Make You Mine

Aimee paced back and forth in the baggage claim area, awaiting the arrival of her best friend Alyssa. After she had checked the clock for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, she finally just collapsed on one of the chairs in the waiting area.

“Her plane isn’t even due to land for another twenty minutes love,” one of her companions told her, sitting in the chair to her right. “We showed up too early.”

“That’s your fault, Louis,” Aimee told him, huffing.

“I expected to hit a lot more traffic!” he defended. “We didn’t have to bring you here you know,” he added, referring to himself and the other young man who came with him. “We’re doing you a solid favor and all you can do is complain. Cheeky ingrate.”

Aimee rolled her eyes at his fake exasperation, but couldn’t stop herself from smiling none the less. “Sorry,” she sighed. “And thank you both for bringing me.”

“Damn straight,” Louis nodded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. Aimee listlessly got up once again, not able to keep herself from pacing.

“You are going to wear a hole in the floor,” the other young man, Harry, observed.

“I can’t help it,” Aimee groaned. “I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“You two talk all the time,” Harry pointed out.

“It’s not the same,” Aimee refuted with a shake of her head. Aimee and Alyssa were both born and raised in Chicago, and several years ago at the age of twenty Aimee had moved to the U.K. to follow a job opportunity. The two best friends had seen each other a few times here and there, but it had been a good eight months since Aimee had last visited Chicago on her vacation.

That was all going to change now though, because Aimee had found Alyssa employment in the same area as her, and since Alyssa was having trouble finding work in Chicago, it didn’t take much to convince her to pack up and move into Aimee’s London flat with her.

Alyssa and Aimee had both skipped the academic college route after high school, instead veering off into beauty school territory. Alyssa loved working with makeup and was actually a very skilled artist, but good jobs were slim in Chicago. She often considered moving to Los Angeles or New York to hunt for something there, but part of her was too afraid to venture off into new territory alone. At least Aimee would be with her in London.

Aimee had gone in the hair direction, becoming a stylist and landing a job at a production studio in London. It was there that she styled the hair of some of the X-Factor contestants and met the boys of One Direction. Since she hit it off so well with the boys, when they became popular they hired her as their own personal hair stylist to travel with the band.

There were five members of the popular boy group, two of which, Harry and Louis, were at the airport with her. The other three members were Liam, Niall, and Zayn. They were busy doing Aimee a favor and cleaning out the spare room of her flat; at least Liam and Niall were. If Aimee were a gambling woman she’d bet big money that Zayn was on her couch, sleeping. To say that these five young men had become some of her best friends was an understatement. Sure she butted heads with them on occasion, but she also knew these were genuinely good guys who’d always be there for her. And while they were a bit younger than her, she couldn’t help but admit they were easy on the eyes.

While the band had their own makeup artist, Aimee was able to network with her a bit and found out about a lot of freelance work Alyssa could do. The young woman didn’t hesitate to call her friend about it, and before either of them really knew what was happening, plans were set into motion. Alyssa hadn’t ever met any of the guys, but that was going to change very soon.

“How much longer?” Aimee whined.

“You mean since the last time you asked five minutes ago?” Harry rolled his eyes, sharing a ‘is she for real?’ look with Louis behind her back before checking his watch. “Fifteen minutes, give or take.”

“I’m never letting you guys drive me anywhere again,” she grumbled. Louis’ eyes widened immediately and his jaw dropped. He looked over at Harry, who just held up his hands and shrugged.

“Aimee, you are late for everything every time you have to get somewhere on your own. We actually get you somewhere with time to spare and you’re angry about it?” Louis asked, bewildered.

“I’m not angry,” Aimee denied. “And I’m not always late.” When the two boys gave her simultaneous pointed stares, she threw her hands up. “Alright alright, so I run on Filipino time. I am Filipino so there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You’re half Filipino, which means you should at least be punctual half the time,” Louis argued. “And you know what, there are things you can do. For starters, you can get your own car so you don’t have to use your haphazard method to get somewhere when we can’t take you.”

“You know that’s out of the question,” Aimee shook her head. She refused to get a car in England, because she knew she’d have a hard time adjusting to their system. “You guys drive on the wrong side of the road and your steering wheel is on the wrong side. Besides, I like my haphazard method.”

“No, you drive on the wrong side of the road and your steering is wonky. I mean, who drives on the right side? That’s ridiculous,” Harry interjected, mouthing the word Americans to Louis whilst shaking his head.

“And we all know you hate your method, so don’t try to argue otherwise,” Louis added. Aimee pursed her lips, because he was right. Her ‘method’ consisted of taking cabs, trains, trolleys or other public transportation (sometimes a mixture of multiple types), which often took her out of her way or brought her into the path of creepy men who always tried to hit on her.

“You guys should just let me use your chauffer whenever I want,” Aimee suggested.

“We might just have to if you call us one more time lost in the middle of nowhere,” Louis agreed.

