No Filter

Chapter LXV (65) (Part I)

Ally's POV

Camila, Lauren, Normani, Dinah, and I gather in the living room for their last night here before they leave tomorrow. I wish they didn't have to leave so soon. But I know they have to get back to work, so I am dedicating this to be an all girl's night.

We were in our pj's as the boys were in the dining room, playing cards on the dining table. Bear was sound asleep, but knowing how loud the girls and me can get, I hope we don't wake him up from his slumber. It would make Liam unhappy, and me too.

Earlier, I had Mabel and Lizzie write down some questions for all of us to answer for the activity we are playing. I hope the questions aren't too bizarre. I ask Mabel and Lizzie if they wanted to join, but they said that they had to get up early in the morning. I can't thank them enough for teaching Bear while I was gone. And I can't wait to get back into teaching him again. I missed so much within two weeks. I wonder if he got his multiplications of 3's down.

The girls and I were huddled on the floor around the table. We roll a dice to see who goes first. Whoever has the highest number goes first. As we roll, Camila got a three, Dinah got a five, I got a two, Lauren got a three, and Normani got a four. Dinah squeals, nervous about the first question.

The questions were place in an empty tissue box. Lauren slides the box across the table to Dinah, and Dinah puts her hand inside and shuffles through until she finds one that she wants. She unravels the white piece of paper and reads the question. She releases a breath of relief. "Oh, my..." she mumbles. "How is your family?" she reads. We groan in disappointment. "Umm....great, to be honest. Well, to be exact, a lot of scattered around after they finish high school, so I have no idea what they are up to, but we still gather around for the holidays."

"That's good," I comment.

"Okay, next," Lauren says.

Dinah slides the box to Camila. Camila digs her hand in, singing herself a tune as she grabs a folded piece of paper. She unravels it and smiles. She reads, "How long has it been since you went on a date?" She folds the paper back and gives us a smug look. "Well, Zayn and I have been busy watching the kids, but the last time we went on a date was about three weeks ago." She had a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Where to?" Dinah sasses.

Camila shrugs with a small smirk. "I ain't saying. It's between me and my guy."

Okay, Camila, we know what you two have been up to, again.

Next was me. She passes the tissue box, and I place my hand in there and play around until I felt one I hoped was an easy question. I unfold the paper and read, "What do you plan you will be in the next five to ten years? Oh, my..." I mumble the last part.

I had to really think about this question. "I, uh, I hope to achieve my dreams of becoming an actress. It's still on my to-do list. And...start a family by the ten years."

They coo, leaving me puzzled. "So, you and Liam might have a break?" Normani questions. "I mean, can he wait five to ten years before you're ready to settle down?"

I shrug. "I would hope he will understand." But I shouldn't worry about it. The time hasn't come yet. I still have four more months until I can talk to Liam about it, if we even last that long. But I shouldn't have doubts. We barely began yet. Our date is in the next couple of days, and I'm more than ready for it.

"My turn," Normani says.

I hand her the box, and she rummages through and takes a folded paper out. Once she unfolds it, she reads the print, "Name one thing you've been afraid to confess."

"Spill it, girl," Dinah comments. We chuckle and look at Normani for her answer.

"Uhh..." she stutters. She sighs heavily and admits, "Okay, I do have something I've been keeping away from Harry. A couple days ago, Harry was talking about having kids. He talked about all the wonders of having a baby in his arms, and all I did was nod my head and gave short answers when he asked me questions. And I figure he knew that I was not ready yet. And I am not ready. Being a mother scares me because what if I am not good enough? What if I do something wrong?"

I coo, rubbing her back. "Don't worry, Mani. You're just overthinking. Don't overthink. And if you need to, tell him. You guys need to be on the same page before you guys get married. Otherwise, it's going to complicated."

"And make sure you do whatever to please you first," Lauren adds. "Don't feel rush to do something you're not ready for or something that you will never be."

Normani nods her head. "I got it. Thanks." Her mood changes, and she was back to being perky. "Passing it along to Lauren," she says, tossing the tissue box to Lauren.

Lauren hesitantly catches it and gives Normani a look of unnecessariness. Normani purses her lips. Lauren rolls her eyes playfully and puts her hand in the box, and quickly, she grab a folded piece and opens it up. She reads it in her mind first, and her eyes widen. She looks at us and reads the question aloud, "What is an advice you want to share base off past experiences?"

"Well, we know that you are great person to go for advice, so just give us something we haven't heard of already," Camila points out.

Lauren wets her lips and then bites them as she tries to think. "There's so many that I could give. Hmm...okay, well, considering the situation right now with all of us, I'll say," she looks at each one of us sternly, "never lose sight on what makes you happy. If something, like a guy or some other force, stops you from achieving your dreams, then just let it go or ignore it. You have the power to make yourself happy. You just need the courage to do it."

"Yeah," I applauded, and Lauren bows. Although, she seems hesitant and a little embarrass as she hurriedly pass the box back to Dinah. We went another round until we begin to chat about the guys and the weird stuff that they do. We ended up laughing a lot throughout.

Liam's POV

The sound of the girls' nonstop chuckling made me curious. What were they laughing about? They better not wake up Bear.

Louis shuffles the cards and cackles. He looks at Harry, and I see Harry staring at the deck of cards, curiously. "Louis, are you alright?" Niall asks, popping his face in front of Louis.

Louis flinches and shoves him back in his seat. "Yes," Louis replies.

"Then why were you staring at Harry?" Niall asks.

Louis shrugs. "Nothing," he replies, "he just resembles Dinah at the moment. The way he stares, kind of reminds me of Dinah."

Harry creases his brows, "I look nothing like her," he rebuttals.

Niall raises his voice, looking at Harry with a deeper thought, "Oh, I see it now. You do. It's kind of cute."

Louis chuckles as he places the cards down, and Harry takes a sip of his beer and sets it down, a little too hard. Some spilled over and splattered on the cards. Niall gasps, "My cards!"

Harry chuckles, "Serves you right, you pig."

Niall blinks his eyes and points at Harry. "Who are you calling pig? Normani is the chicken lover."

Harry slams his hands against the table and stands up from his seat. "What did you just say? Say it again. I dare you."

Zayn and I exchange looks before I raise my voice, "Okay, okay. I know that we're having fun, but I think we may be drinking a bit too much."

I glance over at the piles of empty beer cans at the other end of the table. There must be almost twenty. I only drank three so far, and my head began to get a little fuzzy, but I was still conscious.

Louis points at me and raises his voice, "Says the guy who is drinking and smoking without Ally knowing." I clench my fist. Ally does know that I am drinking right now, but I am not an alcoholic.

"I dare you to say it again," I growl.

Louis smiles and repeats, "You are lying to Ally. And when she finds out, she will want to get away—" I reach over the table and grab his shirt, raising a fist in the air. Everyone scoots back.

I look at Louis's eyes and realize what I was doing. I begin to chuckle. We all did. There was just something funny in the air. I release his shirt and fall back in my seat. Our laughter continue for a moment. I couldn't get over how ridiculous we were all being.

Once we calmed down, Louis asks, "We're cool, right?"

I nod my head. "Absolutely," I respond. I know he wouldn't tell Ally. I trust him.

We continue to drink and play some more cards.

I will post Part II in a couple of days. It's pretty short though.