One Direction Preferences

Childhood Promises- Part 2

Zayn:
From your spot at the sink you could see your fiancées car disappear from the driveway, the pouring rain made the image much harder to define however. Instinctively you continued to wash the morning dishes, minutes passed before headlights pulled into the front driveway, assuming your fiancée had forgotten something you smiled to yourself and rolled your eyes. But it was a glimpse, through the rain, of a different car that made you realise it wasn’t. “hello-“ you go to query as you open the door, but the word gets caught. Caught on that familiar raven coloured hair and impossibly dark eyes. It had been 5 years since you and Zayn had had any contact. Not that you were unaware of his life, it was difficult to escape one directions fame, so you knew that the blonde woman clutching ever so tightly to his arm was his fiancé. You suppressed the promise that felt like it was made a million years ago from your mind. “y/n” Zayn breathes out in utter shock, taking you in. “Zayn” you reply, the name sweeter than you remembered, yet so unfamiliar. There’s a pregnant pause of watching each other. “Zayn?” the blonde woman asks, looking between the two of you, regaining Zayn’s attention. “Oh, Perrie, this is y/n” he leaves a long pause, “we were…friends” he finishes, eyes locked on yours. “ I thought you came to show me the old cottage, you never said your friend would be here” she asked. “I… I didn’t know…” he tells her, he was here for the cottage, not you. “Feel free to look around” you forced a smile, suppressing any nostalgia and treating him like the stranger he now was.

 Louis:
“Louis is in Doncaster, you know?” Your best friend tells you as you continue putting the clean glasses away behind the bar, pretending like her words don’t matter, “he’s actually here for a charity footie match, did you hear he bought the team” she continues. “Look, I don’t really care ok” you tell her, slamming a glass down a little too hard, “we used to be friends but not anymore so…” you take a breath, and she drops the topic.

 Some how you end up here, in a crowd of screaming girls in the oh-so familiar stadium. You were one girl in a million there was no way he would notice you, and it was this thought alone that kept you in your seat. It was weird watching him, this man you never imagined would have turned out like this. Always sure his future was secured as a drama teacher, with you, but that serves you right for assuming. It’s after his final goal, after the team picks him up on their shoulders and he’s smiling and cheering and searching the crowd and it’s all a little too familiar and your heart jumps in your chest, but he’s reaching out a hand to the crowd on your left and blowing a kiss, and you remember that your not his girl anymore. And that’s enough; you’ve had enough now. But a little hand catches yours before you get far, “y/n” Lottie shouts gleefully, flinging herself into your arms. You hadn’t seen the little girl almost as long as you had seen Louis. “Hey Lottie” you pull together a smile for her benefit. “Oh my god you have to come see mum” she smiles, dragging you down the hall before you can decline and into a room which consequently contained the man you had just tried to get a way from; “Look who it is!” Lottie shouts, turning all eyes, including Louis’ onto you.

Harry: 
“Need a hand” a familiar voice asked behind you as you dropped the box onto the metal ground of the truck, a little harder than you would have liked. Tucking a piece of loose hair away you turn towards the voice you know you could always pinpoint.  He’s changed a lot since the last time you saw him, no longer a boy but a man. All of the time you’d imagined seeing Harry again, all the nasty words you’d practised in the mirror, perhaps even a slap dissipates as you take in the green eyes that even after 3 years still seep home .“y/n” he smiles, pulling you into his arms, held in a hug that could only be described as harry. “y/n” he breathes, his voice infinitely different from the last time you heard him say your name years ago, yet exactly them same. Pulling away, you size him up, looking at the man where your boy used to stand. “How are you?” he asks, you shrug. “Hell it’s been three years, catch me up” and it’s those words that make you recoil back into yourself.  “Well…” you clear your throat, turning around, because what do you say? You’re life has been nothing but the ordinary, especially in comparison to his.  “Nothing really” you tell him. “I’m sure that’s not true” he presses with a laugh, leaning against the truck, hands stuffed in the pockets of his trench coat, again you just shrug. “How about I take you out for dinner at 7 and you can tell me then?” he smiles, and as bad as the idea sounds, you find yourself nodding.

 Liam:
You sit across from Liam, the both of you laughing at the memories that you share with one another. “Well how about the time you wet the bed and tried to blame it on me” he questions. “I was six Liam!” you laugh. The both of you are in stitches; completely absorbed in the childhood you shared. Liam wipes a tear away, “oh y/n” he laughs, “what happened to us?” and that sobers you up instantly.” You left”  you say simply, all humour now gone from your words, and now from Liam’s face. The weighty pause leaving you both thinking, “y/n„,” he starts, “it was… it was hard yeah, but I didn-“ you cut him off,  “it’s ok Liam, you don’t need to explain anything” you force a smile, pushing your untouched desert around the plate. There’s another long silence, both of you picking at the now unappetizing meal. “Remember when Ruth..” and the memories start all over again, any solemnity now gone. “Do you remember the box?” he asks out of the blue. You look up at him, his eyes staring into yours. You nod because you never forgot. “What will it be… like 9 years?” he asks, “11 years this august” you correct him, taking a sip of your coffee. “It would still be there right?” you just shrug even though you know the answer. “Think it would matter if we opened it a year late?”

 Niall:
Bouncing the baby on your knee you look over to Greg with a warm smile. Even though Niall had been out of your life for the better part of 2 years you’d done your best to stay close to the family and this included the newest member. “Niall be home soon” Greg says out of the blue, “I think his plane actually comes in today…” you keep your attention on the baby, “you guys used to be best friends” he adds, again you don’t respond. He sighs, getting up and pacing a bit of the room, “What happened y/n?” “Nothing happened” you tell him, feeling a little rise of anger, “nothing is exactly what happened. He went, he got famous and he didn’t come back” you are careful not to let your voice rise in front of the baby, “he has come back” Greg counters, but you just roll your eyes in response. “He has not called me, or text me, or made any contact with me for over a year” you tell Greg truthfully, “and even before that, it was the random text whenever he got time, you know what one of the last things we really spoke about, before he became too busy for me? He promised he would never forget me, he promised he would always be around and now look where we are” you tell his brother, brushing hastily at the tear that escaped. “y/n…” Greg breathed, coming over to put a hand on your back, but you sidestep. “No Greg, its fine, I don’t care anymore, he’s moved on and so have I” and the silence in the room is really too much and you should’ve realised, but you turn around to meet the very blue eyes you were just talking about. The word “surprise” slipping from Niall’s wounded face.