Summertime & Butterflies

Six

"God, I'm a good cook," Stephanie praised herself, winking at her sister as she took a bite out of her burger. "I can really slice up a mean tomato. Oops," she added as one of her tomato slices dropped out of her burger and onto the deck. One of the dogs scrambled up to eat the tomato, devouring it before it even touched his tongue.

"The best part is definitely the cheese," Harry commented, his voice serious. "It's not too thick... thin, but not see-through. It's perfect," he determined with a charming grin directed at Olivia. The couple of glasses of wine she'd consumed were making her gigglier than normal, but she reined back her giggles, trying to remain cool.

"You guys are both amazing," she said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. A grin escaped; something she realised was almost impossible not to do with Harry around.

"Best meal I've had in months," Stephanie's husband, Jeff told Olivia, his voice muffled as he was speaking with his mouth full. "Next time I get married, she's going to be a chef," he added, smirking at his wife. It was one of their many — many — inside jokes.

"And the next time I get married, he'll be twenty-five," Stephanie replied sweetly. "I've had the old bull, now I want the young calf. Hey, Louis! How old are you?"

Louis grinned and slung an arm across Stephanie's shoulders. "Twenty-five," he affirmed cheekily. Catching Jeff's eye, who was shooting Louis an exaggerated glare, he dropped his arm. "Erm... Actually, twenty-four," he joked as Jeff pointed at his eyes and then at Louis before laughing, ensuring the younger man he was kidding.

"Keep eating, you guys" Olivia urged, gesturing to the pile of burgers on the patio table. Expecting a couple of NHL players to join them for dinner, she'd made enough burgers to feed a small country. But Jeff's teammates hadn't arrived. Unbeknownst to Olivia, they weren't even invited, as the hockey discussions planned for the night had been a ruse.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Jeff told Olivia, standing up and adding another patty to his plate. The other boys stayed sitting, and Olivia wished they would have a second helping. She wanted to help herself to more food, but didn't want to seem like a cow having more to eat in front of her perfect sister and the two svelte men who, no question, were used to girls the size of Olivia's thigh.

"I will in a bit," Louis promised, patting his stomach. "Just have to figure out where to put it!"

"So... didn't you guys break up?" Jeff wondered, balancing his plate in one hand and a fresh beer in the other as he settled back into his chair. "What?" he asked defensively, met with an incredulous smirk from both Olivia and Stephanie. "I listen to the radio!"

"Don't lie, I've seen you look at Perez Hilton," Stephanie told her husband with a shake of his head. "You love him. And not just because he draws dicks on everyone's faces."

"He doesn't do that anymore," Jeff retorted. "And shut up," he added as he realised he was all too quick to jump to Perez Hilton's defence.

"Everyone thinks we did," Louis answered Jeff, his voice almost inaudible over Stephanie's loud laughter. "It's quite funny, actually. Our fans are, erm... what's that you said about them?" he asked Harry. "Passionate?"

Harry nodded. "It's a nice way of putting it," he replied. "I mean, we wouldn't be here without them," he added sounding very much like a media-trained professional. "But... some of them can be very... yes. Passionate."

"And insane," Louis echoed. "He's the nice one, not me," he added, jabbing his thumb in Harry's direction with a grin.

"How do you deal with it every day?" asked Olivia, wondering about the impending date she had with Harry — though she didn't know when or where or even if — and wondering if crazy screaming girls would bombard them before hating her and writing mean things about her online because she was older, fatter and not them. "I mean, that waitress snapped that picture of you at the bar, and we saw a couple girls waiting outside when we left. Doesn't it get annoying?"