye, Joe."
*****
"You ready?" Ryan asks me when I come back from the bathroom. Everyone else looks ready to leave for the day. My hair is half falling out of it's bun, and I'm still in pajamas basically.
"Umm, for what?" I ask. I didn't know we were going anywhere.
"To go?" She says with a face that pretty much says 'duh'.
"I didn't know we were going anywhere-"
"We yelled up to you while you were in the bathroom." Louis informs me.
"Oh, uh I was on the phone-"
"It's fine, go change, you'll want pants and sleeves." Ryan cuts me off.
I run back up to my room, and quickly pull off my clothes and throw them into the corner. I dig through the pile of clothes on the floor, and pull out a pair of baggy navy jeans, a green long-sleeve shirt, and a black zip-up hoodie. I grab the nearest pair of shoes, and pull them on while hopping down the stairs.
I trip over the last one, and would have fallen flat on my face, if Zayn hadn't caught me.
"Thanks." I mumble embarassed by what happened. I look around the room to see that Zayn's the only one in the room.
"They're in the car." He says, before I get the chance to ask where everyone else went.
I quickly pull on my shoe and walk out of the house to the car that was somehow big enough to fit everyone. Liam's in the driver's seat, and Harry's in the passenger seat. Louis, Ryan, and Niall are in the way back, (Louis on the right side, Niall on the left, and Ryan squished in the middle) so me and Zayn take the middle seats, me on the left side, and Zayn on the right.
"Um, so where exactly are we going?" I ask.
"You'll see." Ryan says laughing, as Liam pulls out of the driveway.
"Ryan, no- you know I hate surprises-"
"I know, but I swear this is a good one- no one is dead or dying, or abandoning you, I promise." She cuts me off. She knows I hate surprises because of my parents death. It was a surprise. And the doctor's wouldn't tell me they were dead for a while.
But I listen to her anyways, mentally listening to imaginary Joe's voice telling me that it'll be okay. It calms me down, and Zayn takes my hand when he sees how worried I am.
"It's okay," He leans over to me, "It's just town square- nothing worth worrying about." He whispers in my ear.
"Thanks." I whisper back.
"Way to ruin the surprise." The smile fades from Ry's face.
I lower my head, feeling a little bad for Ry, but thankful that I know what were doing.
"Briella I hear you're into theatre?" Liam changes the subject.
"Uh, yeah," I say a little embarassed. Ryan must've told him. "Oh and call me Bri."
"Have you done any shows?" Harry asks.
"Yeah, I've done uh, fifteen as of last summer." I answer, hiding my face behind my thick curly hair.
"FiftEEn?!" Louis shouts, his voice cracking in the process. "That's a LOT!"
"Uh yeah, haha." I chuckle.
"What was the most recent one you did?" Niall asks me.
"Carrie, I played Sue." I reply
"Wait- Carrie, like, the horro-" Zayn begins
"Yup, Carrie, like the horror movie and Stephen King book." I cut him off, "And for the record, the movie and play aren't scary whatsoever. It's the book that is scary."
"So... you're a good singer then?" Zayn asks, giving looks to the boys.
"Uhh... yeah I guess?" I answer, "Why do you guys keep sharing weird looks?"
"NOTHING!" Louis shouts.
"God, okay fine!" I back off, even though I didn't really do anything to begin with.
"We're here!" Harry shouts, jumping out of the car before it even stops moving.
"Harry!" I shout at him.
"Sorry!" He shouts back.
"So, uh, where are we?" I ask, looking around the village square we were standing in.
"We are in town square." Niall tells me. And adds, "Mullingar, Ireland," when I gave him a look meaning 'specifically'.
"Guess what we're going to do!?" Ry instructs me, practically jumping up and down.
"What?" I say, with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.
I didn't want to be rude to my friend, but I was so tired, and I was 90% sure I was dreaming the whole thing. I mean, who gets deported and ends up living with Niall from One Direction? And then wakes up to the whole band eating breakfast in your kitchen? Definitely not the ordinary girl I always wished I was.
"We. Are. Going- SHOPPING!" Ryan yelled jumping around.
Okay I have to admit- shopping is pretty fun. I pulled Ry into a big hug, and thanked her, again, for helping me.
"Wait-" I start to think, "But then what are they here for?" I ask Ryan
"Well, one, to carry stuff, and two because, we can't exactly just go wandering around town by ourselves, and three because the two of us definitely can not carry multiple pieces of furniture by ourselves." Ryan informs me, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
That was what I loved most about Ryan. Her brutal honesty. It did hurt sometimes, but she made up for that with her kindness.
"Wait so are we furniture shopping, or like, clothes shopping?" I ask her.
"Both. You need furniture for your room, but you also have the most sad wardrobe I've ever seen. Haha." We laugh and run into the closest store we see.
We emerge from the first store with 3 new pairs of converse, 2 pairs of combat boots, and 1 pack of 15 pairs of knee-high socks. At the second store we find 3 flannel shirts, 5 sweater vests, 2 pairs of ripped jeans, and 2 pleated skirts. Before the third store we had to drop the bags off at the car. Then at the third store we picked out a bookshelf, nightstand, desk, chair, and rug for my room that would all be delivered later in the day.
After the shopping we decided to go stop in the bakery and get some pasteries, and bread/dough to make dinner.
*****
"Bri?"
I hear a voice from far away yelling my name. But I can't tell who it is. I look around but don't see anyone I recognize, so I keep walking with Ryan and the guys down the street to where we parked the car.
"Briella!" I hear the voice again- it's louder this time. I turn around again. I see him this time, and the corners of my lips turn up into the biggest smile probably possible.
I drop my bags and run into his arms. I've missed him so much. I couldn't tell if it was really him or not. But it was.
It was Joe.