Just One Step

After seeing me talking to James, Tay rushed over; Niall, Dev and Harry close on her heels.

“What was that about?”

“He was apologizing,” I said.

“Who was that?” asked Niall

“James,” I told him.

“The James?” Harry asked. “I thought you hated him?”

“Like I said he apologized,” I said walking into the kitchen to grab a beer.

“Nope,” Dev said taking the can from me and handing me a coke instead.

“Why not?” I asked him.

“A. Do you not remember the concert?” Tay said. “Oh that’s right, you wouldn’t ‘cause you had one too many of these. B. We need you sober to go shopping,”

“Oh, well I was taking it ‘cause I didn’t want her crying over James again,” Dev said.

“Oh shut up,” Tay said giving him a smack on the arm. Seriously, they were like an old married couple.

“I’m not going to cry over him, he apologized and I forgave him,”

“You forgave him?” Niall asked.

“Yeah,”

“You forgave the guy that cheated on you with your best friend?” he asked, but it wasn’t a question. It was a judgment.

“Yeah I did,” I said sharply. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Actually I do,” he said. “I care about you Dani, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Well, I guess this is new to you but you aren’t my boyfriend or my mother so why don’t you back off,”

“I’m sorry for not wanting you to get involved with that bloody git!” Everyone around us had grown quiet and everyone was starring at us. It was like we were back on the subway.

“I loved that bloody git for two years, I’m sorry that you have a problem with that,”

“You know what,” he said, looking me dead in the eyes. “I tried to help, and I really liked you Dani, but I just don’t know…” he trailed off and then walked away. He sat down on the couch. Harry gave me a ‘what the hell,’ look before rushing off after Niall. I took the beer from Dev and handed him back the coke. He just stood there shocked.

“I’ll be outside if anybody needs me!” I shouted, before leaving the apartment.

I walked into the elevator and saw that Alex, Tay’s older brother was in the elevator. Alex was five years older then Tay and I, and had always been like an older brother to me.

“What’s wrong Dani?” he said.

“Nothing,” I mumbled.

“Spill,” he said and the elevator started to go up because I hadn’t pressed a button. We were headed up to the 16th floor, where his apartment was.

“Fine,” I said. And I did. I told him everything.

Somehow after just twenty minutes of talking things out with him I somehow felt better and was headed back to the party. When I got there almost everyone had left. The boys were still there, and Scarlett, Liv, and Emma had stuck around too. The girls were talking, Tay and Dev were snuggling on the couch and the boys were trying to get Niall to talk to them. When I walked in everyone’s eyes looked at me. Everyone’s except for Niall.

“Where the hell did you go?” Tay demanded.

“I was going to go back home, but Alex was in the elevator and so we talked,” I told her.

“Who’s Alex?” Louis asked.

“Probably another boy that cheated on her, and she forgave,” Niall muttered.

“Oh shut up Niall,” I said.

“He’s my brother,” Tay explained.

“Yeah, so we just talked for a little and then I came back,”

“Good, because we need to go shopping,”

“Do we really?” I asked.

“Yes,” I groaned just as much as the boys.

“Why?” I whined, giving her a puppy dogface.

“Because, you do,”

“I can’t even afford to go shopping,” I told her.

“I’m paying,” she said. “Now come on, let’s go.”

***

We all sat around as Tay bought four large bags worth of clothes I didn’t think I would ever wear. I looked over at Niall, he looked less angry then earlier, still pissed but also sad at the same time. I regretted yelling at him, but he did start it. What gave him the right to judge my decisions? He had only known me for… two weeks? Two weeks. It had seamed so much longer. I was starring out into space when I felt someone tap me on my shoulder. I turned around to see Zayn standing behind me.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. I got up and followed him out of the store, into the main part of the mall.

“Look I don’t know what happened,” Zayn said. “But what ever did, Niall is hurting hard because of it,”

“I don’t see why he cares,” I told him sharply.

“Ok, I don’t mean this as an insult, ‘cause I like you Dani, you’re great. You can sing amazingly and you’re really kind. But when all first met you, Niall cared about you, and frankly the rest of us didn’t know why. So I don’t think the point is weather or not he cares, but what you’re going to do about it,” he said.

“I already told him, I’m not ready for a relationship,”

“Yet you can forgive the guy who hurt you in the first place?”

“It’s different,” I defended.

“Not to Niall,”

“I guess, but he overstepped his boundaries. He shouldn’t have gotten mad about it.”

“But can you see why he did,”

“I don’t know Zayn,”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t care about you two. And I do, I think you two should just get together already. But Niall can’t be like this on tour. Just look at him, he’s a sorry mess.”

“Is that really my fault?” I asked.

“I’m getting Harry,” he said turning to leave, but turned to face me again. “You’re stubborn you know that,” I just laughed and he walked away.

A few minutes later he returned with Liam.

“I thought you said you were getting Harry?” I asked confused.

“Have a problem with me love?” Liam said, altering his accent slightly, which made us both laugh.

“No, it’s just that Zayn said he was getting Harry and I was confused,”

“Harry is preoccupied,” Zayn said. “He’s trying to get Niall to cheer up,”

“Like I said, not my fault,” Zayn just groaned.

“Why don’t you two just date,” Liam stated.

“Did any of you ever think that I’d like to?” I said. “I just can’t…”

“That didn’t seam to stop you with James,” Liam said. “And last time I checked he has a girlfriend,”

“He said they weren’t exclusive,” I said without thinking.

“Are you serious?” Zayn asked.

“What?”

“Ok, I’m sorry but you are acting really stupid,”

“What?” I asked again, hoping that maybe Liam would explain.

“He cheated on you with this girl?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well did it ever cross your mind that if he cheated on you with her, he would cheat on her with you?”