Kiss Me Under the Light of a Thousand Stars

Mariana shrugged her shoulders. "Some might think otherwise." She said. She did think that the viewpoint she and Ella had on this whole thing was sensible though. Sure, aiming for the moon and shooting for the stars, so to speak, would be nice, but they both knew how likely it was that they'd actually succeed. They were just being sensible and realistic. "It's not like I dislike the job that I have right now though anyway." She smiled slightly.

---

Harry chuckled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure we are, and being here tonight meant pulling a few strings, but it was definitely worth it." He told her. And he meant it too. It all really was worth it, and he highly doubted that he'd change his mind on that matter. He was glad that he and Niall had gone down to McNally's that night. "A couple of days. Then we get back to touring."

Ella hid her grin behind her hand when Harry said that he had to pull a few strings to go and see her and Mariana. Just knowing he went to the effort to do that got her all giddy. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Whatever it was, she was enjoying it. "Where are you off to next?" She asked. She could only imagine how tired they must get from touring all the time, and from traveling from country to country. But it still sounded amazing and she was definitely a little jealous. But like Mariana, she didn't dislike her job either.

---

"As long as you're happy, that's all you can ask for, right?" Niall said with a little shrug of his shoulders. He couldn't imagine going back to a normal job after being in One Direction. He glanced over at Harry and Ella, trying to keep the smirk off his features when he saw they were getting along very well, as much as he was with Mariana. "Do you want to go to the bar and grab some more drinks?" He asked, turning his attention back to the blonde. As fun as shots were, if he carried on with them for the rest of the night it wouldn't be long before he'd get too drunk or sick.

Mariana nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Exactly." She said. It wasn't like she was completely miserable and hated her job or anything like that. If that were the case, it would be a completely different story. But she didn't hate her job, and while she would love to pursue a career in music, she knew that the chance of her actually make a breakthrough in the industry wasn't very good at all. "I was hoping you'd say that." She liked shots, but she didn't want to get blackout drunk or anything like that. That just took the fun out of everything.

---

"We're working on a music video here, and then heading over to the states for a little while." Harry told her. Touring was exhausting, but it was normally rather fun too. Plus, he got to go all over the world and still do his job. While things could get pretty crazy and exhausting sometimes, he felt as though it was completely worth it in the long run. He was doing what he loved, and he really couldn't ask for anything else.

Ella raised her eyebrows in surprise when Harry said they were heading over to the states for a little while. She was incredibly jealous. She'd been to New York and LA for work, but always wanted to spend more time over there. Maybe even live there one day. "Nothing like being home though, right?" She asked with a smile. She still loved the feeling of returning home. Not to her apartment in the city, but her childhood home about an hour south of London, in the suburbs. She placed another shot in front of herself and Harry. She told herself this would be her last one otherwise she'd have to be carried out of the club or something.

---

Niall was very pleased that Mariana had agreed to another drink at the bar and he stood up, patting his back pocket to check his wallet was there, and then held his hand out for her to take. He headed over to the bar, which was pretty empty other than a few older looking men in expensive suits, obviously having come straight from work. He didn't expect anything different at the VIP bar, really. The girl behind the bar looked at him with a bored expression, waiting for him to order, obviously not starstruck like the girls were back in McNallys. "Jack and coke, please," Niall told her. "What do you want, love?" He asked Mariana, as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket, ready to pay.

With a smile on her face, Mariana allowed Niall to lead her over to the bar. She was really glad that he'd suggested moving things over from McNally's. There was certainly much more privacy here than there was there, and the night was still young. She didn't have work the next morning, and she wanted to take full advantage of that fact. Plus, she kind of really wanted to get to know Niall better. He really did seem like a great guy so far, and she was having a great time already. "Vodka and cranberry, please."

---

Harry nodded. "Exactly." He said, a smile on his face. He loved his job, and he did love getting to travel around the world, but there really was nothing like being home. Of course, London wasn't really home. Holmes Chapel was. He didn't get to go back home as often as he would like to, but he made the best of the time that he had when he did go home. "I love getting to see different parts of the world, but there's nothing like being home." The smile on his face turned into a slight smirk as she set another shot down in front of him. He knocked it back quickly, wincing slightly at the burn.

