"Oh my god, Buzzfeed knows everything," Harry said in amazement while scrolling through his iPhone 6.
He had been glued to the app for quite some time now. The rest of the boys and I were just sitting at the table, light conversations here and there.
"It knows when I'm getting married, how many children I'm going to have and what their names will be, and it knows what type of bread I am," he enthused. "Who would've thought I was banana bread?" He let out a little laugh.
"I'm glad your having fun," I said in amusement looking at him eagerly swipe and tap on his phone screen.
A loud gasp came from him suddenly, causing the boys to turn their heads to him with furrowed brows and Niall, who was falling asleep in his chair, to snap awake.
"There's an article about my Elton John halloween costume," he nearly screamed in excitement. "That was one of my best looks."
I put my hand over my heart and frown at the nostalgia that his words brought me. I can remember the day those pictures came out. I nearly had a heart attack. "That outfit was probably my favorite memory from 2018, hands down."
"Hey! What about the Flicker world tour? That was pretty memorable if I do say so myself," Niall said.
"Guys, I was an X Factor judge. I think that trumps all of yours," Louis competed, sitting back in his seat with a smirk.
"I released some singles and had many different hair colors that year," Zayn added, thinking back to two years ago.
"Don't forget about me!" Liam jumped in. "I released a bunch of music and gave you a ton a Lilo content, which I know you loved."
I nodded along with everything the boys had said, thinking back to that year and remembering everything. "You're right, I did love the Lilo we were getting." I paused for a few moments, thinking of all the memories. "But Harry as Elton still wins."
"You know, I actually went to the Hard Rock hotel and casino where the actual outfit is and asked if I could borrow it for the party," Harry shared, looking off into the distance at the memory. "They wouldn't let me, so I just called Gucci to make one for me." He went back on his phone as if calling Gucci was a common occurrence.
"I have Gucci's phone number too," I lied, trying to make a face that made me look cool. They all gave me looks that said they don't believe a word that's coming out of my mouth. "Okay, fine. I have a business card from a Gucci salesman." They continued to stare. "Gosh! Okay, he doesn't work there anymore and literally has no connection to the brand, but I still have it. I got it when I spent my entire life savings on a perfume there."
"You wouldn't– do you still have the Gucci shopping bag, by any chance?" Harry asked with hope in his wide green eyes.
"Yeah.... why?" I countered, confusion writing on my features.
"Do you think– I don't know, maybe I– could I touch it?" he sputtered out. "It's just, I haven't touched one in so long and yeah."
"Harry, you don't need to touch the bag," Louis rolled his eyes before turning to me. "Now, whats step five, I believe, of your plan?"
"Right, follow me boys," I said, standing up and leaning over to whisper to Harry. "I'll let you have the bag when we're done later." He got excited, doing a quick pump of his fist in the air and following behind.
~
I brought them to a room in my house where they haven't been yet. It was kind of empty, only some chairs and guitars I had put in there for them. On one wall was a fairly large sized mirror. My goal was to get them to sing together again, and I didn't think they could resist the temptation of the guitar.
"This looks like an interrogation room," Liam inquired, looking around the quaint space. Niall had already gone for a guitar. I knew they couldn't resist.
"That's cause it is," I replied nonchalantly, joining them in their gaze around the room.
"Um, not to offend you or anything, but why do you have an interrogation room in your house?" Harry asked, looking over at me.
"I think the question is why don't you have an interrogation room in your house," I shot back. "They're very useful."
They all just slowly nodded, going along with it. Niall has begun to sing some made up song about food and how he was hungry and out of cookies.
"Well, I'll be right back. You guys just... stay here," I told them, letting out a small creepy laugh as I thought about my plan. Jokes on them, I wasn't coming right back.
I walked out the door, quickly turning around, shutting the door and locking it. I heard Louis say "did she just–" followed by a jiggle of the doorknob and a "yeah, she did" from Zayn.
The low, creepy laugh continued to spill from my lips as I entered the room directly next to the one the boys were in. The room looked the same, except for my comfy lounge chair and a mini fridge full of Dr. Pepper. I had a perfect view of the boys thank to the one way glass that filled most of one of the walls.
