With a Lack of Wanderlust

The hardest part of living in the house in Birmingham was sleeping. I had already had trouble sleeping in my own room in my own home, so this was deemed impossible in my eyes, even with my brother beside me.

The boys had left right after I cleaned Liam up and the goodbyes were just as awkward as the hellos, especially as his friends looked at him in shock when Liam said “So I’ll see you tomorrow around six?”

Thinking about what happened earlier in the day had also got me thinking that maybe my anxiety in general wasn’t the cause of me not sleeping, but the fact that I had to face dinner with all of them tomorrow.

I heard Nick turn over to face me and opened my eyes. It wasn’t any use trying to sleep anyway. At least I had him to keep me company.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked me with a yawn.

“I talked to Liam again.” I told him and he looked on curiously, so I continued to tell him the story of him climbing up the balcony.

“Sounds like a gentlemen.” I could sense him rolling his eyes in the darkness, “So what happened? Anything else worth sharing or just mindless conversation?”

“…I pushed him off and down into our rosebush.”

“WHAT!?” He whisper yelled. I closed my eyes and nodded, still feeling bad about it. “You’re crazy, Isabelle Marie.”

I laughed lightly, beginning to actually get tired. Opening my eyes a crack, I saw the outline of him shaking his head and then remembered. “He invited me over his house tomorrow, though. I might cancel.”

“No no no! Don’t! You have to go!” I heard him say and I turned over, uncertain. I didn’t bother fighting him, he’d just continue on with his opposing opinion without giving in, like he always did. I closed my eyes and drifted off shortly after.

--

“WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!” Nick bounced around me as I struggled to open my eyes, the sun making me want to close them again every time I tried.

“What time is it?” I groaned.

“Four.”

“FOUR?!” I was wide awake then. “HOW?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged, “Everyone has only been up for at most an hour though. You have to remember the time difference.” He laughed at my pained expression. My stomach growled, making him chuckle even harder.

“Go eat breakfast.” He commanded me. I stood up and pulled my hair into a ponytail, grabbing one of the various ties from my wrist to secure it, and began to walk toward the door. “But quickly! And not too much!”

“What?” I turned back to him, confused, “May I remind you, I’m like, underweight.”

He continued to laugh and look at me like I was stupid, “You want to look good for Liam don’t you! And you have to save room to eat his lovely dinner!”

“No,” I shook my head and hurried out of the room and down the stairs. He followed me, continuing to be a bother.

“Why not?”

“I’m not going.”

“He’ll be upset!”

I rolled my eyes, knowing he was right. “Well I’m not going to get dolled up for him. It’s just a polite gesture to welcome me here, I’m guessing. And I’m not looking for a date or anything.”

“Well fine.” Nick sighed, “Have you told mom and dad?”

I sat down at the table and before I could respond, I was interrupted by my mom as she handed me a plate of pancakes.

“How did you sleep?” She asked, sitting down beside me with her own plate.

“Fine,” I smiled and looked to Nick for help on telling her what was going to happen in a little less than two hours. He had disappeared, probably bounding up the stairs without me noticing, so I was in it on my own. “I’ve got plans later.”

“Really!” My mom looked shocked, showing how much faith she previously had in me. “Would these plans involve that Liam friend of yours?” She put emphasis on the word ‘friend.’

“Yes, but it’s not a date. He invited me over to hang out and have dinner with him and his friends.” I looked at the clock on the stove and it turned out not to be as early as I thought. “In about a half hour.” I shoved a fork-full of pancakes in my mouth.

My mom suddenly got excited, “Well you better get ready then!” She took my plate from me and ran it to the garbage. I sighed and got up, not making any effort to get my food back, since it was already soiled.

After slipping on jeans, a tank top, and a hoodie, I hesitated at grabbing my bag of makeup. It was for my most confident nights only and I wasn’t sure if tonight would be one of those.

“Do it.” My brother popped up behind me.

“Jesus Christ, why are you always doing that!” I put my hand to my chest, calming down, “It’s like you appear out of no where!”

“Sorry,” He laughed, “But just wear what you do when you have time for school. Liam seems like the guy that wouldn’t even care if you have makeup on anyway.” He looked at me matter-of-factly, tilting his head.