Ella watched as Harry knocked back the third shot, giggling quietly before she followed suit, scrunching her nose up at the taste and burning in her throat. She felt a little bit sorry for Harry, knowing that he must go months without being able to go back home. Ella visited her family at least a few times a month, sometimes staying there for a weekend as well. "I'm starting to feel embarrassingly tipsy," she admitted with a grin before laughing. Ella was all smiles when she started drinking, and usually giggled at everything too.

---

Niall ordered the drink for her, handing over the money and slipping his wallet into his back pocket. He took a sip of his drink, turning and leaning his back against the bar, watching Harry and Ella in the booth. "They seem to be getting along well," he said, a little grin playing on his lips as he glanced over at Mariana. He was glad that the VIP area was fairly empty. It gave him a chance to talk to Mariana without being interrupted and he didn't have to shout as loudly, either.

"Thanks." Mariana said quietly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She sipped her drink, following his gaze back over to the booth where Harry and Ella were. "Seems like it." She agreed. She could definitely tell that Harry and Ella had hit it off, just like she and Niall seemed to have, and she was really happy for her friend. Her gaze shifted back over to Niall. "How long are you in London for?" She asked curiously, taking another sip of her drink.

---

Harry couldn't help grinning when he saw the way she scrunched her nose up as she downed her third shot. It was adorable, though that didn't really surprise him very much at all. Not with how many things he'd already found about this girl to be adorable. "Yeah? Well, maybe I'll have to cut you off soon. Wouldn't want things to get to messy tonight." He said, chuckling softly. He was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol as well.

Ella nodded, pushing away the tray of shots that still had a fair few on them. "That's probably a good idea," she admitted sheepishly, with a little shrug of her shoulders. She really didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Harry, so it was probably a good idea to hold off the alcohol for a little while. "I'm glad I'm not working tomorrow, I have a feeling I'll wake up with a spectacular hangover." She laughed, covering her face with her hands for a few moments before looking back at Harry with a grin.

---

Niall smiled fondly, watching the other pair laughing together about something. It was nice to see Harry letting loose like that again. He looked back at Mariana when she spoke to him, thinking for a few moments before answering. "About three more days," he said, with a nod of his head. "Then we're off to the states for a while and after that, I don't actually know." He said with a laugh. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of places they had been and where they were going to next. "Hopefully we'll get a couple of weeks for a break."

Mariana nodded. "How long will you be over there?" She asked curiously, sipping her drink. Talk of the states made her think about home. While she loved it here in London, she still did miss home. After all, it was where pretty much her entire family was and some of her friends as well. Of course, she wouldn't go back and change her mind about moving to London if she had the opportunity to do so. She still felt as though it was one of the best decisions she had ever made. "What do you usually do? When you do have a break I mean."

---

Harry chuckled. "That makes two of us." He said. He was really liking how things were going with Ella right now. She seemed like an awesome person, and he was glad that he was given the opportunity to talk and get to know her better. "So, tell me more about yourself." He knew some things about her, and he knew that he probably wouldn't learn everything about her in one night, but he was still pretty curious.

Ella couldn't help but grin a little when Harry said he would be the same, feeling more and more comfortable around him by the minute. He made her so nervous as first, but she was quickly letting loose around him. "I'm really boring," Ella giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "Um, I have a baby sister who's four months old and she's my favourite person in the whole world." She told Harry, her eyes lighting up when she mentioned her sister. "Her name's Millie." She said, turning slightly in the booth so she was facing Harry more.

---

"About two weeks, I think." Niall said, but then he shrugged and took a gulp from his drink. "It might be less, depends if everything runs on schedule or not." He told her. He laughed when she asked what he did when they were on a break before taking a small sip from his drink. "Sleep. Lots of sleep." He nodded. He usually spent the first two or three days of a long break in bed or on the sofa. "I visit home in Ireland, visit friends here," he said, looking at her with a smile. "I mostly spend my free time going from London to Ireland and back again." He laughed.

