While the rain poured outside Zak settled into the flat and we sat around over a cup of tea. We’d decided to put the sleeping arrangements off until later so the guys could get to know one another. I forgot how much Zak liked his night-time sweets and apologized for not having anything baked but he waved it off, saying we could cook some cookies now if we had the ingredients. Luckily, I did keep my cupboards stocked with the bare necessities so we were able to find sugar, butter, flour, chocolate chips and milk. I’m not sure how it happened but somewhere along the line I was kicked out of the group seeing as both Harry and Zak either had the desire to show off or were incredibly hungry. They’d begun talking about the plane ride here and I no longer had any space to myself in the small kitchen so I snuck out to the couch with my laptop. Typical, I thought. I introduce my two favorites and I was immediately pulled out of the equation. Zak glanced back and winked at me. Oh… so that’s how he was playing this out. It was all a test of getting to know the new guy. I should expect a full-on discussion at the end of the night once Harry left.
Not too much was going on in the Twitter world so I snapped a picture of the guys cooking when they were too preoccupied with tasting the cookie dough. I posted it to Twitter saying: “glad to have my favorite cooks around! @Harry_Styles @ZakStrigg #cookies #yum” As it sent, Harry plopped down next to me on the couch and slipped an arm behind my back. With his other arm he fished around for his iPhone and opened his messages. He scrunched up his face and asked me if I felt like getting together with Louis tonight. “I’m sorry, Rose.. I know we were going to stay in but Lou’s feeling down with all of us gone. Would it be alright with Zak to go as well?” Little did he know it but I was positive Zak was more than okay with this idea. I got up and walked to the kitchen. “Hey, handsome! I have some good and bad news.. the bad news is it’s still raining. The good news is Louis asked us to go out tonight. You in or out?” I asked, already knowing the answer. He took a moment before responding and wore a blank look. “Zak?” He snapped out of it and confessed sheepishly, “I’m sorry. I just have nothing to wear. Yes. We have to go. Tell Harry to give us a half hour.” He raced back to my… our room without another word.
I removed the cookies from the oven and set them out to cool off. “Harry, we’ll be a few minutes but the plan is a go!” I shouted midway down the hall. My room was already a wreck with Zak’s suitcase undone and the bathroom door ajar. “How’s it going?” The remnants of Hurricane Zak lay strewn about my bathroom- hair gel, cologne, deodorant and glasses on the counter. Zak’s fingers were in his eyes as he rushed to stick contacts in. He answered, “It’s fine. What are your thoughts?” He readjusted and struck a one-handed pose. He was wearing red and white striped American Apparel shorts with a blue tank and medium wash denim shirt from the Gap with his Sperry boat shoes. “Wow, you look HOT.” He grinned from ear to ear and said, “Let’s do this. You have five minutes.”
I ran to my room to pull out my tight black lacy tank, teal high-low skirt and black heels and throw them on after I fluffed up my hair. My champagne eyeshadow and black eyeliner were simple, but effective. As a delayed thought, I realized both Zak and I had redressed and left Harry in his post-soaked clothing. Thank God he was so hot and could pull off anything. Once Zak laid eyes on my outfit he squealed with delight, “Ooh, black!” He ran back and changed swiftly into dark denim jeans with a rolled cuff and a v-neck sweater. Damn it. He always had to show me up. He was fidgeting with the sweater and transferring his belongings into the proper pockets when Harry leaned in towards me and asked with his lips on my ear, “Does he always do this?” I giggled and whispered, “At least three times. We got lucky tonight.” Zak’s head snapped up, “What?” which sent us into a fit of poorly repressed laughter. “Come on, let’s just get going.” I ushered the boys out the door and locked it behind us. Harry unlocked the car doors and I sat in the back with Zak. Harry said we were going to All Bar One on New Oxford. The ride was long but we kept up a steady conversation about what we’d have to show Zak while he was here and before we knew it we’d arrived at the bar. Harry parked us in the back and we walked in and up to the counter. There were several groups seated but one guy was sitting alone with his cell phone in hand. Even from behind I could tell it was Louis. He was clad in a pair of navy pants, a cream Henley tee and striped Keds with tousled wavy hair that was gelled perfectly to appear messy. Harry ran up behind him and clapped him on the back, “Lou! Good to see you, babe.” Louis smiled and cried out, “Hazza and Rosebud! My favorites!” His eyes soon moved to the fidgeting guy next to me. “Oh, sorry, Louis! This is my best friend, Zak. He surprised us with a visit.” Zak shook his hair a bit before extending his hand to Louis. Watching them meet was the most wonderful thing. I bit my lip and exchanged a look with Harry. He motioned for me to come closer and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Well, let’s get some drinks, yeah?”
