Taking Chances

I let out a loud whine that sounded remotely like a siren as Zayn tried his hardest to pull me from my seat in the taxi. “Zayn!” I snapped. “There is no way that I am doing this.”

My boyfriend sighed at me and yanked my arm again, making me squeak with pain. “C’mon, Bailey. I’m telling you, you’re going to be fine.”

I blew a lock of hair out of my face. “I beg to differ. I look like a hot mess after being on a plane for a million hours.”

“It was not a million hours,” Zayn chuckled. “You’re exaggerating.”

“It sure felt like a million hours from how LOUDLY HARRY WAS SNORING.” I looked up ahead at the rest of the boys and chuckled when I saw Harry turn around and glare at me.

Zayn laughed and yanked me again. That time, I was unprepared and ended up flying out of the car seat, nearly tripping over the suitcase that Zayn had already unloaded. “Careful,” he chuckled, his hand gripping my arm firmly. “Simon’s not going to be happy if I let you fall and break your face right when we get here.”

I took my arm back and let out a huff. “I’m not planning on it. Not that it would be your fault if I tripped over my suitcase.”

Zayn let out a breath, but I brushed by him, dragging my suitcase along, before he could answer. “Alright, fine, I’ll do it. I’ll meet Harry’s new girlfriend with my hair greasy and my makeup a mess and just looking like an overall trainwreck.”

“You don’t look like a trainwreck,” Zayn assured me as we walked into the main building where all the boys’ apartments were. Harry and Louis shared an apartment with Niall across the hall, Liam was three floors up, and Zayn was down the hall from Liam.

“I do,” I protested. “And I don’t trust your opinion at all. I could be covered in cow manure, and you’d say that I looked good.”

Louis snorted with laughter and slapped Zayn on the shoulder. “She’s got a point, mate.”

“Isn’t that my job?” Zayn muttered under his breath.

“You bet,” I grinned, patting the top of his head.

Soon enough, we let ourselves into Niall’s apartment. Sitting at the kitchen table was a girl with black hair and tanned skin. In front of her was a bowl, a box of an unfamiliar cereal, and a carton of milk.

Immediately, I felt a blush fill my face in response to the unfamiliar person. She didn’t look like how the boys described Charlie, so I wondered who the hell she was.

Niall was the first to speak. “What, Hanny? No bacon?”

She turned to face the blonde before a huge smile burst onto her face. “Niall! You are back!” Holy shit, she had a thick accent. It took a ton of concentration to figure out what she was saying. “And you are called Bailey Austin?”

I looked up at the sound of my name and made eye-contact with the excited Spanish girl Niall called Hanny. “Yeah,” I replied, sticking out my hand. “I’m Bailey. It’s really nice to meet you, Hanny.”

She came over and hugged me quickly. “Okay, I’ll make some bacon now.”

And just like that, she was in the kitchen, frying bacon. “That’s a neat trick you taught her there, Niall,” I chuckled.

Niall shrugged. “She just loves to cook, and I love to eat.”

“They’re the perfect couple,” Louis spoke up.

“We’re not a couple,” Niall huffed, shoving Louis a bit.

“Hey, now,” I interrupted, laughing and stepping in between them. “There’s no need to fight.”

The two of them stood on their tiptoes and stuck out their chests, trying to intimidate the other, bouncing into both of my sides.

“Will you two cut it out?” I snapped. I had been trying to keep my tone serious, but I ended up chuckling at the end.

“Oh, anything for you, Bailey,” Louis cooed, throwing his arm around my shoulders.

“Get off me,” I ordered as I swiped away his hand. “You little weirdo.”

We talked and goofed around for a while more. Hanny seemed really funny and cute from the few interjections she made to the conversation. I liked her, definitely, but I was still itching like mad to meet Charlie. I just hoped that I wouldn’t embarrass myself too much.

And soon enough, I got my chance. She stumbled out of the hallway wearing some Batman pajamas and different colored knee socks. Even though she’d just woken up, her hair seemed to fall perfectly over her shoulders, her skin perfect, her eyes bright. How the hell did she do that?! No wonder Harry was madly in love with her.

