Hollywood and Vines (A One Direction Fanfic)

Chapter 22 - Breath Me

I had to pull myself together if I wanted to look presentable to my guests who had since multiplied since Zayn's and Eliza's arrival.  Because I'd heard their voices numerous times on Allie's One Direction CD, I heard that Louis and Liam's voices had added to the mix of other voices.  Standing before my mirror, I stared and blinked my eyes until the redness was restored to white.  I covered my face with a fresh layer of foundation and replied mascara to my lashes.  Before returning to the living room, however, I reread the email I'd written for Sugarscape:

Dear Sugarscape,

My name is Holly Bradford, and I am the new step-sister of Allie Watson.  You know of the name Allie Watson because she is the girlfriend of Harry Styles.  Our parents wed in June, and because of this, I've had the opportunity of getting to know Allie.  We've spent lots of time together, as well as time with the One Direction boys, and I thought you'd be interested in some insider information that I am willing to disclose as long as you leave your source anonymous.

Thank you,

Holly Bradford

I pressed the sent button before allowing my finger to waver and collected a breath of air for my lungs to inhale.  Boisterous voices erupted from outside the door and when I'd rejoined the guests, I found them to be doing the same thing they'd been doing when I'd left:  balancing their weight on Aunt Christina's yogaball.

Harry sat with his rear end on the ball and lifted his legs and arms.  His facial expression resembled that of someone who had just been electrocuted.

"One!  Two!  Three!  Four!  Five!"  Everyone else shouted.

Harry faltered and he swung his arms hysterically in order to maintain his equilibrium on the yoga ball.  He flailed foreword, backward, side to side, and I'm not even sure how it was humanly possible that he had not yet tumbled.  Eventually, however, he had shifted far too much to the left and grabbed Allie's wrist as he fell.  Allie squealed when Harry dragged her down with him, but eventually spewed out fits of laughter when Harry crushed her beneath him.

"Ouch!  Get off . . . get off me!"  She cried.

Niall scurried to Harry, grabbed him by the shoulders and tore Harry off of Allie.  Harry stumbled a few steps backward into Niall.  He spun around and struck Niall with a deathly glare.  Stop, he mouthed.  Behind this fierce friction occurring behind Harry and Niall, I watched passively as Zayn helped Allie to her feet.

"How's lunch coming, guys?"  I tried for a light-hearted laugh, but probably failed miserably.

The guys and Allie looked to me and grinned.  Harry replied, "We've been waiting for you!"

"Oh, sorry.  I went to . . . go clean our room."  This was possibly the worst excuse for a lie I could have possibly come up with.

Harry rose a brow flirtatiously.  "Oh?  Where you thinking that you were gonna need that room later?  Doing Allie a favor?"

Allie elbowed Harry.  "Gross, Harry.  You pervert."

Harry gave Allie an affectionate hug about her waist.  "I can dream, can't I?"

"No, you may not!"

Niall popped the can of a Shirley Temple.  "We eatin' lunch or what?"

"Yes!  Yes please!"  Louis exclaimed.  "I'm absolutely starving!"

"Well, everything's ready,"  Allie trembled.  When she pointed toward the pan on the oven, I noticed that her hands vibrated.  Harry's comment must have made her nervous.  Something like that would have gotten me excited.  If Zayn had made a comment like that, I'd pull him into the bedroom in that exact moment.