Stockholm Syndrome (FOUR 1)

Chapter 6: Fangirl Overload

Dani's POV:

I never thought a boy would like me enough to kiss me. Certainly not one of my favorite celebrities. But here I am, sitting on my bed, kissing Niall James Horan. Not because he is a celebrity that I am infatuated with, but because I like him. And he likes me.

His lips are warm against mine. The kiss isn't the exploding sensation of fireworks that is so often displayed in my books, but instead sweet and tender. Unexpectedly amazing. Never in my life did I expect to have a friend like this. Or more than a friend, since I know enough to realize that this is more than friend behavior.

"Aw, Zayn, look at the little lovebirds!" Harry's mock-excited voice startles me, and I automatically jump away from Niall.

"Yeah, Harry," teases Zayn, quickly adopting the tone of an overexcited fangirl. "They like each other. Oh my gosh, they're so cute. They should, like, get married!"

"Hey, Dani," Niall says in a terrible imitation of Zayn, "look at the little fanboys!"

I roll my eyes, but join in the fun. "Zarry is real!" I shout, imitating some Directioners I encountered online. Unable to keep a straight face, I collapse into giggles.

"What the heck is a Zarry?" Zayn questions in a hilariously confused tone.

The boys don't know about their bromances? I really expected at least that to reach their ears, if not everything the fans say.

"Zarry," I says in an exaggeratedly patronizing tone that is often used by kindergarten teachers, "is the bromance of boy band members Zayn Javadd Malik and Harry Edward Styles. The fans of this band each have different thoughts as to which bromance is their favorite, but the most popular one is Larry Stylinson, or Louis William Tomlinson and Harry Edward Styles."

"Ooh! What's the name for me and Liam?" Niall excitedly shouts.

"Niam."

"Me and Zayn?"

"Ziall. You and Harry are Narry, and you and Louis are Nouis," I quickly add, knowing he will ask next.

"That's weird." Zayn shrugs. "But the most accurate ones are probably Larry and Ziam. Niall isn't particularly close to anyone, he just gets along with us all."

Niall grins, and I'm reminded of a video of Harry rapping about him. This is Niall, I like his style, wait a while, and he'll smile. I played that video over and over whenever I felt sad. Harry's rapping and Niall's beatboxing, mediocre at best, combined with Niall's cheesy grin at the end could always make me smile.

"Well, anyone want to watch a movie?" I suggest.

"What movies?"

"All eight Harry Potters, the first Hunger Games, Fault in Our Stars, Orphan, This is Us, If I Stay, Sound of Music..." At least I only blush a tiny bit when I mention the boys' movie.

"Why only the first Hunger Games?" Zayn asks, kindly ignoring the awkwardness. "And what's Orphan about?"

"Because Clove is my favorite character. And everyone thinks I look like the actress who plays her. Orphan is a movie about a family that adopts a girl, except the girl turns out to be creepy and dangerous. The actress for Clove plays the girl. It's pretty good," I explain.

"Orphan!" Harry decides.

I grab a giant bag of kettle corn from the pantry and insert the DVD before plopping down on the couch...right onto Niall. Instead of complaining, he casually shoves me onto Zayn and takes the kettle corn. I roll my eyes and take the bag back, shoving Niall to the side so I'm squashed between Niall and Zayn.

Don't fangirl. You've been stuck with these boys for weeks, Dani. You know better than to fangirl. But I can't resist. My left arm is touching Zayn, my right touching Niall. Niall's head is leaning on my shoulder. My fangirl senses are overloaded. I try to concentrate on Esther explaining her painting to John, but it doesn't work.

Zayn glances sideways at me, amused. Yeah, I'm not being too subtle. Actually, I'm shivering with excitement.

"I know I'm awesome," he whispers in my ear, "but I didn't think I was awesome enough to make my former enemy shake with anticipation."

I sent him the best death glare anyone could give their idol while fangirling. Which is to say, a terrible one. But I could tell from his chuckle that he got the gist.

Stupid vain handsome boy band members.

How did this happen? Once these boys were distant, perfect miracles. Then they were hostages in my basement. Then my enemies. Now friends. But my fangirling just kicked in. As if to make up for all the previous weeks where I didn't freak out at all, my fangirling is magnified easily a thousand times. Certainly enough to leave me bright red, hiding my face.

"Dani," Zayn says quietly, worry in his voice. "I was kidding. I didn't mean to... offend you or anything."

In a small, quivering voice that takes all my strength to use, I respond, "You-you're not offending me. At-at all. It's ju-just that it hit me, I guess, that I'm in a b-basement with my idols. F-fangirling, I guess."

He chuckles in my ear. "Like I said, I'm awesome."

I playfully elbow him, and he pushes me lightly in response, accidentally sending me into Niall. Approximately one second later, Harry is the only one still watching the movie. Zayn, Niall, and I are engaged in a serious yet completely silent war that consists of small nudges and the occasional push.

"Fangirling cured yet?" Niall asks, grinning. Not the photo shoot, let's-get-this-over-with smile. The kind of genuine, I'm-so-happy grin that makes millions of boys and girls fall in love.

"No," I reply, out of breath from being pushed around. "I don't think I will be for a while."

However mushy that sounds, it's true. Most fans wouldn't understand, but that's because they've never gotten to know their idols of five years all of a sudden. Or kiss one of them. My life may have been terrible before they came, but I think they've really taught me how to see the best.

Then a terrible thought hits me.

If I really care about them, I'll have to let them go.

A/N: Dun dun dun! I kinda forgot how much I love writing this until I just got back to it. And I remembered how much I love these characters and this plot. It's so fun writing this!

Oh, and if you want to be one of the following characters, please PM me immediately:

Liam's girlfriend

Harry's girlfriend

Louis's girlfriend

Random girl who is actually important

~Shay