Rumored Nights

Here I was…sitting front row, staring up at the three guys that I possibly loved. The three guys that I couldn’t choose from. Yeah…this was a big problem.

I gave a weak smile at them and two thumbs up to show that they did great.

Paul came up on stage and took their microphones. “Can we give it up for Niall, Harry, Zayn, Liam, and Louis once again?” As on cue, everyone cheered as the five boys walked off stage all hyped up.

“We totally won that!” Niall screamed as I made my way over to them.

“Yeah we did!” Zayn high fived the guys and they all smiled from ear to ear.

“You guys did amazing,” I hugged each of them, lingering a little too long on Louis, Liam, and Zayn. Nobody noticed…right?

“I’m glad you liked it,” Louis smiled as his hands stayed interlocked with mine for a minute. We met eyes and I blushed. If I hadn’t pulled away right then I could’ve sworn that we might have kissed. And that would be bad since Liam and Zayn were only a few steps away from me.

“I-I’m going to go get some fresh air…” I whispered and quickly made my way out of the bar. If I would have stayed there was a 95% chance that I would have cried.

I leaned against the wall and held onto my chest. I had three choices.

There was Liam: Sweet and AMAZING, Liam. The guy who I have something with, but we’re not sure what to do with just yet. The guy who’s giving ME the choice. Someone I could seriously see myself with.

And then there was Zayn: Sexy and awesome, Zayn. The one guy that I practically had and who wants me back. Someone that I could trust my life with.

And lately there was Louis: My best friend. Caring and adorable, Louis. The guy that I would do anything for. Someone that would protect me no matter what.

WHO WAS I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE?!

“Alex?” My heart skipped a beat as I looked up from the ground and met Zayn’s eyes.

“Zayn…” His face looked concerned. And I wasn’t sure if I would have figured it out if he hadn’t reached up to my face and wiped away the tears that were hanging out by my eyes.

“Why are you crying?” I had no idea why we were whispering, but I guess it was appropriate. I was keeping secrets, right?

“It’s just so hard…I don’t…” I didn’t even know how to get the words out.

“You don’t know who to choose,” It was like he read my mind. Which wouldn’t be a first for Zayn. He usually could tell what was going on.

“Yeah,” My voice cracked a little bit as I wiped my eyes to keep myself from crying anymore.

“Can I tell you something?” Zayn led me to the curb and we both sat down on it. I looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “I thought hard about this…and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way, because I really like you, Alex. But I feel like last night we made a mistake…”

“Yeah?” I sighed. My mind was starting to clear and I guess I was realizing what Zayn had said was right. “I think so too…”

“I like you, Alex. And I think…I think if Liam and Louis weren’t on your mind too that maybe we could be something. But they’re my best friends and so are you. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”

“I understand,” I smiled.

“Still best friends?” He looked a little hesitant, not sure how I would respond.

“Of course,” I hugged him quickly and rested my head on his shoulder. “Zayn…do you think I’ll ever figure out who I want?” I pulled away and looked at him.

“You will,” He reassured me. “I promise you will find out what you truly want by the end of this trip,”

“It seems like a long way away,” I laughed and so did he.

“You’re amazing, Alex. And no matter what whoever you end up with is lucky to have someone like you,” Zayn leaned over and kissed my cheek.

For the first time in a while…I knew that things might be okay.

And I suppose I shouldn’t have thought that because I know that things are just going to be 1000 times more difficult.

Oh Zayn…I hope you’re right by saying I’ll figure this out. You and Harry have both made this promise now.



Fortunately for us, Paul agreed that we could stay the night at his brother’s hotel if we helped clean up the bar when it closed. It was probably the nicest thing anyone has done for us while we were stranded in New York.

That morning while everyone was getting ready to go get the car out of the shop, Louis came up with an idea.

“Guys…” We all stopped what we were doing and stared at Louis. “What if…we didn’t get the car out of the shop?”

“No offense, Lou…but I don’t want to be in New York ANYMORE,” Niall sighed, lying on the bed.

“That’s not what I meant,” Louis shook his head and began to pace. “What if…we didn’t get the car out of the shop, but instead we took a bus to California?”

“What do you mean?” I was a bit confused. “Like a tank bus?”

“No, no.” He smiled. “A charter bus. I looked into it before and for less than $500 the six of us can take a variety of buses to California BEFORE the contest,”

“That actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Harry agreed with Louis. “We can ditch the van here and most definitely make it to California in time.”

“Yeah, but I thought you wanted a road trip?” Niall asked, finally sitting up.

“It’ll still be a road trip. Just none of us will be driving.” Louis’ idea was sounding better the more we talked about it.

“I’m in,” Zayn shrugged. “Why not? It could be fun. Plus we don’t have to pay for gas,”

“You weren’t going to pay for gas anyways, Zayn. You have no money,” Niall stuck his tongue. “I’m in too,”

“Me three,” I smiled.

“Why not?” Liam agreed.

