Nowhere But Up (One Direction Fanfiction)

~ Chapter 3 ~

The only one to notice was Liam, but he quickly shook it off. I took my napkin and put it in my lap as they began to scoop food onto their plates. I saw mash potatoes and a piece of chicken, so I quickly got those before Niall finished his second. I noticed that I needed something healthy, so I grabbed some baby carrots and started eating.

"So Libby," Louis started, "where you from?"

I quickly swallowed and answered, "Just outside of England. But when I was 10 me and my dad moved to New York City."

He nodded, and then went back to his food. "How old are all of you?" I asked.

Louis was 20, Zayn was 19, and Niall, Liam, Harry and I were 18.

"So Louis is the granny in the group?" I said.

They all laughed, except for Louis, who gave a fake smile.

"Do you have any hobbies?" Harry asked.

"Uh...well I love to draw. And to sing. Maybe it runs in the family." I winked at Liam as I finished. He seemed to smile.

"Zayn draws too." Niall said with food in his mouth.

"Oh really? What do you draw?" I asked.

He swallowed his peas, and answered, "Cartoons, mostly. What about you?"

"People and landscapes." He nodded and smiled, then went to back to his food. We pretty much ate in silence for the rest of the meal.

"Sorry to make things...awkward." I said after finishing my dinner plate.

Everyone laughed and "It's not you." or "No no it's ok." or "Oh Libby..."

After supper, there was a pile of dishes in the sink, so I offered to do it, since no one was going to do it. I heard the boys talking about me over the TV, but decided to ignore them. Considering that I overheard them enough for one day.

"Here you go, Libby." I heard Harry say behind me. He handed his plate to me, and it dropped. Luckly it didnt break. But I realized that his hands were on mine as we picked up the plate. And we stood face to face. I could tell I was an inch shorter, but it felt like he was a skyscraper. I quickly noticed he was leaning towards me.

"Bow chicka wow wow..." Louis said from the living room.

We both gave him a look that said, "knock it off." and we all seemed to laugh.

Harry finally let go of the plate and took his spot on a loveseat. I finished washing the dishes and drying them when I sat on the arm of the loveseat and watched Wipeout for the next two hours and Grease for 3 hours and 45 minutes. It might have seemed like forever, but it passed by in the matter of minutes. Since it was almost one o'clock, and Niall and Zayn were already asleep, Louis and Harry carried --- and I mean lifted them up bridal style and carried them to different ends of the flat. The only people left in the room were Liam and I.

"So...what do you think of the band?" He asked.

"You guys have...a..." I thought about the word, and said, "I heard this in the States: bromance."

He got this huge grin on his face and said, "That. That is a perfect word."

I smiled back, hoping he would notice the tiredness in my eyes and show me to my room. It worked.

"Are you sleepy?" He asked. I nodded and when I did, Louis and Harry were in the living room, looking at us.

"What's a matter?" Harry asked.

"I was going to show Libby to her room." They nodded as we got up. I started to follow Liam to the left wing, when Louis got in my way.

"You're not going anywhere without a hug goodnight."

I gave him a funny look, shrugged, and gave him a hug. It felt like one of Liam's hugs. I let go, and Harry said, "Can I have one, too?"

I nodded, and hugged him, too. But his wasn't like Liam's or Louis', it was different. A good different, too. Before it got too awkward, I let go first. I smiled at them both, and said, "Goodnight and sweet dreams!"

"YOU TOO!" They screamed back.

"What? You have a girlfriend. I don't." I heard Harry say.

I stepped into "my" room or the guest room and the first thing I noticed that it was purple. Like a light shade of purple. I asked Liam, who was sitting on the bed, why purple. He didn't know the answer either. There was a bed in the middle of the room, a nightstand to the left of it, a dresser along the left side of the wall, a door on the right, and a loo in the back right.  

"Alright, your bags are by the dresser, the loo is fully functional, the door is to Niall's room, so you can go get him or anyone else here. Uh..." He said as he looked around the room.

"That's pretty much it. Oh and the door locks, too." He smiled and I did the same.

"Come here." He held out his arms and I walked right into it. He kissed the top of my forehead.

"Night." I said as he walked out of the room and he repeated the same. I looked around the room, unpacked my semi-temporary things into a drawer, put everything where it needs to be, got into my pj's and fell asleep dreaming about what tomorrow might bring.