Just A Moment

Boop…boop…boop…

A steady beeping noise greeted me when I woke up. I groggily opened my eyes but immediately flinched away from the bright fluorescent lights above me. Where the hell am I… I felt disoriented as I tried opening my eyes again and sitting up to survey my surroundings.

“Ow!” I gasped as a sharp pain from my midsection flared up. My hand flew to my abdomen as my mind flooded with obscenities. I lay back down and pushed all thoughts of getting up out of my head. I kept my eyes opened, though, and began to take in everything around me. A moment of panic struck me as I realized that I was lying in a hospital bed.

“Hannah?” I heard a voice and looked to my right. My mom was sitting in a chair beside my bed. Thank God for a familiar face!

“Mom?” I croaked. Ugh, my throat was so dry. I was waiting for her response, hoping to get a glass of water or something, but it never came. Once I looked closer, I realized that she was asleep. But then who-

“She’s been there all night.” There was that voice again! I recognized the voice, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I looked around and at the foot of my bed I saw a figure standing there. But I could barely make them out… My glasses! I was blind without them… There they were on the side table. I reached out to grab them-

“Ah!” I gasped in pain as that sharp pain from my midsection surfaced again.

“Hannah! Are you ok?” The figure was suddenly at my side, leaning over me in concern. I looked up into their shining blue eyes, finally able to recognize them. “Do you remember me, Hannah?” he lilted.

“Niall, how could I forget?” I smiled.

His face brightened at my response. “Ok, good. Do you need anything, then?”

“Well, could you hand me my glasses?” I nodded over to the side table.

“Oh, of course!” He swiftly handed them to me. Once I could see, I looked up at his sympathetic face. “So…” he trailed off.

“So…” I laughed, lightening the mood.

“Yeah, so, these are for you!” Niall held up a bouquet of gorgeous lilies towards me. How did I not notice those? My perception must be really off…!

“Oh, gosh, lilies! Those are my favorite!” I took the bouquet and took a deep whiff of the white & pink flowers. “Aw, you really didn’t have to!” I looked back up at Niall, who was grinning sheepishly and totally adorably.

“Oh, please, it was the least we could do!” I turned my head to see Liam entering the room, a bandage stuck onto his neck. It was that bandage that reminded me of last night’s horrible events. My stomach dropped out and it suddenly got hard to breathe. I heard panicked beeping from all around me.

“Oh, my god, what’s happening?” Niall said, sounding scared. Liam looked equally afraid.

All of a sudden, a swarm of nurses rushed into the room and began touching me, checking my pulse, pulling back Liam and Niall… and I fell back into darkness.

****

Boop…boop…boop…

That damned beeping.

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar face looming over me.

“Hannah? Hi, I’m Dr. Alvarez; I’ve been treating you while you’ve been with us. How are you feeling?” The woman speaking was tall, Hispanic, and very pretty and was wearing glasses, a white coat, and held a clipboard.

“Um, ok, I guess?” I croaked. Ugh, damned dry throat. “Could I maybe have some water? My throat feels-”

“Dry, yes of course!” She turned momentarily then held out a cup. I took it and gulped down the sweet, cool giver of life. Ahhh so good!

“So…” I put the cup down. “So why did Ijsut kind of black out and stuff? And why didn't I feel like the Scream killer was stabbing me in the abdomne back when the accident happened?" I tried to make light of the incredible pain I was in.

"Well you were in shock. The nerves in your body were so alive and so sensitive that your brain couldn't process everything and you didn't recognize any of the pain. The reason you just passed out is a little less clear. We think that it was because something triggered a neurological..." Everything that she said after that made no sense to me. I assumed that it wasn't good, but that I was okay.

Once she stopped talking, I figured to ask what may've been an easier question. "Um, what's exactly wrong with me now?" I asked.

Dr. Alvarez chuckled. "Well, what's happening is-"

“Hannah! You’re alive!” An enthusiastic voice came from the doorway. Louis Tomlinson made his way over to my bedside, followed by Liam & Niall. He stuck his hand out and said, “Louis Tomlinson. Not sure if we officially met, but you saved my girlfriend’s life, and I feel pretty damn grateful for that!” He quipped quickly.

“Hannah Clarke.” I tried shaking his hand, but the stretching of my arm just made that pain in my abdomen flare up again. “Oh, shit!” I cringed.

“What? What happened? Are you okay?” The three boys were all suddenly at my side, leaning over me in concern.

