Later, we all sat around the campfire, just watching the stars out. Suddenly, Louis started giggling. “What, Lou?” I asked.
“Remember how we met?” He asked. “Jack had put me into a trash can, and you dug me out.”
“Remember the horrendous outfits that Harry used to wear?” Liam teased. Harry grinned and threw an empty Pepsi can at him.
“Remember how nervous Niall was every time he talked to Hannah?” Louis added. Niall blushed, and Hannah giggled.
“Remember how we played truth or dare, and Niall gave Hannah her first kiss?” Harry smiled as both Niall and Hannah blushed. Olivia moved awkwardly in her seat, no doubt feeling out of place. I looked up at Harry.
“Remember how I met the best friends of my entire life here in a little town outside Cheshire?” I said softly. Harry took my hand and rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. Louis suddenly jumped up.
“PRESENT TIME!!!!!” He screamed, waving his arms.
“Oh, no, you guys didn’t…” I gasped. “You really shouldn’t have!”
“We did!” Hannah grabbed a bag from under her chair, and pulled out a box. Louis grabbed it, and threw it at me.
“Open mine first!” He ordered. I smiled, and opened it, then cooed in delight, pulling out a fluffy brown teddy bear. “I found it at Toys R Us, where I work, and I just thought of you.” Louis blushed.
“I shall call him Tommo.” I responded. He grinned.
“Mine next! Mine next!” Hannah yelled. She handed me a book, and I grinned.
“The Screwtape Letters. Thanks, Hannah!”
“No problem. Niall helped me find it.” She kissed her boyfriends cheek.
“Speaking of which, here’s my contribution.” Niall handed me and envelope. I opened it, and smiled.
“A Nando’s gift card. Why am I not surprised.”
“Don’t spend it all in one place.” Niall winked at me.
“I wont. I’m not you.” Niall stuck his tongue out at me as Liam handed me a DVD. I laughed.
“Toy Story!”
“The blue-ray version.” Liam shrugged. “I figured that you could watch it, and it would remind you of us.”
“Annie, you forgot meeeee!” Zayn whined.
“I would never forget you, Zayney.” I giggled, taking the small package he handed me. I sighed. “A Little Mix CD. Really, Zayn?”
“Hey, Perrie Edwards is fit!” Zayn held up his hands in defense as Louis and Niall jeered and threw Pepsi cans at him.
“Mine next!” Olivia handed me the package from the pharmacy. “We had to stop at the pharmacy to get these developed. I think they turned out great.” She said shyly. I opened the package, and gasped. It was a picture of me, the lads, and Hannah. I recognized it from when Olivia said that she needed pictures of groups of people to put it in the yearbook. Liam, Louis, and Zayn were all sitting in the front; Louis was crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue, Liam was pulling a duck face, and Zayn was doing the Flynn Rider smolder from Tangled. Harry, Hannah, Niall and I were in the back ground—Hannah was on Niall’s back, and Harry was on my back. He was leaning forward, trying to kiss me in the cheek, and I was turning my head, laughing. Niall and Hannah were just laughing at us. I pressed a hand to my mouth, and tried not to cry.
“I love it.” I whispered finally. Olivia handed me the other small package.
“Harry had me make this one for you.” She smiled. I I opened it. It was a smaller picture of me and Harry, hugging and smiling into the camera. I recognized it from a while ago. I smiled.
“Mine!” Harry handed me a small jewelry box. I opened it and gasped. It was his paper airplane necklace. I ran my fingers over it, and looked up at him. He smiled gently at me.
“Help me put it on?” I asked. He nodded and I handed it to him, then lifted my pony tail. I felt his warm fingers brush against my neck, and the necklace dropped onto my neck. I suddenly felt his breath against my ear. “Now I’ll be with you forever.” He whispered. That did it. I burst into tears, and immediately I felt Harry’s arms around me.
“I don’t want to go…” I blubbered.
“I know, Annie. I know.” Harry whispered to me. I heard Hannah swallow hard, and Louis cleared his throat. I pulled away from them, and wiped my eyes. Harry kept his hold on my hand.
“Thank you all.” I whispered. “I love all of your gifts…” I swallowed. “And I will never forget you.” I looked at Harry now. “I’ve never really had friends before. Like real friends. When my mum was still alive…” I looked down. Harry squeezed my hand.
“You don’t have to tell us, Ann.” He whispered.
“I want to.” I said back, then took a deep breath. “When I was sixteen, I had my own little group of friends. Me, my cousin, Ashton, and my best friend and his girlfriend, Carly. We did everything together, and I was especially close to Ashton.” I felt Harry give my fingers a reassuring squeeze. I squeezed back, and continued. “Ashton introduced me to his friend from school… his name was Max. And we kinda hit it off. Soon, he asked me out. I agreed, and we dated for about three months. Then, the week after my mother…passed away…I went over to Max’s house. I thought, you know, since he was my boyfriend, he’d help me, maybe talk about things…” I felt more tears coming, so I took a breath. “And, um…I walked in, and he was…with Carly. And they were… He was….” I felt the tears coming faster now. “He cheated on me.” I whispered. There was complete silence, except for the crackling of the fire in the middle of us. Harry moved his arm to rest around my shoulders, and pulled me into him. I rested my head on his shoulder, and sighed. “He turned around and saw me…and I was just in total shock. He smirked and asked if I wanted to join the party. I just turned and walked out. I called Ashton, and he went over there, beat Max up, and broke up with Renee. The next week, my father said we were moving…and that was it. We never went back to London. And I never let anyone else close enough to let it hurt when we would leave again. It just was easier to keep everyone at arm’s length.” I smiled shakily at the people who had become my best friends. “But you guys are different.” Hannah reached over and squeezed my leg.
“And now you’re stuck with us…” She said, smiling.
“Forever and always…” Zayn warbled, purposefully off key, trying to imitate Taylor Swift’s voice. I giggled, and Niall and Louis booed and threw sticks at Zayn. “Why do you always throw things at me?” Zayn whined.
“Prima donna.” Niall joked. Liam cleared his throat dramatically.
“Priiiimaa Donna, first laaaaaady of the staaaaage; your deputies are on their kneeees to implooooorre youuuuuu…” He bellowed, singing Prima Donna from Phantom of the Opera, a film I had forced everyone to watch last month. Louis groaned.
“NOOOOO, now its stuck in my heaaaaad!” He whined. I shook my head, and Hannah caught my eye as the boys leapt at Liam, who was shrieking like a little girl.
“Forever and always, Annie…” She giggled.
