Once In A Lifetime

14

"Guys, Isabelle has to come with us." Said Liam with a sigh. It was supposed to be just a guys weekend but now his little cousin had to come in and ruin it.

"Why?" Zayn asked with a little pout. Nathan couldn't stop staring at him like a creep. In Harry's eyes they were disgustingly in love.

Liam took a deep breath, "Isabelle's mom doesn't want her to be alone while she's at work I guess. So, my mom said that we have to hang out with her."

Harry grabbed his backpack out of his locker and started packing it full with his school supplies. He couldn't wait to get out of the house for the weekend and it was going to be like his little escape for when his mom got him. Harry hated that he had to hide from them, but the bickering was getting too much. "It'll be alright. Isabelle seems nice, it'll be a good time for us to get to know her." Harry said.

"Yeah, in my opinion I'm pretty alright." The girl walked up to the group of boys with a smile on her face. Isabelle loved hanging out with her older cousin for the innocent fact that she thought Liam was the coolest person to ever exist. And, if you hung out with the seniors, you were cool according to her grade. "So, what are we doing?"

*****

Football practice was canceled that night and Louis was dreading going home because he had to babysit. It wasn't that he didn't love his sisters, he just thought they were the most annoying things to walk the Earth. At the same time, Louis was happy for his mother considering all of the things he's done for them.

He started walking home because Niall left early for an appointment. The sun was nice and shining on his face. While Louis was on his way he thought about Harry and how he had called him Lou again today. He loved the nickname and it made him get all fuzzy inside.

And, that's when Louis realized that maybe he actually liked Harry. How could he not know? Every time he was by the boy he felt like his heart was going to burst. And, Louis dreamt about his eyes.

How did he not notice?

Did Harry like him too?

Louis couldn't think for much longer because he arrived at his house. He opened the front door and took his backpack off. When he walked to the kitchen he was greeted by Lottie instead of his mom. "Oh, hey Lottie. What are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to be watching the girls until you got home?" She gave a pregnant pause, "didn't you have football practice?"

"I did but it got cancelled." Louis said sadly. He was actually really excited to go to practice since they had a game tomorrow. "Are you staying the night?"

Lottie wiped down the high chair and set Daisy inside it. "I thought about it but I have some tests to grade. Unless I can do them here." She took a deep breath. Lately Lottie had been really tired and sick. His family was hoping that she would take a break or something but she never did.

"You should stay over Lots. We have a guest room and a very comfortable couch." Louis grabbed the spoon and bowl out of her hands and started feeding Daisy by himself. His sister agreed and sat down to start grading.

*****

Harry, Nathan, Zayn, Liam, and Isabelle went to the pizza restaurant after doing some assignments at Nathan's. "I am so hungry I could eat a horse. A whale probably." Said Liam.

"Technically you couldn't. Horse meat is unfit for human consumption because before they are slaughtered they are injected with hundreds of dangerous drugs that are labeled 'not for use in animals that will be eaten by humans.'" Isabelle smiled to herself. She always had weird facts in her brain to prove people wrong. Or give them useless knowledge.

All of the boys sighed in unison except Harry, "it's a hyperbole Isabelle." She nodded in determination. The young girl wanted to fit in although she was not much younger than them. Isabelle always felt like an outcast in her life.

They found a place to sit and started talking about what they should get. Harry wanted to get something from the salad bar, Zayn and Nathan wanted to get a pizza cookie, then, Isabelle wanted to make sure they had pineapple pizza. The waiter came up to them and Harry recognized him. It was the boy who sat by him in art, Niall.

The blonde haired boy's cheeks turned pink. "Uh, Hi there. Welcome to Penguin Pizza's. My name is Niall and I will be your server today. What can I get for you all?"

"Can I have some Pepsi please?" Zayn said. No one else seemed to recognize the boy, but Harry couldn't stop staring at him.

"Harry, stop staring." Isabelle whispered in his ear and it broke him out of his trance. "Can I have lemonade? And Harry will have sweet tea." How did she know that tea was his favorite?

"Alright those will be right out for you!" No one knew that Niall had this job and he was trying to keep it that way. Because he saw what happened to kids who got made fun of and it sucked. Yeah, his family wasn't rich and they didn't have the most amount of money, so Niall had to work. In his mind that was nothing to make fun of but apparently other kids didn't agree. "Sarah, can you please take over this one table?"

"No." She simply answered.

Niall pulled out his puppy eyes, "please Sarah. I'm literally begging you."

"I'm sorry but I have too many tables. You shouldn't be ashamed of this job." Sarah huffed out and then ran with a plate full of food. Why did life have to be like this? He pulled out cups and started making the drinks.

*****

Once all of the girls were in bed Louis did the dishes and thought about Harry. His lips and his beautiful green eyes. Louis had never been the type to want a boyfriend or girlfriend but when he saw the curly haired boy everything flew out the window.

All of the sudden Louis wanted to be a hopeless romantic and make up stuipd cheesy dates. And, don't even get him started on the declaration of love he had been practicing in his mind over and over. He had it really bad.

But, he was pulled out of his trance after hearing little tiny snores on the couch. It was Lottie fast asleep. He took a blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up. Louis really hoped that everything would be ok with her soon.

Louis walked up the stairs and into his room to start drawing because he had an idea. Everything was coming together perfectly.

*****

Niall continued being their server and looked so nervous every time he had to come check on them. When it was time for the group to leave, Harry stayed inside to pay the bill. Unfortunately, early in the night, Harry said that the bill was on him.

Niall came over to the cash register and started checking him out, "can you please not mention this to Louis?"

"Uh, yeah." Harry stayed silent for a moment, "but why can't I tell him?"

Niall sighed, "I'm just not ready for him to know yet."

"Niall, I know you don't know me well but I just want you to know that Louis won't make fun of you for working. He gets the struggle." The blonde boy shook his head and handed Harry's card back to him, "but don't worry. I won't tell. That's your job. Have a nice day!"

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The way I keep dropping little hints. Let's see if any of you notice...

Byee besties