One Direction's Assistant

Chapter 10 - Surprise

Second to last chapter! Eeek! 

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I knock exactly four times and wait.

I need to calm down. Ever since I got off the train I’ve been so nervous and jumpy. Before that, too, each time I even thought about the plan that’s about to unfurl.

Distraction…yes, I need a quick distraction. In thought, I raise my head to face the deep blue sky, watching as, slowly, more and more twinkling silver dots emerge from the darkness for me to see.

My distraction works, and a childish grin is still stuck on my face when the door clicks and is pulled open a fraction. Through the gap I momentarily see a single blue eye, and a second later the door is open wide so I can see not just Alistair’s other eye but the rest of him, looking slightly older than the last time I saw him.

“Come in, Cassie, quickly!” he whispers, pulling me over the threshold and noiselessly closing the door behind me. “I’m so glad you came…part of me was expecting you not to,” he admits as we tiptoe into the empty living room.

“Honestly, I thought the same,” I reply, pulling off my coat. “Where are the boys? How’ve they been?” I was eager to know how the boys had been coping during my two month long absence. The only reason I had taken so long was because I continued to change my mind, which I could tell greatly annoyed Alistair at the time.

“They’re in the attic,” he says slowly, like he’s hoping this is a satisfactory answer to both of my questions. “They’ve…struggled, without you, Cassie. These last few weeks have been OK, but at first all five boys were switching between what seemed like the stages of grief…some reaching acceptance later than others…” his eyes look past me then, staring at what I know to be my old grey chair which had obviously been too big for me to take when I left.

Curious, I turn to see why he’s staring, and what I see isn’t what I remember. It now resembles a grey bin bag that exploded in the corner of the room. There are food wrappers on top, underneath, around and in my chair, lazily stuffed down the sides. Any crumbs hadn’t fallen far, being scattered across the floor and the seat. A black jacket and a lone trainer have been strung over the back of the chair, also.

I frown and turn back to Alistair, “Who’s been sitting in my chair?”

“Ah, that would be Harry,” Alistair says warily, in an even lower whisper, “he hasn’t been doing much but sitting there when he got the chance. It took me and the other boys a while to get him up to the attic tonight.”

Though Alistair looks embarrassed, I smile and look back at the chair. Either Harry’s become much lazier since I left, or he actually missed me whilst I was gone. I’m hoping it’s the latter. Tears begin to form so I can’t turn back to Alistair as he speaks.

“I’ll go get the boys, then, I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you,” he turns and jumps up the stairs.

Alistair’s thuds soon stop for a few seconds, and then I hear the growing sound of feet plodding down the stairs – it’s the boys, just as they had done when I woke them up too early. I wipe my eyes quickly and stand in the middle of the room, breathing hard.

From upstairs I hear more random bangs, but curiosity over them is wiped from my mind the moment I see Niall’s shocked face after he pushed the door open.

“CASSIE!” he yells, running straight at me and hugging me. Zayn appears behind him, throwing himself at us with the force of a bulldozer, nearly knocking us onto the glass coffee table. Then I see the top of Liam’s head over Zayn’s as he joins the hug too. All three of them seem to be crying as much as I am.