Bumps // L P

4

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4

Riley Styles

"Moving out ladies!" Bella yells from the door as she waits with Harry and Tom as Tori and I rush around the house trying to gather up all our things.

"Give us a minute!" I yell.

"You have thirty seconds!" Bella shouts back.

Tori and I slip out the door, Tori holding her high heels already and a bottle of wine in mine that she and I have already opened.

"Is that really necessary?" Tom asks.

"It's like you don't know us at all Tomas." I say.

"We get the party started early." Tori joins.

"It's my birthday!" I sing as I skip down our raggedy concrete steps. "We're gonna party, like it's my birthday!"

We all squish into Harry's range rover, Bella, Tori and I passing the wine bottle between ourselves.

We pull up at Harry's flat, and I can already see lights on and people crowded inside.

"Partay time!" Tori does a little crumping move and I laugh.

Bella opens the door and I take in we are greeted by shouts of happy birthday by the people near the door.

"Haaappppyyy biiiirthddaay!" Niall yells as he scoops me up into a hug.

I giggled into his perfectly styled hair. "It's a truly happy birthday now." I grin.

I'm swept away soon in a crowd if friends and younger family members. With a drink in my hand I'm almost constantly talking to people.

I walk into the kitchen, opening the huge fridge and bending in for a beer.

"Riley." A smooth voice says behind me.

I straighten up, turning to him. "Liam. I see you've come out of wherever it is you lurk for the night."

He rolls his eyes, stepping closer to me. "I don't lurk anywhere."

"I wouldn't know." I shrug. "I never see you."

He breaks our eye contact, looking down at the ground. "I know. There's a reason for that."

"And what would that be?" We were friends when we first met, when they were all on the X factor and came o our house with Harry. Then, when I came to London when I was seventeen, it was like he started to avoid me. I'd seen him more in the last couple of days then I had in the last month alone.

"Maybe one day I'll tell you." He looks up at me through his lashes with a mischievous grin on his face. "You look gorgeous, by the way."

I grin, flicking some hair off my shoulder. "I know."

He laughs. "And so modest."

"Come on. You know me."

Niall comes into the kitchen then, a huge smile wiped across his face and a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Hey!" He shouts at me and starts fist pumping. "It's your birthday!"

"Hey!" I yell back. "I know!"

"Nah, seriously, though." Niall shakes his head sloppily and throws his arm over my shoulder. "It seems like only yesterday I meet your cute little ass."

I roll my eyes. "Get off me you ape."

He giggles. "You love me."

I laugh and bump my shoulder against his. Looking over at Liam, he's staring at us, his beer clutched in his hands and jaw clenched.

"Do me a favour yeah?" I nudge Niall. "Go and hang with Tori? Liam and I need to have a serious girl on girl."

Niall rolls his eyes, but as he walks away, he says "I see how it is. Use protection."

I poke my tongue out at his retreating back.

"Girl talk?" Liam asks.

I step closer to him, and he fidgets nervously. Wrapping my arm around his waist and snuggling into his armpit - because that's as high as I get even though I've got heels on. "Come on. It's my birthday. We should make up for lost time." I take his beer off him and take a small sip.

Liam smiles down at me, shaking his head. "Alright, fine. But only because it's your birthday."

With a huge grin I take his hand and drag him with me to dance.

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So let's all just pretend that it hasn't been like two years, yeah? 🦄