Several minutes of agony later, Aimee saw on the monitors that Alyssa’s plane had landed. She jumped up from her seat excitedly, waiting for all the passengers to make their way towards where the trio waited at baggage claim. Aimee strained on her tippy toes to see over the first wave of people, looking for her best friend’s familiar face. “There she is!” she squealed, seeing Alyssa in the far distance. She waved her hand high, and Louis chuckled when he saw both girls’ faces light up when they saw each other.

Once the girls were in a closer distance to each other, they began to scurry over to one another to hug. Before Alyssa could reach Aimee however, she found herself intercepted and lifted off the ground in a guy’s embrace. “Thank God you’re finally here!” He said, twirling her around in the air. Alyssa held on for dear life to this guy, but shot Aimee a confused look every time he spun her in her direction.

“Louis!” Aimee laughed, walking over and slapping his arm.

“Sorry,” he said, setting Alyssa down and throwing his arm around her instead. “But if you had asked us one more time how much longer it’d be until her plane landed, I was going to put you on the baggage belt and let it take you away.”

Aimee glared at him and at Harry when he burst out laughing, but before she could say anything Alyssa had wrapped her in a hug. “I missed you!” she said, pulling away and smiling. “I am so excited to finally be here. Thank you so much for getting me this job.”

“I’m excited too! I’ve been counting down the days,” Aimee smiled.

“She has, literally,” Harry informed. “The days, the hours, the minutes…”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up,” Aimee shoved him lightly. “Lyss, this is Harry,” she introduced, letting them shake hands. “And that’s Louis.”

“Nice to meet you both,” she smiled, pulling her hand from Louis’. While she had never met the boys in person, she knew who they were through the media and Aimee’s stories. “It was nice of you to bring Aimee and stay to meet me here.”

“At least someone appreciates us,” Louis sighed dramatically. Aimee rolled her eyes and shoved the boys towards the conveyer belt to find Alyssa’s luggage.

An hour later, the foursome was finally out of the airport and close to arriving back at Aimee’s flat. Harry and Louis grabbed Alyssa’s bags once they had parked and followed the girls up to Aimee’s floor. “Prepare yourself,” Aimee warned Alyssa before reaching her door. “I asked the other three to clear out my spare room, but knowing these lot, god only knows what they’ve got into during the past two hours.”

“Okay,” Alyssa laughed, nodding. Aimee moved to unlock her door before turning to her friend again.

“Also, you should be warned. These guys are all a bit…well let’s just say they tend to get a bit hyper. Especially when they’re all together in a confined space.”

“Okay…” Alyssa nodded again, slower and more apprehensively.

“We’re not wild animals or anything Aimee, jeez,” Harry remarked. Aimee rolled her eyes and put her key in the lock, hearing a loud crash from inside shortly after. Alyssa widened her eyes and looked over at her friend, disconcerted. Louis and Harry anxiously pushed past the two girls to see what the commotion was about inside, and Aimee just smiled sweetly at the other woman.

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you, right?” She raised her voice to be heard over the yelling voices from within the apartment, and Alyssa just smiled weakly.

“Uh, right…”

Aimee walked through the front door with Alyssa trailing behind her. Before either girl could really get a good look at what was going on, Aimee was pelted in the face with a pillow. Once it bounced off of her head and fell to the floor, she opened her eyes and blinked up at the boys.

Louis was already standing on her couch, another pillow in hand while Zayn stood on the cushion of the love seat that sat nearby. He was frozen in mid-stride, clearly about to step from the chair to the couch to grab Louis. He was empty handed, and Aimee deduced that the pillow that hit her in the face had come from his hands. Harry and Liam were frozen on the ground from wrestling over another pillow, gaping up at Aimee, and all four faces reminded Alyssa of deer staring at headlights.

“If we don’t move….” Louis started, trying not to move his lips, “Maybe she won’t see us.”

Aimee glared at him before noticing she was only staring at four of the five band members. “Where is-”

“Incomiiiiiing!” Niall, the fifth member suddenly yelled, coming from down another hallway and unleashing a flurry of pillows on the other boys. He had a sheet tied around his neck like a cape, and suddenly the other four boys unfroze themselves and resumed their pillow fight like nothing was wrong.

“Excuse me!” Aimee yelled, to no avail. Without warning, Zayn jumped over the back of the love seat and lunged for the pillow at Aimee’s feet, sliding on his knees on the hardwood floor before coming to a stop right at the pillow. He grabbed it and hopped up, shooting the girls a wink and a smile.

“Just need to borrow this a moment,” he smirked, running back over to the chaos.

Aimee turned to Alyssa and pursed her lips into a sheepish smile. “Maybe I should have prepared you more.”

Alyssa, whose jaw had been hanging open since Aimee had been hit in the face, finally burst into laughter. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “No wonder you’re so tired all the time!” She followed Aimee into the kitchen, catching her breath a bit before noticing that her friend was casually making a pot of coffee. Alyssa turned back to the doorway of the kitchen, watching the boys annihilate each other with pillows. She turned back to Aimee, confused. “Are you going to just let them carry on like that out there?”

Aimee snorted as she measured out the coffee grounds. “Yeah, because clearly they’d listen to me if I asked them to stop,” she answered sarcastically. “Don’t worry about it, they’ll tire out eventually. And they’ve got the funds to replace anything they break, so I’m not worried.”