“Ok, boys, we need to talk about Miss Clarke’s condition, so could you give us a minute?” Dr. Alvarez looked serious.

“No, we want to know if Hannah’s ok!” Louis piped. Liam & Niall had looked ready to obey Dr. Alvarez at first, but now they stood behind Louis and nodded their heads in concurrence.

“Yeah, this girl saved all of our arses, and now we have to make sure she’s going to be okay.” Liam spoke up. He looked down at me and gave an incredibly sweet smile.

Dr. Alvarez looked down at me and said, “Are you alright with them staying?”

“Of course!” I smiled. “I just wanna know why I feel like I’m being stabbed with a butcher’s knife every time I try to move!” I chuckled lightly.

“Ok, well, if you look here…” Dr. Alvarez was holding up x-rays to the light, “You’ll see that you have two fractured ribs. Miraculously, beside a couple first degree burns, those are the only injuries you suffered from the explosion.” I gaped at her diagnosis.

“Two fractured ribs?” I said, staring at the x-rays.

“I’m afraid so,” said the doctor.

“Aw, Hannah, I’m so sorry!” Niall shook his head at the x-rays.

“No, it’s great!” I said, my smile widening.

They all looked at me like I had three heads.

“I’m sorry, when did the word ‘great’ become appropriate for describing two fractured ribs?” Louis pondered sarcastically.

“I mean that it’s great that this is all that’s wrong with me! I mean, after everything that happened? It’s a miracle! I’m just thankful. Broken bones will heal.” I explained to the bewildered expressions before me.

“Well, she’s better off than Hazza…” I heard Louis mutter quietly to the boys.

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. “Oh, my gosh, Harry! Is he okay?”

“Thanks to you, he will be!” Dr. Alvarez said. But the boys looked a bit more doubtful.

“What?” I looked at them all. Not getting a response, I turned back to Dr. Alvarez. “Can I get up and walk around?”

“Well, it’ll be good for you, but probably still very painful.” Her brows drew together in advisement.

“Anyone care to help me up, then?” I panned the room with my eyes expectantly.

A good ten minutes later, I was walking (with the assistance of both Niall & Liam) down the hospital’s hallway to Harry’s room, which was actually just two down from mine.

Now, it wouldn’t have taken ten minutes if it wasn’t for my clumsiness and the fact that there were three teenaged boys running around my hospital room. First, Louis had knocked over the vase of flowers that Niall had brought me whilst throwing his arms open wide for a hug for me.

Then, while Liam set about to cleaning up the mess, Niall & Louis engaged in a fight for my little baggie of pretzel sticks that I didn’t want. Once Niall had successfully secured the pretzels, Liam had finished up cleaning and suggested we get me out of bed. It was painful at first, but with the boys helping me, it wasn’t so bad.

Finally we were ready to leave the room. As we were just about to exit, my foot expertly found a stray wire to trip over and sent me flying. Luckily, Louis grabbed one of my shoulders and Liam the other. Niall still had his, well, my pretzels.

So there we were, ten minutes later, walking into Harry’s room.

“Oh, my…“ I gasped lightly. He looked better than he had last night, but he still looked pretty out of it. There were multiple scratches on his face, and one stitched up wound on his forehead. His neck was in one of those fluffy braces, and his left leg was elevated in a huge looking cast. His shoulders, arms, and torso looked fine, though…

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad. And he has a fractured rib, too.” Louis said, his face falling a bit.

My hand went to my mouth. “Wow… I’m so sorry, you guys, maybe if I had been more careful when I was carrying him, or just…” my voice began to tremble and tears formed. This beautiful boy that I had just been watching on MTV yesterday, perfectly healthy and well, was now lying before me in near ruins. I couldn’t help feeling like it was my fault.

“Hannah, love, there’s nothing more you could’ve done!” Louis put his hand on my arm and laughed. “You saved Harry and Eleanor and probably the rest of us, too! If you and your mate hadn’t been there to get our arses moving, we probably would’ve just stood there in a daze til we got blown to bloody oblivion!”

“He’s right, Hannah. We truly owe you our lives.” Liam nodded in agreement.

The tears kept gathering in my eyes. I was so touched by their words… and the fact that it was One Direction? THE One Direction? It was almost too much…

“C’mon, let’s go sit.” Niall put his hand on my back and guided me over to the couch on the wall across from Harry’s bed. He sat me gingerly on the end, placing himself carefully next to me. He made an obvious effort not to nudge me too much with his-

“Niall!” I gasped as I looked down for the first time. “Your arm!”

