Fireproof

3 - Getting along - H

The entire dinner encounter with Niall and his friends was not completely unpleasant. Zayn and Liam were quite welcoming. They instantly involved me in their conversations and I was never left out. A certain blue-eyed boy on the other hand was rather mysterious. I found him intimidating to say the least. Although I have to admit, he was in a pretty bad mood and apparently took it all out on me.

Despite all this taking place and Louis acting rudely, Liam, Zayn and Niall didn't have any reaction towards the whole thing. It was as if it was normal.

I returned alone because Niall and the others had gone for a smoke. They had offered me as well but I had politely declined. I was not much of a smoker, I just took a few drags whenever I felt stressed. Extremely tired from today's activities, I wanted to do nothing more than rest. So I changed into my sweats, texted Gem that I was fine and dozed off.

So much for my first day here.

. . . 

I was rather dormant during the next two days. I stayed mostly in my room, flipping through my textbooks and talking to Ed. I started writing a story, which took most of my time. And in the longest time ever, I liked the quiet. Niall came in and went out frequently. He would spend his time with the boys, smoking or getting wasted mostly. We did build our friendship quite a lot and it felt like I had known him since a long time, although we met only a couple days ago.

I met Zayn and Liam at the food intervals and we talked about random things. But I felt as if we were getting closer and they were actually trusting me. Louis was there sometimes but he never said much, just made a few sarcastic comments. His lack of participation did concern me at times, but I didn't think about it much.

Next morning, I woke up to find Niall playing the guitar sitting by his desk. He played well. His concentrated face turned into a wide grin when he saw me.

"Morning Harry!! how did you sleep?"
"Just fine Niall. What about you?"
"Yes I slept fine"  I simply nodded before heading to the bathroom.

"So me and the lads are meeting today, just to hang out. Classes begin next week so it's not much of a problem " He says just as I walk out. 
"Sounds interesting"
"Would you like to join us?"
"Yeah sure, unless I'm not a disturbance " It came our more like a question.
" oh Styles, mate you're never a disturbance, c'mon Zayn and Liam like you anyways."

I subtly nodded and tried to refrain myself from asking whether he missed out louis' name on purpose or whether it was accidental.

"So I'll meet ya in the cafeteria in about 15?"
"yeah, yeah sure. I'm coming"

Just exactly about 15 minutes later, I was sitting at the table with Niall, Zayn and Liam. Louis was nowhere to be seen.
There was a look of worry on their faces, but nobody talked about him. Liam grabbed a sandwich for him and we headed outside.

Then finally, the topic of Louis came up.
"Hey Zayn, where's Lou?" Niall asked.
"He'll be here soon Ni."
Liam just shrugged. And Niall nodded.

A few minutes later, all of us were heading towards Zayn's house. Earlier during breakfast, Zayn had told me that he was born and brought up here in Bradford. His family consisted of his three sisters and parents. The girls were growing up and he never really had much privacy at home so he preferred living on the campus.

I also found out that Liam and Zayn were roommates. And maybe I was being delusional but it felt as if they had this special connection, maybe something romantic.

Louis joined us in Zayn's car. On entering, he said a chirpy 'hello' to everyone except me. Of fucking course. He didn't even acknowledge my presence.
Liam gave him his sandwich and he nibbled on it in silence.

Zayn's house was not more than ten minutes away and everyone was happily chatting on their own during the ride. Once in a while I saw the lads giving louis concerned glances but Louis did nothing more than smile lightly and nod. He didn't speak a word throughout the entire ride.

And suddenly why was I paying so much attention to louis although he was acting like a complete jerk? (Yes, he was a jerk for not acknowledging me at all. It was getting a little too much now.) Obviously, it was just out of curiosity.

We were greeted warmly by a lady who was probably Zayn's mother. Two girls with excited looks were also present.
"hello boys, we're so happy to have you here! how have you all been?" "we've been fine, Mrs. Malik" Niall said, smiling widely.
The others nodded. Then she came forward to hug each of us.

She stopped before liam and said "Liam, love it's always a pleasure to have you here! you're taking good care of my Zaynie right?"
and as soon as she said this, Liam and Zayn's face went red. I gave niall a questioning look but he just winked at me.

Then she came to me. "who's this Zayn?", she asked, her eyes filled with love and warmth. Louis scoffed. I felt anger rising in me. So now he was back to being a jerk. Such a pathetic loser.

"oh sorry mum, I forgot to introduce him. This is Harry. And Harry" he said looking in my direction, "this is my mum, and my two younger sisters, Safaa and Waliyha."

"nice to meet you Mrs. Malik and the sisters as well. You both have beautiful names.", hearing this, both of them started giggling. I made a mental note to write down their names somewhere because they really were beautiful and I could use them in one of my stories.

Zayn then announced, "mum we're going downstairs to play video games and just chill. Also we've just had breakfast so we're not really hungry but you can bring us something a little later."
"Alright boys let me know if you need anything"

Zayn's house was not very big but it was decorated beautifully. There were pictures of him and his sisters all over the walls.
Soon we were gathered in front of televion with video games lying all around. After bickering for a while, Liam and Niall finally agreed on playing the same game. The entire time Zayn was looking fondly at Liam. It was definitely something more than friendship because friends usually don't look at each in that way. Or maybe I was just day dreaming.

Since I couldn't play video games very well, i sat back on the couch. The four boys played. Niall kept on smirking, looking towards Zayn and Liam who kept on lightly hitting each other. Louis looked enthusiastic and occasionally passed saracastic comments.

At one point, I heard Niall talking to Louis. I couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"hey mate, how you feeling? " niall asked, concern filling his voice.
Louis just nodded lighted.
Niall went on,
"how was last night?"
Louis muttered a soft 'okay' but never looked away from the screen.

And then we were called for lunch.