“I know you’ve told me stories about them and everything but I don’t think I was expecting that,” Alyssa admitted.

“Weren’t expecting what, exactly? Their hyper-activeness? Or their devastating good looks?” Aimee smirked.

“You need a boyfriend,” Alyssa commented, shaking her head and leaning against the counter across from Aimee.

“I agree,” Zayn announced, coming into the kitchen and slinging his arm around Aimee’s shoulders. She looked over at him, perplexed as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “What do you say, sweetheart?”

“I say that you better get my living room cleaned up in the next five minutes or your hair is going to be my first victim,” she responded with a serious face. Zayn pulled away immediately, shielding his head as he jogged out of the kitchen.

“Get to cleaning this mess up now boys! Hurry!” was all the girls heard before the other boys started grumbling.

“So that one was…Zayn? Right?”

“Oh shit, sorry! I never introduced you to them all,” Aimee apologized. “But yeah, it was.”

“It’s alright,” Lyss waved off. “It’s not like they exactly gave you the opportunity to do so.”

“I can’t believe how fast Harry and Lou went from holding your bags to beating each other with pillows. It was like they were never with us in the first place,” Aimee shook her head and opened her refrigerator. “Are you hungry? I could make some food.”

“Food? Did someone say food?” Louis popped his head into the kitchen and the girls saw that he had twisted a sheet around his head like you would normally do to dry your hair with a bathroom towel. Only because it was a sheet, it trailed down from the top of his head down past his feet like a wedding gown train.

At Louis’ loud mention of food, the other boys all came scampering into the kitchen, each with a different sheet style. Niall still had his on like a super hero cape, Liam had his on like a toga, Harry had discarded his shirt and was wearing his sheet like a sarong, and Zayn had his sheet tied like a cloak Red Riding Hood would wear.

“Where did you guys get all these sheets?” Aimee exclaimed, knowing that the one Niall had on was the one directly off her bed.

“Linen closet,” they all said simultaneously.

Aimee collapsed dramatically at the kitchen table and Louis pulled her back up. “Don’t worry, we’ll put everything to rights. Just make us some food.” Then he kissed her on the cheek and the boys all rushed out again, before Aimee could protest.

“They’re going to make my hair grey by the time I’m twenty five,” she muttered, going over to her cabinets.

“I think they’re cute,” Alyssa told her, smiling. “You guys have a sweet relationship.”

“They’re great guys,” Aimee nodded. “They’re just a handful.”

Alyssa studied her friend for a few minutes as she prepared some food, and then glanced out the doorway to the kitchen to study the boys cleaning. “So, which one are you fucking?”

The tomato Aimee had been slicing slipped off the cutting board and rolled into the sink when she fumbled her knife. “What? She asked, looking over at Alyssa with a bewildered expression.

“Oh come on,” Alyssa stated. “You’re telling me that five young men with raging hormones have a hot hair stylist like you on tour with them twenty-four-seven and none of them have made a move?”

“First of all, I’m not hot. Second of all, I’m like their older sister,” Aimee disagreed, shaking her head.

“Wrong and wrong,” Liam said, suddenly walking into the kitchen. He had an armful of dirty dishes that he placed into the sink before walking back out without another word. Alyssa raised an eye brow at Aimee challengingly.

“Okay, so we all tease and flirt with each other a lot. That doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with any of them,” Aimee relented.

“Yeah, not for lack of trying by any of us though,” Harry interjected, bringing in a couple more dishes. Aimee shot him a glare and he scampered out quickly.

“Look,” Aimee pulled Alyssa closer and lowered her voice, ready to reveal some information. “The truth is-”

“Hey Aimee?” Both girls whipped around at the sound of the voice, seeing Louis standing there with the sheet still on his head. “Can we eat first before we clean up the rest of the stuff? We’re all starving.”

“Sure,” Aimee nodded, motioning him towards the finished sandwiches. “Help me bring these out.” She mouthed the word ‘Later’ to Alyssa, who nodded in understanding.

Several hours later, after Aimee was able to finally introduce everybody properly and the boys had eaten, she was cleaning in the kitchen while the boys watched television in the living room. Alyssa was unpacking her suitcases in her room, since the boys did manage to eventually get it all cleared out for her. She had shipped the rest of her belongings over earlier and they were put directly into a storage unit, where Aimee was taking her tomorrow to retrieve all of it.

Once she was satisfied with what she had unpacked, she made her way back out into the living room where the boys were sprawled out. Aimee came out of the kitchen a moment later, much to Alyssa’s relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the guys, she really did. She was just a bit intimidated by the whole situation.

“Well, thanks for your all your help today boys,” Aimee said, stressing the word help sarcastically. “I’ll call you tomorrow if we need anything else.” She was subtly trying to shoo them out so she could have girl talk with her best friend, but the boys were not picking up on the hint.

Aimee walked around the couch to look at them closer, and saw that Harry, Niall, and Liam were too engrossed in the television to have heard her. Zayn and Louis were sleeping, propped up against one another. Aimee rolled her eyes and took it upon herself to turn off the TV, prompting the conscious boys to look up at her. “You guys can leave now. Alyssa and I have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Nonsense!” Harry blurted, nudging Zayn and Louis awake. “Aimee’s trying to kick us out.”