[sorry if its shit I'm posting on my phone on my lunch break ]

Mariana nodded. That was understandable. Two weeks didn't sound too bad, though she was sure that his schedule would be jam-packed, and it wasn't guaranteed that things would go exactly as planned either. That was how it was with everything though. There was never a guarantee that things would run smoothly. "Sounds like fun." She let out a quiet laugh. "Well, your family's there, so that's understandable."

---

"I'll be the judge of that, love." Harry said, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Something told him that there was nothing even remotely boring about this girl. He wouldn't be as intrigued by her as he was if that were the case. The grin on his face softened to a smile as he listened to her talk about her baby sister, noticing how her eyes lit up as she talked about her. "I'm sure that you're the best big sister out there."

[No worries, haha. It wasn't shit at all ]

Ella grinned, shrugging her shoulders when Harry said he was sure she was the best big sister out there. Yeah, she was. "Oh, I've also kidnapped my neighbour's cat," she said, as if it was a completely normal thing to say. "I feed him nicer food so he pretty much lives in my flat now." Ella said, kind of shuffling a little closer to Harry so she could speak and hear him over the music. "But tell me more about you, something that people don't already know!" She demanded, a cheeky smile on her lips.

---

Niall nodded, taking a sip from his drink again, beginning to feel pleasantly buzzed from the alcohol. "Yeah, get's a bit boring though after a while," he said, turning to properly face Mariana. "That's why I'm here in London most of the time, so I'll probably be back here after we're in the states." He mentioned casually, a little smirk on his features. "In case you maybe want to meet up or something?" He asked, trying to seem more confident than hopeful even though he was really hoping she'd say yes.

[Sorry if my posts are kind of slow...my best friend's home from school so I've been hanging out with her a lot.]

Mariana nodded. "You must like seeing your family though." She said. She knew that she always enjoyed going home. It was nice to see her family and friends after not seeing them for so long. It really made her cherish the time that she had with them. His next words caused a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips. He wanted to see her again after tonight. "Weeeellll, I'm quite busy so I'd have to see if I could fit you into my schedule somewhere..." She teased, grinning slightly. Of course she wanted to meet up with him when he got back from the states. Things were going well so far that night, so she didn't see why she wouldn't.

---

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh?" He asked, letting out a soft chuckle. He couldn't help being slightly amused by her confession. It was slightly random, and it kind of really surprised him, but it was amusing nonetheless. This girl was kind of just a mystery to him. She intrigued him, and he just wanted to get to know her better. "So, he's more so your cat than your neighbor's than. That's how I see it anyway." He punctuated his words with a shrug of his shoulders. "Something that people don't already know about me...well, I like telling people jokes, though the lads always tell me that mine are lame."

[ that's fine, i've had loads of assignments and exams the past few days anyway! ]

Ella nodded happily, definitely beginning to feel a little tipsy. "Yeah, but he's not very nice, he bites a lot." She said with a little pout, holding up her wrist that had a few scratches on it from the cat. Her pout didn't last for long though, and she started laughing when Harry said that the boys thought his jokes were lame. "Oh god, are you a fan of knock knock jokes or something?" She asked, poking him in the side lightly. She usually got a little handsy when she was drinking, especially around someone she found so attractive. Oops.

---

"Of course, I love every second with them." Niall said with a little smile. He really did love and miss his family a lot while he was away, but he had so many friends in London he hardly got to see, so it only made sense to split his time evenly between the two places. He let out a laugh at how cheeky Mariana was being, shaking his head and grinning as he took another sip from his drink. "Well I'd love to hang out some more if you're not too busy for me, love." He said with a little shrug. "Maybe grab some dinner or I'd be happy to watch you at McNally's again."

[Alright, I hope everything went well with all of that!]

Mariana smiled. She could tell that he really loved and cared about his family. She was sure that traveling and being away from them as frequently as he was could be pretty tough. She knew the feeling first hand considering the fact that she didn't get to see her own family that often either. It was hard sometimes, and she missed them a lot, but distance makes the heart grow fonder after all. Or so they say anyway. "Dinner?" She repeated, punctuating her words with a raised eyebrow. "Would that happen to be you asking me out on a date?" Her tone was light and teasing. She of course would say yes, and even if she was that busy, which she really wasn't, she'd definitely make time for him.

