Secrets

We’re sitting in a diner a few blocks away from the venue, all of us crammed into a booth, with Niall sitting in a chair on the outside.

“This does not sit six people,” Liam whines, pushing further up against the wall to try to get some more room, since he and I are sitting hip-to-hip.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” I grin cheekily. I sneak a glance at Molly, who’s sitting right up against my other side, just in time for her to roll her eyes at me.

“If you’re going to act like that, I’m going to switch spaces with Zayn,” she warns with raised eyebrows.

Zayn looks up at me in alarm, and I know that switching seats is the last thing in the world he wants to do. And, seeing how Tori is sitting right up against him, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.

He turns to her, pretending that he didn’t see my accusatory glare, and tries to start a conversation.

Immediately, her eyes light up, and she responds with enthusiasm.

I turn to share a look with Molly, but she’s too busy chatting it up with Niall about something food-related. To get her attention, I reach under the table and squeeze her knee.

She jumps and squeals, blushing madly as the boys all start to laugh at her. “Harry,” Louis scolds, “hands above the table, please. No sexually harassing Molly during dinner.”

I make a big show of clasping my hands together on the table top, letting out a loud sigh. “Damn. If Molly wasn’t so jumpy, I would have gotten away with it.”

“He touched my knee,” she exclaims in defense. “Anything else, and I would have stabbed him with my fork.”

“Yeah, whatever you say,” Louis responds patronizingly, shaking his head before turning his attention back to his menu. “But I know that Harry can get frisky.”

“That was only one time, Louis,” I defend, pouting dramatically to play along.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Molly questions with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay, so we were sitting on the couch, watching One Tree Hill on the telly…” Louis starts with a smirk.

“We’re really going to go into this story?” I groan, hiding my face in my hands. “And I just want to say that I hate One Tree Hill.”

“But I love it, so you watched it with me. So I was just minding my own business, taking in the drama of Brooke finding Rachel in her apartment and seeing that she had overdosed…”

“Mate, no one knows what the hell you’re talking about,” I interject. “You’re the only one pathetic enough to watch that show.”

“Hey,” he snuffs, “you watched it with me. So you’re pathetic, too.”

“You made me watch it. I wanted to watch Family Guy.”

“Family Guy is stupid,” Louis argues. “Alright, we’re going off topic…even though I’m pretty sure that was Harry’s goal because he doesn’t want me telling this story. But it sucks to be him because I’m still going to say it.”

“How bad is this, anyway?” Molly asks softly in my ear.

My only response is an irritated grunt.

“Okay, so you were watching the telly…” Niall prompts with an urgent look on his face. “Then what?”

“All of a sudden, I looked over, and Harry had fallen asleep. His mouth was hanging open, and he was snoring a little bit-”

“Really?” I whine. “We have to go into that much detail?”

“We do,” Louis replies cheekily. “So he was asleep, and he gave a little snort and shifted a little. I rolled my eyes and went back to watching the telly.”

“This is the dumbest story I’ve ever heard,” Liam mumbles under his breath.

Louis shoots him a sassy look and continues, “As I was saying, he started moving around and mumbling under his breath. I just ignored him, since he’s always been an obnoxious sleeper.”

I cringe, knowing what part is coming up next.

“And then, I felt something plop down on my leg area. Like, my upper thigh. And there was Harry, turned over so he was facing me, his arm in my lap.”

“Harry, you’re disgusting!” Molly scolds, slapping my shoulder.

“I was sleeping!” I defend.

“But that’s not the whole story. A second later, he slipped down the back of the couch, and his hand headed north, if you know what I mean.”

The entire table burst out into hysterical laughter, understanding exactly what Louis meant.

“It’s not like my hand was there long,” I mutter in my weak defense, crossing my arms in front of my chest. “You shrieked, and I woke up like a shot and took my hand away.”

“You still had you hand on my crotch for a period of time. It was scarring.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head. “Whatever.”

And through the whole story, Zayn and Tori didn’t stop talking once to hear what all the commotion was about. They’re so caught up in each other that I’m pretty sure a nuclear bomb dropping on the diner wouldn’t rattle their focus.

Though, if a nuclear bomb dropped on the restaurant, we’d all be dead. So maybe that isn’t the best analogy.

“Where is our food?” Niall whines loudly, pounding his forehead against the table. “I’m so hungry.”

“I second that,” Louis agrees with a head nod. “I didn’t notice how hungry I was until I finished embarrassing Harry in front of his girlfriend.”

I glare at him, and he just grins back at me.

I hate him sometimes.