Twenty-Two ➳ l.p.

Chapter Nineteen: All Yours

                “But I’m closer to you than I am to Abbie!”

                “Doesn’t matter. I want you all to myself.”

                “One day I’ll be all yours, Li, okay? But for now I can be both.”

                “Promise?”

                “Promise.”

Chapter Nineteen: All Yours

                I successfully managed to dodge the boys for three entire days, ignoring phone calls and texts and curiously passed messages through my brother. And I was pressed against the windowsill, watching as the rain fell in thick buckets. It was hot and humid and it Liam’s backyard I saw the slick football in the middle of the damp yard.

                “Answer the door, Ali!”

                I frowned at Matt’s voice; it was obvious that he was a lot closer to the front door than I was, being as I hadn’t even heard the doorbell and he very clearly had, but shoved myself from the bed anyway because it wasn’t like I had much else to do. I had been finishing up Beastly since I hadn’t read much of it during the past few days, warm fuzzy socks on my feet and a sizzling mug of hot chocolate pressed against my lips. I had gotten bored with the story, though, not because it was bad writing or uninteresting, but because there was no way that Linda would’ve ever actually fallen for Kyle had they not been in a book, and Kyle would’ve never chosen Linda.

                Love doesn’t work like that and I would know.

                When I was halfway down the stairs the doorbell started to ring again in indefinite repetition, this loud and unbearable shrieking noise that was way too loud and shrieking. “I’m coming, calm down!” I yelled out, padding down the last few steps and reaching the door. Just as I started to pull it open, loud, thunderous knocks smashed against the wood followed by more of the doorbell.

                “Jesus,” I breathed, huffing and swinging the door open. “Was that even neces—oh. Oh wow.” The boys were all gathered at the little landing at the top of my steps, absolutely soaked and shivering. They pushed past me before I could even blink, crowding inside the living room in a shivering bundle. “What’s even going on?”

                “We were playing footie,” Liam started first, but then Louis very loudly cut him off.

                “We were out there just playing football, and it started pouring out of absolutely nowhere. And we went to go inside but Harold,” cut, blue eyes glared at the lanky boy beside him, “conveniently locked us out of the house, so we have to wait until somebody else gets home.”

                And I would’ve thought that it had been an accident, had Harry not been sporting a poorly disguised smirk and green eyes sparkling. He grabbed Louis by the shoulders and whispered something in his ear, causing the older boy’s eyes to widen before he grinned.

                And that’s probably about the time that I realized that harry knew that I had been avoiding them, and had decided to take matters into his own hands by forcing themselves to me. I don’t think he had exactly planned on the rain, but that was his problem, not mine.

                “Well there’s one bathroom downstairs, one that Matt and I share upstairs, and then there’s one for my parents,” I glared carelessly toward the brunette, and he flashed me an innocent grin, “so I’m not sure how that’s going to work out with the whole showering thing, but you guys can figure it out. Liam knows where the towels are and I’ll be in my room.” I wasn’t in the mood for Harry’s antics, or more so, really, the consequences that I’d have to face because of them. There was no way that those boys were going to let me get away without talking to Liam, now. I sighed as I hopped up the steps, rolling my eyes when I shoved past Matt in the hallway, who was holding up a single towel. “Try four more,” I snorted, and he groaned.