“Oh, this?” He lifted the bright green cast I had just noticed. “Eh, it’s nothin’!” He smiled, his braces showing and adding to his adorable factor. I suddenly remembered the disfiguration I had noticed last night when he offered to carry Harry.

“Nothing? Please, I saw your arm last night! They had to reset it, didn’t they?” I grimaced at the thought.

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal!” He swiped away the suggestion with a hand and a smile.

“If you say so…” I trailed off, now smiling too. Liam had sat himself in a chair closer to Harry’s bed, and Louis plopped onto the floor by my knees, looking up cheekily at me.

“You know what Hannah?” he said.

“What, Louis?” I prepared myself for a crude joke or something Louis-ish like that.

“I just met you, and this is crazy, but I quite like you, could we be friends maybe?” He grinned cheekily as he put his own spin on Carly Rae Jepse’s “Call Me Maybe”.

I rolled my eyes at his little quip but replied, “Of course, Louis!”

“Could we all be friends, then?” Niall looked around the room hopefully.

“Well, I don’t see why not!” Liam chuckled. “As long as you, ya know, don’t go crazy fangirl on us or anything…” he took on a semi-serious tone, a careful glint coming into his eyes.

“Oh, lay off it, Liam, I don’t even think she knew us before yesterday!” Louis threw a pillow at Liam, pegging him in the knee. Liam, being the bigger man as usual, took the pillow and hugged it rather than throwing it back.

“I mean, even if she did, lads, don’t you think that she would’ve gone crazy on us already if she was one of those fangirls?” Niall leaned forward and reasoned with the room.

“Ah, but you never know, Niall. It could be one of those delayed reaction things. Post traumatic stress. You ever hear of that?” Liam pointed in a very scholarly manner. I bit back a chuckle at the situation.

“Nah, we’re safe, lads. Isn’t that right, Hannah darling?” Louis gave me that cheeky look again.

“Of course you are, love.” I winked at him. I had a cheeky side to myself that came out rather profusely once I felt comfortable enough…

“Friends it is, then!” Liam threw his hands up and smiled triumphantly.

“Well, how can we be friends if I don’t even know her name yet?” A new voice came from the doorway. I turned my gaze onto the tall figure. My stomach immediately did a back flip and I could’ve sworn that my heart stopped beating for a moment.

“WAYNE!” Louis exclaimed, throwing his hands up to match Liam’s position.

“Did you bring the sweets?” Niall stood eagerly.

“’Course!” Zayn held up a pillow case that billowed at the bottom.

“A pillow case, Zayn?” Liam questioned.

“Yeah, everything just looked so good, and once I had finished getting everything, there was too much to carry in my arms. So I did the obvious.” Zayn shrugged.

“You stuck a banana in your ear!” Louis exclaimed gleefully.

“No, Chewey, I took a pillow case from a nurse’s cart and stuffed everything inside!” Zayn rolled his eyes with a smile and tossed the pillow case to Niall’s expectant hands- well, hand.

“Nice catch!” I nodded to Niall, impressed. I had the dexterity of about a rhinoceros and would most certainly have missed that catch.

“And I still don’t believe that we’ve been properly introduced!” Zayn said, making his way over to me. My heart did that skip a beat thing again.

See, while I loved every single member of One Direction, there was always something about Zayn that just… I don’t know! He was just sooooo attractive… I had a weak spot for “Bad Boys”, I guess you could say!

“No, I suppose we haven’t!” I smiled and held out a hand. “Hannah Clarke! Pardon me not standing, two fractured ribs.” I pointed to my abdomen with my other hand.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it! Please pardon my, well…” He was holding out his right hand, but it had a massive cast that matched Niall’s in color.

“Oh, please, don’t worry!” I chuckled along with him, taking his fingers gently.

“Zayn Malik.” He flashed a heart stopping smile at me. I practically died.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Zayn Malik!” I somehow managed.

“And you as well, Hannah Clarke!” Ohhh my Lord his voice saying my name….. melt, melt, melt…

“So the boys tell me you’re the one who pulled Hazza out of the fire?” He said, taking Niall’s seat beside me. Niall was still sifting intently through the pillow case.

“Yep, guilty.” I lifted my left hand and smiled.

