A/N: WELL LOOK AT THAT, I DID PULL ANOTHER CHAPTER OUT OF MY ASS BEFORE I LEFT
WOOP WOOP
~Grace xx
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~Louis~
“Where are we going?” Harry asked April from his seat behind hers for about the fiftieth time. We’d been driving for 45 minutes and I could tell April was trying to not lose her patience with him, but was slowly cracking with annoyance.
“Harold, we are literally five minutes away, so calm your tits, and stop asking me where we’re going.” April replied, barely keeping her voice level.
Kris was sitting behind me, and I could tell she was trying to get Harry to shut up, but it was his birthday, he was excited, and no one could blame him.
He went silent again, and the only noise in the car was the radio softly playing an unknown melody. I looked out the window of April’s car, glancing up at the cloudy sky that was beginning to turn a grayish blue color, like there would soon be rain.
“Alright, we’re here!” April announced, parking in front of what I guessed was a huge mall, with people flooding in an out. “Boys, I suggest you put on sunglasses and hats until we reach out destination.”
The lads and I pulled on the beanies and Raybans we’d taken along upon April’s request, and followed her as she jumped out of the car and locked it.
“Are we all here?” She asked, looking around as we gathered in front of the blue car.
April did a head count to make sure everyone was ready to go before leading us into the mall, weaving our large group in and out of the traffic of people, until we reached a store that’s ‘Open’ sign was on, but looked dark inside.
“What is it?” Rikki asked her.
“It’s glow in the dark mini golf!” April exclaimed, and I looked over at Harry to see a huge grin spread across his face.
“This is gonna be awesome!” Erin shouted, grabbing Liam’s hand and pulling him towards the entrance.
Together, our group made its way into the little store with all its lights off except for a few lamps at a desk to our left. April walked up to the guy at the counter and paid for all of us, calling everyone over to grab our little put-put clubs and little fluorescent green balls.
“The course is numbered so you should be able to find your way around, and your golf balls are glow in the dark so it shouldn’t be that hard to keep track of them, but if you lose yours or need anything else, just ask.” The blonde guy who looked to be around our age said to us from behind the counter with a smile before we thanked him and found our way to the first little course, engulfed in darkness as the light from the rest of the mall and the few lamps had faded.
Looking around at the room that seemed pretty large, I noticed that each level was decorated extensively with patterns in glow in the dark paint. Some just had little designs, others were themed; like number six that was covered in space themed graphics, like a rocketship painted on a loop in the course.
“I think we should just go through it doing the ones that look fun instead of following the numbers.” April suggested, and we all agreed
“I like that one with a tiger on it,” Heather said abruptly, pointing to number four, grabbing Niall’s hand, and walking over to it.
Our group split up, Harry, Kris, Rikki, and Zayn heading to number eight, Liam and Erin walking to the far corner of the room where she saw what looked like a ramp in the course that you had to shoot the golf ball off to get it into the mouth of a glowing monster.
“Well, I guess that leaves us.” I said, looking down at April beside me, only able to see her because of the white shirt she wore that seemed to lightly glow in the shadows as well.
“Where do you want to go?” April asked me.
Glancing around the room, I saw a course that had superheroes; a bat signal was painted on it, as well as a superman logo and a picture of Spiderman. April had mentioned something about Batman being her favorite superhero when she saw fan art inspired by him on Tumblr. That website seemed to have absolutely everything on it… and a lot of pictures of Dean from SuperNatural.
“That one.” I replied, pointing to the one I’d seen, and leading her to it.
As April set down her green golf ball and readied her club to hit it, I spoke up.
“So Batman is your favorite superhero?”
“Yup.” She said, hitting the ball around a curve a few feet into the course. I followed her as she went to hit it over a little patch of sand in the floor.
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t have any powers.” April responded, concentrating on the direction she would hit the ball, but still talking. “There’s nothing special about Batman, other than the fact that he’s rich. Nothing makes him ‘super’; he’s a regular, everyday guy, who just happens to be ripped. I like that about Batman. I think it says that you don’t have to be bitten by a radioactive spider or fall into a vat of toxic waste to do good and help people. Batman shows that anyone can be a hero.”
I watched as April putted the ball into the hole on the third hit, bending down and taking it out of the cup carved into the ground.
April was like nobody I’d ever met before. She knew she wasn’t perfect, but she didn’t want to be. Sure, she had a lot of things about herself that she didn’t like, and some things she wanted to change, but she knew her quirks made her who she was. Even with how many burdens she held on her shoulders, even though she didn’t feel like living on some days, even though she felt alone and lost at times… she wanted to help people. She wanted to be strong so her friends had someone strong in their life. She would do anything to make the people she loved happy.
April was the closest thing to a superhero I’d ever met.
With a more lighthearted tone than before, April spoke again as we went to the beginning of the superhero course and I got ready to hit the ball.
“Although, Spiderman is a close second. Spiderman was my childhood; I even know all the lyrics to the original theme song.”
“Prove it.” I chuckled.
“Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can!” April sang. “Spins a web, any size, catches thieves, just like flies! Look out, here comes Spiderman! Can he swing, from a thread? Take a look overhead-“
:~:~:
“That was awesome,” Erin said sleepily from the far back seat, behind April. Kris had volunteered to drive home since April had been chauffeuring us around for the past week, even though April had said she was fine with it. Harry had opted to sit in the passenger seat, leaving Zayn, Rikki, April and I squished in the middle to seat, everyone else behind us.