“I am not! I just want to hang out with my best friend, alright?” At their over-dramatically shocked faces, Aimee amended her statement. “My best female friend.”

“You are going to be living together, that’s plenty of time to spend together. Come on, let’s go grab dinner,” Louis said, rising and walking past Aimee as the rest of the boys followed suit.

“But-”

“Nope! Get ready, we’re going. No buts,” he interrupted, grabbing Aimee’s shoulders and pushing her into her room.

“But you guys just ate!” She protested, digging her heels into the ground.

“Your point?”

Aimee looked at her friend to ask her what she wanted to do, but Alyssa was already gesturing that she didn’t mind. In fact, if Aimee didn’t know any better, she’d say that Lyss was actually excited. “As long as Alyssa isn’t too jet-lagged, then its fine.”

The boys all simultaneously looked over at Alyssa, and she felt her throat catch momentarily. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, I don’t mind at all.”

Liam assumed the leadership role and split everyone into groups, assigning them each a task. He would be going with Louis to get food, Harry and Niall were going to go rent movies, and Zayn was bringing the girls back to his flat to prepare for everyone to come over. Zayn’s place was much larger than Aimee’s, and according to the rest of the group, he had the best T.V.

The next few hours went by in a blur, but Alyssa was having the time of her life. These boys were some of the funniest guys she had ever met, and some of the cutest to boot. Once everyone had finished eating, Aimee began to clean up their mess while Zayn got the movies ready to play.

Just then, Alyssa’s phone went off, and she noticed it was her mother calling. “Oops,” she sounded, staring at the screen. “I was supposed to call my family when I arrived at your apartment,” she said to Aimee.

“Ooh, you’re gonna get it,” Louis sang, prodding her off the couch. “Go take the call. Your mum is probably worried sick. We’ll wait for you.”

“No no, don’t wait. This could take a while,” Alyssa told them apologetically.

“Take your time, sweetheart,” Zayn moved toward her, motioning for her to follow him. “I’ll show you to a guest room so you can have some privacy.” Lyss thanked him and answered her phone, waving to Zayn as he was closing the door to give her solitude.

Forty-five minutes later, everyone was engrossed in the movie and Aimee noticed Alyssa was still not back yet. “I’ll go check on her,” Niall offered, earning a ‘thanks’ from Aimee.

Niall made his way down the corridor, knocking lightly on the door he knew Alyssa was behind. The young Irishman suddenly became anxious, his nerves getting the best of him. The first moment he saw Alyssa at Aimee’s apartment, he had felt himself get hot all over. Since then, he had stayed relatively quiet, and Harry called him out on it when the two of them had gone to go get food.

At first Niall had denied anything being wrong, but soon enough Harry had caught on. “You faaaancy Alyssa,” he sang. At Niall’s blush, Harry knew he had hit the jackpot. Niall didn’t even try to deny it anymore, because the truth of the matter was that he had been fascinated by the young woman all afternoon.

His thoughts were interrupted when Alyssa opened the door, emitting a soft “Hey,” with a smile.

“Hey,” Niall swallowed hard, his mouth becoming a bit dry. “Just want to check on you.” Alyssa saw Niall notice that she was no longer on her phone, and she motioned him into the room before shutting the door again. “Are you okay? I can go get Aimee…?” He began to turn back towards the door, but she stopped him with a light hand on his arm.

“Is it crazy to be homesick already?”

Niall immediately forgot his nervousness around her, seeing that she needed comfort. He sat on the bed, patting the space next to him. Once she sat down, he bumped his shoulder with hers gently, making her look at him. “It’s not crazy at all,” he simply said. “I get homesick all the time. All of us boys do.”

“I know, but…I just got here. Shouldn’t this not happen for like, at least another month?” She looked deep into his eyes, searching for answers, and was momentarily struck by how blue they were. The edges were dark cerulean, the color getting brighter and clearer closer the closer you got to the pupil, which was surrounded by a rim of a jade looking green.

Niall let out a chuckle and shook his head. “I mean, you’re taking a huge step in your life right now, one that you know will take you far from home for a long period of time. And you’ve just gotten off the phone with your family, who you’re not going to see in a while. I know that doesn’t exactly make you feel better, but you should know that no matter what, your family will support you. They’re probably really proud of you right now, and who knows where this opportunity could take you? You know if you had stayed home, the regret you’d feel would have been way worse than this minor homesickness. You have Aimee to help you through. And now, you have me. And the other guys. We’ll take care of you.”

During Niall’s speech, Alyssa’s smile had faded and she felt her eyes get watery. “Oh my god,” she whimpered. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Niall’s eyes got wide when he saw her teary ones, but Alyssa had engulfed him in a tight hug before he could react. He finally jolted to life and returned the embrace, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “Let’s go join the group, yeah?”