“Now, why would you do that? Why couldn’t you let the little bugger burn?” Zayn threw his head back in irritation.

I caught onto his sarcasm immediately. “I thought about it, but then I thought about poor Louis, here.” I put my hand on Louis’ head and patted it affectionately. “He would be without a hope in the world without his dear Hazza!” I shook my head in fake innocence, finally cracking a smile.

Zayn chuckled at my response. “Yeah, I suppose that’s best for everyone, keeping Louis calm and all!”

Louis turned abruptly and faced Zayn with wide eyes. “Me! Calm! Exactly what planet are you living on, then!” he practically yelled.

“Dear God, must you scream, Lou?”

“IT’S ALIVE!” Louis yelled and jumped up to Harry’s side. “You alright, Hazza?” He leaned into Harry’s face.

“As soon as you shut up I will be,” came Harry’s weak reply.

“Of course, love!” Louis whisper-shouted, patting Harry’s cheek lightly.

“Now have you seen that girl?” I heard Harry say.

“Pff, which one?” Louis chuckled.

“The one that dragged me out, you idiot.” I could hear the tolerance in Harry’s voice.

“Oh, that one! Yeah, she died when you landed on top of her after the explosion, you fatty!” Louis scoffed like it was no big deal.

“Died?!” Harry exclaimed.

“No, she didn’t die. She’s alive and well.” Liam reassured Harry, stepping in between he and Louis with a reprimanding glare directed at Louis. “In fact, she’s right-”

“Here. I’m over here…” I spoke up, trying to stand but failing miserably. “Zayn, would you be ever so kind as to help me up?” I extended a hand to him.

“Of course, m’lady!” He helped me up and I walked over to Harry’s bedside.

“Hello, Harry, I’m Hannah Clarke.” I smiled, talking softly.

“You’re the girl that saved my life?” It sounded more like a statement than a question.

“I guess you could say that!” I nodded lightly. “How are you feeling?” My brows knit together in concern.

“Alive, thanks to you!” He cracked a slight grin. This boy… even in this situation, he still smiled.

“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal…” I blushed sheepishly.

Harry brought one of his hands to my arm and looked me straight in the eye. “You saved my life. That is a huge deal, love.” The way he looked at me… Damn, it just sent chills up my spine. But I mustn’t fangirl, mustn’t fangirl, mustn’t let myself think about it…

“Yeah, no kidding! If it wasn’t for you, we all would have blown up! I can’t even remember anything after the impact…” Zayn agreed, now standing beside me.

“You don’t remember me talking to you?” I asked.

“Not at all!” he shook his head, bewildered.

“Well, it’s no wonder. You were all ridiculously dazed!” I shook my head, remembering their blank expressions.

“Well, I just wanted to thank you. And to tell you that I will sure as hell make it up to you, if it’s the last thing I do!” Harry stole my attention again.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” I protested humbly.

“Well of course I do! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now!” Harry insisted.

“Nor would Eleanor!” Louis quipped from behind me.

“Eleanor? What happened to Eleanor?” Harry looked to Louis, his beautiful eyes clouded with worry.

“Well-” I started.

“She was knocked unconscious from the impact and then she stopped breathing. Hannah here revived her! Brought her back to life and everything!” Louis patted my back proudly, earning a pained grunt as my ribs were jostled. “Oh, sorry love!” he winced.

“Look at you!” Harry smiled. “You little life saver! They should have a special life saver, the candy kind, and make it Hannah flavored and name it after you and everything!” A dreamy look took over his features.

“And there goes the sedative. C’mon then guys, let’s leave Hazza to his dreams.” Liam said, nodding to the door. Niall, still buried in that pillow case of snacks, went quickly before stopping short and turning to me, saying, “You coming with us, Hannah?”

“Yeah, of course!” I replied. Zayn and Louis followed Niall, with Liam bringing up the rear. He looked to me expectantly. I was about to follow when I felt a pressure on my hand. I looked down to see Harry’s hand wrapped around mine.

“Stay with me til I’m asleep, yeah?” His gorgeous eyes still seemed lucid.

“Sure,” I smiled. “Liam, I think I’ll stay for just a bit?” I said, my gaze reverting to Liam.

“Of course. See you back in your room, then?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there!” I smiled before turning back to Harry, who was still looking at me. “You doing alright there?” I asked softly.

