Before She Falls

Chapter 23

The next day Harry texts me around 3:50pm to tell me to watch Ellen's show, as if he needs to let me know. My mom and Madison are already sitting on the couch in the living room impatiently waiting for the show to come on.

The time is now 4:01pm and Ellen is a minute late introducing the boys and Madison and my mom feel the need to make sure I know how annoying it is that she is delaying the show by one minute. I have to remind myself several times that this show isn't live television and the guys aren't actually at the show right this moment. Anyway, the boys look oh so lovely as they walk out onto the stage to kiss Ellen on the cheek, one-by-one.

My eyes travel to Harry first, go figure. He's wearing a light blue flannel shirt with white and red lines crossing over each other to create the pattern. It's unbuttoned a tad in the front to expose small parts of the two tattooed swallows on his chest. His hair looks perfectly lifted away from his face and a smile remains on his mouth the entire time the camera is on him. I also have to remind myself that my mom and Maddie don't even know what's been going on between Harry and I, whatever it is.

I see Liam trailing behind Harry and my mother points to the screen as if Maddie and I have no idea that it's our cousin on the television. He's dressed in a plain white t-shirt and black jeans. The longer hair near the front of his head is curled above his forehead.

"I feel like I haven't seen him in years" Madison says as Liam takes his seat on the couch next to Harry on Ellen's stage.

"You haven't" I tell her. "It's been two years."

Her and my mom both ignore my comment and focus on Zayn, who is walking up on stage now. Zayn looks super serious, as he usually does, as he's walking out. His black v-neck is paired with dark-wash jeans. His almost black hair is styled upwards, just like the rest of the boys.

"I think he is so cute" my mother coos, referring to Zayn.

"He's also has a girlfriend" I laugh and my mom gives me a joking glare.

"He's my favorite" Madison points to Niall who's wearing a bright blue t-shirt to match his eyes. His smile is so wide as he walks onto the stage that I think his face might break.

"Vanessa's too" I add and they both give me confused looks, but quickly change their attention to the television.

Finally, Louis walks out, dressed in a dark denim shirt with plain black jeans.

First the boys talk about their album for a few minutes. They discuss the songs, the choice behind the titles, and what the lyrics might mean.

"Girls" Louis answers. "Girls are the biggest influence behind our music and if any of these boys tell you differently, they're lying."

The other four boys share a laugh and so does Ellen.

"Is Liam still seeing Danielle?" Maddie asks.

"Yes" I answer. "I don't know if they're 'official', but they're together." Maddie nods and we face the screen again.

Ellen asks the boys about their movie, This Is Us. Video clips come onto the screen; little bits of fans crying and screaming to them, a quiet interview with Louis where he speaks about how crazy this journey has been so far, and a short video of all the boys dancing around backstage.

"How hard do you think it is on your families when you're not around?" Ellen questions the boys.

"It's tough for them to be okay with us leaving them, because this was all so sudden. Like our parents just sort of had to wave goodbye to us on the X-Factor. I think it was a lot to handle in the beginning, but now they all just love it" Louis is the first one to speak.