Before You Leave Me Today (a One Direction love story)

5. Home.

Chapter 5:

After Aiden and I said our goodbyes, I sat down on Josh’s couch with a heavy sigh.

Moments passed in silence, until I looked up to find all the boys staring at me. “What?” I asked them.

A small smile appeared on Harry’s lips. No one spoke. Then Niall decided to speak up. He came and sat next to me on the couch and grabbed my hand. “You are just the strongest girl I have ever met,” he said to me, examining each of my fingers in his own. He looked up at me, and whispered in my ear, “You’re beautiful, you know,” his bright blue eyes stared into my plain brown ones. I blush.

“Well,” Liam cleared his throat. “We should probably get going.” Niall stood up and picked up my heavy suitcase, and Zayn grabbed my other bags, and headed out the door to put them in the van.

I walked over to Josh. “Thank you so much,” I said to him.

He smiled. “The boys are right, you’re strong,” he pulled me into a quick hug. “I’ll be seeing you.”

Louis looked at me and smiled. “Come on love,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders, and pulling me out of the apartment without another look back.

The drive didn’t take too long, the boys house was only a little bit outside London. The road was long and twisty, but beautiful. When we pulled up to the massive house, my jaw dropped. It was a huge brick house with 3 floors and lots of windows. There was a huge lawn with soccer nets and a crystal clear pool.

“Wow,” I said. “It’s lovely.”

Niall smiled at me and grabbed my hand. “Come on” he lead me up the huge front steps and in the front door.

When I walked in, I was a bit surprised. The place was a mess. Pizza boxes, magazines, unwashed dishes covered the table. The kitchen looked similar. The living room was littered with clothes, and pillows, video games, and DVDs were thrown everywhere. I smiled. “Umm… haha,” was all I could think to say.

“Hey now, what do you expect?” Louis said with a grin. “We’re 5 teenage boys. With no rules.”

“Well, Daddy Direction tries to keep the place in order, but that doesn’t work out so well,” Zayn says, playfully punching Liam in the arm. Liam responds by bringing Zayn down into a tight headlock.

I laugh. “I’m starving, got anything good?!” I say running over to the fridge. I can hear Niall’s laugh following me into the kitchen. I throw open the fridge. Inside, there are a couple of yogurts, some spinach, and a case of beer.

“Umm… well, does anyone want some… beer flavoured yogurt? With some spinach on the side? I’m cooking!” I say with a laugh.

“Oh you’re so cheeky,” Louis says, giving my cheeks a pinch. The boys followed me into the kitchen, along with Niall.  “We always go out to eat.”

I laugh, and then let out a sigh. Niall sees it, and walks over to me. He picks me up, bridal style, and runs from the kitchen. “Now come on Lou, after the day she’s had, we can’t even make her a nice One Direction Style, home cooked meal?” Niall yells behind him at Louis. I’m laughing, as I hold on to Niall’s neck. He tosses me down on the couch once we reach the living room and he collapses next to me, out of breath.

After a few moments of Niall and me laughing silently, the other boys come into the living room. Harry and Louis plop down on the couch and start arguing over the remote. So Harry jumps onto Louis, and starts wrestling him. Louis looks Harry in the eye, points to the couch, and says “Sit yo ass down, and give me the goddamn remote.”

Harry looks over at him, smiles cheekily, and chucks the remote at Lou’s balls. “Ouch,” Louis coughs, before sitting down and switching the TV to a soccer match.

Liam walks over to me. “Zayn and I are going to get some stuff from the store so you can have your home cooked meal,” he says.

I smile back to him. “Yay,” I answer.

“Don’t forget these, mate,” Louis throws Liam a sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses that were balled up and buried under the couch cushions. Liam puts on his disguise and looks at Zayn, who already wears his.

After Liam and Zayn leave, Harry, Louis, Niall, and I watch the soccer match. Before I know it, I’m snuggled up with a blanket and asleep on Harry’s shoulder.

I wake up to the sound of yelling. I look to where Harry, Niall, and Lou used to be, but the couch is empty. I wonder how long I was asleep. I stand up and stretch, and follow the sounds of the yelling.

I walk into the kitchen to find the boys all arguing with each other. Louis is holding a spoon covered in pasta sauce and wiping it all over Liam’s face. Harry is hitting the stovetop repeatedly with a towel. Zayn is trying to grate cheese onto pieces of bread, but instead all the cheese lands on the floor. Niall is dumping water into a large pan on the stove, but he spills it everywhere.

Louis walks over to Niall. “Damn you Niall, you burnt the water!” he yells with a laugh. I stand in the doorway, observing all of this. I try to hold in my laugh but I just can’t. The boys all look at me.

“What on earth are you guys doing!?” I say with a laugh.

Niall blushes. “We’re trying to make you a spaghetti dinner,” he says.

I smile. “You guys are freaking adorable,” I say, walking over to the oven. “I guess this is a ‘One Direction style home cooked meal’?”

Harry smiles. “You got that right.”

Liam wipes his face off the best he can, but there’s still sauce on it. He shoots Lou a dirty look and Louis grins at him.

“Alright, I honestly don’t know what I’m doing,” Zayn says, picking up the cheese grater he just dropped on the floor.

“I thought you were the one that could cook,” I said walking over to him.

“I am, but I’m not so good with this cheese thing,” he said holding up the grater. “Plus, garlic bread and I, we don’t get along so well.”

I laughed as I started grating the cheese for him. After I finished that, I pulled a box of pasta from a grocery bag that was flung on the counter, and dumped the pasta into the big pan of boiling water. Luckily, Liam helped Niall clean up the spilt water. I swear, they’re like second graders sometimes.

After about a half an hour of me helping each of the boys with their part of the dinner, and another 30 minutes of cleaning the dining room, we finally sat down to eat. As soon as Niall’s butt hit his chair, he started shoveling in the spaghetti. I’d never seen anyone eat quite like him.

I took a bite of the dinner, and started smiling hugely. “Guys, this is great!” I said.

Harry laughed, “You were the one who cooked it!”

“No,” I said, “It was you guys.”

Liam smiles, “It was all of us.”

I looked around at the table, and all the boys are looking at me. I smile back at them and continue to eat our delicious dinner. I don’t remember the last time I was this happy.