Stay Strong x

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Vallory POV

"Vallory, this is Niall, Louis, Harry, and Zayn." Liam said motioning to each one of them. I just stared at Zayn and he stared back. "Oh my god." I whispered. Liam obviously heard and quirked an eyebrow. Zayn stared back and me and a huge smile spread across his face. I smiled back and ran up to him, And hugged him. "What?" Liam said looking at us awkwardly. Zayn let go of me and I stood next to him. "Zayn is my cousin. I haven't seen him in years!" I said with a grin on my face. Liam and the rest of the boys stood there with their mouths hung open. "Well, that's interesting. Zayn, why didn't you tell us you had a cousin?" Louis asked. "More importantly, why didn't you tell us she was hot." The curly- haired boy, who I assumed was Harry, winked. I saw Niall elbow him in the ribs through the corner of my eye. "My aunt, or her mom, told me that Vallory hated me and that I was a bad influence on her." He said looking down. "What? Zayn, I loved you! You were the only one that was ever there for me." I said with disbelief. I knew my mother would say something like that. She told me that Zayn had better things to do than to listen to me whine. The last time I saw Zayn was when I was in elementary. He looks a lot different now. "I know, I'm sorry I believed her. Hey, how's Taylor? I haven't seen her in forever!" Zayn said looking around. I just dipped my head down. "She... she died 4 years ago." I said holding back tears. "W-what? How come I'm just finding this out? I'm so, so sorry Val." "It's fine, it was a while ago. The past is the past right?" I said breaking away from Zayn's gaze. Continuing down the line, I grasped the next boy's hand. "Hi, Louis, right?" I asked facing him. "Yes! Nice to meet you!" He said wrapping me in a hug. I let go promptly and walked over to the curly one. "Hi, Harry, I'm Vallory." I said with a smile. He grinned and showed his dimples. "Hey, beautiful, it's nice to meet you." He said cheekily. I pulled my hand away, and walked to the next lad. I was stunned to see the boy in front of me. Sure, I saw him in pictures on the Internet, but he is better looking in person. Brunette hair, with blond sticking up at the top, electric blue eyes you could get lost in, and perfectly straight teeth, only braces could fix. I ran my tongue over my braces and hoped my teeth would look like that. He flashed me a full tooth grin. "Hi, Niall. I'm Vallory." I said looking into his eyes. He nodded. "Hey, Vallory. Nice to meet you." He said, pulling me into a hug. His accent was thick and almost hard to understand. He embrace felt warm against my body. I let go and stood beside Liam. "Does she know who we are?" Louis whispered a little too loudly in Harry's ear. "I don't think so." Harry whispered back. "No, not really. I know you are in a band called One Direction. Is that enough?" I asked. Liam laced his finger through mine and gave me a reassuring squeeze. I quickly glanced over at Niall who's face fell slightly when he saw our hands. They all started glancing at each other. "Are you two dating?" Louis asked, wiggling his eyebrows at us. "What? No. We're just friends. God Louis! I only met her today! She's really sweet." Liam said. Niall's face lit up a bit and Louis just nodded. "Well, now that you guys are here, TAG YOU'RE IT" Louis shouted, running towards the playground. I just shook my head laughing while Liam took off with him, along with Zayn and Harry. "So, you and Liam?" Niall asked casually. "No. Were just friends. I promise." I said, trying to reassure him. He nodded, and kicked a stone. "Do you like him?" Niall asked. I didn't know where he was going with these questions, but I answered him anyways. "Yeah, as a friend" I said, making Niall laugh. I started walking towards the swings and sat down. Niall sat in the seat beside me. He pulled out a packet of gummy worms and opened it. I pretended not to notice, but it failed. "You like gummy worms?" Niall asked, popping one in his mouth. "Yeah, I do." I said smiling. He pointed the packet towards me gesturing for me to take one. I took one and popped it in my mouth. When I looked up, Zayn, Liam, Louis, and Harry, were staring at Niall in awe. I just raised an eyebrow and looked back at Niall, taking another gummy worm. "Niall never shares food." Louis said. "I know." Harry retorted in disbelief. What was the big deal about eating a gummy worm? Just as I was about to say something, my phone started blaring out "Skinny Love," indicating I had a call. "Hello?" I said through the receiver. "Vallory, where are you dear? You and Liam need to come back. Now." She said sweetly. Paul must still be in the room. "Out. Why?" I said back. "Hang on a moment." I heard her get up and walk to another room. "Listen here, you need to get your ass home now. We have things to discuss. If you aren't here in 20 minutes, I'm going to beat the living shit outta you. Do you understand?" She screamed. I had to hold the phone away from my ear it was so loud. I looked over at Niall, who gave me a sympathetic look. "Whatever. I'm coming." I said, hanging up the phone. "Liam, we have to go, like now." I shouted, hopping off the swing. "Would it be alright if the lads come too?" He asked and I nodded. We all got up and walked towards my house, where all hell was about to break loose.