“You don’t know you’re beautiful, do you?” he said out of the blue. I blushed. First of all, because he was quoting one of my all-time favorite songs. Second of all, because he, Harry Styles, member of One Direction, had just called me beautiful. Third of all, I really didn’t think that I was beautiful, so it was rather… startling, I suppose you could say?

“Oh, I wouldn’t say beautiful…” I turned my eyes down and smiled bashfully.

“See, there it is. You’re smiling at the ground!” he sounded amused.

“Oh, please!” I met his eyes again, chuckling. He let out a light chuckle as well.

“You really are, though…” he said heavily as his eyelids started to close. “Hannah… it rhymes with Hazza… Thank you, Hannah…” he mumbled softly and slowly as he began drifting away. But the one thing that didn’t drift away was his strong grip on my hand.

Can someone say unreal?

Tik Tok…

When I walked into my room, I was surprised to find the boys all sitting quietly. Louis was sprawled out on the sofa, Liam had taken the chair next to my bed, Niall was sitting with his back against the sofa (still with the pillow case of snacks), and Zayn was leaning coolly on the wall. I don’t know why I thought they would be running around completely full of beans, but I supposed that’s just how I had imagined it. All of their heads turned simultaneously towards me as I walked into the room.

“Well, Harry’s asleep.” I nodded awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say.

“Aw, did our cheeky Hazza have a few personal words to say to you? Did he profess his growing attraction that I’m sure had nothing to do with the heavy sedatives that he’s under?” Louis smiled endearingly.

I rolled my eyes, about to respond.

“Now, that’s enough cheek from you, Louis.” Another unfamiliar voice came from the other side of the room that I hadn’t noticed until just them. I turned to see-

“Simon Cowell.” The famous music mogul stuck his hand toward me. I was in complete shock.

“Well this explains why the boys are so well behaved!” I chuckled, trying to smooth over my racing heart. I was shaking hands with Simon Cowell. Simon Cowell! Simon Cowell was- He was still shaking my hand, looking expectantly at me.

“Oh! Hannah Clarke! I’m sorry, a bit starstruck, I guess…” I smiled awkwardly, finally getting around to my name. Ugh, I am such an idiot…

“Yes, well, I must thank you, Miss Clarke. The way I understand it, if it weren’t for you, these boys here may well not be alive right now. And for that, not only I but the incredibly massive One Direction fan base must thank you.” He nodded.

“Ah, wow, it was really nothing!” I shrugged.

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘nothing’, but I appreciate your humility.” He flashed me a smile. “Anyway, I was just talking to the boys about the media and how this will affect the continuation of their tour.”

“Oh, please, don’t let me interrupt!” I tried to duck out bashfully, but twisted in an odd way and sent another one of those damned pain flares through my body. I would’ve doubled over in pain, but that would’ve just hurt more. Instead, I settled for the brilliant grabbing of the wait and practically screaming, “SHIT!”

“No, no, no, Hannah, back to bed you go!” I felt a pair of strong arms around me, leading me back to my bed. I looked up into the dark chocolate eyes of Zayn and had not an ounce of resistance in my body as I melted into his strength. “You didn’t actually think that we were going to kick you out of your own room?” he chuckled, helping me lay back down.

“I don’t want to intrude, though!” I protested softly.

“Quite honestly, Miss Clarke, there aren’t many quiet places in this hospital to talk, and they insisted upon staying here until either you or Harry was released.” Simon interjected.

“So, really, we’re the ones intruding. Do you mind horribly?” Liam asked genuinely.

“Oh, of course not!” I shook my head.

“Alright, then, let’s get down to business.” Simon took back control of the room. As he began to speak, I waited for Zayn to move back to his spot by the couch, but instead he stood right by my side the entire time.

“So the media are bound to find out about the crash at any minute. We have a statement prepared and ready to release, so all that you boys need to do is lie low. We were thinking that-”

“But, Uncle Si, what about the preview show today? With all the fans down in the city that came up just for us and have been waiting all night? Can we still make it?” Louis interrupted, sitting up.

“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, you’ll be one member short, Louis. Can’t exactly roll Harold’s hospital bed onstage now, can you?” Simon scoffed.

“Well, no, but we can bring Hannah, instead! And we can tell everyone the story and get it out there in the open, have a shorter concert so that we don‘t tire ourselves too much, but still a concert nonetheless, and maybe even a short Skype session with Harry broadcasted on a big screen or something and everyone will be buzzin’ and then we have almost a week to recuperate!” Louis said this all very fast in one breath.

