Chapter Four
"The zoo?" Diana questions, as they park in a vacant space in front of a small building that read, 'Al's Zoo - critters and crawlers of all kinds', written on it in spidery letters.
"Yep," Louis shouts as he hops out of the car.
"I didn't know there were zoo's around here in London," Diana exclaims - she couldn't help but be a little excited.
"We're not in London, silly. About two hours away, actually," Zayn cuts in. "But you were obviously too preoccupied to notice," he shoots a glance between her and Liam, who was talking to Debby. Shooting him a glare, she scoffs.
"Whatever," she states, huffing immaturely and causing Zayn to break into a fit of laughter. Grumbling, she walks towards Harry and Liam, who are giving Zayn questioning gazes.
"What's so funny?" Harry asks, wrapping his arms around Diana's shoulders. Cringing slightly, she playfully pushes him away - in hopes he didn't realize she actually was uncomfortable - and gave him a glare.
"Zayn's being an arse, is all," Diana states, shooting Zayn a smirk.
"She's a funny one," Zayn points at her, grinning like a mad man. "We should keep her!" He exclaims, resulting in a course of 'yea's'. Quickly walking away from them - against their protests and groans - she stood beside Niall, who was munching away on a package of Oreos.
"Want some?" He asks, nudging the packet towards her. Politely shaking her head, she peers at Debby and Liam - who seemed to be in a deep conversation - and couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about.
Pausing mid step when Liam's eyes nap to hers, she shoots him an icy glare before continuing to stride beside Niall, who was finishing up the last of his oreo packet.
"Let's go one them!" Jake's voice booms behind her. Turning around, she sees him - grinning from cheek to cheek - running towards her. Panicking, she ran away, quickly feeling arms around her waist.
"Doors are that way, Di," he states, releasing his hold on her waist and points at the door that held a flashy sign, read 'open'. Grumbling, she trudged towards the door - not before noticing Liam's eyes following her every move - and walking in to the ticket shop, preparing for an eventful day ahead.
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The stench of dung was invading all of her senses, causing her to crinkle her nose in an unattractive manner. "It smells like shit," Diana grumbles, peering at Debby, who was stood beside her.
"It is a zoo," Debby replies, shooting her a playful smirk.
"Whatever," Diana groans, before continuing on her walk down the bumpy path. She could hear the boys' laughs mixing with Debby's behind her and couldn't help but want to join them in their fiascos and rendezvous, but held her ground and continued to looks for the sign she remembered, from when she was a kid.
"What are you looking for?" Liam asks, coming up beside her. Shooting him a glance, she notices his hands are in his pockets, hair messy - but suitable.
"Pandas," she states, tucking her hands into her over-sized sweater.
"Pandas?" He questioned, angling his body towards as they walked down the path, his eye brows quirked.
"Yep."
"Why?" He ponders, watching her struggling to not trip over the ground.
"Because they're the greatest animals on planet earth?" She questions, voice laced in an ounce of sarcasm.
"Really?" Liam drawls on, his eyes still set on her, his lips turning up in a grin. "You know, I'd beg to differ," he states, waiting for her reaction.
"Excuse me?" Diana halts in her tracks, arms around her waist as she peers up at his towering form. "Did you just try to argue me, over pandas?" She asks, giving him an skeptical look.
"Yep," he chuckles at her bewildered expression. "I'm pretty sure boggarts top panda's any day," he states proudly, before continuing down the path.
"You've got to be kidding me, Liam," Diana grumbles before carrying on walking beside him. Liam can't help but feel his heart skid when she says his name. "Boggarts are fake. As in fictional, you know, not real. And besides, boggarts aren't even animals."
Liam grunts, knowing she was right.
"And, why would someone particularly enjoy a creature that turns into their biggest fear? It's creepy, Liam," Diana icily snaps.
"You're very over-protective over your panda bears, aren't you? Or are you just against anything fictional? Or Harry Potter?" Liam inquires, loving her reaction.
"You're pissing me off, Liam," Diana grumbles.
"Why's that?" He asks, trying to disguise his small laugh as a cough.
"You just questioned my love for Harry Potter," she grumbles before halting in her tracks, smirking up at Liam. "Found them," she points to the area reserves for the panda bears, a fence between them and the animals. Smiling, she leans against the fence, peering at the lazy animals.
Liam couldn't feel a sense of adoration - or, just something - had felt towards the girl. He only knew her for a day - even less - and he was coming to develop an infatuation towards her. He didn't like infatuation, or adoration. Not at all.
"Aren't you coming, or are you just going to stand there all day?" Diana remarks, looking back at him over her shoulder.
"I think I'd rather look at those leaves, then your precious pandas," Liam smirks as she turns around, shooting him a glare.
