Ninas London (One Direction fanfic)

Chapter 17

"But why do I have to wear it again?

Liam shrugs, holding my same blindfold from this mornin. We're on the bus still, and everyone's trying to convince us four girls into being blindfolded again. Not like it's necessary; clouds are blocking the sun and are already casting dark shadows over the whole city.

"It's a surprise!" Liam tells me, smiling. "We can't take you off the bus until you put it on." Next to us, Niall, Zayn, and Harry are trying to talk Caitlin, Lauren, and Phoebe the same thing.

I sigh and turn around, letting him wrap the handkerchief around my eyes and tie it in a firm knot. The world suddenly goes pitch black, and the only senses I can really use are feeling and hearing. The bus is humming idly in whatever location we're in, and I cautiously step forward as Liam guides me down the aisle.

"Watch your step," he says, and I feel for the stairs leading out of the bus doors. I carefully step down them and leap forward onto a cement sidewalk, but other than that I have no clue where we're being taken.

Liam's still holding my arm as I hear everyone else exit the bus, including Harry's complex directions to Phoebe as she struggles to get down the stairs in her heels.

"Just walk forward," Liam tells me, and I tentatively walk forward into more darkness. We walk forward for a little, then we make a turn or two, and then all of a sudden I feel grass beneath my feet. I'm led through what seems like a big lawn, and then I notice we're walking on something different again, like dirt. Liam turns me around after a few more steps. "Sit down," he says. Trusting him, I hold his arms as I squat down, and then finally my butt reaches a surface. I hear Liam slip away and I feel the thing I'm sitting on. It's not a bench; it's rough and feels almost like tree bark.

I then hear Niall sit Caitlin down next to me, and I feel around for her hand and grab it. "What's going on?" I whisper to her, hearing nothing but quiet footsteps and hushed mumbling. She doesn't answer me, but in the silence I suddenly notice a sound I didn't notice before. It's a small crackling coming from right in front of me, and as I reach out my hands I feel a gradual warmth on my palms. I smell nothing but the slightest hint of smoke, and meat cooking somewhere nearby.

"Ok, guys," I hear Louis call to us about six feet forward. "You can take off the handkerchiefs now!"

I fumble with the knot on the back of my head and pull it open, letting the blindfold fall into my lap.

A campfire.

I'm sitting on a log bench; that's what the roughness was from.

A fire is gently crackling in front of us, in a stone pit.

The best part of it all, though, are the five faces looking back at us across the fire. Zayn, Harry, Niall, Liam, and Louis look like freaking angels with the golden glow lighting up their faces. They look so friendly and happy, proud of our reactions as the girls and I stare at our surroundings in amazement. I still don't know where this all is, probably a reserved park or something. But it's more than perfect.

"Yaaaaaay!" they all cry out, waving their hands in the air.

Harry nods to the pit. "It's a campfire!" he points out.

I'm the first of us to regain the skill of speaking. "I think we actually got that part, but thanks for the help!" I laugh as he shakes his head at my sarcastic remark.

"There's blankets over there, if you want them," Zayn says, pointing to a stack of fleece blankets to the side. I ask Lauren to pass me one, since the temperature's dropping by the second and I'm still just in my sleeveless blouse. I wrap the fuzzy red blanket around me, taking it all in. One Direction has done it again. They've done the unexpected, like the way they legitimately made a parody of their own song. But this time, even when I thought it couldn't be done, they've made this day even better. Sitting here with them over an adorable old fashioned campfire is all I could ever ask for.