She's Not Afraid

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX: (I CAN'T) FORGET ABOUT YOU

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX: (I CAN'T) FORGET ABOUT YOU

At around two in the morning, Louis and Niall wouldn't stop knocking on the front door which echoed all throughout the house.

"Okay, okay! You guys can sleepover or whatever! Just let me get some sleep..." I mumbled once I opened the door.

"Told you it's all about the right timing." Louis whispered to Niall and since I was like half asleep, I decided to let it go... for now.

"Louis, you're such a bad influence on Niall." I sounded like my mother.

"I hope you guys are okay with sleeping on the floor." I added.

******

"AHHHHHHH!!!" Someone screamed so loudly that it woke me up from my sleep.

"What now?!" I lazily sat up.

"You went soft on them didn't you?" Harry accused me as he pointed at the sleeping Niall and Louis on either side of me on the futon.

"I'm guessing that you're the one who did the screaming?" I rubbed my sleepy eyes.

"Don't change the subject here! And don't do that! You make me want to kiss you..." Harry mumbled the last part.

"Excuse me? What did I do?"

"Well, other than rubbing your eyes so adorably---"

"And that's supposedly my fault? Being too damn adorable?! In that case, I'll try to be 'less appealing' to you then!" I interrupted him.

"Exactly! That's what I was going to say. Let's make some ground rules, shall we? The first one being: Do NOT rub your eyes adorably right in front of me or the other guys." Harry smiled.

"It's all for your own good, really. Since you made it clear for us that you want to go to the 'friendship path' and all." He added.

"Friendship path?" I asked.

"Isn't this sleepover all about us becoming best buds? Even Zayn agrees with the idea."

"Yeah, I bet he does... Fine, I'll follow your stupid ground rules for you." I decided.

Who knew friendship would eventually come with a price?

"Breakfast is ready!" Liam shouted from downstairs.

*HARRY'S POV*

I'm not really punishing her for being too gorgeous to look at...

It's just that I think it's better off this way, making the whole friendship thing work.

Being 'friends' is so much better compared to losing her again after all.

I even talked Zayn and Liam into it.

"Help me make a list of some ground rules that Cher should follow in order for our friendship to work." I put down a piece of paper and a pen on top of the table.

*CHER'S POV*

"Ground rules my ass... and to think that they're staying in MY house." I mumbled to myself in the shower.

"Open up! I need to pee!" Niall relentlessly knocked on my bathroom door.

"Go pee in another bathroom! Jeez..." I hollered.

"Okay." I heard him say.

Boys are so rude! I don't care if he's half asleep or not.

Why did I even agree to befriend them in the first place?

I wrapped myself up in my towel then stepped outside.

"Good morning, beautiful." Louis eyed me up and down.

"I think Harry should add the 'No walking around in just your towel' rule to his list." He grinned.

"Whatever. This is still my bedroom and my walk-in closet is just right there so you didn't see me, okay?" I brushed past him.

"I was just kidding, love. You know, it's a total shame that Harry's making you follow some ground rules just so he could stop himself from falling more in love with you but we all know that it's never going to work. I'm against all this... who says you can't walk around in just a towel when you're at your prettiest?" He got a hold of my arm.

"Now I can see why I shouldn't." I answered back with sarcasm.

"I really should talk to Harry about this especially if you don't like what he's making you do." His eyes were filled with nothing but concern.

"It's okay. You don't have to. It's not that big of a deal." I said after awhile.

"I know... but I would LOVE to make a big deal out of it." He mischievously smirked.

*LOUIS' POV*

"I'm against the ground rules thingy. I don't think Cher has to 'adjust' to you guys just because she's too perfect for your eyes." I folded my arms.

"Yeah, me too! I love Cher just the way she is..." Niall sided with me.

"Why are you suddenly contradicting me, Tomlinson? You ALWAYS side with me." Harry looked surprised.

"Well, not anymore."

"I think you've misunderstood something here---"

"What do you mean, Styles?" I cut him off.

"You're thinking that I'm doing this for myself, aren't you? Well, I'm not. I'm doing this for Cher's sake."

"What?" Now I'm lost...

"She wants all of us to be friends and in order for that to happen, we need to contain our feelings for her." Harry explained.

"How's that even possible?" I questioned him.

"Duh. What do you think I'm making up the ground rules for?"

"Oh. But it's not like she could help being so cute and all! You should probably add the 'No walking around in her towel' rule." I changed my mind thinking that maybe it is for the best if she tried to be a bit less attractive while we're here.

*ZAYN'S POV*

"Cher, what's taking you so long---" I barged right into her closet, accidentally breaking the lock in the process.

"Um, still getting dressed here! Do you mind turning around?!" She sounded pissed.

"Whoops, my bad. I'll fix the lock later... uh, Liam sent me to fetch you for breakfast which was served like half an hour ago." My back was now facing her.

"I didn't see anything, I swear!" I stuttered.

"You're lucky that I was just about to finish getting dress which is why you didn't see anything. I would've totally punched your lights out if you did just to make you forget. You can turn around now." Cher said.

I turned around to face her only to see her fully dressed in a pink piggy overall costume.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

"A fat outfit just to make me look 'less appealing' as Harry would put it." The pink costume had a hole in the face area which means that I could still see her pretty face regardless of the pig outfit.

"I think that you just made yourself 'more appealing'. Sorry but you have to try harder than this..." I stifled a laugh.

"Bullocks!" I can tell that she's now frustrated.

"And I have something to say... I realized that I just can't forget about you that easily..." I cornered her against the wall.

"So what do you say we keep my feelings for you a secret between us?" I whispered lowly on her ear.

I'm so messed up right now...