"Go over what you want and charge it head on."
Ela's pov
I watched, quite amused, as Niall struggled to be polite throughout the evening.
His responses mainly consisted of grunts and eyerolls.
"So as I was running down the field, ball in hand, I hear Coach yell from the sidelines "MICK! Look to your left!" See, coach thought I was gonna get tackled from my left but I KNEW it was a trick play, so I faked left and dodged right and BAM! Touchdown!" Mick continued on with his story.
"Remember that Alexa?" He continued on "That was a great game."
"Yeah I remember it.. It was a good game." Alexa smiled over at him politely.
I glanced again over at Niall. Mumbling profanities under his breath he looked less than pleased with Mick's story.
"So did you win?" Louis asked from the love seat where Erin and him were all cuddly.
"Hell yeah we won!" Mick yelled, throwing his hands up.
"Hey Niall, Alexa tells me your into sports?" Mick asked casually turning his attention towards the pouting Niall.
Niall only nodded in response. His eyes held a fierce intensity. I don't think I've ever seen them so intense before.
"Cool.. We should toss the ball around sometime?"
Niall raised his eyebrows shrugging.
"Sure." he barked out before getting off the couch. "I'm going to get a drink."
I turned to look at Alexa, signaling her to follow Niall and go talk to him.
However she didn't have the chance to, as her attention was averted back to Mick.
"Hey Alexa, can I talk to you for a minute?" I heard Mick quietly ask Alexa. I continued my listening however, anxious to see what he wanted to know.
"Oh, uhm sure." she replied, looking a bit frazzled.
I watched as they both stalked over to the balcony, stepping out into the frigid air.
Deciding it was best to console a sullen Niall, I followed him to the kitchen. Turning the corner I heard the voice that gave me butterflies, Harry's. I paused, eavesdropping yet again, to listen to Harry and Niall talking.
"So coach was yelling at me from the sidelines but I knew more than him cause I'm Mick!" Niall blabbers on, imitating Mick and making fun of him.
"Mate. You just need to take charge. Go over what you want and charge it head on! That's what I did and look what happened!"
My insides turned warm realizing what Harry was talking about. Me. Him chasing me and "taking charge" as he put it, caused me to finally give in to him. Maybe Niall should listen to him.
"Well..Ela was single when you got her.. Now Mick is talking to Alexa. I just can't walk over and "take charge" as you put it." Niall sighed.
"Bullshit! That prick Kendall was all over Ela! Hell, they were dating and I took care of that! You can do the same! Plus Mick and Alexa aren't together." Harry continued on encouraging him.
"Yeah, plus she's not even into him." I surprised them both as I pranced into the kitchen, catching both of them off guard.
Harry's cheeks were tinted a bright shade of red. He knew he was caught. I giggled at his embarrassment.
"What do you mean? Of course Alexa likes Mick! Look at them!" Niall slammed his hands against the counter. His frustration was shining through.
"Niall! She doesn't like him! Trust me on this! She's just too nice to tell him to bug off. Go talk to her now!" I said pushing him through.
With a few more shoves, I manage to send him off to the direction of the balcony. He sighed deeply before opening the balcony door and stepping out.
I turned to see a still bright red Harry.
"Take charge..hmm I like it." I poked fun at him.
"Yeah yeah..it worked didn't it?" He said grabbing my hand and pulling me into his warm side.
"Yeah, it did."
***
Alexa's pov
I followed Mick out to the balcony. I had a feeling what he was about to ask, and I wasn't looking forward to it.
"Alexa.." He said turning towards me "I think us seeing each other again happened for a reason. I've had so much fun today and well, do you think you might want to go out with me..Again?"
My stomach dropped. I liked Mick, don't get me wrong. But I only liked Mick as a friend. Not as a boyfriend.
"Mick.." I started before taking a deep breath. "I had a lot of fun with you today too, but, I'm sorry. We didn't work out for a reason and I just don't think we should try it again.."
"I get it.. I have to say I was expecting that..but can't blame a guy for trying right?"
I smiled in relief. The one thing that I always liked about Mick was that he never made a big deal about stuff.
He was always quick to drop things.
"Thanks Mick..for understanding." I touched his arm gently.
"Still friends though right?" He questioned.
"Of course!" I punched his arm.
"Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt...actually I did. Alexa, can I talk to you?" I turned, my stomach filled with butterflies, as Niall emerged from the balcony doors.
I turned to Mick.
"I should be going anyway..Alexa, I'll talk to you soon. Thanks for today..Niall..take care of her." he said clapping him on the back, then exiting smoothly.
I bid Mick goodbye, then turned to Niall.
"Hey.. Sorry about today..I just haven't seen him in a long time you know?" I spoke softly.
"No biggie.." He said taking the seat next to me.
"How was the beach day?" I asked curiously.
"Alright..would've been better with you." he said hushed, looking straight ahead.
"Thank Niall."
"Alexa, I want to talk to you about something."
I nodded. "Okay shoot."
"Do you like Mick?" He blurted out suddenly.
