Ellis Pov
After we had arrived at Harry’s, the boys made their way straight into the living room, leaving a pile of bags on the floor. I debated whether I should carry them upstairs, but Niall’s voice made my mind up for me. I was addicted already, anytime he spoke, I felt compelled to listen. If he sang half as beautiful as he did talk, I’d be seriously pissed if he didn’t get through.
“Alright, we’ve got coke, tea, coffee, some weird tropical juice, and water. Take your pick.” Harry counted on his fingers, a habit of his. After collecting the orders, he headed into the kitchen, leaving me alone with four strangers. I sunk down into the sofa, biting my lip, praying they’d forget I was there.
“So Ellie, is it?” Liam turned his attention to me, smiling widely. The other boys did the same, but I focused my attention on Niall. He held my gaze for a few moments before dropping it, looking down at his hands.
“It’s Ellis.” I said, looking back Liam, who still had his eyes on me.
“I bought that was a blokes name?” Zayn, who was in-between Niall and Liam, said to me, a curious look on his face. Niall started smirking behind his fringe, still watching his fingers as he played with them.
“Oh my gosh Zayn!” Louis breathed next to me, dramatically sitting forward. “You can’t just ask people why they have a guys name!” Niall and Liam started snickering, and Zayn shrugged. Harry returned with the drinks, three glasses in his hands, three cans under his arm pits.
“Right, Juice for Liam and Ellis, boring water for boring Louis,”
“Oi!” Louis gave Harry a cheeky slap, knocking one of the cans out from underneath Harry’s arms.
“Clever one. Can for Zayn, can for me.” He tossed a can at Zayn, who caught it expertly with one hand. He bent down and picked up the one on the floor and gave it to Niall, who reluctantly took it. “Have fun.”
Harry switched on the tv, putting on a music channel. Beyond blasted the room, and the boys started dancing weirdly, deep in conversation. All except Niall, who had his eyes on the can of coke. He felt my gaze on him, and he glanced up, our eyes meeting. He suddenly sat up straight, clearing his throat. He pulled the ring back on the can, letting out a little more than a fizz. Bubbles of coke spilled from the can, hissing violently, pouring themselves onto Niall’s lap.
“oh, shit!” Niall jumped up from shock, holding the hissing can at arms length. Everyone started laughing at his second misfortune, and he blushed deeply.
“Up the stairs, first door in front.” Harry said through giggles. Niall obediently left the room, and jogged up the stairs. The conversation soon started up again, and an awkwardness surrounded me. I looked for an excuse to leave the room, hoping to catch Niall. The bags. I jumped up, mumbled something about the bags being a liability, and hastilyy left the room. I wrapped three of the bags around me, they weren’t that heavy. I picked up a fourth, struggled a bit, then headed up the stairs. I dumped them in Harry’s room, then repeated my actions with the final two.
They were the heaviest. I finally managed to make my way up the stairs, collapsing on the final one. I took a few short breathes, relaxing my muscles. After a minute or so, I jumped up, a bit too suddenly. One of the bags dropped from my shoulder, and fell to the floor loudly. I felt lightheaded and dizzy, losing my balance. I started to tilt backwards, throwing my arms out to grab anything to stop me falling. I narrowly missed the banister, and fell back.
I didn’t hit the floor. instead, I felt two arms wrap themselves round my waist, stopping me from hitting the ground. The other bag dropped from my other arm, landing neatly next to the first.
“Steady on!” A thick Irish accent spoke softly in my ear, sending electricity through my veins. His breathe tingled on my ear, hot and sweet. I suddenly became aware that he’d had his arms around my waist for a minute or so, we were pretty much just hugging now. A hug I didn’t want to let go of.
