Bird Shit

4th of July - 18:15 PM

'You said your flat was close?' Poppie questions the boys who came to her aid instead of her family.

'It's just through this park,' Liam tells her and she carefully nods to him.

Bird poop is all over her brown hair and for a brief moment she wishes she bleached it just like her sisters and mother. Almost all their hair is gone due to the peroxide which is why only ten percent of their hair is actually theirs. It would have made this so much easier because she could just take out the fake hair and throw it away. Right here in this small park and be done with it.

'There it is,' Harry says and he points to a building in the distance across of the park. Below it are shops from a tattoo parlor to a copy shop. It looks like your typical London Street, but nothing like Poppie's house.

'Looks great,' Poppie says out of politeness. 'You all live there?'

'Yes but we have an empty room in case you are looking for a place to live?'

'Do I look homeless?' Poppie questions.

She may be covered in bird shit, but her clothes are probably worth more than their rent. Not that she paid for it herself of course.

'No, but you do look distressed,' Harry answers and he looks to her with a hint of curiosity.

She looks at him the same way because she can't help but find him interesting. All of them really.

Without a doubt they invited her in to their house not even worried about her weird behavior. Even the jump under the table didn't seem to startle them. Maybe helping damsels in distress is a daily business for them.

'I guess I can't deny that,' Poppie says with gritted teeth. She hates to admit that she is indeed in need of help. Silly Poppie is usually in need of help. 'So how come you guys have a room available?'

'One of our friends moved out. He got engaged,' Louis explains and something in the tone of his voice makes clear they don't like the engaged part one bit.

'Oh,' Poppie gulps thinking about her own engagement and wedding tomorrow. She takes out her phone to see no missed calls and no texts. They aren't even wondering why she isn't at the hairdresser or is getting her nails done. All the things she should be doing instead of entering the building four strangers live.

But at least they are helping her.

'And what about you? Are you looking for a place to live?' Louis asks her as they walk up stairs.

'Not as of right now,' she says but she can't help the lurking feeling that maybe she will soon.

'Where do you exactly live then?'

'We, I mean, I live at Knightsbridge.'

'Wow, isn't that a neighborhood for like millionaires?' Nialls butts in as they all struggle to find a key for their own house.

'Yeah, I guess,' Poppie quietly says. It's Henry's house, and he got it from his parents. Poppie just happens to live there much to the dislike of Ariana.

It's immature that even in the situation she's in now, that still makes her grin and she hopes the pigeon with diarrhea followed her home.

'This is it!' Louis proudly says as Harry finally manages to open the door to their shared flat.

The first thing Poppie notices is the smell that is undoubtedly disgusting, the second thing is the mess of bottles, cans, clothes and empty bags of crisps. Thirdly she notices the carpet that is a large game of twister. Her favorite.

'What's the smell?' She wonders out loud and Niall groans.

'I told you girls would smell it!'

'Smell what?' Poppie asks but she's surprised by the answer hanging in front of her face, held up by Harry.

'Tell Niall wrong and say this is exactly what girls like!' Harry demands as she stares to the beast in front of her.

'It's adorable,' she deadpans, but the truth is Poppie is one of the few girls who feels no connection with animals. Not even the cute bunny dangling in front of her.

'You don't like it,' Harry drops down the bunny holding it against his chest to protect it from her harsh behavior. 'I have never met a girl who doesn't like bunnies.'

'Well, I never met anyone like you.'

'I bet if you live in Knightsbridge,' Liam says and she starts to feel uncomfortable in their home.

It's not that Poppie feels better than them although she was brought up to think like that. If anything she would give the world to have this flat, bunny and all, instead of her own boring and most of all fake life.

'Maybe I should just go back there,' Poppie says taking a step back, away from all the trash and the bunny that now that she looks closely, is kind of lovely.

'Don't be silly,' Liam says closing the door behind him. 'Harry show the girl the shower.'

Everyone seems to be put in motion by Liam's demanding voice and Poppie watches in awe as the flat comes to live.

Louis falls down on one of the couches. It's a leather one although not much is left from the cow the skin once belonged to, but it doesn't seem to downgrade the comfortableness of the seat. He starts up the X-Box situated in front of them and the plasma television which both seems to be the, by far, most expensive attributes in the house. Although maybe the art on the wall might be secretly expensive as well but they just don't know it yet.

Niall sits down on the ground in front of Louis grabbing one of the controls to play a football game. Poppie is surprised that it all happens without much confrontation. There's no fight about who gets to sit where and which game to play. All of them seem comfortable in their own home, something that has always lacked in Poppie's life as she never felt like she could be her true self.

In the moments were she was herself, they would call her silly Poppie, so yeah.

It's better to just act like a stuck up bitch around everyone, but around these boys she feels as if she can flush that façade down the drain.

Liam walks in to a small kitchen which holds a door to what must be a balcony. He opens it for some fresh air and then turns on the coffee pot. All the while humming a song and making a little dance that makes her laugh.

Her eyes fall back on Harry who is awkwardly standing in front of her. 'I'll show you the bathroom.'

Poppie follows his broad shoulders out of the living room leaving Liam's humming and Louis and Niall's quickly increasing shouts behind.

'This is my room,' Harry speaks up and Poppie frowns as they enter his bedroom.

'Uh, I'm only here to shower?'

'Well you'll need clothes won't you? I'm afraid you can't wear that shirt again.'

'I'm not going to wear your clothes plus this is a blouse,' she exaggerates the word because he should really know since he's wearing something similar but then with only two buttons closed.

'You are intending to stay naked after the shower? Because I am totally down for that. We can be naked together,' Harry says as he starts to undress, taking off every layer until he's almost naked in front of her.

'Naked time is my favorite time of the year,' he says as if he's speaking about Christmas and Poppie is almost certain she's about to be killed or faint. She hopes the other way around so she won't feel a thing as his beautiful body strangles her.