“So,” Charlie started excitedly. “Where the hell is Harry? I think he owes me a goddamn answer for ditching me brand newly at London.”

I tried not to gawk as I realized that she had almost no accent whatsoever. For someone who lived in Spain, she was doing a pretty good job as passing off as American. Granted, they were in England, but…whatever.

“Morning, beautiful,” Louis greeted as he went over and wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing the side of her head. “He’s in the bathroom.”

“Why didn’t you guys wake me up?” she questioned, scanning the room to glare at each person so they would know they were responsible.

“Hanny wouldn’t let us,” Niall insisted with his mouth full.

“You could use the sleep,” Hanny piped up in agreement as she shot a look at Charlie.

Then, Harry came down the hall, a grin on his face that set off his dimples. “Charlie!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her and almost swallowing her up like an amoeba that was feeding.

They started giggling and being cute, and I leaned over to whisper to Zayn, “Are they always like this?”

The arm that he’d snuck around my waist tightened as he laughed. “Oh, no. You ain’t seen nothing yet, babe.”

And just to prove my point, Harry moved in and started kissing Charlie, which she responded to without thought. I felt uncomfortable watching them, as if I was invading on a deeply personal moment. But I couldn’t help but smirk, since it was clear how in love Harry was with Charlie.

“Erm…” Charlie trailed off after she pulled away, a blush filling her cheeks, “well, that was embarrassing.”

Harry pulled her back against him, and they fit together like two puzzle pieces. Too cute. “So, you’re the one who’s got Harry all smitten, huh?” I greeted, taking a couple steps toward her with my hand outstretched. I realized that I probably looked slightly robotic, but I figured that if anyone pointed out anything, I could say I was suffering from jetlag.

“She’s so American,” Charlie said before leaning forward and, before I could move away or say anything, kissed both of my cheeks. I felt my face heat up dramatically at the uncomfortable breach of personal space, even though I knew it was a European (especially Spanish) custom.

“Nice to meet you,” Charlie continued through my thoughts. “No, really, it’s nice to meet you. I’m so in love with Love You Now and Synchronized. And your voice.”

My blush got deeper, if such a thing was possible. Zayn must have noticed, and he moved closer to me, rubbing my arm with support. “Um, thanks,” I replied after what I hoped wasn’t too long of a pause.

Hanny, Niall, and Charlie bickered a bit back and forth about a food situation or something before Charlie’s phone started playing an unfamiliar song.

Charlie ran to go answer it. The conversation sounded irritated, Charlie’s tone tense, before she hung up the phone in a huff.

She looked up, making eye contact with Harry. “Don’t look at me like that, Styles,” she warned him. “I was the one to offer moving here.”

“Yeah, but…”

They moved closer together, like they were going to kiss, so I turned my attention to Zayn, not wanting to ruin the moment. “God,” Zayn laughed, “you’re so red right now.”

“Shut up,” I snapped at him in a whisper. “That doesn’t make it any better.”

A few minutes later, Charlie was out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

“God, I missed her,” Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair.

I rolled my eyes. “I could tell.”

“You know,” Zayn started, putting his hand on the back of my neck and rubbing lightly, “we should probably put your stuff in my flat.”

“Wait, what?” I questioned. “Why?”

“Because you’re staying there…” he trailed off, giving me a confused look.

“I thought I was staying at a hotel,” I replied. “I don’t think I should stay in your flat with you.”

“Why?” he questioned, pulling me closer to him. “Don’t trust yourself?”

His eyes were boring into mine, and I wanted more than anything to kiss him, but I knew everyone was watching us. So instead, I shoved him away. “No, I trust myself. But my mother would positively kill me if she knew.”

“I say,” Louis butted in, hip-checking me so I stumbled a little, “live a little. Plus, bunking with Zayn for a while until you get your own flat will be way cheaper. So it’s kind of a win-win.”

“And maybe Zayn’ll finally-” Niall spoke up, but he was quickly silenced with an elbow from Hanny.

I gave him a confused look, hoping that he wasn’t inferring what I thought he was. “Alright, fine. But only because it’s cheaper and I’m lazy.” With that, I blew a hair out of my face and picked up my suitcase.