Chapter 8
Emily's P.O.V
We were all sitting on the sofas talking when the boys arrived.
“VAS HAPPENIN?” The door burst open, and all three boys piled into the apartment. Their sudden entrance made us all jump, and we all spun round to face the door. Zayn was at the front, but as they came through; his feet got tangled up, sending him flying to the floor. To add to that, because the boys had piled in, Niall and Liam both tripped over Zayn’s body on the floor, causing a mass pile up.
“BUNDLE!” Louis shouted, leaping over the back of the sofa and diving onto the other boys. Eleanor, Harry and I cracked up with laughter as the other boys all shouted out in protest.
“MY FOOD!” I heard an Irish voice shout, before then seeing Niall emerging out from the heap, collecting up four, I think, Tesco’s bags, jammed packed with food. One by one, he inspected the contents of each bag, a frown evident on his brow.
“Niall we are never going to get through all that food!” Eleanor exclaimed, standing up from the sofa to go over and greet the boys. Niall looked up, shock written across his face.
“Of course you’re not!” He exclaimed, before then holding up one of the bags. “This bag is for you lot. The rest is mine!” He smiled cheekily, and then made his way over to the kitchen to sort out the food.
As I watched the other boys get to their feet and greet one another, I felt a hand touch my arm, and turned to see Harry smiling at me.
“Come on,” His husky voice brought goose bumps to my skin. “Let’s go and say hi to everyone!” I gulped, before vigorously nodding my head at him. He smiled in return, and then stood up from the sofa, pulling me up with him. Snaking an arm round my waist, Harry led me over to where everyone was gathered.
“Boys, I want you all to meet Emily,” He said, his grip on my waist tightening slightly. “Properly, this time!” He added, a small smirk playing around the edge of his lips.
“Hey Emily!” They all chorused, smiling at me, before each giving me a hug in turn. I wasn’t really prepared for the hugs, but oh well! They were a bit awkward though seeing as Harry didn’t remove his hand from my waist the whole time. Once the greetings were over, we made our way over to the sofas, and all squished onto them, whilst Liam and Niall took to sitting on the floor.
“So Emily,” Niall began, “How long have you lived in London for?”
And so I repeated my story to them. I told them that I had moved down here about a month ago, due to wanting a change in scenery. I told them a bit about my past, and about Keira, but I changed the subject as soon as I could. I instead found out all about Liam, Zayn and Nialls pasts, and what they would also be doing now, had they not got through the X-Factor.
After about an hour and a half, Louis suddenly shot up from his seat.
“MOVIE TIME!” He exclaimed, helping Liam and Niall up from the floor. Everyone started to stand up, and I turned to Harry.
“Why is everyone getting up?”
“They’re going to the cinema room.” He smirked, pointing towards the door next to the kitchen. My eyes widened.
“You have a cinema room?” I squeaked. Slightly embarrassing, but a cinema room? Seriously? Harry chuckled.
“Yeah! It’s pretty neat too! Come on, if we don’t go and have our say, Liam will get in there and choose Toy Story, again!” Harry rolled his eyes, before getting to his feet. I chuckled, stretching my arms up above my head and cracking my toes.
“Help me up Haz?” I smiled innocently up at him, holding my arms out. He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Seriously?” He questioned.
“Please?” I begged, using my best puppy dog eyes. Harry looked down at me, and I watch as the expression in his eyes softened.
“Fine!” He huffed, grabbing hold of my hand. As soon as our skin touched, sparks shot around my body, and a small gasp left my lips. I’m positive Harry felt it too, his grip on my hand tightened, and his eyes connected with mine. As I looked into those beautiful pools of green, I felt myself falling for him. Is there really anything wrong with that? Am I just being stupid? It wouldn’t be so difficult being Harry’s girlfriend would it? I mean, there would be a few pictures, but that’s about it. I wouldn’t be recognised, I’ve changed my hair! I admit, not much, but it’s different! Dad probably didn’t take much notice anyway! But to be Harrys girlfriend…
A cough brought me out of my thoughts, and I pulled my eyes away from Harrys gaze. He pulled me up from the sofa, but quickly dropped my hand and strode away and walked into the mystery ‘cinema room’. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I can’t think like that. To begin with, Harry doesn’t even feel that way about me, so there’s no use fantasising about it. And secondly, it’s too risky… far too risky. I began to make my way over to the other room when a voice stopped me.
“Emily, can you help me with some of this food please?” I turned to see Niall standing behind the bar, food and bowls spread out in front of him.