I sat in my chair, popping open a can, and watched the boys. They all just stood there, not really doing anything, except for Niall who was now singing about potatoes.
About half an hour had passed, and they still weren't singing together liked I wanted them to. I was already on my second drink and was eager for them to get to it. After the tenth time one of them asked what they should do, I decided to help them along using the speaker.
"Dudes!" I screamed into the microphone, causing them all to jump at the sudden voice.
"God?" Harry asked with wide eyes, looking up at the ceiling. I facepalmed but went along with it.
"Wooo, yes, this is God," I said into the mic, trying to sound like a spirit. I think I did pretty good, not to brag or anything.
"You sound like a demented lamb," Louis mocked, laughing at his words.
Harry smacked him on the shoulder. "Hush, that's God you're talking to," he whisper yelled. "He didn't really mean that," he apologized to the ceiling, now back at his original volume.
"That's alright. Now, God wants you to–" I continued in my spirit voice before I was interrupted.
"What are you wearing, God from the ceiling?" Louis challenges.
"Uhh... khakis?"
I heard Harry mumble a "makes sense" while nodding his head at the same time Liam asked, "Isn't that a State Farm commercial?"
"God needs insurance too, okay? And God wants you to sit your gorgeous butts in those chairs and sing together like a band again," I snapped, completely losing my spirit voice. After a few deep breaths, I squeaked out a tiny "please?"
"Come on, guys! We can't just ignore God," Harry urged them, grabbing a guitar and sitting in the seat next to Niall.
"Mate, you know that's not actually God, right?" Zayn asked as he grabbed a guitar as well and sat in an empty chair.
"Well then who was– ohhh," the realization finally hit him. "That actually makes way more sense."
The boys sat there, playing random chords on the guitars, tuning them a bit as they played. Liam started to play a melody that I immediately recognized. The boys did as well, looking over at Liam and joint in. It wasn't until Liam started singing that I almost started crying.
(a/n: i would suggest listening to once in a lifetime here)
"Once in a lifetime it's just right
We made no mistakes
Not even a landslide or riptide
Could take it all away," Liam angelic voice filled the room.
"Somehow it feels like nothing has changed
Right now my heart is beating the same
Out loud someone's calling my name
It sounds like you," Harry followed, and that's when I lost it.
Tears fully flowed at the beautiful sight of them singing together again. They all joined in unison for the chorus, sounding just like they used to, which I was a little surprised at. I mean, they haven't sang together in years.
"Once in a lifetime you were mine," Liam finished the song.
The boys stayed silent for a few moments after the song was finished, just glancing between each other.
"I've really missed singing with you guys," Harry was the first to speak up.
"Me too," Louis added, smiling slightly.
"Why did we let an alleged wink break us apart?" Liam asked with a chuckle. The rest of the boys join in the laughter.
"Pretty stupid reason to fight now that I think about it," Zayn said.
"Let's make a pact, yeah? That no wink, no matter who from, will tear us apart again," Niall proposed to the boys who all pondered it.
I felt like an overly proud mom as they agreed to the deal and stood to do a group hug. I can't believe that I, Nina Kirkby, single handedly brought One Direction back together. They were no longer five directions.
"Alexa, play The Boys Are Back from High School Musical 3," I said, immediately doing a happy dance once it started playing.
I was twerking up a storm to Troy Bolton when the door to my right flew open, causing me to pause mid twerk.
"Umm... how did you–"
"You left the key next to the door in there," Zayn answered.
I stood there awkwardly, still in my mid twerk position as we just looked at each other.
"You were gonna have a twerk party and not invite me?" Harry asked in an offended tone, walking over and joining me. We both started dancing to the music, Harry doing his version of the twerk.
"Yes, Harold! Twerk like it's the 2013 TCAs!" I cheered as we continued to dance. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm twerking with Harry Styles to High School Musical."
Soon the rest of the boys shared a glance and entered the room to join our dance party.
a/n: only two more chapters of this book! i'm sad it's coming to an end, but this isn't the end for Nina! i already have somewhat of a sequel planned.
all my love, c.