"What? No! No, definitely not. Mick and I had a past, have a past," I corrected myself "but the feelings I once had for him are long gone."
His shoulders relaxed, as if he was bearing weights ontop of them for awhile and he just finally got to take them off.
"Well I'm glad to hear that." He hushed.
I blushed, not being able to hide the smile. Niall gave me feelings I couldn't control.
"Would you go on a date with me?"
My stomach flipped.
"I would love to."
"So Ela was right." he smiled to himself, shaking his head.
"Hmm?" I questioned, laughing along side him.
"Nothing..not important." he grinned over at me.
"Okay?" I joked.
"Do you like seafood?" He blurted out, intently watching my reaction.
"Yes! I do."
"Perfecto.. how about Saturday?" He asked smiling one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen.
"Saturday then." I smiled over at him.
***
When Saturday rolled around it was safe to say it did not start out well. At all.
We were currently at an interview.
"Well the tour bus is huge so we actually have room for like eight people." Maura said, answering the interview host question.
"And you all get along well." Sharon, the host herself asked, directing the question towards Maura.
"Oh yes. We are best friends and enjoy every second of being together." Maura answered smoothly.
I was feeling pretty confident. The interview was almost over and it went well. No awkward questions came up or anything like that. Or so I thought.
But I knew it was going to go sour when Kendall was brought up.
"So Ela my dear... No more Kendall?" she asked faking concern.
"Nope." Ela said slightly popping the p.
"Well I would say it must be hard for you, but it seems like you've found yourself a better replacement already! In fact, all you girls seem to all have cozied up to a special someone." Sharon, the bitch said, clapping her hands together.
"One Direction!" She continued on.
"And we have pictures!"
Immediately a large picture was brought up of my band members, each with a member of One Direction.
"Alexa, tell us dear, are you and Niall dating?" She said crossing her hands over her chest.
The way she said dear really irked me. Fake sympathy was implied all the way.
I gulped and looked at the picture displayed for national television to feast their eyes upon. Niall was kissing my cheek. A harmless gesture it was, but to the public, it would send them into a frenzy.
"Niall is- uhm- he's.." I stuttered unsure of what to say.
Niall only asked me on a date. I don't think we could say we were officially dating. Although I do love the sound of it.
"Niall's so funny! He always makes us laugh." Lauren said, speaking for me and ending my awkward silence.
I mentally thanked her for the save she just gave me.
Sharon choose to ignore the picture and carry on by proudly displaying a new picture. I immediately felt bad as Harry and Ela were shown proudly for everyone to see.
Their picture was not so innocent. From an outside view it looked as if the two were attacking each other's faces with their own.
"How intimate you two are!" Sharon said nudging Ela's leg. Her face immediately rose to a red blush.
"I must admit how odd it seems that the two bands meshed so perfectly! Matches made in heaven!"
Sharon kept spewing.
Not wanting to listen to her speak anymore, I interrupted her.
"One Direction is so amazing! We love hanging with them and we've all became such amazing pals. Nothing more to say about it!" I shrugged silently challenging Sharon to say anything else. However my glare went unnoticed by Sharon as she continued to attack Ela.
"Well, we all know Ela is no longer a role model now that she jumps from guy to guy!" Sharon said laughing. I turned to see Ela hang her head dejectedly. How rude of Sharon the bitch to attack us like this. If only she knew what Kendall was like.
"It didn't work out between Kendall and Ela, Sharon." I snapped at the rude interview host.
"Alexa, the happy go lucky one of the band, giving attitude? I'm shocked!" Sharon said insulting me.
I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. I was too frustrated to come up with a remark.
"Well that does it everyone! Your favorite role models!" Sharon said signaling to all of us with her hands. "Might want to rethink that one.." She muttered under her breath.
I stifled a giggle upon hearing Maura's mumbling remark, "Bitch."
***
"Sharon is such a twat.. Everyone knows how convoluted she is..don't worry." Niall told me as he swigged a sip of his beer. I listened to everything he had to say so far, and our date was already raising my spirits.
I admired how handsomely simple he looked from across the table, in just a T-shirt and cargo shorts.
"Yeah but I hate that feeling..knowing she won." I said shrugging my shoulders and leaning against my chair.
"But did she really win? She ended up looking like a bitch and you ended up looking like a loyal friend.. I think your the one who actually won." Niall stated.
My heart grew warm at his comment. He made me feel so much better already.
"I never thought of it that way." I stated dumbly.
"But hey..what's done is done now.. You don't need to worry about it anyway. Your fan base is incredibly huge and loyal. Like 78% of the population favors you guys." he stated nonchalantly.
I stared at him wide eyes.
"78%.. How'd you know that? Even I didn't know that?" I gaped.
He blushed widely, stumbling over his words.
"Well..I'm a fact guy.. Come to me and I'll give you some random facts." he sputtered awkwardly.
I raised my eyebrows up at him skeptically.
"That is the oddest and weirdest statement ever." I laughed.
He continued his blushing and took the moment to take another long sip of his drink.
This time though, I took the moment to admire how his lips touched the bottle so perfectly.
Oh god Alexa. Snap out of it!