“Sure thing!” I smiled, walking over to stand opposite him. “What can I do?”
“Can you put those crisps in that bowl, and then the Haribos into this bowl.” He told me, indicating to me what he meant as he spoke. “I need to get the popcorn going…” He frowned, patting his pockets and looking all around him.
“What’ve you lost?”
“The popcorn…” He replied distantly, whilst rummaging through all the wrappers and bags strewn across the kitchen. I laughed, watching his desperate attempt to find his food.
“Minor setback there!” I chuckled, scanning the counters, just in case he was missing the obvious. My eyes caught something, and I let out a bark of laughter. Nialls head snapped up, and he gave me a quizzical look.
“What….?” He asked, cocking his head to one side.
“Niall do you have eyes?”
“Umm…yeah?”
“And common sense?” A few more giggles escaped my lips.
“Well, debatable, but I try to?” He was beginning to look really confused now.
“Then where would the most sensible place to put the MICROWAVE popcorn be?” I said, emphasising on the word ‘microwave’. He frowned for a second, before realization crossed his face. His eyes darted over to the microwave, and he slapped his hand across his forehead. I couldn’t contain my laughter anymore, and I had to grip the edge of the bar to stop me from falling over.
“I’m such an idiot!” Niall chuckled, walking over and sorting the popcorn out, that just so happened to be sitting right in front of the microwave. Once my laughter had died down, I continued to sort out the food Niall had instructed me to.
“So where abouts do you live then?” I asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
“Well, I live in the apartment across the hall, and Liam and Zayn live in the two downstairs.”
“That’s actually pretty cool! It didn’t even cross my mind to think who lived in the other apartments in this building!” I chuckled, “So you must have like giant sleep overs every night or something?”
“Not exactly!” Niall laughed. “Our work makes us pretty tired, so normally when we get the chance we just want to sleep most of the time. But we try and get together like this at least twice during the week, where we can just chill without the management breathing down our backs!”
“Sounds like a good plan to me!” I smiled. I liked Niall. He seemed really genuine and friendly. Someone easy to talk to. I liked that.
“Ready to go in then?” Niall asked, picking up two massive bowls of popcorn.
“Sure am!” I grinned, grabbing my bowls and following Niall towards the cinema room. The sight that I met when I walked through the door almost made the bowls of food slip through my fingers. On the wall to my left was…well, a monster of a T.V, if you could even call it that. A huge flat screen spread out, covering the entire wall! There were a few games consoles next to it, along with a DVD player. On the right side of the room, three sofas were placed around the edges of the walls, with multiple bean bags thrown in the middle, with a small coffee table placed in the centre. Surround sound speakers covered the walls…so this is where all their money went then. I’d never seen a room anything like this. A few chuckles caught my attention, and I realised that I had just been standing there staring wondrously around the room.
“Pretty cool isn’t it?” Niall said, nudging my side with his elbow.
“Umm…wow!” I didn’t have any other words to describe it. Just…wow.
“Come on,” Niall laughed, “Put that food on here!” I followed Niall over to the coffee table, and placed the bowls of food down. Louis and Eleanor were cuddled up on one of the sofas; they really were the cutest couple! Harry was sat on the sofa against the back wall, whilst Liam and Zayn were sprawled across the floor, resting on the bean bags. As soon as my hands left the bowl, the two of them dived in and made wild grabs for the crisps. I laughed at them, feeling myself relaxing more and more every minute I spent with them.
I looked up, and met Harry’s eyes. He smiled at me, and patted the spot next to him. Looks like he got over our little ‘moment’ earlier then! Grinning, I walked over a plopped myself down next to him. Casually, he swung his arm up and placed it around my shoulder, pulling my body closer against him. I nestled my head against the side of his chest, and tucked my legs up underneath me. I shouldn’t really be doing this. I don’t want to lead him on…I don’t want to lead myself on! But who cares? I deserve to feel comfortable and happy don’t I? After all the shit in my past, why can’t I just be happy? Is it really so hard?
Sighing, I snuggled further into him, and I felt his hand slip down from my shoulders and settle on my waist. I felt a blush creep up to my cheeks, and was thankful for the dim light so that no one could see it.
“So what film are we watching?” At least, I think that’s what Liam said. It was quite hard to decipher seeing as he had a mouth full of food. Niall walked over to a cabinet and pulled the door open. Inside there were rows up rows of DVDs. Niall began to filter through them, shouting out a few suggestions every now and then, only to have them turned down by one of the boys every time.
