TAYLOR’S POV
I woke up stretching my long pale limbs to shake the last ounces of sleep still lingering in my body. Looking around my still unfamiliar bedroom, my sleepy mind still processing that London was my new home. Getting out of bed, I turned on my iPod and a wide toothy smile burst across my cheeks as the unmistakable opening notes of What Make You Beautiful blared from my docking station. This song always managed to make me smile, it was catchy. Yes, One Direction did happen to be my favourite band and I loved how their melodic voices brought a smile to my face, something that seemed to be happening in increasing frequency since I had begun to settle in my new home. I sauntered into the kitchen smelling the fresh pot of coffee and poured myself a mug. Sitting next to my mother who was reading the daily paper, I started to sip my coffee whilst thinking over the past 2 weeks.
“Morning Mum” I said.
“Morning, Taylor. How did you sleep, love?” my mother replied glancing up from her paper briefly.
“Mmmm, alright, I guess. I might head out today” I mentioned.
“Oh, I have to stay late at the office so you’ll have to get your own dinner. I’ve put some money on the counter, just get whatever takeout you can find and don’t get too lost” she said.
While most Australian teenagers spent the weeks before their 18th birthday planning a huge party I spent it packing my life into boxes in preparation for my new life. My mother had been given a job offer she couldn’t refuse, in London. Thankfully her new employers had organised a flat for us to live in as they said it was the least they could do. A week ago we had moved in, thankfully Mum and I both had current passports from our summer vacation.
Walking towards the sink, I rinse my mug and wandered back to my room to see what the twitterverse was up to. I had always followed a lot of people in London, most were Directioners who followed my Tumblr blog. After logging in I read through the first few tweets on my timeline. There seemed to be a recurring theme, “ONE DIRECTION ARE DOING A SIGNING IN LONDON!”. I quickly found the information and Googled the address and it turned out it was the one closest to our flat. I had 3 hours to get ready and be there before the crowds.
After a quick shower, I grabbed my new sequined electric blue long singlet and a black cardigan and paired it with my dark jeans and stylish ugg boots. I hadn’t worn my uggs in a while and was glad to find they were still comfortable. I grabbed my keys and threw my iPod, headphones, wallet and mobile into my handbag along with my “Australian Souvenir Edition: Up All Night” and a Sharpie (just in case). I was wearing very minimal makeup and decided I looked presentable enough. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked out of the complex and headed to my shiny, new model, Voltz Wagon Bug and headed of towards the mall.
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ZAYN’S POV
The lads and I walked into the crowed shopping complex, in east London. As usual Liam was chatting with Niall about what food the blonde lad wanted for lunch after the signing. I don’t know why they bothered because all the leprechaun could think of eating was Nandos. Niall bounced happily in the direction of the tables dragging a smiling Liam along with him. They stood and waved at the crowd before them. Louis and Harry were being their usual childish selves, cracking jokes and giggling to each other like school girls as they ran through the crowd bounding towards Niall and Liam. I just walked casually towards them playing with one of the many bracelets that adorned m left wrist.
Joining the lads I stood behind the chair closest to our exit. Liam stood to my left with Niall wedged between him and Louis, leaving Harry on the other end. Settling into my chair and removing my jacket, I scanned the faces in the crowd. In the middle of the line was a stunning brunette with long shiny hair pulled into a high pony tail. My eyes trailed over her pale white skin and back to her face. Our eyes locked.
Shit! She caught me staring at her. Why was she staring at me? Why am I still gawking? Oh my god! She’s going to think I’m absolutely mental. I dragged my eyes away from her and looked down at my wrist and began to fidget nervously with my bracelets again until Liam nudged me giving me a questioning glance with a raised eyebrow.
My eyes unconsciously flickered back to the girl who was wearing little to no makeup and I thought she looked to be 17 or 18. Liam nudged me again obviously he had followed my gaze and spotted the girl. When he turned to me smiling I just nodded and called Niall, Lou and Harry’s attention for a moment.
