All's Fair in Love and One Direction

25: All's Fair in Stylists & Staircases

Chapter 25

"Andie! Andie!!! ANDIE!!!"

"Ehhh ..." I pull my pillow over my face and swat in the general direction of the voice. "Go awayyy." I burrow deeper into the covers.

"Andie! Come on, wake up." I recognize the voice as Harry's.

"Five more minu - hey!!" I yell indignantly as my soft, warm covers are yanked off of me and I am exposed to the chilly apartment air. I sit up, blink a few times to get accustomed to the light, and then turn to Harry, who is holding my comforter in both arms. "You will pay." I hop out of bed - wow the floor is cold! "Ask Zayn. Andie always wins."

"You do not!" Zayn calls indignantly from the other room.

My eyes widen. "What was that, Zayn? I have more pictures ..."

"No, no!" Zayn shouts urgently. "Okay, you always win!!!"

I smirk at Harry and place my hand on my hip. "See? You better watch your back."

Harry winks and motions for me to hang on. He puts down my comforter and walks to the closet, then pulls out a zippered dress bag and begins to open it. Inside is a red long-sleeved dress. "Should I still be watching my back, love?"

I'm speechless. "Another Christmas present? But - you all already got me so much!"

Harry spreads the dress on my now-unmade bed. "Think of it as ... expenses. If you're going to go to a Christmas party with One Direction, we've got to have you look the part!" He smirks. "Besides, I saw this dress in the window, and all I could think of is how stunning you would look in it."

Oh, Lord. He's back to his normal cheeky, flirtatious self. I'm not sure whether to be relieved or mildly upset. Either way, I can't help but blush.

"Oh, she's blushing!" Harry teases me. "Look, lads, I made Andie blush!"

Louis and Liam come racing in, Niall a second behind and Zayn close on his heels. I give them the evil eye. "Out!"

"Aww, our Andie's blushing!" Louis says, pinching my cheek. I kick his ankle.

"Guys, it's too early for this!! What is even going on?"

Zayn smirks. "Early? Andie, it's two o'clock!"

Oh, gosh. We stayed up all night last night just watching movies and playing games and hanging out until 5 am, and then I crashed. I can't believe I slept for nine hours! I need to find myself some breakfast ...

Liam answers my second question. "Celeste Duquesne is having a holiday party this afternoon." Seeing my confusion, he elaborates, "She's a really big producer here in the UK, and we have to go, so you do too. You might want to start getting ready - the red carpet opens at four, and like Zayn said, it's already two."

I shriek, all thoughts of breakfast forgotten. "I ONLY HAVE TWO HOURS TO GET READY FOR A PARTY WITH APPARENTLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST PRODUCERS UP HERE??? I ONLY HAVE TWO HOURS TO GET READY TO MEET THE MOST FAMOUS CELEBRITIES IN THE WORLD??? I ONLY HAVE TWO HOURS TO TURN MY FACE FROM THIS INTO RED CARPET MATERIAL????"

The boys look unsure of how to respond. Liam ventures, "Well, we tried to wake you up earlier, but..."

"OUT!" I command. They meekly obey. Oh, gosh, how am I going to do this in just two hours?? I have a hard enough time getting ready to go to the store in two hours! There is no way. There is no way. I speed-strip and jump into the shower, instinctively reeling back at the sudden cold. No time for that, Andie, shower! I shampoo and condition my hair as fast as is humanly possible, shave so fast it's a miracle I don't end up shredding half my leg, and wrap a towel around myself and walk out of the bathroom - straight into Harry Styles.