"You need to quit it," she states, folding her arms against her torso.
"Quit what?"
"Being a tolerable human being one second, to an ass-hat the other. It's not a good look for you, Li," she mutters before turning back to her pandas.
"What did you just call me?" He asks, surprises clearly evident in his voice, as he walks up beside her. The pandas were just sitting there, basking in the sun and chewing on god-knows-what.
"Ass-hat?" Diana nonchalantly snickers at the name, taking her eyes off the pandas to look at him.
"No," he gives her a mock glare. "You called me Li," Liam states, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning at the sky.
"Nope," she ruffles her blonde hair - something she did when she was nervous - and began digging through her bag. "I don't recall that nickname coming up in our conversation."
"Now who's being the ass-hat?" Liam laughs before peering down at her struggling figure. "What in the world are you doing?" He quirks his eyebrow.
"Looking for change," Diana states apprehensively.
"Why?" Liam shuffles closer to her, angling his body to hers before taking a hold of her bag, nudging her hands away before holding it up for her in attempt to help her.
"Pandas," was all she said before she continued to rummage through her worn-out bag.
Liam secretly sends her a small smile, his eyes twinkling. Taking in all over her features, he notices how pale her skin looked - paler than it was yesterday. Eye brows furrowing, his eyes scour her every movement and all her features, noticing the dark purple bags under her eyes and her rigid stature.
"Are you feeling well?" He asks her once she found what she was looking for. A coin purse. Staring up at him, she gives him a puzzled expression before her face turned emotionless.
"Nope," Diana states, "just my face," she adds before walking over to the fence, sitting herself down on the grassy ground.
"Now what are you doing?" Liam asks, setting the bag down beside her before leaning on the fence, peering down at her small figure.
"Watching the pandas," Diana shoots him a small smile before settling her gaze on the black-and-white bears she seemed to be in love with.
Sitting down beside her, Liam fidgets before setting his hands on the ground. "You know what?" He asks, a small smile beginning to form on his face.
"What?" Diana inquires, her blue eyes piercing into his brown ones.
"You, Diana-" he pauses when he realizes he doesn't know her last name. "Um- what's your last name?
Looking at him with a blank expression, she shuffles around before tying her hair back - the sleeve of her band hoodie rolling up slightly, revealing lines on her wrist - which Liam definitely noticed - before looking back at him.
"Lynch."
Disappointment washes through Liam as he notices how sad - or, well, the lack of any other emotion but sad - surrounding her. She was like him. With a solemn expression, he bravely grasps on of her skinny hands before meeting her eyes - which, thankfully, had begun to show at least a notion of emotion - before giving her a solemn smile.
"You keep surprising me, Diana Lynch." Liam tightens his hold on her hand, his eyes intently watching the crease forming between her eyebrows - a smug look enveloping her features.
"In a good way, or a bad way?" Diana whispers beside him, causing Liam to smile. She was catching on.
"I don't know yet."
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"Where've you guys been?" Harry - whom had about ten different stuffed zoo animal cradles in his arms - asked them, jumping up and down with a goofy grin on his face.
"Pandas," Liam and Diana both say in unison, causing everyone to laugh.
"We were about to call you," Jake says before walking up beside Diana. "We were thinking about going to a club tonight, you in?" His question is directed to Diana - who was set on saying no - but was answered by a girly voice behind him.
"Of course she's in!" Debby grins, her hands wresting on her hips. "We used to go clubbing all the time, remember Di?"
"Yeah," Diana replies, glaring at her best friend. They had stopped clubbing a few months ago, when she begin feeling badly.
"Great," Louis jump in, his arms also filled with stuffed zoo animals. "That's settled then. I'm flipping hungry, though," his lips turn into a childish pout as he spins around to look at Zayn - the designated driver - causing everyone - except Diana - to erupt into another vocation of laughter.
"How 'bout McDonalds?" Liam pips, a polite grin on his face when Niall begins to whoop.
"YES!" Niall takes a hold of Debby - who absolutely hates McDonalds - and begins to run out of the entrance, and to the car.
"Actually, I'm allergic to McDonalds," Diana interrupts, causing everyone to give her bewildered expressions.
"What did you just say?" Louis practically screams, his jaw slack.
"You heard me," Diana grumbles, crossing her arms over he chest.
"How-what- I," Harry trails off, fumbling over his words - and feet - as he tries to regain his posture - and hold on to the mass amount of plushies in his arms.
"Why don't we just go home, then? We can order pizza?" Jake asks the group as they all rushed towards the van, attempting to bid away the rain.
With numerous nods - and Niall's silent grumbles, before he fell asleep - the group hopped in, giggles and laughter eneveloping the small yet coincidentally airy vehicle - all except for Diana. Fiddling with the clasps on her bag and her eyebrows furrowed, she was in the middle of contemplating how the night - or, specifically the eating part of the night - would go, before her thoughts were interupted.