“Sounds like fun,” Harry shrugged.

“Let’s go get on that bus,” Louis smiled as we grabbed our bags and took a cab to the bus station.



Harry, Niall, Zayn and I took a seat in the bus station while Louis and Liam went to go get our tickets.

“I can’t believe we’re just abandoning my van,” Zayn sighed a little bit.

“Oh please tell me you aren’t sad about ditching the Dork Mobile?” Niall shook his head and Harry and I rolled our eyes.

“I am sad! I’m also scared. My family is going to be pissed that we just left it,” Zayn thought to the idea of his parent’s yelling at him about the van.

“You know what else our parents are going to be pissed about? The fact that we’re not in school but traveling.” Niall bit his lip, a little afraid.

“Oh yeah. If my Dad finds out he will kill me,” I sighed.

“They won’t find out, don’t worry.” Harry smiled.

“WE ARE OFFICIALLY TAKING BUSES!” Louis exclaimed as he and Liam came to our section of the station.

“YEAH! Let’s rock and roll!” Harry smiled and we all had to smile in return too, because we were all pretty excited to finally get going and truly get this road trip started.

“WOOOHOOO!” Niall shouted, annoying a few business men and old ladies who had joined us in the waiting area.

“Sorry,” Liam apologized to them. They just nodded back and Liam could tell that they were still a little annoyed. It didn’t really matter though because we’d be gone in a minute.

We all grabbed our carry-on bags to put into the bus’s luggage area. We walked out to the bus and gave it a look over. It was pretty big and had those tinted windows that you always wondered what people were actually doing behind them. I could see the shadow of what looked like large, comfortable seats. And I hoped they were because if we were going to rid this all the way I wanted to be comfortable and relaxed. Or at least my seat be that way; I didn’t think my brain was going to get comfy or relaxed seeing all the thought that were racing through it.

The doors opened and we all stepped in. The guy, whoever he was, looked at Harry’s ticket and told us that our seats were located towards the back. We all made our way to a comfy little space in the back of the bus; which seemed perfect for us. We were still close enough to talk, but we had enough space. But then there was the hard part…figuring out who was sitting with who.

I won’t deny it…I wanted to sit with Louis. For that moment my brain blocked out Liam and all I could seem to think of was Louis. I think he wanted to sit with me too, but before we could make a move, Zayn pushed Louis into the very last seats.

“Ouch!” Louis yelled as he tumbled into the seat.

“Oops, sorry. I think you should sit with me.” Zayn explained and then sat in the seat closest to the isle, practically trapping Louis in that seat. I saw him try to give ma pleading look, but decided against it and just relaxed into the seat Zayn had chosen for him.

“Here Alex. You can sit there!” Harry kind of demanded as he shoved me in the direction of the seat in front of Louis’.

“Okay…” I wasn’t too sure of what was going on, but it was all Harry’s little plan to get Liam and I sitting together.

“Liam, here’s your seat.” Harry pushed Liam into his seat…which happened to be the one right next to me.

“Uh, thanks…” Liam said, realizing what Harry was doing.

“Me and Niall will sit here,” Harry announced, taking the seats that were directly across from Louis and Zayn.

“Uh, okay are we all settled now?” Louis looked around.

“I’m good. Niall, you good?” Harry looked at him.

“I’m good, Haz. Great. Good.” Niall smiled and they both had that ‘I’m-up-to-something-andI’m-trying-to-hide-it-but-I’m-not-doing-a-very-good-job’ look on their faces.

Louis just shook his head and sat back in his seat. If Harry and Niall were going to be acting weird like this it was going to be one long ride.

“So…” Zayn looked to his friend, trying to make conversation.

“So?” Louis looked at Zayn like he was insane or something.

“Whatcha doing?” Zayn asked like a little five year old.

“Uh…sitting on a bus?” Louis was wondering what was with Zayn.

“Oh, cool.” Zayn nodded. “Me too.”

“Wow, Zayn. What a coincidence.” Louis rolled his eyes. “What’s up with you?” He asked, trying to get to the bottom of Zayn’s sudden weirdness. I don’t know why…Zayn was kind of always weird, Louis.

“Uh, nothing. I’m just…bored.” Zayn shrugged.

“Well we’ve got quite a long ways to go. So you better find some way of entertaining yourself.” Louis reminded him.



“Oh God, are we there yet?!” Harry asked in a huffy and annoyed voice.

“Haz…the bus hasn’t even moved yet.” Niall sighed.

“I know. I’m just anxious to get out of here!”

“If he’s going to keep asking if we’re there yet I’m sitting somewhere else,” Niall said to nobody in particular.

“Guys,” Liam spoke up, trying to be the peace maker. “It’s only the beginning of the ride. Sit back, relax and enjoy it.”

“Good thinking, Liam.” Niall nodded and decided to look out the window even though we knew he’d get tired of that soon enough.

Everyone went on talking to the person they were sitting with. So that meant I had to face the one person I was scared to; Liam.

