Before She Falls

Chapter 17

After being out on the river, the eight of us go to a sandwich shop up the street and purchase subs, chips, drinks, and anything else our hearts desire. We then walk back by the river and pick a spot next to the water. Liam and Zayn spread a white sheet out on the ground that they must have brought from the hotel.

We all take a seat on the blanket and start devouring our food. It's quiet for the most part besides the little whispers and giggles between the couples within the group. The splashing of the water against the docks is all the sound we need. I think about how nice this must be for these boys. They just finished their worldwide tour where the fans, cameras, and loud music are endless. But now they're in New York trying to relax a bit and I couldn't think of anything more relaxing right now than laying on this sheet, watching random people laugh and kayak past us, and having the sun soak into your skin.

"Well what's next lads?" Zayn asks as his finishes the last bite of his sandwich.

"Louis just texted me and told me he's going to be back at the hotel in about twenty minutes" Harry says next to me.

"With El or no?" Liam asks and his eyebrows come together.

"I don't think so" Harry shrugs slightly.

"Well let's meet back with Louis and we'll figure something out from there" Zayn says and stands up.

"Sounds good" Niall agrees and stands up as well.

Harry, Niall, Vanessa, and I climb into Harry's black Range Rover that I assume he rented when he landed in New York. Liam, Danielle, Zayn, and Perrie went into a different garage to get into Zayn's car. And all eight of us made our ways back to the Four Seasons.

"What took you lads so long?" Louis asks as soon as Niall pushes the hotel door open.

"Where's Eleanor?" Zayn asks Louis who is sitting on the couch with his legs propped on the coffee table, watching a soccer game.

"She left for Manchester this morning" Louis says and turns the television off, standing from the couch. He then asks, "So what are we doing for the rest of the day?"

"We could always just go walking around, ya know" Niall suggests. "Are you girls up for that?" He directs his attention towards Vanessa, Danielle, Perrie, and me.

"I think Zayn and I will just stay back" Perrie says, looping her arm lovingly through Zayn's.

"Yeah, I'm actually very tired. I think I'm going to stay here too. You guys should still go out though" Liam says taking his shoes off and Danielle does the same. I didn't expect her to go out without Liam.

"Oh you lazy arses" Louis chuckles while he insults them. "Will you four come out with me?"

Harry looks at me, Niall turns to Vanessa, and Vanessa's eyes look to me for an answer. I guess I'm the deciding factor for today's activities.

"Of course" I tell Lou with a smile. I'm a little tired but walking around the city with these boys and my best friend seems like a fun adventure waiting to happen.

"Perfect" Louis slides a pair of vans onto his feet. "Let's get going then, before it gets dark" he says as he's already out of the door.

I figure out after three hours of aimlessly walking around the city with these three goofballs and Vanessa that maybe I should have stayed back in the hotel suite, for my feet's sake. My converses have no mercy for the soles of my feet.

However, I have to say ice had a lot of fun roaming the streets with these four. So far, we've been inside Dylan's Candy Bar, where Niall bought about three pounds of candy "for the plane ride to LA", we strolled through half of Central Park's garden, where Harry sneakily picked me a few flowers that I still have in my right hand at the moment, and we made a quick stop inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, where Louis wanted to stay forever because of the blasting air conditioning inside. Well, now we're making our way to the New York Aquarium on Surf Avenue.

"Take a picture of me!" Louis tosses me his phone and rushes to stand in front of the huge blue tank. He positions himself, pointing at the gigantic yellow fish swimming and he makes a fishy face by pursing his lips together. Louis really is a twenty-two year old child. I snap a quick picture on his iPhone and hand it back to him.

He laughs as soon as he has the screen up to his face, "I've got to send this is El."

"Kat, come look!" Vanessa waves me over to the big tank covering the wall across from us.

"What?" I ask as I walk towards them on the other side of the room. Louis trails behind me, his face still glued to his phone, texting Eleanor of course.

"Oh, fuck you" I say to Vanessa and spin around to face the other direction of the tank. Vanessa laughs and I can hear Niall giggle along with her.

She knows I hate sharks; even looking at them makes me uncomfortable. The entire tank is full of them. Grey and blue creepy figures weaving around each other in the water. I didn't like sharks when I was five years old and I don't like them now.

"Scared of sharks, are you?" Harry almost laughs while asking me.

"Kind of" I lie and Harry comes closer to me.

I mean am I wrong for hating these fuckers? They're five hundred pound creatures that attack humans in the ocean if they feel even slightly threatened. Plus they have ten thousand sharp as fuck teeth and can detect prey from their heartbeats. I just hate them, they're fucking scary and Vanessa sucks for making me come over to a wall-tank full of them.

Harry laughs at me as he forcefully turns me around to face the tank.

"Harry" I whine while his hands are still wrapped around my sides to keep my direction towards the sharks.

"They're not going to hurt you while they're in the tank" Harry says from behind me.

"Niall take a picture of me and the sharks will you?" Louis asks. He seems to have missed this whole shark situation, but Niall takes Louis's phone and proceeds to snap a picture for Louis, well for Eleanor actually.

"I guess" I respond wearily to Harry while he's still behind me. I actually look at all the grey bodies moving around inside the tank and they didn't look as frightening when they're just swimming around with one another.

"Not as scary right?" Harry moves from behind me to directly by my side, still holding me around my waist.

I nod as I look up at his face; his dimples are in full force right now making him irresistible and making me crave a kiss from him.

"You're cute when you're scared" Harry meets my eyes and grins, pulling me a little closer to his side.

I let out a small laugh and then wrap my arm around his back, "You're cute when you're right."