all friends - a one direction story

44

*Lana's POV*

Eve, Saffron and I sat at a table in our cafeteria, all with bowls of chips in front of us. Mine were coated in curry sauce, Eve's in ketchup while Saffron's had scattered cheese on the top.

It was our first day back at college and the weather was miserable. As was Saffron.

"How are you feeling, Saffy?" Eve asked her after she'd been silent for a full five minutes, staring at the chips that she nibbled on.
"Alright," she answered, although it was convincing. "I mean, not great, but fine."

"It's such a shit situation. I'm sorry." I tried my best to empathise.
"It's fine," Saffron shrugged, trying to plaster a smile onto her face.

I watched from behind Eve as Liam made his way towards us with his usual cheery smile.
"Hey, Liam!" I called.
"Hey," he beamed, as he squeezed in next to Eve.
Saffron greeted him as well but Eve stayed quiet, eating her chips.

"Are you alright, babe?" He checked with her, putting his arm around her.
"Yeah," she answered, undeniably abruptly.
"Are you sure?" He checked again, clearly unconvinced.
"Yes," she replied through gritted teeth this time.
I had no idea what the source of her irritation was.

He removed his arm from around her with a confused and hurt look on his face before visibly mentally shaking it off. "Hey, have any of you girls spoke to Ruby in the last few days?" He asked.

"Not really at all," I shook my head.
"I have a little bit," Saffron responded.
"Have you?" He checked with Eve.
"If I had, I'd have spoke up when you asked," she replied rudely, and I began to feel very uncomfortable in the presence of the pair of them, with no idea what her problem was.

"How come you're asking?" Saffron must've also sensed the unwanted awkwardness and diverted the conversation quickly.
"Zayn's just a bit stressed, said she's been really distant with him. She's not answering his messages or calls or anything," Liam explained.

He reached his hand out and picked up a single chip from Eve's bowl.
The glare she gave him in response made me look away from the awkwardness. "Can you ask next time?" She virtually hissed, and Saffron and I exchanged a mutually uncomfortable look.
"What?" He looked naively confused. It seemed as though he had no clue on the cause of her snappiness either.

"She seemed off to me when I saw her as well," Saffron quickly diverted again. "I'm not sure what's going on with her."
"Is she in college today?" Liam wondered.
"Yeah, I saw her this morning," I answered.

Before we could delve into the things that may have affected Ruby's mood change, I watched as Louis walked in.
I felt my heart start thudding and my hands clam up and I could feel my cheeks turning redder and redder, despite me wishing that they wouldn't.
He looked just as uncomfortable to see me after six days of not speaking and an awkwardness that we could both feel, and he shiftily took his seat beside Saffron with his bowl of chips, also layered with curry sauce.

"Hey," he greeted the group.
"Howdy," I replied, before mentally smacking myself. Howdy? What was wrong with me? I felt my cheeks become redder with the weird looks I received from both Saffron and Eve. I'd never said that word before in my life, and now my cheeks were a deep scarlet and they looked at me confused. "I mean, hello," I corrected, but I'm sure it only made the embarrassment worse.

"Uh, 'howdy' is cool," he shrugged, his voice cracking as he said the last word.
"Yeah. I mean, it's underused, right?" I continued. Just shut up, Lana. The redness on my cheeks remained.
"Definitely," he nodded.
This conversation was followed by an awkward silence from everyone on the table.

"Anyway, I, uh, have somewhere to go to," I stuttered, standing up ungraciously and leaving the last few chips I had. I never didn't finish a meal, but I couldn't possibly sit with this awkwardness any longer.

"You do?" Eve probed, a smirk on her face as she watched on in amusement.
"Yeah, the... uh, toilet," I stammered, trying to find my breath.
I rushed off quickly as I watched Eve trying to suppress her laughter and I quickly walked out of the cafeteria and down the corridor.

At the very end of the corridor, I saw Ruby. She sat on her own on a bench in the corner, listening to music in her headphones.

"Hey," I smiled as she looked up at me, pulling one headphone out of her ear.
"Hey," she spoke. "Where are you rushing to?"

"Anywhere... away from the canteen," I mumbled, sitting down beside her on the bench.

"Does the canteen happen to contain Louis Tomlinson?" She smirked.
I groaned. "You know it's awkward?"
"It doesn't take a genius," she shrugged. "Has he not spoke to you?"

My brows furrowed. "Was he supposed to?"

"Look, he happened to mention to me that it was awkward between you two since the kiss. I just advised that you two should speak," she shrugged, staring straight ahead.

"What is there to speak about?" I quickly snapped, defensively. "Things just need to go back to normal."

"Do you not think you have feelings for him?" She bluntly asked. I felt my cheeks redden and my heart speed up again.
"That doesn't matter," I shook my head.
"Why?" She demanded.

"Because... with all due respect, none of the rest of you understand. I mean, you and Zayn... you slept together on the first day we met. Niall and Marl liked each other from the start. Liam pursued Eve from the beginning and they started dating pretty quick. You guys were all either something romantic or sexual very quick. But me and Louis, we're friends, actual platonic friends. We've developed this amazing friendship for four months now. We get on; we're there for each other, I didn't think I could have a friendship like it. I don't want to ruin that; or lose it; or change it. I want things to go back to normal."

Ruby listened carefully to my long rant and then stayed silent for a moment before throwing back at me, "with all due respect to you as well, I don't think they can. I think you may have opened some can of worms or something with that kiss that means you can't go back to that normal, platonic friendship that you had, because the pair of you have realised you have feelings for each other. And, instead of focusing you may lose or ruin that, how about focusing on the positive of being able to start some sort of romantic relationship on the basis of an already amazing friendship? It could work better than you could ever imagine."

Despite her lack of romance and affection, Ruby spoke so wisely about these things, and her words resonated with me.
"It's just scary," I mumbled. "I can't not have him as my friend."
"I know," she smiled and nodded.

I sighed before asking, "anyway, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," she quickly snapped.
"Are you sure?" I furrowed my brows. "Zayn told Liam that you've been blanking him out."
"Well, I haven't," she shrugged. "I'm just needing some time to myself."

As the silence fell, I noticed her phone vibrating beside her, and I watched as she ignored it completely, staring straight ahead.