“Guys, can we just quit all this nonsense and just accept that we are going to watch Toy Story please?” Liam suddenly exclaimed, getting up from the floor with a huff.
“Liiiiii, do we have to?” Louis pouted.
“Well do you have any other suggestions?” Silence. “I didn’t think so.” Smugness radiated out of Liam as he made his way over to the DVD played to put the film in.
“How many times have you watched this?” I whispered, tilting my face up to look at Harry.
“This must be at least the 30th time!” Harry sighed, looked down at me and flashing that cheeky grin of his.
“Jeez!” I muttered, turning back round to face the T.V. I felt Harry’s body shake with a silent laugh beneath me, and the movement was oddly relaxing. I settled the side of my face against his chest, and I could faintly hear the beating of his heart. I smiled to myself, but my eyes caught Nialls. He raised his eyebrows at me, a smirk written across his face. What’s that for? I threw his a questioning look back, mouthing ‘what’, but he just shook his head and turned away, settling himself down into a comfy position amongst the bean bags.
Everyone chatted whilst the adverts played, but once receiving a stern telling off from Liam, everyone was quiet when the film started. It was quite cute really, watching Liam. It was like he was a little child again!
To be honest, I actually quite enjoyed the film, it made me laugh! I stayed snuggled against Harry throughout the whole thing, and occasionally I would feel him give my waist a slight squeeze, but I didn’t think much of it.
As the end credits began to roll, everyone stretched out, evidently pleased it was over. However, it didn’t last long.
“I think…” Liam began…
“Uh oh, this isn’t going to end well…” Zayn muttered. Liam shot him a glare, but continued on.
“I think that we should have a Toy Story marathon!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together, his eyes shining with excitement. It was truly adorable! I didn’t have a problem with this, but everyone else groaned, rolling their eyes at Liam.
“Seriously Li?” Harry chuckled, sitting up on the sofa. I went to get up from his chest, but Harry seemed to have other plans.
“No you don’t!” He muttered, grabbing hold of my waist, keeping me pinned to his side. I let out a small giggle, and threw my arm over his chest, snuggling down further. He was so comfy it was un-real. I was aware of some chatter going on around me, but I wasn’t really paying much attention. I hadn’t slept well last night, probably due to nerves for today, and I think the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with me. I remember Liam hushing everyone as Toy Story 2 began, but it was only a matter of minutes into the film before sleep took over my body.
“Careful Lou, don’t wake her!” I heard a voice whisper. I was aware of two arms underneath me, one looped under my knees, and the other behind my back. I felt myself being lifted, however, the person who had hold of me didn’t have a good grasp, and my legs slipped, causing me to whack my feet against the side of the sofa.
“Lou!” I heard Harry exclaim. “What did I just say about waking her?”
“Too late…” I mumbled, opening my eyes to meet Harry’s anxious gaze.
“You alright love?” He whispered, sweeping some of the lose hair out of my face.
“Yeah,” I smiled, “Just a little tired.” I laughed at this. Way to state the obvious! It was then that I realised that Louis was still cradling me in his arms. “Err…Lou?”
“Oh right, sorry!” He chuckle, placing me back down on my feet.
“So where were you taking me anyway?” I turned to Harry, seeing as Louis had walked off to Eleanor.
“Well, everyone is staying over tonight, but you looked really tired, so we were gonna go and put you on my bed so you had somewhere comfy to sleep. But Lou, being the un-coordinated person he is, managed to wake you up!” Harry explained, before then shooting a glare in Louis’ direction.
“Oh okay!” I laughed, “Well don’t worry about it! I want to join in the sleepover anyways!” I smiled at Harry, giving him a playful punch on the arm.
“Awesome!” Harry enthused, before mumbling something about getting duvets and walking off. I went over and sat on the sofa next to Eleanor, who had changed into a pair of sweats and one of Louis’ t-shirts.
“Shoot.” I muttered. No pyjamas. I can’t sleep in these clothes can I?
“What’s up?” Eleanor asked, tilted her head to one side.
“I wasn’t expecting a sleepover…I don’t have any pyjamas or anything.”
“Oh don’t worry about it,” She smiled, sitting back against the sofa and flicking her hair off of her shoulder. “Just go ask Harry if you can borrow something!”
“Is that not too weird?” I questioned. Isn’t that something couples do? And Harry and I certainly are not a couple!
