Save You Tonight

“So, so… this one time, we were in Chicago, and Liam is missing after a night in the gym, and we’re like ‘Damn, what an absolute dog-’”

“Now, Harry, come on. Inappropriate. Maya, I am not like that. I truly like this girl,” Liam interrupted his band mate, attempting to defend his honor. I believed the brown-eyed singer who closely resembled a puppy. Something told me that he could never intentionally break a girl’s heart.

I was still sitting on Harry’s sofa as Liam and Niall came over to hang out for the evening while Louis, who had brought us lunch and was shocked to find us still clothed, was out on a date with his girlfriend. According to each of the charming boys, there was a fifth member to their act named Zayn (“with a y” as they pointed out with a chuckle, as if there was an inside joke to that) that was out on a date with a girl he had once met months before and was completely infatuated with.

In a way, I was overwhelmed with the sudden presence of other people. My nights usually consisted of staying in, or going on walks, secretly hoping that I would run into trouble so I wouldn’t have to contain my abilities. I never wanted to call myself a superhero, but I figured that if I had the power, I needed to use it to some extent. Helping people who were about to get mugged eased my conscious a bit.

But here I was, in a large flat with three famous boys. Somehow my life had taken a 180 in a matter of days.

“Okay, fine. He lost the girl’s number after he spent the night with her – he still maintains that he never slept with her, but instead just slept with her, but I don’t believe him – and he started tweeting, hoping she’d see them and magically get in touch with him. Either way, the fans went nuts at who this ‘A’ person was. It was hilarious to watch Liam’s face every time he got a girl’s number sent to him on twitter. And each one of them started with an ‘A’. He checked every single mention every single day, hoping it would be her,” Harry went on and on with this story, chuckling every now and then.

“It’s like a Cinderella type thing,” Niall chimed in with his adorable Irish accent. It wasn’t hard to see why so many girls were completely in love with these boys. They were so down to earth for being such huge stars.

“I want to hear what happened with you and this girl, have you found her yet?” I asked Liam, almost desperate to hear the ending to the story that resembled the type of plot that would be found in one of my novels at home.

“Well, since we’ve done our tour and we’ve got a bit of down time here in London, I figured to go back to Chicago and find her. Probably next week,” he said seriously, leaning forward enough so that his chin was resting on his hands.

“So you haven’t heard from her, but you’re going to go look for her by going half way across the world?” I asked incredulously, my mouth open wide in shock.

“I really like her,” he confessed, looking slightly lost.

“But you only met the girl once,” Niall told him, looking concerned for his friend. I could tell he thought it was a terrible idea.

“I might have met her once, but in that time I’ve known her, I know there’s something about her that just makes me feel… don’t laugh… complete.” Liam almost whispered the last part, looking down at his iPhone and typing something in.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Harry mumbled. I turned my head to see him staring straight at me, making my heart race as I realized what he was talking about. Niall was quiet and Liam was still in another world with his phone.

A few awkward moments passed when Liam startled us. “Got ‘em.”

“What?” we asked him in unison.

“The plane tickets. I’m leaving for Chicago in three days.”

“Holy shit!” Harry exclaimed, his eyes widening, grabbing at Liam’s phone, trying to verify if his friend was being serious. After he confirmed to Niall and I that Liam had actually bought the tickets, we discussed the logistics of his plan, helping him figure out what to say if he found her, where he should take her, etc.

“Just let her know how you truly feel. She might not be able to fully trust you yet since it seemed like you blew her off,” I told him honestly, listening to myself speak and wondering where the hell this relationship advice was coming from.

Despite my lack of credibility in that subject matter, Liam listened to my every word, taking everything to heart. In just a matter of hours of knowing him, I already felt like I was a part of his group. These boys, these famous boys, were taking me in, as if I was some lost animal that needed a home.

“I’m hungry,” Niall whined, hopping up from recliner and making his way into the kitchen. Feeling a very similar desire for my appetite to be fulfilled, I followed suit and found him rifling through the refrigerator. He yelled loud enough for the sitting room to hear. “You have eggs, milk, orange juice, and some ground beef! Can I make spaghetti with that?”

I almost doubled over with laughter while opening the cupboard. Harry quickly made an entrance, Liam close behind him, offering that he could bake a cake.

“I found noodles! And… bread… and what is this… oh sweet an unopened jar of tomato sauce. Niall, we can make spaghetti after all,” I said excitedly, pulling things out and placing them on the counter, instructing Harry to find me a pan and Liam to get out some cooking utensils.

Within half an hour, the four of us had created a kitchen that slightly resembled a school science lab. Things were bubbling, steaming, and smelling a little off, but I had confidence that it would turn out good in the end. I stirred the ground beef into the sauce, watching with horror as Harry stuck his finger into the red substance and pointed it at my face. There was no stopping the boy when he had a mischievous plan, and soon my cheek had tomato sauce smeared upon it.

I groaned at the gesture, but little did I know that it would start something on a larger scale. When the two dreaded words “food” and “fight” were uttered, the excitement of the three boys reminded me of dogs sensing a squirrel. They began to throw just about anything that was aerodynamic or able to splatter. I guarded my noodles and sauce with a ferocity that was unmatched. I was not going to let them spoil my beautiful, if not a little odd tasting, creation.

All of a sudden, a whizzing sound came at my head and in a flash, my hand was up and a completely intact egg was resting in my palm. Harry, Niall, and Liam all stopped what they were doing, staring at me with dumbfounded expressions.

“How…?” Liam asked, his eyes wide and the slice of bread in his hands dropping to the tile floor. That question seemed to come up a lot with boys.

“Lucky catch?” I nervously chuckled, shrugging and turning back to the sauce on the stove, setting the egg down on the counter beside me.

There was a silence in the room. They weren’t even whispering behind my back. Instead, about a minute later, Harry came up beside me and grabbed the egg. He held it up to the light, clearing his throat and humming a tune that sounded something like the Queen’s coronation music.

“I hearby declare this egg to be saved in a glass case for the rest of its life. We shall forever remember that it was a part of history. It was part of the second best ‘lucky catch’ ever!” Harry announced, making everyone laugh hysterically.

“What was the best lucky catch, Harry?” Liam asked innocently, still fighting the urge to laugh more.

“This one right here,” he said, grabbing my hand and grinning at me. In that moment, I wanted to pull him toward me, to kiss him on the spot and make him drop that egg to the ground, but I fought the urge strongly. I was falling so quickly for the boy with what looked like a bird’s nest atop his head, but I didn’t care. Each moment I was around him, I felt my guard lowering.

“Can we keep her?” Niall questioned Harry in his endearing accent, sending them into giggle fits once more.

The three of them smiled warmly at me, causing my heart rate to increase rapidly. How was it that in such a short time I felt like they had made me feel so normal? Not only did I feel such a strong attraction to Harry, but I felt accepted by the boys, too. Just this morning I was wallowing in self-pity for having to always have the gym to myself because of my oddities, yet tonight I was with three of some of the best friends I had ever had.

And then it struck me. I was like a stray animal. They were taking me in, adopting me into their group. After all, Harry Styles did find me lost in an alleyway.