Summer

Chapter 4

        Ten minutes later, One Direction was piling into my car, Zayn, Liam, and Niall in the back row, Harry, Louis, and me in the middle, and my mom and little sister in the front. Paul was following behind us with all of the boys' things. I was very aware of how close Louis was to me. Our hands kept brushing up against each other as we moved around trying to get comfortable for the hour long ride.

        The boys turned on the flashes on their iPhones and started snapping away. I pulled mine out and started doing the same thing, and before I knew what was happening, we had started an all-out camera war. When it was all over, we all had a real laugh looking at all the crazy pictures we had taken in the dark. We sent each other some of the funniest ones.

        We were almost home, just listening to music and talking, when Louis grabbed my hand in the dark. My heart froze. I was holding hands with Louis. Louis was holding hands with me. I looked over at him to find that he was smiling down at me. I smiled back and he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

        As we pulled into the driveway, the boys looked out the window at the house and gave some appreciative sighs of approval. On the outside, the house is light red brick and stone, with black shudders. I guess you could say it’s big. We all jumped out into the garage, which meant that I had to let go of Louis’ hand.

“It’s huge!” Niall yelled.

I laughed. “Wait until you see the inside!”

        My mom went out into the driveway to talk to Paul, and I led the boys inside. The garage door leads right into the kitchen, so we immediately smelled spaghetti, and you could tell Niall was in heaven. Before I showed them the rest of the house, we all had some food, even though it was almost midnight, and they seemed so happy that it was real food, and not the hotel kind. They all made some comments on how nice the granite countertops were, and how nice everything in the dining room was. Either they’re really nice, or kinda gay, I thought with a smile.

        When we came back out of the kitchen, I saw my mom and Lila watching TV on the sofa. The boys all thanked my mom for letting them stay here, and then they noticed the huge bay windows on the back side of the house that were on the left side of the living room. They looked outside and when they all turned back around again, they all said in unison, “YOU HAVE A POOL?!”

        I laughed and told them yes, and said we could all go night swimming after I showed them the rest of the house. We went down to the basement, and I showed them two of the guest rooms, the game room, and the theatre room. Niall and Liam took the first guest bedroom, as it has two beds and a double bathroom. The second guest room, Harry and Zayn took, even though it only had one bed. They said they always share a bed when they get the chance. I decided not to question it. When we went upstairs to the third floor, I showed them my room, and Lila's room, and the other guest rooms. Louis took the last guest room. That means that he’ll be sleeping in the room right next to mine. And our two bathrooms are connected. Holy shit, I’m going to be sleeping in a room that’s connected to Louis Tomlinson’s!

        After we all got freshened up we changed into our swim suits and went out to the pool to go night swimming. I noticed that Niall was spending quite a lot of time with Lila… But I figured I’d let it slide. They looked happy. Harry and Lou took turns going down the slide that dumps into the pool, and Liam and Zayn were chilling in the shallow end. I heard someone running behind me and turned around in time to see Louis skid to a halt, pick me up, and throw me into the pool. As I came up, I coughed a bunch, completely caught off guard. Lou offered me his hand, so I took the opportunity to pull him in with me. When he came up, and laughed and pulled me into a tight hug. We stayed there like that for a while, just looking into each other’s eyes. Just when Louis started leaning in, Harry coughed loudly, and we sprung apart, forgetting that we weren’t alone. I glared at Harry and mentally cursed him for ruining the moment. He just smiled back.

        When we were done swimming, we all took showers. There’s just enough for all of us, so we all got done at about the same time. Once we were all dressed, we all met back up in the living room, and since the boys are playing one more show in Atlanta tomorrow night, my mother decided it would be best for all of us to turn in for the night. It was about two in the morning now, but none of us were tired. Still, we didn’t want to get in trouble with the authority figure, so we all went to our respective rooms. I texted all the boys as soon as I got into bed and told them to meet in the game room in the basement at 2:30. That would be enough time that my mom would be asleep, so we wouldn’t get in trouble. After I sent that, a dark shadow crept into my room and caused my second almost heart attack that night. It turned out to just be Lou.

“Can I wait in here with you until it’s time to go down?” he asked.

“Sure. Why?” I questioned him with weary eyes.

“I like being with you is all.” He answered with a sheepish grin.

        My heart literally melted into a puddle at my feet. He climbed into bed with me, and we just laid there for a while, happy to just be together. When the clock showed that it was time to go down to the basement, I texted Lila, and we all met at the top of the stairs. We silently walked to the basement door, and opened it just wide enough so that we could squeeze through.