My Little Bird

Heathrow Airport was extremely busy on Fridays. It took Asher almost an hour from the time she got off the plane til she got to baggage claim to pick up her suitcase. She didn't mind. She'd always loved airports even though she'd never flown on a plane before today. She and her friends used to go to their airport and just sit inside, watching people pass and planes take off.

Once she had retrieved her floral suitcase from the conveyor belt, she attempted to navigate her way through the crowds. She eventually found her way out and she jumped into a taxi with her bags for the ride to Eleanor's apartment.

Exactly thirty-nine minutes later, the car came to a stop and the driver informed her that she had reached her destination. She paid him with some of the money she had converted from US dollars and got out, pulling her heavy suitcase out after her.

It had started as a light drizzle not long after she left the airport but now the rain was a steadily falling. She struggled to pull her suitcase up the seven steps to Eleanor's door. Eleanor was going to be surprised, considering Asher's flight wasn't supposed to land for another hour and thirty minutes. She'd taken an earlier flight than she originally planned, just so she wouldn't have to bother anyone by driving all the way to the airport to pick her up. When she reached the top step, she set her suitcase down and turned around to look at the sky. She tilted her head back to enjoy the weather for a moment, humming quietly to herself.

Eleanor was standing by the front door as she slipped her arms into her coat, getting ready to leave for the airport. Her boyfriend and his friend had insisted on going along so that she wouldn't have to go to Heathrow by herself to pick up her cousin. The boys were laughing at each other's jokes when Eleanor thought she heard singing coming from outside. She shushed the boys and stepped closer to the door, listening intently. She smiled when she realized that she had indeed heard what she thought she had heard and she swung open the front door.

Asher's back was to the door, her long hair falling down her back in a loose braid. Her arms were up beside her, catching the raindrops on her open palms as she looked up toward the gray sky with a huge smile. Eleanor laughed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Asher, what the hell are you doing?"

She giggled as she turned to face her cousin but then she immediately stopped, shaking her head, when she saw two boys she'd never met. "Jesus Christ, El. You could've stopped me."

"But where's the fun in that?" she asked, grabbing Asher's suitcase then pulling her inside by the arm. Asher quickly shed her black cardigan and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face as she once again looked at the two boys staring curiously back at her.

"So who are these?"

Eleanor's grin widened and she quickly grabbed the hand of the boy standing closest to her. "Ash, this is my boyfriend, Louis."

"Nice to finally meet you. This one never shuts up about you," he said, sticking his hand out to shake hers.

She smiled as she shook it. "She never shuts up about you either."

"Oh stop it, both of you."

Asher waved her off. "And this one is?"

"I'm Zayn," he spoke up, also offering his hand to her.

She shook his hand, a smile making its way onto her features. "Pleasure."

"It's all mine," he replied with a sly smirk.

"Alright, Z, don't overwhelm her with your eye smoldering on the first day," Louis joked, elbowing his friend in the ribs. Zayn glared annoyed at him and he shrugged as Asher followed Eleanor into the living room.

"Nice place you've got, El. Why is it again that I haven't come to visit before now?"

"Because your parents are nuts."

"Oh. Yes. Right."

Both girls laughed and fell onto the sofa together. Eleanor sighed. "I'm so glad you came. You're going to love it here."

"I already do. Did you not catch my singing in the rain just now?"

"I did. And you're probably going to get sick now because it's too damn cold for that."

"I don't even care. It's never like this in Florida. I love it."

"You're from Florida? Which part?" Zayn asked casually. He was going to try to gather as much information about her as he could so that he could hold it over the others' heads later.

"Tampa. AKA Hell on earth."

"Hell on earth is right," Eleanor groaned. "It's so hot."

"How old are you?"

"Just turned nineteen in April."

"Are you here for the summer?"

"Yep. Three glorious months."

"Zayn, stop with the interrogation!" Eleanor scolded.

The dark-haired boy shrugged his shoulders and sat back against the chair, listening to the two girls converse back and forth. He just knew that his friends were all going to fall for this girl. There was something about her.

Asher tried to ignore the fact that the boy across from her steadily held his gaze on her. She was having trouble focusing on what her cousin was saying because she could feel him staring intently at the side of her face. He was no doubt an attractive guy and he was obviously having an effect on her.

"So what do you say?"

Asher was snapped out of her daze by her cousin's elbow colliding with her ribs. "Sorry, what?"

Eleanor chuckled. "Zayn!"

"I didn't do anything!" he defended himself, sitting straight up.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I was saying, Ash, that since you're already here, we should go out for an early dinner."

Asher glanced at the large antique clock on the wall. "El, it's only 4:30."

"Yeah, but I'm kind of a big deal," Zayn announced, a cocky smirk on his face.

"Yeah? Why's that?" Asher asked, honestly curious as to why he thought of himself so highly.

Zayn's smile fell and he furrowed his eyebrows as he looked to Eleanor. She smiled knowingly and turned back to her cousin. "Ignore him. He's just full of himself is all." The boys looked at each other confused but didn't question her. "So? You want to go out?"

"Sure. I just need to shower first. I feel gross from the plane."

"Of course. Come on. I'll show you to your room."

The girls got up from the sofa and Eleanor led Asher up the stairs to the second door on the left. "This is your room. And your bathroom is right across the hall."

"Thanks, El. I'll try to hurry."

"No rush, babe. Oh, but I should warn you that we'll probably go somewhere fancy."

"Okay, that's a problem because I have zero fancy clothes."

"Not a problem. I'm sure I have a dress or two you'll love. I'll go pick something while you get ready."

While Asher went into the guest bathroom to take a quick shower, Eleanor went into her bedroom closet to pick out a dress. She left the dress on Asher's bed and went back downstairs where the boys were.

"What was that?" Zayn asked as soon as she appeared in the doorway.

"She doesn't know about the band."

"And you don't want to tell her?" Louis asked confused.

Eleanor shrugged. "I just don't see the point right now. You five are just going to be normal people to her. Do you want to ruin that?"

Zayn frowned. "No. It'd actually be kind of nice to be normal to someone. But we'll have to let the other lads know that she doesn't know."

"Wow. This'll be the first time Harry can't use his celebrity status to get a bird! Wonder how that'll go," Louis chuckled to himself.

High heels could be heard on the hardwood floors above them and then starting down the stairs. "El, this dress is ridiculous! I'm too fat for your clothes!" Asher appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the short black dress that Eleanor had laid out for her, along with the purple leather jacket considering the temperatures outside.

"Whoa," Zayn blurted out.

"See? I told you," she frowned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean that badly!" he quickly responded, standing to his feet.

Eleanor stood up as well. "Shut up, Ash. You look gorgeous. The boys agree with me, don't you, boys?" She turned her head to look at the boys and they nodded emphatically. "See?" she said.

"I don't know how you dress like this all the time. My God."

"You get used to it, love. Now, come on! We should get going!"

Eleanor and Louis headed for the door and Zayn held out his arm for Asher to take. She smiled as she linked her arm through his and they left the flat to walk the two blocks to the restaurant.