---

Harry let out a soft chuckle, unable to help doing so when he saw the adorable pout on Ella's face. This girl really was too cute for words. "How terrible! You feed him and everything. Maybe I'll just have to come by and sort this cat out. Teach him a lesson or something." He said, grinning slightly. He chuckled once more when she poked him the side, squirming a bit in the process as well. "And so what if I am? That's not a bad thing, is it?"

[ it did thank you! ]

Ella nodded excitedly in reply to Harry, grinning up at him. "You should, but I don't know if he'll listen to you, he's a very grumpy cat." She sighed, looking all sad for a moment before she returned to her drunken smiley self, poking him again when she saw him squirming. "It's the worst thing!" Ella exclaimed, eyes wide before she laughed and placed another shot in front of her and Harry. "Because knock knock jokes are my thing, seriously, I tell the best ones." She nodded, smirking a little before she knocked another shot back.

---

Niall bit down on his lower lip when she repeated him, grinning shyly before shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe. Depends if you say yes or not." He laughed and then finished off his drink before placing it down on the bar. "It would be a great date though," he said confidently, a little smug smile on his lips. "I'd take you to a nice restaurant and wine and dine you real good, then maybe go for dessert somewhere," he said, deep in thought for a moment before speaking again. "I'd take you home and walk you to your door, and give you a polite kiss on the cheek because I'm such a gentleman." He said, grinning cheekily.

[That's good!]

Mariana let out a quiet laugh. "Well, I haven't said yes, but I haven't said no either." She said, sipping her drink. "Oh, would it now?" She punctuated her words with a raised eyebrow. She was still only joking. She had no reason to believe that a date with Niall would be a bad one. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she listened to him describe what the date with him would entail. "That doesn't sound too bad..."

---

Harry chuckled slightly. "Well, you never know. I'd like to think that I'm a rather persuasive person." He said, grinning slightly. "Maybe I could get through to him, we won't know until we try." He nudged her side playfully. "Is that so? Well, I hate to break it to you, love, but I'm pretty sure that I tell the best knock knock jokes ever. Yours can't be better than mine. It's impossible."

[ omfg i'm so sorry i thought i had posted ]

Ella bit down on her lower lip to try stop herself from grinning so much. She couldn't help it though, Harry was just making her ridiculously happy. And she was pretty drunk too, oops. "Excuse me, mine are the best actually," she bragged before she laughed. She was thinking of the best knock knock joke she knew, but when she Steal My Girl playing loudly through the speakers in the club. "I think the DJ knows you're here!"

---

Niall kept the cheeky grin on his features, nodding his head in reply to her question. "I think we'd have fun," he added, his voice somewhat softer. "If you say yes, that is." He added with a little shrug. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard a very familiar song playing loudly in the club and he sighed before laughing and shaking his head. "Can't get away from it!" He joked, but still looked at Mariana and sang his part in the song with a grin on his lips.

@ zima.

[No worries, hun! I didn't want to bump the thread because I know how crazy the holidays can be!]

Mariana smiled softly. She had no reason to disagree with him. She was having a great time tonight, so she was sure she'd have a lot of fun if she agreed to go out on a date with him. "Alright, what the hell." She finally said, shrugging her shoulders. She really didn't have anything to lose, and he was a nice guy, so why not? She couldn't help laughing when she heard an all too familiar song blaring through the speakers in the club. She laughed even more when he started to sing along. "Hey, at least you're a good sport about it." She was sure that some people would complain about hearing their music when they were out in public. Personally, she had no experience with it, though she was sure that she'd find it weird the first couple of times that it happened.

---

Harry scoffed playfully, shaking his head. "No way." He argued. "I'm not buying it." He crossed his arms, leaning back in the booth a little bit as he stretched his legs out slightly. "Yours can't be the best if mine are. It's just impossible." He let out a soft chuckle soon after. He too was trying to think of the best knock knock joke that he could muster up in his inebriated state, however a very familiar song started playing throughout the club, putting the joke contest on hold for a bit. "Must have a good sense of humor." He laughed.