"You okay?" Debby inquired, her perfectly tweezed eyebrows dancing on her forehead.
"Yeah," Diana silently mumbles before going back to looking out the window, realizing two things.
First, she wasn't in the mood to socialize. Second, she couldn't help but notice how a certain brown haired, brown eyed boy kept on shooting her glances, as if she would disappear if he stopped looking. And, to her dismay, she came to the conclusion that she indeed did like that.
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Waking up to the sun beaming through your window should be a calming, beautiful experience - at least, that's what all the movies tend to image. In Diana's wonderful worlds, calming and beautiful would definitely not be words she'd describe the yellow beams of light in her eyes.
Fluttering the open - of course, after trying to block out the annoying light - Diana was greeted with something that was definitely not the sun. Instead, there were two lads - Liam and Zayn - sat on her bed, flash lights in hand.
"Um," she begins, sitting up on her bed with her hands expanded in front of her. "How'd you get in here?"
"A certain peppy red head," Zayn smiles before continuing to play with the flashlight.
"What day is it?" Diana asks, a dazed look on her features, causing a snicker to be emitted from Liam.
"Friday."
"Friday?" She shuffles around. No, it couldn't be. If it was Friday, that meant she should still be at the boy's home.
"But-" she begins, before being cut off.
"You're quite confused in the morning- well, nightly hours, aren't you?" Zayn smirks, flickering the flashlight at her, once again.
"What happened after the zoo? Why aren't I at your apartment?" Diana looked at both of the lads, confusion - and anger - clearly visible in her features.
"Calm down, Di," Liam begins, before settling down beside her on her bed and resting his head on the headboard. Shifting away from him, Diana shoots him an icy glare - which he doesn't see, since his eyes are closed.
"You fell asleep on the couch," Zayn shoots her a small grin before continuing, "we didn't want to wake you and Jake was being loud. We brought you here, I hope you don't mind."
"Okay," Diana mutters, remembering how close the aparentment evidently were.
"So, why are you holding flashlights?"
"To fight off the werewolves," Liam jumps in the conversation, eyes still closed with a small smile playing on his lips.
Looking around the room, she noticed there were sleeping bags scattered across the floor, in an unorganized manner. Through her door, she could cleary identify a mountain of pillows in the middle of her living room - where a coffee table used to be - and said coffee table was pushed against her front door, along with chairs, a lamp and her couch. Shooting a startled - but icy - look at the two guys close to her, she begins to mutter curses.
"Why does my apartment look worse than the zoo we went to?" Diana nearly shrieks, her cheeks boiling up with anger. It was one thing she had to hang out with them against her own will, but having them trash her apartment?
"Werewolves," Liam repeats before opening his eyes and shooting Diana a cheeky look before getting off the bed. "The boys - excluding Zayn and I - and Debby all came over after we got here. They ended up getting chased by our, erm, fans."
Getting off her bed and striding across her small bedroom, avoiding tripping over Zayn who was still in deep interest with his flashlight, Diana only halted once she was right in front of him, their noses almost touching.
"Are you fucking serious?" she punches Liam in the chest, in hopes of a flinch or even a halt of breathing, but all she received was the same old lost puppy dog look. "You guys practically lead your rabid fans to my apartment?"
"Don't call them that!" Liam retaliated, before grabbing Diana's wrists in his hands when she went for another punch. "They're not rabid!"
"You called them werewolves! They are definitely rabid!" She belts out, wiggling out of Liam's grasp before stomping out of her messy bed room, muttering curses as she went.
Watching her stomp away, Liam rolls his chocolate-y eyes and looks at Zayn, whom was laughing his arse off. "What's so funny?"
Standing up off the ground and brushing the invisible dust off his skinny jeans, Zayn smirks at Liam before turning towards the door. Stepping out the threshold of the rude girls bedroom, Zayn whips around to shoot Liam another smirk before leaning on the ledge.
"She's a lot of work, isn't she?" he quirks his eyebrows at his friend before straightening himself up and walking towards the loud noise of yelling and curse words - mostly coming from Diana - and the cries of "don't touch my plushy" - mostly from Harry - leaving Liam dazed and confused.
(A/N) CHAPTER IS NOT EDITED!!! I'm not too fond of this chapter. I was going to cut it in half, but I've reaized this has been quiet slow (and boring), so I want to progess the story and character development a bit quicker. I don't know when the next update will be, but hopefully it'll be sometime this week or next Sunday!
Please give me your feedback, it means the world!♥ Also, I'm not sure who to cast for Debby and Jake so pretty please with a cherry on top comment some ideas! Thank you!
©2013 loushton