Hostage (a One Direction story)

Chapter Twelve

Jae's P.O.V.

I hum quietly as I bustled around the kitchen. I figure that if the boys are going to house me, the least I can do is earn my keep. I decided earlier to make them dinner, and so, here I am, stirring oil and garlic at the bottom of a pan in preparation to make pasta sauce.

A pair of arms wrap around me from behind, making me jump. I shriek slightly and turn around to see Niall grinning at me. "I scared you!" he teased, letting go of me and going to sit at the counter, facing me.

I blush and turn back to the pan. "No you didn't....I was just...I was just...um...Fine, you scared me!" I admit.

Niall chuckles. "It smells delicious," he says, inhaling deeply.

I smile at him. "I'm making pasta sauce. All it is is oil and garlic, anyway," I laugh.

"But it smells so good!" he says dramatically, and I smile.

"Well, I'm glad, because you'll be eating it tonight." I say as I sprinkle red pepper into the mixture simmering at the bottom of the pot.

I rummage through the cupboards for a minute before pulling out a few cans of tomatoes. I grab a can opener and set it up, but I can't twist the knob. "Ugh," I grunt, struggling with the evil contraption.

A hand takes the can out of mine and easily turns the handle, opening the can it seconds. Niall smirks and passes the can back.

"I totally loosened that up for you!" I say as I strain the juice from the tomatoes into the pot.

"Mmmhmm," he says noncommittally.

I return to humming as the mixture bubbles, filling the air with a delicious aroma. I don't realize I'm humming 'Live While We're Young' until Niall starts singing along.

Yeah, we'll be doing what we do

Just pretending that we're cool

And we know it too

Yeah, we'll keep doing what we do

Just pretending that we're cool

So tonight

Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy till we see the sun

I know we only met but let's pretend it's love

And never, never, never stop for anyone

Tonight let's get some

And live while we're young

I resist the urge to melt into a pool of Directioner on the floor and concentrate on my cooking, pureeing the tomatoes from the earlier can and adding them and salt into the pot. While I let that cook I pull some ground beef out of the fridge and toss it in a pan, browning it.

"Something smells like heaven!" cries Zayn, prancing into the room.

"I hope to God that we're eating it!" adds Liam, sitting next to Niall.

"Of course you are!" I say, slapping Zayn's hand away from the sauce pot.

I mix in the sausage and set a pot of water on to boil, grabbing a few boxes of pasta from the pantry as I do so. The boys are all chatting, laughing and joking, setting an amazing environment.

"Hey, hey, Jae, hey, why is six afraid of seven?" cracks Louis.

I raise an eyebrow. "Because seven ate nine?"

"No...because seven has cold, dead eyes." He says in a serious voice.

I almost spit on the pasta sauce as I struggle to contain my explosive laughter. Louis grins and claps. "I made her laugh!"