Alyssa nodded, composing herself. Niall grabbed her hand and led her out into the living room, the only light coming from the television. Harry was the first to spot them, and he slowly smirked at Niall, who purposefully ignored it and pulled Alyssa to sit next to him on the couch. Lyss looked around the room for Aimee once the attention was back on the movie. Harry was alone on the floor with a big couch pillow, Louis was on the other side of the large couch with Niall and herself, Liam was curled up on the recliner, which left Zayn alone, and fast asleep, on his small love seat.

Lyss suddenly did a double take, noticing that Zayn was not alone; another figure was barely visible underneath the large blanket they had spread over them. His cheek was resting atop that someone else’s head. Aimee’s head. She was also sound asleep and leaning against him, her head tucked into his neck and his arm wrapped around her. Alyssa said nothing but raised her eyebrow at their position, and Niall caught it.

“Yeah, we’re not quite sure either,” he whispered to her.

“Not sure of what, exactly?” Alyssa inquired, wanting to be clear.

“If they’re together or not,” Niall replied. “There’s times like this when we’d say yes, but then there’s other times when the two of them won’t even say a word to each other when we hangout. It’s weird.”

Alyssa furrowed her eyebrow at the sleeping couple, wondering if the situation had anything to do with what Aimee almost told her in her kitchen earlier. Shaking her head, Alyssa turned to the television to focus on the movie, trying to keep from grinning at the realization that Niall still had his fingers entwined with hers.

---

“Alyssa. Lyss,” a voice called out, pulling the young woman back into consciousness.

“Hm?” she grumbled, straightening herself out. She moved to rub the sleep from her eyes and noticed that her hand was still linked with Niall’s. When her eyes finally adjusted to the dark room, she saw that everyone was passed out except for Liam, who was the one who woke her up.

“Let’s get you into a bed, alright?” he said softly. She nodded and he moved around to everyone else, waking them gently. Alyssa remembered Aimee telling her that Liam was like the dad of the group, and she thought it was sweet the way he was taking care of them now.

He woke up Harry and sent him to sleep in Zayn’s third spare room, which had a sleeper sofa even though the room was used mostly for games and recreation. Liam said that Niall would go and share it with him once he woke up. Alyssa shook Niall awake herself, and watched the confusion as to where he was settle on his face before the memories flooded back to him. “Hi,” he yawned, stretching.

“Hi,” Alyssa giggled.

Louis had his legs sprawled across Alyssa’s lap and Liam told her and Niall to just get up and leave him there before he threw a blanket over the young man’s form. Last but not least, Liam went to Zayn and nudged him until his brow furrowed and his eyes cracked open.

“Hm?” Zayn grunted out, squeezing his eyes shut. From what Alyssa had gathered about the boys through Aimee and her experiences today, she knew that Zayn loved his sleep. She smiled to herself a little then, because she knew that Aimee was the exact same way.

“Movie’s over,” Liam informed. “Everyone’s going to sleep. Come on.”

Zayn nodded and sat up a little, running a hand through his hair. He looked down at the young woman in his arms and moved his hand to graze his fingers along her scalp lightly. “Aimee,” he called softly in her ear, watching her as she awoke slowly. She blinked once or twice, looking up at him. Zayn kissed her temple and brought his hand to hers, lacing their fingers together and standing up. He pulled her up with him, and without a word guided her to his room and shut the door.

Niall smirked at Alyssa as she raised her eyebrows, and then they bid Liam goodnight. “Night,” he called, getting comfortable on the now vacant love seat.

Niall walked Alyssa to the spare bedroom, where she felt a surge of boldness. “You can share with me,” she said, watching his eyes widen slightly. She started speaking quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. “It’s just, with this homesickness thing…I wasn’t expecting it to hit me this hard, and certainly not on the first night. And I mean, I figured I could talk to Aimee about it and she could help me, but clearly she’s a bit, preoccupied at the moment.”

She and Niall shared a laugh, and he replied with “Yeah, unfortunately knowing the two of them, they’re being quite boring and just went straight back to sleep.”

Alyssa smiled at him, looking at the ground before quietly continuing. “Anyways, since you’ve been so helpful and sweet…well you’re like my rock right now. Aimee would normally be my anchor for this kind of thing, but…”

“I calm you down,” Niall found the words for her, putting an end to her babbling. She bit her lip and smiled, nodding in relief. “Come on then,” he motioned, entering the room and shutting the door behind him.

As the two of them laid in bed awkwardly for a bit, Alyssa found that she was no longer tired at all. She glanced over at Niall, and was barely able to see that he was awake. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

“Me either,” he replied, turning to face her. She mirrored his actions, so now they were both laying on their sides and facing the middle of the bed. “I’ll tell you my life story if you tell me yours.”

“Okay,” Alyssa agreed, laughing softly. “You first.”

It was four in the morning by the time Niall and Alyssa had finally drifted off to sleep, so although Harry and Liam woke them up with the breakfast they went out to buy, it was still an unreceptive welcome.

---

A few hours later, Alyssa groggily made her way out of the shower at Aimee’s place. After they had all finished breakfast, Aimee made Louis drive them back home so they could run errands. The boys began to whine about them leaving, but once Aimee said they were more than welcome to help them, the boys all suddenly had other things to do.