“Did you even meet Liam?” I looked at him, confused. He just stared at me, and I stared back. Finally I gave up on expecting a response. “Fine,” I sighed, grabbing my makeup bag and heading to the bathroom to do as I was told.

--

Liam’s POV

I glanced at the clock on my nightstand as while crossing the floor in my room for the zillionth time. I had 10 minutes left to compose myself. Ten minutes. Ten minutes. What could I do in ten minutes? I glanced at my bed and my eyes widened.

“Well fuck,” I said aloud, rushing over to make it look presentable, at least. I was pulling the comforter up just as Louis came to my doorway and opened his big mouth.

“You might want to get the condoms out too, lad. Maybe light a few candles. I don’t know.”

“What?” I asked as he laughed, “It’s not like I’m planning on sleeping with her you know I don’t do that.”

“Yeah,” He enunciated. He was one of my best friends, but he sure could be annoying. “She probably wouldn‘t sleep with you anyway.” He was serious, without a smirk. I figured I probably shouldn’t take it offensively.

Before I could reply, the ‘ding’ of the doorbell sounded and we both looked at each other in silence for a moment, neither of us moving. Finally, Louis broke the moment with a loud scream.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” I followed him down the stairs quickly and he went to open the door himself, “Welcome to the Payne household, how may I help you?”

--

Isabelle’s POV

“Hello, Louis.” I smiled at him and looked to see Liam standing behind him, running his hands through his nest of wavy hair, “Hi Liam.”

“We were just having a lovely chat about you!” Louis exclaimed.

“What?” I asked as Liam removed his hand from his hair to slap him upside the head. I knew this would be a very awkward visit. I was less uncomfortable than normal, but not exactly comfortable. Although, at this point I was sure I wasn’t the only one making it awkward.

“Nothing.” Louis’ smile never faltered, looking like that of a Cheshire cat. He grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, “I think Harry is making some tea!”

“You guys are really seeming to live up to the stereotypes of England, I hope you know.”

“Yeah we try,” he continued to smile, leading me into the living room. “Go attend to dinner, Liam. Me and the lads will take care of the lovely lady.” he told him, leading me into the living room where the two other boys from yesterday were sitting and playing a video game. It was kind of weird, being sort of acquainted with them but still not knowing their names.

I sat down on a couch across from them and Louis followed suit, sitting right beside me. Looking around at Liam’s home, I noticed that it seemed much more glamorous than mine, even if mine had had furniture in it. Everything just seemed much more high class and I felt completely out of place. That is, until Louis put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him, pushing my thoughts out of my mind.

“So, girl that lives next door, what do you go by?” The boys had turned off the game and all ears were on me for what felt like the first time in ages.

“Isabelle,” I answered looking shyly around at the three.

“I’m Niall, by the way,” The blonde said, confirming my previous beliefs.

“Zayn.” He smiled a bit.

“I like your names, they’re pretty.” I let out childishly with a grin before Louis continued with what felt like an interrogation.

“Where are you from?”

“She’s from America!” Niall intruded, “Duh.”

“California.” I responded with a light laugh, “Los Angeles.”

They all seemed to be surprised by this and Zayn spoke up again, “We were just there! It’s absolutely gorgeous.” The other two nodded their approval.

“Yeah…” was all I could say. I missed California for that sole purpose. It wasn’t like there was anything else to miss.

“Do you got any friends, then?” Louis seemed to have read my thoughts, raising his eyebrows.

“No.” I stated simply with a sigh, “Well, I did. I don’t know what happened.”

“You’ve got a friend in me!” Louis sang almost perfectly and tightened his arm around me. Zayn and Niall nodded with smiles and I felt like this acceptance had come about too quickly, especially after I had just pushed their friend off a balcony.

“Why are you guys being so nice to me?”

“You’re really pretty.” Niall said quickly to which Zayn nodded again, “Liam wouldn’t stop talking about you on the car ride back here. It was crazy.”

I looked to Louis and he was suddenly serious, “And you seem different. Like, genuine, and interesting, for a lack of a better word. Like you really care for us without even knowing us. So obviously we have to show our appreciation in return.”