No Strings Attached •mgc•

1. Surprise Reunion

Now, the problem with having older siblings is the tricks played on each other; today was no different. I woke up to my twin brother Brandon pouring water over my face and our older brother Cameron egging him on in my bedroom doorway.

"Ugh you two are complete shits!" I groaned and dragged myself out of bed.

"Lil you know the rules, last one awake suffers!" Brandon said, followed by him and Cameron high-fiving each other.

In a way I was glad they'd woken me up because I had work in a couple of hours.

~*~

My shift was about to start; I worked at Target, the Australian ones weren't anything like the American ones really, it was two completely different organisations behind them.

My mum made me search for jobs as soon as I finished school, University wasn't my thing so I was fine with it. Target was pretty easy to get and easy to do, all I really had to do was scan and assist. So the tills and customer service were a big part of my job.

My manager, Phil, was in the break room when I got in.

"Morning Phil."

"Good morning, Lilli."

I dumped my bag and jacket in my locker before locking it and slouching down onto the two-seater sofa we have in the break room. After about twenty minutes, I headed out to the shop floor to get ready for the day ahead. It was my job before opening to unlock the door. There's normally a small crowd of people waiting ready to start their shopping. Once the doors were opened and the few people were let in, I headed behind the tills and signed in on my usual one.

~*~

The shift started to drag and by 2pm, I was bored out of my mind. It was mid week so it was pretty quiet, which I hated because I was sat there doing nothing; my friend Ciara wasn't even in so I had no one to talk to either. I decided to walk around the store and make sure everything was presentable. Halfway round at the entertainment section, I saw a familiar combination of a mop of hair, band singlet and tight jeans. No way did he come back from tour without even telling me?!

Playing it cool, I walked past him from behind but made sure I ended up in his eye line at some point. Without warning, I was grabbed around the waist and spun round.

"Mikeyyyyy!" He put me down and pulled me into a tight hug. Oh how I'd missed this.

"Surprise!"

"You little shit, as if you didn't even tell me!"

"I wanted to surprise you, we finished everything early and were allowed home. We're back for a while before heading off to sort out our album and start the next One Direction tour." He was beaming, I'd never seen a smile so wide and I felt so much pride for them. They all worked so hard to be where they are now.

"I'm so proud of you Mikey."

"Thanks Lil." Michael wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked around the store. There was still no one here so if it was like this an hour before I'm due to finish then I'm hoping to get off early.

"What have your parents said about you being back?"

"They're really happy, I've missed them so much."

"We've all missed you, even my parents but I guess to them you're one of the family anyway."

"Yeah I saw them too, I came to surprise you there but your mum said you were at work so I stalked you back here."

"When you put it like that, it sounds creepy as fuck." I looked up at him and laughed, watching him chuckle at the joke. "I have to get back to work before I get into trouble. My shift finishes at five so I can meet you back at yours or if you want then you can wait?"

"It's cool, I'll wait over here." He gave me a hug before heading back to the entertainment section where there were different games consoles with game trials on them.

Oh this boy will never change.

~*~

I was finally able to leave, so after collecting my belongings from my locker I went to find Michael who hadn't actually moved an inch from where I left him earlier.

"Okay teenager, let's roll."

"I'm literally half way through this level, you'll have to wait." He mumbled, his eyes didn't even leave the screen.

"Mike, you have this game at your house. Why not just play it there?"

"I'm not this far ahead at home. Calm your tits woman I'm nearly done."

"Michael Gordon Clifford, I have been here since nine am. I'd rather not be here any longer than I need to be. Let's go."

He quickly shut off the console and jumped up with an innocent grin on his face.

"You're lucky that you're cute, you little shit. Come on, let's gooooo." I grabbed his hand and literally dragged him out of the store. We weren't together, but since we met we'd always held hands when we were out and about. I don't remember why to be honest but now it was just a force of habit for one of us to grab the others hand sometimes.

"So mum mentioned that our families plus the other boys' families are all going out to dinner tonight as a congratulations and welcome back."

"Sounds very cute, I'll make sure that my hectic schedule is clear but it's unlikely."

"Oh c'mon Lil, your bestie is back in town, you can't miss this!" He did the cutest possible pouty face.

"I'm kidding Mike, control your hormones." I laughed as he started sulking. As we were walking I pulled out my phone and turning it onto the front camera. "Smile Mikey!" We both smiled into the camera and once the picture was taken, I uploaded it to Twitter.

[@LillianaGrace: Reunited with this loser @Michael5sos]

We got to our houses not long after, once we hugged and said 'see you later', Michael decided to slap my butt.

"See ya Peaches." He winked before walking into his house. He'd nicknamed me that after the peach emoji because it looks like a cute butt and apparently I have a great butt according to him.

"Asshole." I laughed and walked into my own house.

He's a pain in the ass 90% of the time but I'm glad to have him back.