After we’d gone through the put-put course, which, especially to April and Kris’ delight, Harry seemed to be thoroughly impressed with, we’d gone to a little bakery in the mall and gotten birthday cupcakes. April asked the girl at the counter if she had a birthday candle we could light, and she did so we put it in Harry’s cupcake and sang him happy birthday.
I could tell Harry had a great day. On his last birthday we were touring so we didn’t get the time to really do anything. He acted like he didn’t care, but I knew he did, and I wished I could give him the day he deserved. With all that Larry stuff our fans say aside, we really are best mates. All of us are.
Anyway, I was glad he had a wonderful birthday. Kris made him extremely happy, they were perfect for each other, and even though he wasn’t with his family, he did get to talk to them, and the girls had joined the little family we had formed years ago on X Factor. And if you couldn’t spend your 19th birthday with your blood family, the second best thing is to spend it with your family of friends.
It was about 7 o’clock, but still quite light out. The sun was just beginning to go down, and the sky was still a soft gray-blue, rain soon to come. Everyone was exhausted from the day’s events, especially Rikki and Zayn who were leaning against each other, snoozing quietly.
I squeezed April’s hand in mine, making her smile down at her lap and squeeze back. She tipped towards me to set her head against my shoulder, and I kissed the top of her head, some of her hair escaping her loose side braid and tickling my neck.
We arrived back at Heather’s about an hour later. April had to shake the sleeping people beside her to wake them up, and we all walked sleepily back into the house, tumbling onto the couch in the Lair.
“Thanks for a great birthday, everyone.” Harry smiled, being the first to speak up once we’d all gotten comfortable.
“Aw, you’re welcome Harold!” April replied, ruffling his curls and making us all laugh.
We were quiet for a few moments, relaxing and just enjoying each other’s presence, before the pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows filled the silence.
From beside me, I saw April’s smile grow until it was stretched across her entire face. She stood up abruptly and walked over to one of the huge windows, pulling open the curtain and looking out as the driveway dotted with drops of water.
Without a word I stood up to join her, followed by everyone else until we were all gathered at the two windows, watching the light rain in a comfortable silence.
“What are you thinking?” Kris asked April softly as she stared out mischievously at the gray sky.
Ignoring the question, April pulled away from the window, still with a goofy smile on her face, and walked over to the corner of the room to our right, where two pairs of rain boots sat beside the door to Heather’s garage. She popped her feet into a sleek black pair that went almost all the way up to her knees, and went over to the front door.
We watched as she pulled open the door, staring out at the rain as if it was the most beautiful thing on earth, before dashing outside, slamming the door behind her.
A grin rippled my features as I watched April run into the middle of the driveway, throw her arms out beside her and turn her head to the sky, a smile never once slipping from her face, letting the sprinkles of water soak her.
I felt a pair of eyes on my face, and turned to see Kris looking up at me, everyone else still looking out at April.
“What are you waiting for?” She whispered, so the others couldn’t hear.
I tilted my head questioningly, raising an eyebrow.
Kris nodded towards the other pair of boots, then out at her best friend.
With a smile, she said, “Go get your girl.”
~Kris~
Harry wrapped an arm around my waist as we watched Louis run forward into the rain, soaking his clothes and sneaking up behind April. When he reached her he wrapped his arms around April’s waist and lifted her up off the ground, making her shriek as he spun her around before setting my best friend back down, starting to chase her around in circles on the driveway, both of them laughing and beaming brilliant smiles filled with joy.
“What is it?” My curly haired boyfriend asked me as I leaned my head against his shoulder, hearing the click of Rikki’s professional camera from where she was standing with the door open, capturing photos of our friends dancing around in the rain.
“They really are the perfect couple.” I replied, my voice thoughtful.
“Of course they are,” Harry chuckled, “they’re April and Louis; basically the same person.”
I paused, trying to articulate the right words.
“No, I mean,” I stuttered, still trying to find a way to explain what I meant. “April doesn’t hold back in front of Louis… at all. I’m her best friend, I know her like the back of my hand. It might seem like I don’t sometimes, but I do notice the little things about April. I can see when she gets quiet and closes up. I can see when she’s missing the sparkle in her eyes. But when Louis’ around, there’s absolutely no hesitation. April doesn’t hold back who she is at all. When they’re together, she just looks like she can finally… breathe.
“Also, I mean… April’s such an outgoing person. She’s weird, and she makes sure people know that, so they don’t expect her to be something she’s not. April will be brutally honest when she needs to be. So what could a person like April, who’s an open book, even be hiding? What is it that April’s not holding back when Louis’ next to her?”
I turned my head to face my boyfriend. Harry; even his name made bells and rings go off in my head. He’s sweet, he’s funny, and he’s so genuine. I didn’t want some jerk of a boyfriend who’d ignore me half the time and try to change me. Harry was exactly the opposite of most guys I’d met before. He wanted to be with me, to help me when I needed him. He encouraged me to be who I was, to ignore the judgement of other people. He was the best partner I could have asked for, and he wasn’t just my boyfriend; he was my friend.
“April’s an enigma wrapped in a question.” Harry said, sounding like he was as deeply in thought as I was. “She’s a maze.”
“More like a labyrinth.” I murmured, watching as Louis grabbed April’s waist, pulling her into a tight hug. “But I don’t think she knows how to get out.”
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A/N: Oooh, a little peak into Kris' thoughts about April ;) Tell me what you think!
THIS CHAPTER HAS NO DEDICATION, SO PLEASE JUST CONTINUE LAST CHAPTER'S DEDICATION QUESTION: TELL ME A VACATION/SUMMER STORY DOWN IN THE COMMENTS
I'M LEAVING FOR MINNESOTA IN 10 HOURS
OH GOD
~Grace xx