Stole My Heart (A Niall Horan Love Story)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Claire and I had been in San Diego for a week, and neither of us had a trace of homesickness. Every day, the boys would come with us to some place new. Each time they were stopped by countless girls who never failed to embarrass themselves by fawning over all five boys. I honestly wondered how they thought throwing themselves at someone would make them want to be with you. Often times, they would even cry. Speaking as someone who personally knew all of One Direction, if you looked at them as people and not as superstars, they were just like any normal guy you could come across. They enjoyed the same things and had the same sense of humor and had the same way of causing trouble wherever they went. 

As far as California itself went, I was loving every bit of it. It was warm all the time, but not humid, unlike Maine. Back home, any heat was always accompanied by humidity. Here, it stayed warm enough, but wasn’t the type of heat to cause you to float in your shoes. 

“Are we there yet?” Louis asked from the back seat, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Lou, look around, what bit of this looks like a zoo?” Harry asked from behind the wheel. 

Louis looked down at his hands mumbling a quiet, “I don’t know.” 

“Take the next right,” I said from my position sandwiched between Niall and Louis. Liam had shotgun next to Harry who was driving. Zayn and Claire had the very back seat, as this particular model Range Rover had a second back seat. I could hear the two talking and giggling behind me. Zayn was so great with my sister.

We’d been on the road for a half hour, and, judging from past experience, had to be almost there. Louis was practically bouncing in his seat. He’d never been to the San Diego Zoo, and was beyond excited to see all the animals. 

When I had suggested the zoo as an option for the following day, I was surprised at the enthusiasm of the responses. Harry had hugged Louis, both cheering with excitement. Claire had cheered with them, she hadn’t been to the San Diego Zoo in a year, and was almost as excited to go again as I was. 

Harry slowed down and took the right I had indicated, continuing along a long stretch of road with huge buildings lining either side. People of all types milled around the sidewalks. Men in business suits lingered outside coffee shops, taking a break from work. Women chatted in groups at tables, casually flipping their hair when a good looking guy walked by. We continued like this for several more miles before seeing a sign in the distance indicating that the San Diego Zoo would be on our next left. 

Louis spotted the sign instantly, and shook my shoulder, begging me to look at the sign too. “We’re almost there, Leah!”

“Calm down, Lou,” Liam said, chuckling softly. 

Louis glared at the other boy. “Killjoy.” 

Harry turned the radio on in an attempt to drown out Louis’ excitement for the final few minutes. I squealed when I heard the first few notes float through the car’s speakers. 

La da di da di. We like to party. Dancing with Miley. Doing whatever we want. 

I sang along with just about as much enthusiasm as Louis possessed towards our zoo trip. Lou knew the song too and joined me, belting out the words twice as loud as I did. When the song finally ended, we collapsed onto each other, laughing. Over the past few days, Louis and I had grown closer. He had an effortless way of maintaing a happy mood among everyone he was with, and he could make me laugh harder than anyone I’d ever met. 

“You have a really nice voice, Jenna,” Zayn said from behind me.

“Thank you,” I turned to smile at the dark-haired boy. He returned it.