“Sandwiches!” Harry yelled in glee, his hands in the air as a waitress nervously set down a tray of snacks in a table in the middle of the makeshift circle that the gang had made out of their sunbeds.
Eilidh giggled uncontrollably as she watched Niall perform a ridiculous dance routine for the group, eventually slipping on the brink of the pool, and landing hard, on his behind, making everyone erupt in laughter.
“Owwwwww!”, he howled in pain, unable to stop himself from laughing, however. Then, instead of standing up, he leant up on his hands and his feet and crab-walked away round the pool, making everyone roar with laughter again.
Harry stood up, still chuckling, to run towards Niall and tackle him, toppling them both into the pool.
Eilidh grinned over at Nina, catching her eye, unable to really believe her situation.
She was at the pool, with One Direction, in Australia. She was pleasantly tipsy from sipping bloody Mary’s all day, and oh, there was the small detail of she was falling head over heels for one of the most famous men in the world.
Almost as if he could hear her thoughts, Harry’s head emerged from under the water, and he caught her eyes, grinning openly at her.
She sighed and grinned back, shaking her head. He had flipped her, completely turned her life upside down with his child like charm and innocence. She hadn’t felt this free in a long time, as though she had no worries, or at least… she frowned, remembering…her worries were far away.
“It’s nice to have you here”, Eilidh’s thoughts were interrupted by Zayn, who was lying on the lounger beside her. He was watching her exchange with Harry, and she immediately blushed, embarrassed that he had caught them out in such an intimate moment. He was probably the one of the band that she had bonded the least with since she had met them, not through any kind of animosity or want of trying, but simply because Eilidh found him shy and her intuitive instinct told her that he would be more forthcoming if she just let him approach her.
“Thank you”, Eilidh replied, smiling at him, as he lay with one arm draped protectively across his chest, another with a lit cigarette which he inhaled deeply.
“It’s been good to have a smoking buddy”, he grinned, and she laughed, raising her hand in a mock salute.
“Always glad to have my disgusting habits utilised”, she joked, making him laugh.
“So, what’s the deal with you two then?”, Zayn asked curiously, rolling his head to look at Eilidh.
She exhaled, surprised at the forwardness of his question, and immediately reached for his packet of cigarettes, cheekily lighting one and inhaling pointedly, while he eyed her.
“I dunno”, she said honestly. “Taking it day by day”.
Zayn nodded, seemingly satisfied by her answer. “I like it”, he said simply, still nodding, while he looked at her, and she grinned.
“Me too”, she confessed, happily.
“Babyyyyyyyyy!”, Harry yelled from the pool. “Come in the wateeeeerrrrrr!”
She looked up and giggled at him splashing like a puppy, oblivious to the holiday makers around him snapping furtive pictures of him and Niall on their camera phones.
Giving Zayn one last smile, she clambered up and cannonballed into the pool.
*********************************************************************************
“I’m drunk”, Harry announced to Eilidh in their hotel room, while she lay on the bed, still wet and dripping from the pool. They were both happily tipsy, and Eilidh wondered how she was going to sober them up before he had to go perform later that night.