Which was fine by Aimee of course, since she didn’t actually have errands to run, besides going with Alyssa to the storage unit to get her other belongings. But since by her calculations they were a whole day behind in catching up with one another, the storage unit could wait another day or two.

“Coffee?” Aimee offered and Alyssa stepped into the kitchen.

“God yes,” Alyssa groaned, plopping down in a chair.

“I’m sorry for letting the boys drag us out last night,” Aimee began to apologize. “You were probably so jet-lagged and just wanted to chill out, and then I went and fell asleep and left you basically alone with the guys.”

“No, no, no, I had an awesome time last night,” Alyssa assured. “I’m glad we went. And don’t worry, I fell asleep on the couch not long after you did. The problem was getting back to sleep once Liam woke everyone up.”

Aimee smiled and set down Alyssa’s coffee before taking the seat across from her with her own mug. “I have to admit, everyone was kind of surprised when you stumbled out of the room with Niall.”

“Why?”

“I dunno…he’s kind of shy, and is hugely insecure. I feel bad for the kid. He feels like he’s the least liked member of the group, and unfortunately there have been some ‘fans’ that have agreed. The other guys get really protective of him, but sometimes I worry that it’s not enough.”

Alyssa felt like she had been hit with a ton of bricks. She honestly had not seen this coming. How could she have, when the guy she had spent all night talking to seemed so confident and sure of himself? He was funny, sweet, charming, and literally the nicest person she had ever met. She couldn’t understand how someone like that could be unsure of himself, or how other people could be that way toward him.

“Lyss?” Aimee asked, a concerned expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I had no idea that was going on,” Alyssa voiced, her heart breaking for the Irish singer. “And there I was, being all selfish and melancholy, having no idea he needed comforting too.”

“You needed comforting? About what?”

“Being homesick,” Alyssa said, explaining everything that happened during and after her phone call with her family.

Aimee listened intently to her story, her eyes getting wide. “Lyss! Oh my god you should have woken me up or something! I am so sorry you felt like you couldn’t talk to me.”

“Don’t apologize. I know you would have come and talked to me if I had asked you to, and I’m glad I got to know Niall. Besides, you looked pretty cozy with Zayn,” Alyssa finished, a teasing smirk at her lips.

Aimee blushed and took a sip of her coffee, setting the cup firmly on the table before nervously playing with her necklace. Alyssa eyed the silver chain inconspicuously before glimpsing the charm hanging off of it.

“What’s that?” Alyssa asked casually, motioning to the necklace as a whole.

“What’s what?” Aimee responded quickly, genuinely confused before looking down at the chain she was still toying with. “Oh, nothing, it’s nothing!” Aimee tucked the charm into her tank top and swiftly put her hands on the table.

“Really? Because it looked like a necklace with a small ‘Z’ charm hanging on it,” Lyss slyly lifted the corner of her mouth, and Aimee glared at her before yielding.

“Okay, promise me you won’t say anything?”

“Of course,” Alyssa nodded. “Is this what you were starting to tell me yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Aimee confirmed, her fingers nervously playing with her necklace out of habit again. “I don’t know how it started; it all happened out of the blue. I was just doing his hair one day and bam! He grabbed my hand that was styling his hair and pulled it to him to kiss my fingers. Alyssa, I have replayed it in my head a million times and I still can’t figure it out.”

“What’s there to figure? Knowing you, you more than likely flirted with him like crazy, and he probably couldn’t handle you being a tease any more,” Alyssa pointed out. Alyssa allowed Aimee a few moments of thoughtful silence before she spoke again. “So, he gave you the necklace?”

“Yeah,” Aimee smiled automatically, looking down at it.

“So are you guys like, together or what?”

“No…well, yeah. I guess. Not exactly,” Aimee stammered. Alyssa just stared at her, giving her an un-amused look. “We haven’t really talked about it. Right now we’re just enjoying each other’s company. We’ve gone on a date here and there, we’ve kissed a bit…okay a lot. But that’s it. We’ve never gone farther than making out and we’ve never discussed what our relationship is really. But I do know that we both want to keep it on the down-low, so please don’t say anything. I mean, we haven’t really told the other guys anything, but you can see it in their faces that they already know. But they’re being really respectful about it, with the occasional teasing thrown in.”

“…You haven’t gone past making out?”

“I ramble for ten minutes and that’s all you took from that?” Aimee exclaimed, baffled.

“Yeah yeah keep it on the down-low blah blah blah….have you even seen him naked?”

“Lyss! You are terrible,” Aimee shook her head, putting her empty coffee mug in the sink.

“You might think otherwise, but I did notice that you didn’t actually answer me,” Alyssa contested.

“Didn’t I?” Aimee played dumb, smirking before dancing out of the kitchen.

“Hey! Get back here! Did you see him naked? Oh my god you have so seen him naked! Aimee!” Alyssa scampered after Aimee down the hallway, determined to get more information from her friend.

---

Several weeks later, Alyssa had finally settled into somewhat of a routine. She did work several gigs as a makeup artist, and had made more money doing it than she could ever had imagined to make so early on in her career. Granted, it was all thanks to the guys of One Direction for getting her these really awesome gigs, and much to Alyssa’s excitement she had a few more lined up in the near future.

