While We're Young

Chapter 6

      "Hi there! May I take your order" I hear a voice cheerily say. We all stop laughing and look up, except for Niall, he had run off to stare at the cakes, at the young waitress. Very young actually, about my age. Which means… Oh No…

"Wait a second… Are you guys... One Direction?" I can hear the boys sigh quietly and Zayn responds, 

"That's us, love" and I see the waitress smile. Hmm… At least she didn't scream… In fact, she just said,

"I saw you guys on XFactor, you were amazing! I think you should have won first instead of third to be honest." Wow. She's an actual chill fan that knows them for XFactor. I think I approve. The boys seem very relieved and thank her. I decide to introduce myself.

"Hey, my name is Ray! I'm Liam's cousin." The waitress smiles even wider and responds,

"Wow that must be exciting! My name is Maddy, it's good to see another younger girl around here. How old are you anyway?" I smile back and say,

"I'm seventeen, almost eighteen!" Her eyes twinkle as she excitedly tells me that she is eighteen. She seems about that age. Very pretty with her blonde-brown hair and green eyes, even if she is a little short. Just a bit shorter than Nialler actually. Speaking of which, here he comes now.

"You guys didn't order without me did yeh?" he asks in his cute irish accent. We laugh and shake our heads and he smiles back then looks up at Maddy and his smile falters a bit. Maddy's eyes gleam brighter and she says to him, 

"Niall, it's so good to meet you, I loved you in XFactor and was sooo happy when Katy let you through!" Niall blushes and thanks her. Suddenly we see a man sticking his head out of the kitchen. He glares at Maddy and she nervously waves then turns back to us.

"Alright, sorry I have to take your order now, what would you all like?" We give the waitress our orders and she leaves with a little wave. I look at Niall who is staring off after her, a light blush still highlighting his cheeks. I raise an eyebrow and lean forward, resting my elbows upon the table and my chin upon my hands. 

"So, Niall. What are you hungry for at the moment?" I casually ask, dropping a hand to fiddle with the menu on the table. Niall turns his attention from the waitress who is smiling at an old couple a few tables away and hurriedly looks at the menu and reads off what he just ordered. I laugh and put my hand over his menu, lowering it down so I can look him in the eyes.

"Come on now, Niall. You think she's pretty, don't you?" Niall sighs and leans closer so he can speak in a quieter voice yet still be heard,

"Alright fine, yes, she's very pretty. But it's not like I'll know her long enough to actually… you know, fancy her, if that's how you want to say it." I grin and whisper so quietly that I'm sure nobody hears me, 

"We'll see about that…" 

After a short time, Maddy returns with my waffles and bacon and everyone else's orders. Before she walks away again, I reach out and tap her arm and say, 

"Hey, Maddy. What time do you get off work?" She smiles and says,

"In an hour, I only work the morning and night shift." My grin widens. I'm truly happy I'll finally have someone to hang out with! I almost giddily respond, 

"Fantastic! I'll come by then and maybe we could hang out?" Maddy's smile widens as well and she nods while saying,

"Oh yes, that sounds great! Thank you!" We both laugh, quite happy with our budding friendship. I glance over at the boys and in that second or two I can see everyone's expression. Niall is smiling and blushing, though trying to conceal it. Zayn is nudging Niall and whispering in his ear, grinning and scrunching up his nose, trying not to laugh at whatever he may have just said. Liam appears to be proud of my sociality, yet also worried about how much he could trust Maddy. Harry has a peculiar look upon his face, I can't quite put my finger on it. And Louis. Louis seems… disappointed. That must be the best word. Why would he be…? Oooh… I see. He was hoping to be able to spend more time with me. Soon enough, Lou.

Maddy leaves to continue working and the boys and I hang out longer than necessary. Finally at 11:50, we've all eaten our fill and payed the bill, leaving a tip larger than one would normally leave. Of course who added the extra few bills? Niall of course. We all began walking out but I checked the time. Maddy would be getting off in 5 minutes. I stop walking and Louis turns back and walks towards me.

"Aren't you coming up with us, Ray?" he asks, tilting his head and practically stabbing my heart with a billion needles. He didn't shave today and oh my God he looked absolutely amazing. I take a small, slightly shuddering breath, hoping Louis won't hear the unnaturalness of it. I clear my throat a little and respond, a bit slow at first,

"I, umm, I'm going to wait for Maddy, she'll be getting off in," I check my phone again, "3 minutes! No need to go up just to come down, right?" I laugh a little. Louis sighs and nods. He comes closer and hugs me tightly. He smells so good. So. Fucking. Good. Honestly I can barely control my breathing. I whisper in his ear, trying to control my voice,

"I-I'm sorry that we won't r-really be able to see each other today. But I promise. Tonight you come on over and we can hang out, okay?" Louis's light, airy breath ruffles my hair and tickles my ear, making it even harder to control myself. 

"Alright, whatever you say, Ray," he grins lopsidedly and pats my head then walks off to join the others. I sigh and close my eyes, leaning against the closest wall. If it hadn't been there, I probably would have just fallen and not felt a thing. 

"Hey! So what do you wanna do?"