Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Friendships Or A Night Out

Hi everyone, I hope all of you who celebrated Christmas or are celebrating Hanukkah, had or are having a great time. Some drunk Claire for you in this chapter and some cute friendship moments. :) All the love, Summer xxx Ps. Aren't Niall and Ed adorable? 

After I had hung up, I sat on the bench for a full five minutes and tried to wrap my head around what had just happened. A very big part of me wanted to take the first plane to France to confront Harry and this was also the part who tried to make me believe that he was cheating on me. However, a tiny voice at the back of my head questioned why Harry would feel the need to cheat on me after waiting for me for that long and telling me that he loved me. Did he just wait until he got what he wanted and now decided to drop me after he had gotten me into his bed? I mentally slapped myself for even thinking like that, even though my heart felt very bruised suddenly. 

My happy mood had officially been ruined and I gathered my things and slowly walked to through the park, before I decided to see if one my friends was free to celebrate. The first person who picked up was Ed. "Hi, love." he greeted me cheerfully and I instantly felt my lips tug into a small smile. "Hi, Ed. What are you up to?" I asked him, trying to sound as casual as I could. "Not much at the moment, why? Have you missed me?" he joked and I laughed. "Of course, I did, you idiot!" He chuckled. "I just unofficially got my degree and I was looking for someone to celebrate it with, are you free right now? I need someone to help me take my mind of things." He stopped laughing when he heard my sour undertone. 

"Hey, are you alright, love?" he asked me, his tone laced with concern. "I'm fine, but can I come over?" I asked him and he agreed at once. "Of course, where are you at the moment? Do you wanna meet up in a pub in town or something and then maybe move on to a bar later on? We could invite some other people, as well, to celebrate, if you like? I could call some people." he suggested. "That sounds amazing, thank you. I'm in a park near UCL." I explained. "Oh, that's perfect. I know a great, kinda hidden pub just around the corner where we could grab a pint and some food." I smiled at his excited suggestions and then agreed to meet him at the pub in about an hour, before we both hung up.

When I entered the pub about an hour later and looked around, I saw Ed sitting at a big table in the back corner and he wasn't alone. Liam, Niall, Lily, Louis, Milena and Nick Grimshaw were also sitting at the table and when Liam spotted me they all cheered, catching the attention of the rest of the pub who gave me curious stares. "Hi everyone!" I waved happily and was immediately pulled into a hug by the nearest person which happened to be Niall. "Congratulations, love, I knew you had in you." He pressed a light kiss to my cheek and I grinned up at him, before Lily pretty much shoved him out of the way to pull me into a hug herself. "Thanks Niall." I said over her shoulder and he only winked at me, before he squeezed Lily's butt who squatted his  hand away, before she flipped him off over her shoulder, making everyone laugh. "I'm so fucking proud of you." she whispered into my ear. We let go off each other and I was handed over to Nick, Liam, Louis and Milena who all hugged me and congratulated me.

"Ed, my saviour!" I pulled Ed into a tight hug which he returned, before he pressed a light kiss to my cheek, and shoved a drink into my direction. "Congratulations, love. Here, you sounded like you needed it, earlier." he added the last part more quietly and I shot him a thankful look, before I downed the contents of my drink. After everyone had settled down, I ended up sitting between Ed and Niall who was sitting around the corner. "We waited until you were here to order some food. Anything in particular?" Niall asked me and leaned forward to hear me better over the loud chattering around us. "Um, I think I'll just have some chips, I'm not too hungry." He raised an eyebrow at me and shot me a slightly alarmed look, before he asked the rest what they wanted and walked up to the bar to order for all of us. 

"You okay?" Louis mouthed over the table and I pulled a face, before I nodded. "Wanna talk about what happened earlier?" Ed asked quietly into my ear and gave me a concerned look. We both leaned back and I swiftly recounted my weird phone call. There was a short silence. "Look, I know how bad this looks, but I know Harry very well and I don't think he would ever cheat on someone. I also know for fact that he's way too in love with you to sacrifice your relationship for a quick shag with someone on set." His tone was serious and his eyes showed nothing but honesty. "I know, Ed, but it's just..." I felt my cheeks heat up and I averted my gaze, instead looking down at my hands. "We, um, you know, eh, slept with each other not that long ago and a very insecure part of me tries to make me want to believe that he got what he wanted and now found someone better, you know?" I admitted.