“Look lads, there is a really pretty girl out there and I want to ask her on a date, but I can’t do it in front of management” I stated to the four intrigued boys as we all let out a sigh.
“Give us a sign and Boo and I will distract everyone” Harry smirked with a wicked glint in his eye.
“Be careful, lad” I warned “but give me enough time to get her number. She’s the one in the blue shiny top” I finished, smiling like a fool as my eyes found hers again.
Louis and Harry shared a mischievous look and I’m pretty sure that I didn’t care what they did, I just hoped they didn’t push managements buttons too much. We all returned to our seats and began to sign various copies of our album, posters and merchandise.
Smiling politely and making simple comments to the girls that passed, I didn’t think too much about what I was doing. If the fans noticed me being all distracted, they would just past it off as me living up to my moody and mysterious demeanour. Sometimes, like now, that label was good. Between each fan my eyes kept flickering to find HER in the crowd and with each step towards the front of the queue I got a better glimpse of her.
My heart fluttered and my hands shook as she finally made the short trip from the front of the line to Harry and Louis. They glanced down the table at me and I subtly nodded. The two lads were extra nice to her, creating a light blush on her cheeks that I couldn’t help but find utterly adorable. She moved onto Niall and both cracked a wide grin and giggled at the Irish lads joke. I had signed the last two autographs so quickly I had no one standing in front of me as she approached Liam.
Liam greeted her with a bright smile asking how her day had been so far. Our eyes caught again as she replied “oh yeah, pretty good. The screaming is a bit overwhelming. I don’t know how you guys can do this without getting a migraine” in her smooth accent.
“It does take some getting used to. It was nice to meet you. Hopefully, we’ll see you again soon” Liam grinned.
I kicked his foot hard under the table and he chuckled sliding her CD towards me.
“Vas happening, gorgeous?” I said in what the boys had dubbed my ‘vas happening accent’ gesturing for her to lean forward a little so I could whisper in her ear. She complied.
“Okay, don’t freak out but Larry are going to make a scene” I said.
The fan in front of Louis had given him a beautiful red rose and he thanked her kindly but jumped up out of his seat to the end of the table Harry was sitting on. Harry’s posture was tense like he was thinking really hard, trying to figure out what Louis was doing. Louis got down on knee and presented Harry with the rose. While all the attention was turned towards a shocked Harry I made my move.
She looked at me questioningly. I shrugged and gave her a toothy smile.
“What’s all that about?” she quivered.
“I wanted to talk to you so I told the lads to attract all the attention to them” I said with a rosy colour rising to my cheeks.
“Oh, ok, cool. But why did you want to chat to me?” she smiled.
“Do you want to catch up after I finish here?” I asked her nervously.
“Um, okay” she agreed.
Harry and Louis were hugging and pressing small pecks to each other’s cheeks. I shot a nod at Louis, who smiled over Harry’s shoulder just as Paul stood in to pull the boys apart. The girl grabbed left wrist and the sharpie laying on the table and neatly printer her number onto my skin. She covered it with my bracelets to not arise any suspicion from any other fans. She passed me the sharpie with a wink then I signed her CD finally placing a cute little heart next to my autograph.
“This is the Australian CD” I said.
“Yeah, I just moved here last week from Australia” the girl laughed.
“I’ll text you later and we can meet up. It was great meeting you” I said, sincerity dripping from every syllable.
The rest of the signing pasted in a blur. In between making small talk with the fans, answering questions and signing their merch I couldn’t help but continuously glance at my left wrist. The number was there. It wasn’t a dream. She wasn’t a dream.
As we all piled into the vans that would take us back to our hotel, I fished my phone out of my jeans and attempted to write a small message.
<Hey, hope the rest of your day wasn’t too hectic. I hope we can catch up soon. ZM :) x>
Typing in her number and hitting send was suddenly overcome with a huge rush of nerves. I ran my hand through my hair. I didn’t even know her name…