Night Changes (H.S. 1D)

Five:

"That's really sweet, Harry, but maybe I need to figure this out on my own. It was my fault, anyway." I sigh and look at the floor.

"It wasn't. I should have taken the long way away from my house and taken you straight home." He says, frustration clear in his tone.

"No, really, Harry. It's not your fault. I should have been nicer to you, and I should have just gone without a problem, and taken being grounded without you getting the press on your back." I look back up at him, and he laughs. My eyebrows lace together with confusion. "What's so funny?

"Maleah, the paps were already on my back." He chuckles. "I don't think there's been a time in the last five years where they haven't been on my back."

"Oh." I mumble, looking down and playing with my fingers in my lap.

"Hey." He lifts my chin up, gently and I look up and into his pretty green orbs. "How about we head back over to Louis's flat and have some dinner and you can do whatever you please, afterwards?" He offers.

"Do. . . Do they even want me there, now?" I ask.

"Does it matter? It's Louis's flat anyway, and none of us lads ever really fight. So if they get upset that I brought you back, just make sure to help me out and let them know I didn't have to drag you back by force. I'd rather not get my reer end chewed out even more than I have already."

"Mmm . . . Okay. As long as I'm not intruding."

"Trust me. You're definitely not." He chuckles.

***

"Hazza! I knew you could get her to come back!" Niall runs up to the vehicle and opens my door before I even get a chance, pulling me out and into a big hug. "He didn't force you, did he? Because if he did, there's three other boys and a big body guard that can knock his sorry-"

"No, no! No, Niall. It's okay. I came willingly." I laugh at his small rant.

"Good." He lets go of me, but grabs my wrist as he pulls me into the house.

"Hey!" Liam smiles at me, pulling me into another hug. I won't be surprised if all of this male attention gives me a heart attack.

"Hi, Liam." I whisper, pulling back and smiling sweetly, but trying to place myself away from all of the male attention. "So, Harry said something about there being dinner here?"

"Oh, yeah . . . Um, well . . . Yeah. We were going to order pizza. Sorry." He rubs the back of his neck.

"Are you serious?!" I squeal, jumping up and down. "I haven't had pizza since before my dad died!" I quickly cover my mouth with my hand, realizing what I just said. That got dark quickly... All of the boys are in the room, now, staring at me. "I-uh . . . Yeah-umm . . . Pizza-pizza sounds good." I slightly smile at them, probably blushing.

"Zayn . . ." Liam whispers. He looks up and nods slightly.
Zayn nods and walks up to me. "Let's go upstairs." He leads me to the stairway and I begin following him, but I'm slightly confused.

"What? How come?" I ask, stopping in the middle of the stairs.

"I thought maybe you'd wanna talk about what happened? You seemed pretty upset outside earlier." He raises his eyebrows.

"Uh . . . No." I laugh. There's no way I'm discussing my family drama with these strangers.

"Oh. Well, that makes this a bit awkward." He chuckles. "Liam thought I should get you out of the room. Lots of curious eyes . . ."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that was pretty intense." I giggle, pulling at a string that's hanging from the edge of my sweater sleeve.

"Yeah." He mumbles. "Here, let me get that." He pulls a lighter from his pocket and makes sure I'm okay with it, before burning away the string.

"Thanks." I look up at him, smiling. He shrugs and walks with me, back into the kitchen. The other guys are all sitting along the counter and at a table in the center of the dining room.

"Hey. Back so soon?" Louis winks, making me crinkle my nose in disgust.

"Shut up, Louis." Liam says nonchalantly as he pours himself a glass of milk.

"Sorry, love." Louis gives me a cheeky smile.

"Hey! Let's change the subject." Niall stands up, holding a glass cup filled with an unknown liquid.

"You want something to drink?" Liam asks. I nod. "We don't have a lot. Do you like soda?"

"Um, no." I shake my head, walking toward him and looking in the fridge.

"What's that?" I point to a tall bottle with a skinny top.

"You've never seen a beer before?" He widens his eyes.

"No. I've only heard my mom tell me that she'd kill me if she ever caught me with one." I shrug.

"Oh, wow . . . Well, I don't think it's a lady thing. Lots of women hate it." He says, closing the fridge, forgetting about my drink.

"Okay." I laugh, sitting down at the table. Harry groans and stands, walking to the fridge and reaching toward the back of the fridge then walking back to me with a chocolate milk in his hand. I grin widely at him. "Thanks."

"No problem. Sorry. We're not really all that great at keeping our minds in more than one spot at a time." He chuckles and I nod.

"I'm gonna call for pizza." Niall says, standing and walking out of the room. I watch him, then look around and see that everyone except Harry and I are on their phones.

"You want a tour of the house?" Harry asks. I look up at him and nod.

"Sure."

"Alright. Let's go. They're boring anyway." He chuckles, leading me out of the room and away from everyone else.