Most days, when she was free, she would hang out with Aimee or one of the boys, as she had developed a special bond with each of them. Some of her most favorite days were when she got to tag along with Aimee at work, when the guys were doing some kind of video, interview, or photo shoot or something.

The worst times however were when Aimee and the guys would be gone for days at a time, having to travel the country and what not. Alyssa wasn’t sure what she was going to do with herself in the future when they would go on tour and she’d be by herself for a few months straight.

She tried not to think about it as she made her way out the door of the apartment building. Alyssa walked over to the familiar figure leaning against a tree right in front of the complex, giving him a smile. “Hi,” she greeted Niall, a little breathless after having run down the stairs of the building. The elevator was currently out of order, and Alyssa had been running a bit late to begin with.

“Hi,” he responded, a little breathless himself. His reasons were completely different, however, and had to do with a certain brunette in a sundress in front of him. “Ready to go?”

“Lead the way,” Alyssa nodded, linking her arm through his. Even though she had been in city for over a month, Niall had found out that she hadn’t had a chance to really go sight seeing yet.

Alyssa had almost squealed when Niall had offered to take her around, because truth be told, she had developed quite the crush on him. Each of the guys had their own appeal, but there was just something about Niall that made Alyssa feel butterflies inside.

She had yet to bring up the subject of his insecurities, and the more she thought about it the more she decided she wasn’t going to. She doubted that her asking him why he lacked confidence would give him a boost of it, so she decided that wasn’t the route to take.

Instead, she was just going to spend time with him and enjoy his company, and if she ever saw any self doubt she was going to squash it right away.

Meanwhile, Niall was trying to sort through the feelings and thoughts in his head. He really liked Alyssa, but he wasn’t sure if she liked him back. Well, he knew she liked him, she just didn’t know if she liked him in the same way that he liked her.

The more than friends kind of way.

He definitely didn’t want to mess things up, but he didn’t know how to progress their relationship without risking it. He had asked the guys for advice, but most of them weren’t all that helpful.

Harry said to just sit her down and tell her how he felt, but Niall definitely didn’t have the courage to do that. Nor did he have the courage to go through with Zayn’s advice, which was to just make a move on her. That might have worked for him, but it wasn’t exactly Niall’s style. Liam hadn’t really offered any advice, he had just listened carefully and offered words of encouragement like the One Direction Daddy he was.

Surprisingly, the best advice came from Louis, who was the least serious of the guys. Niall had been in his room, strumming on his guitar and playing around with different chords when Louis came in and sat on the floor, his back leaning against the dresser. Niall nodded at him in acknowledgement and continued playing his guitar.

Louis bobbed his head along to the rhythm, his fingers tapping the beat on his knees. “I like that; sounds good,” he commented to Niall.

“Thanks,” Niall said, changing to a different tune.

“So I hear you fancy Alyssa, eh?” Louis inquired bluntly. Niall blushed and nodded, a bit embarrassed that basically everybody knew. “So why haven’t you done anything about it?”

“I dunno,” Niall shrugged, using his guitar as an excuse to not face Louis directly. “I don’t have the nerve I guess. Harry says to just flat out tell her, Zayn says to jump her…I just don’t know how to go about anything.”

Louis just nodded thoughtfully, the room silent save for Niall’s guitar. “From the moment I met you, everything changed; I knew I had to get you, whatever it takes,” he began to sing the opening lines of their song, Stand Up, hoping to inspire something within Niall. “I had to take you and make you mine.”

“Take you and make you mine,” Niall echoed on instinct, his fingers also automatically shifting to play an acoustic version of the song.

“I would walk through the desert, I would walk down the aisle; I would swim all the oceans just to see you smile. Whatever it takes is fine.”

“Whatever it takes is fine,” Niall recited again, strumming his guitar faster in preparation for the chorus that they sang in unison.

“Oh oh ohh oh; So put your hands up. Oh oh ohh oh; 'Cause it’s a stand up. I won’t be leaving ‘til I finish stealing every piece of your heart, every piece of your heart.”

The boys stopped there, Niall finishing the song on a consonant guitar chord. “Nicely done,” Louis stated, hoping Niall took in the words to apply them to his situation with Alyssa.

“I can’t sing to her either, if that’s what you were trying to imply,” Niall blurted.

“Can’t, or won’t?” Louis challenged, earning a glare. “Either way, no, that’s not what I was trying to imply. I just wanted you to realize that you’ve basically had a thing for her since the moment you saw her, and you should do what you need to do to make her yours. Spend time with her, do things for her, talk to her, listen to her. Find out her interests and include them in your time together. If she doesn’t see how great of a guy you are after that, then well…she doesn’t deserve you mate.”

“Wow,” Alyssa breathed out, looking up at the tall, old, historic building she and Niall were walking past. “I love the architecture here. It’s so beautiful and charming.”

“If you think this is charming, you should see some of the buildings in my hometown,” Niall joked.

