Try to Scream

Niall and I were curled up watching our own movie when Cora and Zayn bursted in. “Evening.” Zayn smiled. “Any ideas where Liam is? No one was in our room and Harry is by himself in his.”

I shrugged and snuggled closer to Niall. “He’s probably hiding somewhere with his laptop twitcamming.” I closed my eyes, wishing they would just leave so Niall and I could finish our movie in quiet.

“No, he hasn’t even been on twitter.” Zayn fell on Cora’s bed.

I sighed and sat up. I reached the remote and turned the TV off. Niall groaned and turned his attention to Zayn. “What are you so worried about Liam for? He’s a big boy.”

“But he’s Liam, he never just disappears.” Zayn fought back.

I interjected, not wanting a battle of the boy band members. “Maybe he doesn’t want you to know. I mean, where could he have really disappeared to 11?” Zayn just looked at me; I turned to Cora who rolled her eyes. “Fine, be a worrywart, I’ll call him.” I picked up my phone and hit Liam’s number.

“Munro, hey.” He said after the 3rd ring.

I smiled at Zayn, “Liam, where are you?”

“On the elevator headed up to our floor.” He had a happier tone to his voice, a sudden change from the one he gave us lately. It sounded more like the Liam from my first few days with them.

I hung up the phone and crawled out of my bed. “Liam is in the elevator.” I opened my door, and looked out towards the elevator. Everyone else leaned out as well.

When the elevator “dinged” Niall and Zayn looked at each other. A girl walked out of it behind Liam. Their hands were laced together. “Dani!” Eleanor screamed, running out of her and Louis’ room.

My attention instantly shot to Cora, “Dani, as in Liam’s ex?” I whispered after the boys wandered out of the room. My eyes scanned the curly haired blonde girl.

“Yeah, the one and only.” Cora pursed her lips slightly as she watched the boys hug her.

“I might be mistaken, but aren’t they broken up and shouldn’t she be across the ocean?” Cora shrugged.

The boys called us over to meet her; I smiled slightly and shook her hand. She greeted me with a bright smile.

That night, Niall snuck in mine and Cora’s room. I woke to him passed out on a chair in the corner. I called for breakfast and woke him up. We sat in bed and ate before Louis and El came knocking. Cora got fed up with all the people and went to sleep in Zayn and Harry’s room.

“The lads and I were thinking about taking you ladies out for a fancy dinner tonight.” Niall was the first to speak.

I bit my lip and mentally sorted through my suitcases. I had absolutely nothing to wear for something like that. “I don’t see it in the near future.”

“You know what I see?” Eleanor interrupted, a smirk planted on her perfectly painted lips. “Shopping.”

Before I could protest, I was being dragged around the hotel room; she was tossing clothes at me left and right. She ordered me to dress before slamming the bathroom door shut. When I was done, I opened the door to the boys gone and Cora, El and Danielle sitting and waiting. My eyes dropped on the foreign blonde. But I looked away and grabbed a pair of shoes.

Us girls walked out of the room and crowded in the elevator. I remained quiet until we reached the first store. “I don’t have much money left.” I mumbled, looking at the pricey items displayed in front of me.

“Eleanor is an expert shopper. Trust me, she’ll find you something amazing in your budget.” Danielle grabbed a few dresses and headed toward a dressing room. I turned back to a rack of green and blue dresses. I grabbed a dark green dress that went up to the neck. I held it close to my body and looked in a long mirror.

My eyes averted to Cora behind me. “Woman. Try this on.” I turned and shoved the dress in her hands.

“But it looked nice on you.” She went to hand it back.

I shook my head and smiled at her, “The color suits you better.” Cora rushed in the dressing room beside Danielle as she came out. A black dress hugged her body. I watched her purse her lips at her reflection in the mirror. “It looks great on you, but that blue dress you grabbed, I think that would look better.” I avoided her eye contact as she turned to me.

“You think? Hm, I’ll try that on next, then.” She walked back in the dressing room and I started on a rack of pink dresses.

A hand touched my shoulder, causing me to jump. “You don’t like her, do you?” El asked me. I looked at her confused. “You are giving her the same treatment I gave you when I got here. I can see the hate spilling from your eyes.”

“It’s not like that.” I drew my eyebrows together and gazed at the floor. “I am close to the guys now; you understand why I am acting like this. I started my bound with Liam after they broke up.” Cora came out in her dress and did a little spin for us. “You should get it, it looks amazing!” Eleanor nodded in agreement.

Cora did a little dance and headed back to the dressing room. El looked at me, “Dani is an amazing girl, and she’s been with him from the start. Give her a chance to prove she’s not a monster before you strangle her with one of these dresses.” She bumped my shoulder with hers before headed to another rack.

Danielle ended up buying the royal blue dress and Cora the forest green. El and I looked elsewhere as the other two eyed the shoes. I automatically reached for a red dress. I didn’t even have to try it on, I wanted it. The price was reasonable and it was so pretty. I could afford a cheap pair of heels as well. Or a few pieces of jewelry.

I walked over and showed it to El, her eyes light up and she held up a black dress. “I like it, but I don’t know if I want it.” I urged her to try it on. In the end, we both bought the first dress we picked up.

All of us girls started for a different shoe store. In the end, I came up empty handed. We got back to the hotel and started changing. I sighed and looked though my collection of shoes. “I have something you can borrow.” Danielle spoke from behind me. I bit my lip and smiled.

“Really?” She put her finger up and walked out of the room, her nude heels clicking as she jogged down the hall. She came back with a pair for me and a pair for Cora, who was having the same dilemma. I gazed at the shoes she handed me. It took me a moment to process what brand it was, “These are Christian Louboutin. I-I couldn’t.”

Danielle shrugged, “It’s no problem, honestly. They’ll look great with the dress.” She turned to El who pouted.

“My shoes are so cheap compared to the rest of you!” We all laughed.

After we dressed, we met the guys in the hallway. Niall didn’t hesitate to plant a big kiss on my lips. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered. I blushed and rested my forehead in the nook of his neck.

We gathered in the car and headed out to eat. Though the night, I switched from Niall to Harry, not wanting the poor boy to feel as single as he really was. I also talked to Danielle more. I realized Eleanor was right, she wasn’t a monster and I was judging too quickly. My problem was, the first time I ever cared to know of her existence was when Liam was crying on my shoulder that night on the bus. I wanted to know why, if they were so close and so much in love, they would part and why it would be so painful for him. I never took the time to consider that maybe she was in just as much pain.

By the end of the night, I had grown close to her as well. It was no longer just Cora and El. I had another friend who could help me deal with this life, if Niall and I were to last. I was thankful for that. But I was also very thankful that Liam had a genuine smile on his face for the first time in a while. Though he wasn’t as innocent as I thought he was when I first got here, there was still that childlike innocents in him that made me want to protect him. And because of that, I was rude to a wonderful girl who didn’t deserve it.

Through it all, it didn’t matter if people put the pieces together that Niall and I were dating, all that really mattered was I was with my friends. The last people I expected to be friends with. I liked it. There was no me and Niall, it was me, Niall and our friends. We were like one big happy family, talking and laughing over dinner. It was happiness and joy.

Probably the last bit of happiness and joy in a while, because we were all going home tomorrow. For a week and then the final month was lined up for the countdown. After that, there would be messages and calls. Tweets and pictures. Occasional hang outs. But no one really knew if the friendships or relationships would last. 2 American girls might forever be forgotten after an amazing 3 months with 5 British/Irish boys. It pained me to think of it. To be so negative about something so amazing…but I had to brace myself for the possibly hard impact of it all when it ended.