21 Directions

Chapter Fourteen

{Emma POV}

I spring out of Niall's grip, and he suddenly finds an interest on the concrete stairs, scuffing the edges of his shoes against it. 

"Nothing," Niall mumbles. "She fell and I caught her."

My heart falls as he says that. A small part of me, and teeny tiny part, had been hoping he would say he felt the same about me as I felt about him. But of course not. I mean, how could he? He's famous, has a gorgeous girlfriend, and is living the dream life. I'm just...me. 

I liked him, I realized. I liked liked him. A lot. 

Stop it, Emma! I chastised myself. You have absolutely no chance. And once he finds out about how-

The creak of the door opening cracked me out of my reverie. Niall lifts his foot to take a step in, but Grace catches hold of his arm and draws him back. Thinking they probably needed some privacy, I slip into the door. 

As I walk into the house, I overhear Niall heatedly saying, "Why do you even care?"

Grace talked back with a voice just as animated, "You know what the managers will say!"

{Jasmine POV}

I walk downstairs to find the bright sunshine creeping into the sitting room. Perched on the end of the armchair is Grace, looking flawless as always, speaking in clipped phrases to Niall. They seem to be in some disagreement over something, but to be honest I'd rather not get into any of their conflicts.

Sneaking past them silently into the kitchen, I grab an orange to unpeel and I rest my head against the cool marble counter top. I can still hear Niall and Grace's bickering from the other room, so I take the orange and walk out to the back garden. There's dew on the grass as I slide my bare feet across the ground and take in the scenery.

"Hey... Jasmine," I hear a low voice call from the porch. I turn around to find Harry standing, fully clad, on the porch with slightly tussled hair. This light makes him look... incredible.

"Morning," I smile. How many more of my mornings will be filled with Harry?

"You're up a bit earlier than usual." I say, trying to crack a joke and take a leap of confidence.

"Thanks, I try!" He smirks, inflaming my confidence.

I make my way over to the porch steps and sit down near where Harry was standing. He lowers himself down to the steps and glances over at me.

I smile, trying not to make the moment awkward. I seriously can't come up with anything to say right now.

"We have interviews today," Harry mentions, saving me from my lack of speech.

"Oh right, cool," I reply, drifting off to stare at the trees, perhaps the words I want to say will be there.

"Are you alright?" Harry inquires, concern taking over his features.

"Yeah, fine," I assure him. What's with him and being concerned for me? In all reality, I should be the one obsessed with him... not that he's obsessed with me.

There's been a strange conversation going on within myself ever since I arrived here, since it's not possible or acceptable to obsess over the boys when I'm actually living with them. At least that theory makes sense to me.

"Well... I'll catch up with you later, call me if you need anything," he says, rising to go and leaving me behind on the steps.

"Harry.." I call as he reaches the door.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I... just wanted to say, have a good time." I finish, swallowing my words.

He nods silently and steps through the door as I rest my chin on my knees, drained of whatever feeling it was that I had when he was beside me.

{Emma POV}

I pondered over the conversation I overheard between Grace and Niall. I wondered about what Grace meant when she mentioned management. Curiosity burned inside me, and I wanted to ask Niall about it, but at the same time, I didn't want to be seen as pushy. 

I walk to the kitchen, and happen to see Jasmine out of the corner of my eye on the porch steps. I decide to join her. I plop down down next to her, and revel in the amiable silence. 

"So, how's life?" I ask her jokingly, with a chuckle. 

"Pretty good. I saw a girl at a concert, and because of that, we now happen to live with One Direction. No biggie. " Jasmine grins at me.  

"Oh hey!" I pipe up. "That happened to me! Wow, what a coincidence!" 

We laugh harmoniously. 

I feel like Jasmine and I have come a long way on the road to friendship, and I was actually pretty glad about it. 

"Come on, it looks like it's going to rain. Let's go inside, and make lunch. I'm craving some Nutella!" I exclaim.

As soon as we make our sandwiches, we sit down on the couch, and click on the telly. And what do we see? None other than the live stream of the boys' interview!

The boys sat on a plush looking couch, and leaned forward, listening attentively to the interviewer. 

"So, Niall... Hoeran, is it? You're the one engaged to that girl in Little Mix, right?" The interviewer asks seriously, twiddling with her note cards.

Jasmine and I collectively burst out into giggles. 

"Erm, actually," Niall clears his throat. "It's Horan."

"And I'm the one engaged." Zayn cuts in. 

I was gasping for air, my ribs aching from all the laughter. Beside me, Jasmine is hugging a pillow to her face, stifling her uproar.

"Oh..." The lady interviewing pushed up the bridge of her dark framed glasses. "So, who's single?"

Harry was the first one to raise his hand, and I expected that. 

What I didn't expect, and had my jaw dropping down to the ground, was what happened next. 

Niall raised his hand. 

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{A/N}

OMG GUYS. We are SO sorry for the wait, because we had school and all those excuses everyone makes, but we SWEAR, it's true! 

We really hope we can post more often in the future, god knows this update took like FOREVER! 

We love you guys! Please keep reading, comment, and vote! 

xoxox,

AlliCat & MillieBear