It's Gotta Be You (One Direction Mini Fic)

Never Grow Up

                “I’m Bridget,” I said. “That’s Brooke.”

            Louis nodded thoughtfully. He stepped aside and waved us into the room. “Won’t you come in?”

            Harry entered first, Brooke and I following close behind. Louis regarded me closely, something clearly on his mind. I shrugged it off and walking into Niall’s open arms. He hugged me tightly and introduced me to Zayn.

            “Zayn, this is Bridget, the girl I was telling you about,” Niall waved his arms in my direction, in an attempt to frame my appearance. Zayn rose to his feet and engulfed me in a hug.

            He laughed to himself before turning to Niall. “You weren’t joking when you said she was beautiful.” I felt my face burn red and saw the blush rise in Niall’s cheeks.

            Brooke had already indulged herself in conversation with Liam and Harry, but Louis was sitting alone on a chair near the other end of the room, seemingly deep in thought. His eyes occasionally flickered towards me, but he resumed staring at the ground when he noticed me looking. I wondered what he was thinking about. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

            “What’s up, Lou?” Liam enquired. Louis snapped out of his trance quickly. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and slid to his feet.

            He shook his head once more and smiled to me. “Nothing. Let’s go get Nando’s.” he plucked a jacket off the hook near the door before marching outside.

            The boys didn’t seem bothered by this behaviour, so I forced myself to think nothing of it. I tried not to worry about why he was so familiar. I was only slightly surprised when Niall offered me his hand. I took it and smiled. Louis was several meters ahead of the rest of us, and he never slowed his pace until he reached the car.

            I didn’t know what I was expecting—a limo, a bus maybe—but I laughed a little when I saw the long white van. “It doesn’t attract much attention,” Niall explained.

            “SHOTGUN!” Louis shouted and made a dash for the front seat. In the blink of an eye, he had flung the door open and was sitting in the van. Liam dropped Brooke’s hand and circled the can, settling into the driver’s seat.

            Zayn slid the door open and clambered into the back of the vehicle, followed by the rest of us in turn. Niall and I sat hand in hand the whole ride to Nando’s, which passed by in near silence. The only noises came from Louis trying to navigate, and Liam protesting, determined we were headed the wrong way.

            The way that Louis waved his arms in protest, the way his eyes crinkled when he grinned and the way he wiggled his fingers in the direction we were to turn were all so sickeningly familiar to  me, and I didn’t know why. As far as I remember, I’d never met anyone named Louis, which wasn’t helping my confusion.

            I gazed out the tinted window in attempt to clear my head. I didn’t recognize our surroundings through the darkness, which was unusual. Brooke and I knew the GTA like the back of our hands. “Liam, are you sure you know where you’re going? This doesn’t look anything like Mississauga,” I pondered.

            The moment Louis was about to utter his denial, an ugly croak sounded from the engine. A faint sizzling was audible as Liam pulled the van onto the side of the road. Harry, Liam and Louis jumped onto the nearly deserted road to go investigate the source of the noise.

            We heard Liam yell in pain moments later. “I’m gonna go help them,” Niall announced. He hesitated at first, but placed a kiss on my cheek before exiting the van. Zayn nodded and left to join them.