“Hi,” He said sweetly and quietly in his Liam way as we both looked at each other and kind of blushed. How could I have been scared to talk to Liam?

“Hi,” I smiled back as we spent a minute smiling at how we made each other feel as the bus began to move. Out the window the station blurred by and we were finally on our way.

“It’s nice to talk to you,” He blushed once again.

“I know what you mean,” I agreed. And I did understand what he meant. It was so good to finally talk to him again. Even though it hadn’t been that long. I guess I still missed him though.

“Are you ready for this trip?” He asked and I couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t only meant the bus ride, but possibly the trip of emotions we were about to experience like always when we were near each other.

“I think so,” I said sheepishly.

“Good. Cause’ if you’re not I’ll take care of you,” Liam said suggestively and it made me smile more. It also made me feel safe. I knew everything would be fine, just as long as Liam was there for me.

“Good. Cause’ I think I’d like that,” I smiled and then turned my attention out the window, trying to be mysterious. Liam knew me better than that though.

Without saying a word, Liam took my hand in his and held it. He held it tight so I knew what he felt, but it was a gentle touch. There I was again…back to falling for incredibly sweet Liam.

Liam and I just sat there like we usually did; holding hands quietly, thinking about each other while our hearts melted. How could I possibly have doubts about Liam? Oh, I know…just look at the gorgeous boy in the seat behind me.

I liked the way things were with Liam. Everything was so calm and there was no rush for anything. We were just there, just simply together and that was it. I looked out the tinted window and watched the bus get on the highway. We zoomed past other cars and left New York City behind us.

Before I knew it we were long gone out of the bus station and I realized I must have fallen asleep. I blinked my eyes and looked down at my hand to see that it was still clutched in Liam’s hand. I smiled at our hands for a minute until Liam noticed I was awake.

“Hey sleepy head,” He smiled.

“Hi,” I smiled back as I turned to him.

“Did you have a nice little nap?”

“Uh, yeah I guess. How long was I asleep for?” I asked, feeling a little tired.

“Only like twenty minutes,” He laughed.

“Oh,” I laughed at myself like an idiot and Liam just smiled at me.

I realized Liam had a book in his hands so I took my hand from his and let him get back to his reading. I put my feet up on the seat and got comfy, ready to fall back to sleep because there really wasn’t much else to do.

I looked around at my friends. Liam was reading his book. Past him Niall’s face was pressed up against the bus window and I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or just making funny faces at all the cars that couldn’t really see him because of the tinted windows. Harry sat there, looking a little bored and mesmerized by his shoe that he was picking at. He had to have been really bored.

I couldn’t see behind me, but I could hear Zayn singing along to some song that was playing on his iPod and I could hear Louis’ sweet voice humming softly to a completely different song than Zayn. It was kind of amusing to listen to so I decided it could be my lullaby as I pressed my head up against the seat and listened to the boys behind me sing as I closed my eyes.

Without really realizing it, my head was now resting on Liam’s shoulder. I opened my eyes and read along with him, even though I had no idea what was going on in his book. It didn’t really matter if I knew anyways, I just kept reading along. It just felt special because we were doing it together. Suddenly I began to feel cold and I shivered a bit. Liam looked down at me.

“Are you cold?” He asked and I could feel him breathing on my head that was still facing the book.

“Yeah, kind of.” I answered as I looked into his caring eyes.

“Here,” He smiled as he put his book down and took off his jacket. He placed his jacket, which was still warm from him, on top of me and I cuddled up in it very nicely. I was right before…this bus was comfy. I snuggled closer to Liam as I held the jacket closer to my face and breathed in Liam’s handsome scent that I had always loved.

Liam looked down at me and smiled again. He was happy to just be here, holding onto me. We didn’t need words. It was as if we read each other’s minds. He leaned down and kissed me sweetly on top of my head and I smiled as I closed my eyes.

Liam went back to reading his book, even though he didn’t feel like concentrating on the words that filled the pages. His life right now was more interesting than any story.

As I began to fall asleep to Zayn and Louis singing (humming to different songs) and also Liam’s heart beating, something happened that I never expected.

“I love you, Liam.” I whispered softly and breathlessly. My heart had let me say it before my brain could stop it. There was no taking it back now…it had already been said and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take it back or not.

Liam heard me, but he didn’t respond. Or, at least I didn’t think so. I couldn’t hear him because after I had spoken those words I fell into another peaceful nap that I didn’t really want to wake up from.

Harry became preoccupied by the sight of me snuggled up by Liam. He stopped playing with his shoe and began to watch. He decided to wake Niall up, or whatever he was doing with his face pressed up against the window.

Zayn and Louis didn’t seem to noticed, because Zayn was too busy head banging and dancing and singing in his own little world.

Louis was too busy staying out of Zayn’s dancing path, trying to avoid being his, but also humming to his own music which was starting to become a soundtrack to his life as he looked out the window, wondering what he should do next.