“Course not!” Eleanor retorted. “Just go ask!”
I got up from the sofa and navigated my way through the mess of bean bags and out into the living room. I walked up to Harry’s room and rapped my knuckles against the wood.
“Come in,” A muffled voice called out. I pushed the door open, to see Harry sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands.
“Are you alright Harry?” I asked, taking a seat on the bed next to him. At the sound of my voice, Harrys head snapped up, and he rubbed his hand viciously over his thighs.
“Yeah yeah I’m fine, just a bit tired,” He smiled half-heartedly at me.
“Well that makes two of us then!” I giggled. “Umm… Harry, could I borrow some old clothes? See I don’t have any pyjamas with me or anything…”
“Sure!” He exclaimed, leaping up and pulling open a drawer. He produced a pair of sweats and a baggy top, and handed them over to me.
“They’ll be a bit big, but they will be better than nothing…” A thoughtful look crossed his face. “Well, maybe not better than nothing, nothing would be better. But you get my drift...” Harry grinned, giving me a cheeky wink. I felt heat rise up to my cheeks.
“Harry!” I cried, slapping his arm. “Don’t think things like that!” I grinned at him, hoping that my blush wasn’t too obvious. Harry chuckled, rocking back on his heels and shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Anyway, bathrooms through there,” He nodded towards a door on the other side of his room. “We are sleeping in the cinema room, so come through when you’re ready.” He gave me one last smile before turning and walking out his room, closing the door quietly behind him.
I sighed, placing the clothes on his bed and running a hand through my hair. I really liked the boys, I really did. I just wasn’t sure whether getting close to them was a good thing to do. I really can’t deal with getting any sort of publicity. It’s bound to end badly.
I slipped out of my shorts and top, and then pulled on Harrys clothes. They smelt….heavenly. There is no other word to describe it. I made my way into the bathroom, a small smile playing on my lips. Sitting next to the sink was a bottle of mouthwash, so I decided to use that. Didn’t want to disgust anyone with smelly breath! Once I had finished with the mouthwash, I had the make-up dilemma. Do I, leave it on, and face panda eyes in the morning? Or do I take it off now, and deal with the consequences of them seeing me with no make-up? I decided to take it off. I think I will look better without the panda eyes if I’m honest. The cool feeling of the water splashing against my face felt good, and once my face was washed, I rested my hands on the edge of the sink, and just let my skin soak up the water. After what felt like an eternity, I straightened up and dried my face on a towel I found. I hope Harry doesn’t mind me using all his stuff. Oh well…
I made me way out of the bathroom, and noticed my clothes spread out across Harry’s floor. I gathered them up and folded them, placing them on the foot of his bed. I took the hairband out from my hair, and let my hair fall down around my face. If I slept with it up, the knots it would be in in the morning would be impossible to deal with! I ruffled my hair slightly, and then made my way out of Harry’s bedroom, and across to the cinema room.
I hesitated outside the door. What if I look a mess? What if they all turn their noses up in disgust when they see me like this? Only one way to find out. I let out a shaky breath and opened the door.
I felt everyone’s eyes focus on me, but everyone just smiled, and then resumed their conversation. However, one pair of eyes did catch my attention. I watched as Harry’s eyes scanned my body up and down, his cheeks colouring slightly as he noticed me watching him. I smiled and made my way over to him.
The bean bags had all been pushed aside, and now the floor was cover with blankets and duvets, forming some sort of large bed thing. Eleanor and Lou were cuddled up to one side, wrapped up in their own little world, whilst Harry, Liam, Zayn and Niall sat in a little circle in the middle of the blanket pile. I went and sat myself down between Harry and Niall.
“Bit big aren’t they?” Harry smirked, looking down at me.
“Just a tad,” I grinned, pulling the top out to emphasize how enormous it was on me.
“Suits you!” Zayn winked, grinning at me.
“It’s pretty comfy actually!” I admitted, smiling back. The boys laughed, and then began talking about something. I tried to pay attention, but I was so tired, the words just weren’t sinking in. I don’t really remember what happened after that, I just remember at some point someone laying me down on the floor and placing a blanket over me. They then whispered “Goodnight beautiful” in my ear, and stroked my hair softly. That was the last thing I remember, before, for the second time that evening, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
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really sorry it took so long to update, I am just soo busy with work at the moment!
HOPE YOU ENJOYED? :)
comment / fan? I would really love to know what you guys all think about it! :)
LOTS OF LOVE X