Leaving Dreamland [Book One]

13~ Reassuring the Fanbase

"I hope pizza's alright, boys," my mom said, setting the boxes down in the middle of the table.

"It's perfect!" Niall grinned, practically drooling over the food.

"Enjoy!" she smiled, then walked out of the room. Niall immediately dove for the top pizza box, grabbing four slices and piling them onto his plate. He started shoveling them in his mouth before anyone else could even touch the box.

"Niall, you're such a pig," I chuckled, and he just grinned back at me, bits of cheese still stuck in his teeth.

I heard a muffled beep come from Liam. "What was that?" I asked him.

"I just got a text..." he trailed off, grabbing for the phone in his pocket. He scanned the screen, his brow furrowed as he read the text.

"What's it say?" Zayn wondered aloud.

"It's Paul. He says we have to go down to the recording studio in the morning to record one of the songs for our new album. Then in the afternoon we have a press conference to talk about the new album."

"Dang, I thought we were gonna be able to relax all week," Harry frowned.

"Yeah, me too. I was hoping to sleep in tomorrow," Niall sighed, still munching on his pizza.

"Hey, Shy, you should come with us," Louis suggested. "Well, if you want to, that is. Or you can stay home and get some 'you time', as I'm sure you're annoyed with us by now."

"What are you talking about? Of course I'd love to go! I mean, even if I WAS fed up with your antics, which I most definitely am not, I would come along just to hear the new song. I mean, what Directioner wouldn't?" I said, shocked by his statement.

A grin appeared on his face as I said this. "YAAAAAAYYY!" he cheered.

I looked down to try and hide the smile that grew on my face. Louis had just asked me to come with them to the studio and press conference with them! Louis had asked me...

Get ahold of yourself, Shyler! Remember, this is just a dream. In fact, you're probably still asleep on the plane on the way over to England, I told myself. Even though I knew it had to be true, that fact still sent a wave of depression over me and wiped the smile off my face. This also led me to another fact; not only was this a dream, but it was not going the way I wanted it to go. I mean, sure, the boys were here and we were hanging out and stuff, but Louis didn't appear to be making any attempts to win me over. I guess technically he already had, but... he just didn't seem to be taking much of an interest in me. Well, I guess I'm just not a lovable person, whether it's in dreams or real life. I frowned and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Louis whispered so no one else could hear him, nudging my arm with his elbow.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I said, hoping to sound convincing.

"Doesn't sound like it to me," he replied, still suspicious.

"No, seriously, I'm fine," I said firmly, hoping he'd just drop it.

"But-"

"I'm fine." I snapped, and I instantly felt guilty as I saw the hurt expression cross his face, even if it was only for a second.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I guess I'm just knackered from the game is all," I lied.

"It's okay," Louis said, his face brightening up a little bit more at my apology.

"Shyler, boys, come in here!" I heard my mom call from the living room. "You're on TV!"

"What?" I wondered aloud, running over to see for myself, the boys close behind. Sure enough, there we were on the news. A bold headline at the top of the screen read "One Direction is Missing?".