“Oh my god, I have always wanted to go to Ireland,” Alyssa said seriously. I would totally love it if you were able to show me around sometime.

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” she nodded, smiling up at him.

“We’re actually going to be stopping in Ireland during our upcoming tour,” Niall informed her. “Maybe if you’re free and don’t have any makeup gigs we can fly you over and I can take you around.”

Alyssa suddenly attacked him with a hug, her arms squeezing him tight. “Wow, I would have offered sooner if I knew I’d be getting this reaction,” Niall said, his own words surprising him. It wasn’t as boldly flirtatious as something Harry or Zayn would say, but it was definitely a more daring line for him.

“I’m going to be so bummed out when you guys all go and leave me alone,” Alyssa sighed, pulling away. She continued to lean into him as they walked, so Niall threw his arm around her, enjoying how natural it felt to do so.

“I wish I could tell you to just come along with us, and while I think it would be easy for you to say yes, it wouldn’t be fair to you. You’re talented at what you do, and you deserve the recognition for it. Unfortunately that means setting up your base here, while we’re gone. But we’ll fly you out as often as we can, if you’d like.”

“I would,” Alyssa affirmed, not able to keep the smile off her face. She loved listening to him speak, because his accent kind of drove her wild. Plus, he was usually saying the sweetest things. “You’re amazing, you know that Niall?”

“How so?”

“You have got to be the most considerate, kind person I know. You go out of your way for everyone, and you never expect anything in return. That’s very endearing.”

Endearing wasn’t his first choice of adjectives he’d wish Alyssa would use to describe him, but he would take it.

“You know what else you are?” Alyssa continued.

“Hm?” Niall sounded his mind running through all the worst case scenarios. If she said anything remotely close to him being like a brother to her, he might just lose it. Alyssa waited until Niall finally looked down at her, wondering why she hadn’t answered yet.

“Incredibly attractive,” she whispered in his ear, her breath teasing his skin. Niall nearly tripped over his own feet at her words, so he stopped walking all together to be safe. He desperately searched his brain for something to say. He tried channeling Harry or Zayn to be flirty, but words still seemed to escape him. He wondered what Liam would say, knowing that even if it wasn’t flirtatious it would still be clever, but still nothing came to him. At last he called upon his inner Louis, which just reminded him to be himself.

“So are you,” he finally returned, wincing at the late reply and the mediocrity of it. Alyssa didn’t seem to have noticed his long pause or the unoriginality, or if she did she didn’t seem to care about it. The next thing Niall knew she had risen to her tip-toes, pressing her soft lips against his own, and was smiling into the kiss.

It took Niall a stunned moment to respond, but once he did he found himself smiling into the kiss as well. He buried a hand into the hair at the base of her neck, pulling her in closer to him.

Alyssa brought one of her hands to rest against his chest while the other clutched the bottom of his jacket. She wasn’t quite sure how either of them had gotten so bold within the last ten minutes, but she wasn’t complaining, either.

“Yeeeeeah there it is!” The two suddenly heard, forcing them to break apart. The couple turned towards the street, where Zayn had half of his body hanging out of a car window. Louis was driving, and rather unsafely at that because he was leaning forward against the steering wheel to see over Zayn’s protruding form and was not watching the road. Zayn gave them a double thumbs up as they continued to pass, his eyes wide and his grin huge.

Once they were out of sight, Alyssa buried her face into Niall’s collar. “Well that was wildly embarrassing,” she chuckled, hearing her cell phone text notification go off. She checked it seeing that it was Aimee, and began to laugh. “Just wanted to warn you that Zayn and Louis are on the way to pick me up, and told me they were going to take a bunch of detours around town to catch a glimpse of Niall showing you the sights. They are out there, and they are coming for you,” Alyssa read out loud.

Niall snickered at Aimee’s word usage, and then looked at Alyssa expectantly when her phone went off a second time.

“I’ve just been informed of what happened. Sorry I was too late,” Alyssa dictated. There was a second part to the text, which Alyssa kept to herself. It read “BUT OMG. DETAILS LATER. Have fun and be safe ;).”

Alyssa tucked her phone back into her purse and grinned up at Niall, who was beaming back at her. He slowly leaned down and gave her a quick and soft kiss on the lips, leaving her lightheaded. “We should probably meet up with the rest of the gang, yeah? Lord knows they’re not going to be leaving us in peace for the rest of the day.”

“Sounds good,” Alyssa complied, knowing what he said was true.

“Sorry we didn’t get very far in our sightseeing,” Niall apologized, slipping his hand into hers and intertwining their fingers as he began to walk. He owed Louis a huge thank you for helping to give him the push he needed, as well as the other boys for just being there when he needed them.

At that moment, Alyssa wasn’t worrying about the future anymore. She was happy in the moment, and felt secure. For once she wasn’t dreading what was to come, but instead looking forward to it. She couldn’t imagine what she’d be doing if she hadn’t taken Aimee up on her offer, and luckily she didn’t have to.

“No worries, you can make it up to me,” Alyssa squeezed his hand, offering him a stunning smile. “I plan on being here for a while.”

…And I won’t be leaving ‘til I finish stealing every piece of your heart.