Stormy weather
Liam: You have been blindfolded for the past thirty minutes, including during the car ride that brought you wherever you are, when Liam finally takes the scarf away from your face. Giving you a few seconds for your now oversensitive eyes to adjust to the sudden lighting, he lets you acknowledge your surroundings and screams, a huge grin on his face, “Happy birthday!!!!!” Lying on the grass are all the elements of a perfect picnic on a very bright and sunny day, alongside with a huge present wrapped up a bit messily. You cover your mouth and watch him with wide eyes before taking him in a tight embrace, thanking him lots. You enjoy the delicious lunch prepared by your boyfriend and then, in order to make this special moment last longer, commonly decide to wait a bit before dessert. You lie on the grass, cuddling, until threatening dark grey clouds start hovering over the park. You barely have time to react before rain is pouring down and the sky, cyan-blue mere minutes ago, seems to break into two with the force of thunderbolt. After gathering everything up in a hurry and running back to the car, Liam apologizes “I’m so sorry, babe, it totally ruined the whole thing,” he says, a sad pout all over his features. You reassure him telling him that no, absolutely nothing is ruined. “In fact,” you add with a smile, “I’ve always been one to think everything is more romantic when rain is involved. How about we drive back home, take a hot shower and then eat that delicious birthday cake?” He agrees with a large grin and a kiss on your cheek. Definitely the best birthday ever.
Louis: You are on your way to a party with your boyfriend when, suddenly, the car jolts to a stop. After pushing it to the side of the road, Louis rounds it for inspection and realizes that one of the tires has exploded, literally burst into pieces. You are tempted to laugh at this absurd situation but the weather is going crazy and, frankly, you are far more scared than amused. The rain is falling in curtains and the only lighting in your surroundings is the one from thunder. “Nu-uh, get back inside the car,” Louis tells you as you crouch down next to him to offer your help, which he refuses with a sharp shake of his head “I am fine, you’ll only slow my moves.” You sigh and reply, “Don’t be ridiculous, Lou. Let me at least hold that umbrella over your head.”He doesn’t utter a word for a few heartbeats, his lamp-torch held in his mouth by his clenched teeth, before taking it back in his hand and saying “This weather’s real shit. I’m going to get the worst pneumonia on earth, let’s not let it happen to the both of us. ”You laugh lightly, “I’m fine, Lou, I’m not a baby, I won’t break with hard rain.” At that very moment, he realizes his macho talk won’t make you budge an inch, and you see in his eyes his characteristic air of mischief indicating a change in tactics. “Babe, please get back inside… If you’re as sick as I am, you won’t be able to take care of me, and you know how I get when I’m feeling poorly…” You look at him disbelievingly before saying “Fine. But if that tire is not changed in the next ten minutes, I’m calling one of the boys to pick us up.”
Harry: “Off we go, boys! Let’s turn this dreadfully rainy night into an amazing one for everyone! Wooooh!” Harry excitedly tells the boys as they run on stage. It is their last European show before their break that will last for two weeks, and then they will be back on the road for the American – and the last – leg of their world tour. Before their last song, Niall thanks the fans for coming and supporting them as always in an emotional speech. After that, Harry laughs excessively loud into his microphone and shouts, “We are laughing in the face of rain!!!! Hahaha!” A few seconds later, karma gets back at him and he finds himself having a cough fit that makes him lose his balance and fall over majestically. “I definitely did just fall over,” he adds matter-of-factly, making the whole audience burst out laughing. They perform their last song, What Makes You Beautiful, and bow to the audience about a dozen times before finally heading off stage, where you are waiting for him. Smiling sheepishly at you, he says “I fell over, my bum is all wet. It’s a bit cold, isn’t it?” You laugh and hand him a towel, “You are going to get the pneumonia of your life, you idiot. That is what you get for laughing in the face of rain. Come on, let’s go back to the hotel and run you a hot bath, Bambi boy.”
Zayn: You and Zayn fall asleep to the sound of rain ricocheting against your bedroom window. In the middle of the night, you are woken up by the sounds of the storm that is raging on outside. Zayn’s side of the bed being empty, you call him out quietly, “Zayn?” No reply, then again, a bit louder, “Zayn? Are you up? ”After a few vain tries, you reach for your slippers under the bed and get up, fetching your night-robe on your way to the corridor. You wipe the sleep out of your eyes and try to get your sight back into focus. You wander in the flat; no one in the kitchen, nor in the living room. Eventually, you see through the open crack of the door that the lights of Zayn’s “art office” – as he calls it – are on. You carefully push the door a bit more open and enter the room. On the balcony, you find him standing barefoot, very much awake, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and nothing but a hoodie and a pair of joggings. “Zayn…?” you say, ever so quietly. He slowly turns his head around, smiles at you and throws the remains of his cigarette down the building before motioning for you to come forward. Putting your robe on and pulling on it tight, you close the distance between the two of you and rest your body against his chest. “A flash of creativity woke me up before thunder did. Sorry ‘f I woke you up,” he whispers, still looking down at the city lights. Tightening his grip on your shoulder, he asks “Tea?” You agree and head to the kitchen, Zayn still warm against you.
Niall: It is a stay-in night for you and Niall. On stay-in nights, you make dinner together and watch a movie you usually both end up falling asleep in the middle of. Last week, you had fought hard to watch a romantic movie with your favourite actor and eventually had won, after a warning from Niall “If you so much as dream romantically of this bloke, we are never watching a movie in which he stars again. Never.” So, this week, to be fair, you let Niall pick the movie. After taking as long as one possibly can, he settles on a horror movie, and not just any film: Scream. You try your best to keep your eyes open until you no longer can stand it and hide your face in a cushion. Faithful to himself, Niall makes fun of you, “You are such a baby, oh my god. It’s not even that scary, c’mon open your eyes.”You do as told but strongly cling onto his arm, clenching his bicep and squeezing it impossibly tighter every time you get scared. The movie gets a little bit easier on you for a little while, but then a lady screams from the top of her lungs right as thunderbolt strikes a couple houses away from yours, making you scream as well. “Niall, please let’s stop watching this,” you plead. He quickly chuckles and then says “Nope, last week you forced me to watch Natalie go all the way to the airport to follow Keith. We are watching it until the credits unroll.” You sigh heavily and snuggle into Niall’s sides, your hands closed in fists in his shirt. At some point, you both fall asleep. When thunder strikes again, Niall wakes up in a cold sweat and begs you to go to bed with him, “Please, babe, I feel like there’s a ghost in this room.” “I’m too tired to move, Niall. I’ll see you in the morning”, you quietly reply as you detach yourself from him to let him leave. Niall starts carrying you into the bedroom and you say, mocking him, “You are such a baby, oh my god. It was not even that scary, you said so yourself.” Next week, romantic movie it is.