When I looked up, I saw Ed's blue eyes already looking down at me. "Look, I obviously don't know what happened with Harry and I also don't know what happened to you to make you think so low of yourself, but I can assure you that Harry would never ever do that to a woman. He respects women too much to do that, so don't worry about that too much, alright? I'm sure there is a good explanation for it, so just wait for him to get back to you and don't worry too much about it, alright?" I nodded and he gave me a reassuring smile, before he leaned over the table and started a conversation with Liam, leaving me alone with my thoughts. 

After the food had arrived, the atmosphere became more relaxed and everyone ate and chatted among each other, before we moved onto drinks after about two hours. I had already had quite a lot as Ed was buying a round after another and was starting to feel it quite a bit. By the time we all decided to leave and move on to a club, I had to hold onto Ed to stop myself from stumbling. He had an arm wrapped around my waist and I was clinging onto one of his hands, when we stepped out of the pub into the night. 

The second we all stepped outside, we were blinded by flashes and I heard Ed curse beside me. I slipped on the pavement and was caught by Ed just in time. Of course, the paparazzi had a field day and kept shouting questions in my face. "Claire, are you hooking up with Ed while Harry's gone? Claire, are you taking drugs? Claire, are you pregnant?" In front of me, Louis had Milena tightly wrapped in his arms and the other guys tried to shield us girls from the cameras as we all climbed into the taxi. "Shit, that was nasty." Liam commented when the taxi drove off in the direction of the club. Everyone nodded in agreement and I leaned my head against Ed's shoulder who gave my thigh a light squeeze, before starting a quiet conversation with Nick who was sitting next to him in the backseat.

When arrived at the club, we managed to sneak in through the back and all ended up at the bar where we did another round of shots, before I pulled Ed, Nick and Liam onto the dance floor. Louis and Milena seemed to having a very deep conversation and Niall and Lily had started making out, so there was no point asking them. The three of them did a great job at dancing with me, spinning me around and just generally pulling the most ridiculous dance moves which made all of us double over in laughter. Secretly, their goals must have been to cheer me up and celebrate with me because they did an amazing job at that. 

When we returned to the bar we all ordered another drink, before I suddenly felt a little bit dizzy and had to lean into Liam for support. "Whoa, easy love." He caught me, before I could fall to the floor and wrapped an arm around my waist. "I think you've had enough to drink." he said gently and carefully removed my drink from my hand, before he had a quiet conversation with Ed and Nick which I didn't quite understand over the music. Louis and Milena were no where to be found and Lily and Niall were in their own little world on the dance floor, so Ed quickly texted them, before the four of us made our way to the back door of the club.

Once again we were greeted by paparazzi and Liam cursed quietly, pulling me closer into him to keep me on my feet, as we followed the other three who pushed themselves through the crowd to the waiting taxi. Nick slammed the door shut as soon as Liam had climbed in after me and the driver pulled into the busy traffic as swiftly as possible. "Are you alright, love?" he asked me concerned and eyed me warily from the other side of the car. I only nodded and let Liam put on my seat belt for me, before I leaned my head onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry for getting so drunk." I apologised quietly and sent the others an apologetic look. "I had a shitty phone call right after I left uni and kinda lost count of how much I've had to drink." I explained, my words slightly slurred, and I had to close my eyes for a few seconds as another wave of nausea hit me.

Liam ended up carrying me up to my flat where he made sure that I had a glass of water, a bucket for any potential puking and an advil on my night stand. "You gonna be alright, love?" he asked me and waited in the hallway as I got changed into my pyjamas and then helped me brush my teeth, before he tugged me into my bed. "You're too good to me, Liam." I mumbled and he smiled down at me. "No, I'm just taking care of a friend. I'll send Soph around tomorrow morning because I'm not sure Lily will come home tonight and even if she does, she probably won't be able to take care of you if you need someone." he smirked before he turned the light of. "Good night, Claire." he whispered and a few seconds later, I heard the front door close behind him. If I had known how fast paparazzi can come up with a story and how widely our little night out had spread already, I might have had more problems falling alseep, but as it was, I blissfully slipped off into the darkness.