Chapter 1
"SURPRISE!"
"Guys!" Liam said when he saw us all in his apartment. "You didn't have to do this!" He turned to his girlfriend Bethany and asked, "Did you know about this too?"
She smiled and answered, "Who did you think let them in?"
We all laughed and ushered Liam into the living room where the party was set up. I sat down on the couch and grabbed my boyfriend Niall's hand. He smiled at me as his best friend Zayn brought in the cake. We started to sing "Happy Birthday" and Liam's cheeks turned a pale shade of pink.
My roommate Allie Lawrence, who had recently been standing next to the birthday boy (her brother) and our friend Harry Styles, sat down beside me on the couch. Allie and I had been best friends ever since she and Liam moved here in middle school. She leaned over to me and whispered, "Isn't Harry so cute?!"
I looked over at her and smiled. "I have my dreamy Irish boy."
Niall must have heard me because he leaned forward so he could see Allie and stated rather adorably, "Yeah Allie. I'm dreeeamy." I looked at him, said, "Yes you are," and he sat up to give me a light kiss on the cheek. I gave him a look that said, "Is that all I get?" but he just winked and went to go help Louis and Avery with Liam's gifts.
I turned to talk to Allie, but she wasn't there. She was across the room laughing with Harry. Great. Everyone left me.
I decided to go talk to Zayn until Niall got back. We exchanged awkward "hi"s and "how are you?"s. I was about to "get a call" when Niall announced that Liam was opening his gifts. We watched him open one after another until he got to mine, a small box wrapped in flourescent green paper. He ripped it open and gasped, "Sam! How did you know this is my favorite movie? And that I didn't have it on Blu-Ray...?"
"I have my sources." I smiled over at Bethany, who had told me that he desperately wanted Toy Story.
We decided to all sit down and watch it. Niall and I sat on the couch, Allie and Harry on the floor at our feet and everyone else spread throughout the room. I leaned over and laid my head on Niall's lap. While we watched the movie he played with my long dark braid. I could smell his cologne, being this close to him. He knows that it's my favorite so he always wears it when I'm around. Soon I drifted off to sleep with the sound of Buzz's voice fresh in my mind.
~~~~~
Niall woke me after what I assumed was about a half hour. "Do you want to go home?" he asked. "You seem tired." I looked around the room and noticed that Zayn, Louis and Avery had left. Harry and Allie, and Liam and Bethany were dancing to slow music from Harry's phone. Normally I would find this odd, but it being Liam's birthday I guessed it wasn't.
I told Niall I wanted to dance with him before we left. He just smiled and took my hand as we walked over to join the others. I rested my head on his chest as we slowly danced to the music. After the song was over I grabbed my purse to leave. "Hey Als, do you want Niall to drive you home?"
"I'll take you home if you'd like me to," Harry told Allie.
"Allie, is that fine with you?" I asked. She said it was so Niall and I walked out together and he drove me home. He walked me up to my apartment and as we walked towards the door he put his arm around my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow," I told him and left him in the hallway. I felt like smacking myself for just leaving him like that but I was so tired I decided to go straight to bed anyway. It wasn't long before I fell back to sleep.
~~~~~
I woke up the next morning with a massive headache. I looked over at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was 9:30. I quickly changed clothes and headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth. On my way there, I passed through the living room and to my surprise, Niall was sound asleep on my couch. I decided not to wake him and go get ready for the day. I went into Allie's room to see if she was awake, but when I opened the door, she wasn't there. Harry was supposed to bring her home! I thought. If he didn't bring her here then...
I ran into my living room to the couch where Niall was sleeping. I shook him awake and asked if he knew where Allie was. "No," he told me. "but Harry texted me and said they were leaving Liam's at about midnight." I panicked and went to go find my phone. I found it in my purse and called Allie. No answer. I decided to call Harry. "Hello?"
"Where is she?! Where's Allie?" I shouted into the phone.
"Sam, calm down. She's at my house. She's fine."
I dropped my phone down on the floor and ran out the door. I got in my car and drove as fast as I legally could to Harry's house. It wasn't far so I was there in 10 minutes. I got out, slammed my car door, and ran up to Harry's porch. The door was unlocked so I just went in. Harry was standing there in the kitchen making breakfast. "You were supposed to bring her straight home!" I shouted. I ran over and pushed him back against the counter top. He screamed in pain and I realized his arm had landed on the flaming burner of the stove. I gasped and panicked some more, not meaning to really hurt him. I yelled back a quick apology as I went to go find Allie. She was slowly standing up, not knowing what had just happened.
"Harry?" She looked at me. "What happened to Harry? I heard him scream! Why aren't you helping him?!" Even over her voice I could hear Harry still yelling about his severely burned arm. She pushed me aside to go see what was wrong with Harry. Then the worst thing possible happened. Niall had followed me and burst through the door.
"What did you do, Sam?!" He dropped down to his knees to check out Harry's arm.
"I... I... I didn't mean to... I just meant to shove him to the counter..." I stuttered. I suddenly got light-headed and felt like I was about to pass out. Everything started to go fuzzy and all I could hear was Niall telling Allie to call for an ambulance. I had to sit down to regain my senses. After a few minutes I heard the ambulance outside. The paramedics barged into the small kitchen and helped Harry onto a stretcher. Allie joined him in the back of the ambulance while Niall came to sit beside me.
"I just don't understand," he said. "Why did you do it?"
"Niall, you have to understand, I didn't mean to! I just got mad and shoved him... I didn't intend to hurt him!"
"I believe you, babe. I believe you." He put his arm around me and I gave "a shoulder to cry on" a literal meaning. We sat there for what seemed like hours, me crying while Niall gently ran his fingers through my hair in an attempt to calm me. This was the first time that I realized that I truly loved Niall. It wasn't a school-girl crush anymore. This was real.
