I Like the Way You Smile. [ON HOLD]

A Night With the Lads.

<A Night with the Lads.>

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I question once more, about the fifth time, but this time, he’s pulling into his driveway. The house looks basically the same. The greenery in front of the house has changed a little. “I mean, they may not like me.”

Niall chuckles as he turns off the car, “I forgot how self-conscious you are.”

“Only around new people,” I point out cheekily as I hop out of the car. 

I glance at Niall as we make our way to the front door. He’s exactly the same as when I saw him in Spain, minus the thousands of screaming girls. His eyes were the same clear, bright blue; his hair the same tousled, bleach blonde; still short, but –once again- taller than me at about  sixty-eight inches (five foot eight); and the same, lovable, crooked smile that he has always been self-conscious about. I haven’t seen him in so long that this feels so surreal to me, just being this close to him.

I doubt I’ll ever see him as an international pop sensation. I don’t really want to. I want to see him as Nialler, one of my best mates. I hope I never do see him as the pop sensation.

“Brace yourself,” Niall warns, unlocking the front door, “The lads are a bit mental sometimes.” Smiling, I nod nervously. He notices my state and places a comforting, friendly hand on the small of my back as we step into the house.

Even though I’ve already met them briefly, spending an extensive amount of time with them worries me. What if they don’t like me? What if what Niall has told them about me has clouded their vision of me? More importantly, how will they react when they know that I’m the girl that they met in the record shop today?

Now, new questions flood me. Have they told Niall about the encounter? What did he say? Did he realize it was me by how Zayn, Harry, Liam and Louis described me?

It’s only when I hear Zayn’s -possible Bradford- accent sound from the other room that I stop interrogating myself.

“C’mon love,” Niall whispers to me, leading me towards the boys, “Don’t be so nervous.” I feel like I’m a teenage boy meeting a girl’s overprotective father for the first time. But Niall’s hand makes it somewhat better.

The one that was wearing the braces earlier jumps on Niall, now in rolled sweatpants and the same shirt, smiling like a giddy child at him, “Nialler, good to see yeh again mate. What took you so long? We all missed you t-” he sees me and makes and says, “Oh, ‘Ello there Delilah.” He waves at me before pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. Niall pulls him off of me and gives me a confused look mixed with a smile. I guess they never mentioned meeting me at the record store. "Nice to see you again," he waves from beside the other three boys. The others nod in agreement.

Looking over at a confused Niall, I find it best if I explain, "I went to the record store with Catria this afternoon and they ran into the store to escape a flash mob. We had short introductions before I had to leave."

Zany shouts out with a large smile, "I knew we had seen you before! I knew it! Niall has pic-" Niall jumps on Zayn, covering Zayn's mouth his hand, looking extremely red and embarrassed.

"You're right Zayn!" Liam exclaims and slaps Harry on the back, who seems more interested in his iPhone than what's going on. It kind of puts a damper on my mood because it gives me the impression that he doesn't really like me. I hear Niall call out to Maura, but I take a seat across from Harry as the other boys head to the kitchen for food.

When the other boys have left, Harry looks up from his phone and asks, "Are you and Niall . . ."

"Are me and Niall, what?" I ask, totally unaware of what he is trying to say.