His Mistake

Chapter 1

It was Liam’s eighteenth birthday and he knew what that meant. It meant, he reminded himself for what must have been the billionth time, that tonight he would find his mate. He frowned to himself, shaking his head. Liam didn’t believe in love – it just wasn’t for him. He was happy with – and accustomed to – the many girls who understood that whatever they were to have with Liam was casual. Flings and hook-ups were his specialty, and he was fine with that. He took ahold of the beer-filled keg in his basement, carrying it up the stairs with ease. Liam glanced around the cabin – the cabin that took months of chores and endless begging just to convince his parents to rent it for the weekend – grinning to himself. 

“Looks good mate,” Louis looked around the room semi-approvingly as he walked in, Harry lingering behind. “Could’ve done much better, but this is still ace.” 

“Shut up Louis,” Harry rolled his eyes, smiling fondly over at Liam. “Happy Birthday, Li.” Liam’s eyes immediately spotted the present Harry had clutched in his hand, raising an eyebrow over at the curly-haired boy with bemusement. “I’ll just put this over here,” Harry placed the present on the table beside another that had been from his parents.

“It’s from me as well – just in case Harold over here forgot to put my name on the tag.” Louis announced as he nudged Harry, wandering over to the keg Liam had set out moments ago.

“He did,” Liam replied as he peered over at the present (“I did,” Harry insisted at the same time as Liam).

“So tonight’s the night, huh?” Louis asked, studying one of the multiple bottles of liquor Liam had put out for the party. “The night where Liam Payne, the infamous womanizer slash werewolf of Seacrest High finds his true love – imprintee, or whatever tacky thing you guys call it.”

“Mate,” Harry corrected with a smile, swiping the bottle from Louis’ grasp. “Imprintee sounds like something out of a Twilight novel,” he crinkled his nose in mock-disgust, “and I won’t have you slander sacred werewolf lingo. Besides, we both know that Liam probably won’t pay any attention to this poor girl.”

“Unless she’s a good shag,” Liam snorted, earning groans from both Harry and Louis. “What? C’mon, I already told the two of you that I’m not into that whole ‘in love’ thing. S’all just a bunch of rubbish.”

“Yeah, you won’t be thinking that for long,” Harry teased, playing with the knobs on a stereo that was on one of the shelves. Just as Liam was about to respond to that, there was a knock at the door, and he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Shut up and just play some music, yeah?” Liam grumbled as he reached the door, ignoring the obnoxious laughter that was coming from Louis. He pulled it open, smiling gratefully as he stared at a small crowd of vaguely familiar faces. “Hey guys, come in.”

--

Ellie frowned, looking out of the passenger seat window to a crowded parking lot. “Remind me again why I have to be here?” She glanced over at her friend Alexis, raising an eyebrow. 

“Because,” Alexis started impatiently as she pulled into one of the parking spaces, “we’re graduating this year and you’ve never been to any high school parties.”

“Hey I went to--” Ellie started, barely finishing her sentence before Alexis cut her off curtly.

“Any cool high school parties, my bad. Plus, it’s a birthday party and those are always fun, right? Now get the hell out of my car and come party with me.” Ellie sighed exasperatedly, fingertips ghosting over the red button that would release the seat belt. “Now, Ellie, I mean it!” 

“Alright, alright,” Ellie tried not to laugh as she opened her car door, climbing out of the car. She pulled down the bottom of her dress – technically it was Alexis’ dress since all of hers weren’t Alexis-approved -- (“Seriously, El! All of these look like something you’d wear to a funeral. You’ll just have to borrow one of mine,” Alexis had sighed disappointingly.) and waited for Alexis to get out of the car. Once she did, the two headed toward the entrance of the party. She could feel the rhythmic beat of party music in the air, eyes roaming the ginormous cabin that was ahead of them. “Whose party is this again?”