Colorful (H.S) | ✔️

49

"Hey pretty gal," a strange accent calls out to me. I pause my folding of clothes, ready to mouth off the gross customer. I always try not to be rude to customers, but creepy men hitting on me is the limit. 

My eyes widen when I see who it is. "Niall," I whisper, pulling him to the fitting rooms so we can't be seen. "What are you doing here?"

"Ouch, kinda harsh," he feigns hurt. I roll my eyes, wanting a real explanation. "We all heard about you and Harry making it official! Congrats!" 

I gesture him to lower his voice. "You're telling me, you came all the way back to America to tell me something you could have called for?"

"Nah," he chuckles, "the rest of the boys are here too."

My jaw drops to the floor. "What?"

He nods and chuckles again. "What can we say? We're proud of our girl! You finally managed to whip Harry."

I cast my eyes downward. "Well, not really. It was more the whole 'fate' thing."

He pushes my chin up, forcing me to meet eyes. "Hey, don't think that. Many people don't stay with their soulmates. It wasn't just fate."

I smile, appreciating the compliment. His smile says one thing, but his eyes say another. Do I see sadness?

"Alrighty," he walks out. "I'll see you at home."

"Okay," I reply before realizing what he said. 

Home?

~~~

Surely enough, Audrey and I pull into our apartment after work and there they were. 

Harry opens the door for us, giving an apologetic smile. "They really insisted on staying."

Audrey walks past him, confused about what the hell he's talking about. When she notices the ex-band members sitting in our kitchen, she stops in her tracks.

"Oye, Ellie, you never told us about your pretty friend," Zayn smirks at the blond. I cringe, but she seems to like the attention. Her cheeks tint pink, but she has a confident smile on. 

"Haha, and this friend is the one who owns the place," she smirks back. "Who gave you permission to stay here?"

Everyone's faces drop. "Uh..." Liam begins.

My friend's face breaks into a smile. "I'm kidding!" The whole room sighs with relief. "You can do whatever, just make sure I don't hear it," she adds, walking to her room.

My cheeks turn bright red, realizing what she's talking about. The boys stay oblivious. 

Harry hugs me from behind and rests his head on my shoulder. 

"I'm sorry," he breathes into my ear.

I'm just confused as to how we're going to fit seven people into this apartment. 

As if he senses my thoughts, he let's go. "We'll make it work, only if you want."

I nod.

"I call Ellie's bed!" Zayn smirks, hopping off the barstool. He slings his arm around me and begins walking toward the hall. "Show me around, babe."

An annoyed Harry physically removes his hand from my shoulder. "Shut up," he mumbles, still not used to being romantic around the boys.

I know Zayn, and all the others, only joke about me to tease Harry. I know they would never do that to their friend.