“Wait, why would bringing me be a sensible part of the plan?” I asked.

“Because you’re our saviour and the fans would love to get a chance to meet you! They’d go wild! And you’d be the distraction to get the attention away from the fact that Harry isn’t there!” Louis said excitedly.

“But won’t he be on Skype like you said?” Liam pointed out, his brows drawn together.

“Oh, you know what I mean!” Louis rolled his eyes.

“I like the idea.” Zayn said softly.

“Oh, me too! I especially like the part where Hannah comes with us, I mean, the fans will be absolutely blown! It’d be ace, yeah?” Niall piped up.

“I mean, while I don’t think it’s the greatest idea, I definitely see the merit in it. Not my decision though, you’ll have to pitch it to Management.” Simon shrugged.

“Yeah, why are you here, Uncle Si?” Louis asked cheekily.

“Because I was here for your show today and being the concerned human being that I am decided to check on you. You going to sue me then?”

“Oh, no! ‘Course not!” Louis laughed.

“Kay, I’ll leave you to it, then. See you all at some point next week, then I’m heading back to the UK.” Simon nodded solemnly and walked out. No more than a second after he had left, a young woman in her thirties walked in.

“Hello, lovelies!” She quipped cutely.

“Sara!” All the boys shouted.

“Sara’s our tour manager. Basically our babysitter, I suppose you could say.” Zayn smiled down at me.

“Yeah, let’s just go over a few things, yeah?” She pulled over a chair and sat near me. “Oh, I’m Sara Donahue, by the way!” She waved at me.

“Hannah Clarke!” I waved back.

“Ok, well, I heard your little idea about the concert today and if we push it back to around 4 o’clock we can definitely make it! That’ll mean you all have to leave shortly to get ready, including you, I suppose, Hannah?” Sara looked pointedly at me.

“Oh, I, uh, I wasn’t sure if-” I stuttered, unsure of exactly what was going on.

“Of course she’s coming!” Louis swatted any doubts away.

“Brilliant! So I’ll get wardrobe ready for you, then…” Sara began tapping away at her iPhone. “Right, then we also have to decide what’s going to happen over the next week. You leave for Florida on Wednesday afternoon, so that gives you a good three and a half days to rest up and prepare. The question is where. Any ideas or suggestions? I know we’ve stayed in the city before, which is lovely of course, but-”

“We could stay at Hannah‘s house!” Zayn blurted it out, sounding like he was joking.

“Yeah, slumber party at Hannah’s house!” Louis threw his hands up in enthusiasm.

“No, Hannah, we really couldn’t ask that of you!” Liam shook his head.

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t mind it!” Sara looked at me like I was crazy. “No, I mean it! My house is big enough and we have a guest house around back, plus we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere, so as long as no one gives up our location, I don’t think we’ll be mobbed too badly!” I said it quickly, not allowing myself to think about it. I was just being a good person, right? Yeah, I’ll just keep telling myself that…

“I like the idea!” Zayn said, even though it was his in the first place. “I mean, this town is beautiful and peaceful and we could all use some time in a real house on a real beach away from the very real fans!” he chuckled.

“I mean, as long as we wouldn’t be imposing, I’m all for it!” Niall had FINALLY put the pillow case aside and was now grinning from ear to ear.

Sara had been clicking away at her iPhone. “Yeah, and there’s a hotel not too far down the street that the rest of Management could stay at, as long as we left a bit of security with you boys?”

“No, no security! I’ve had enough of them!” Louis slumped down on the couch dejectedly.

“You know it’s only for our good, Louis?” Liam said in a parental manner.

“Well, I mean, I suppose if I really tried to convince Management that you would be fine as long as the word didn’t get out, I may be able to give you some time without security…” Sara kept clicking away.

“That would be lovely, Sara!” Louis said genuinely. “We would really appreciate it!”

“Alright, I’ll try…” I heard the smile in her voice as she kept click- well, you get the idea. “Now if we’re going to do this, Hannah, you’re going to have to treat the next few days with the utmost care and modesty. Absolutely no one can know that One Direction is staying at your house!”

“One Direction is staying at our house?” I looked up to see my sister plus Jessie, Ebony & McKenna, my three best friends, staring in awe at the star-studded room.

“Oh, dear…” Sara muttered. “And who are they?”

“Girls!” I ignored her query and threw my arms open to them. Allie’s question was momentarily forgotten as they all gathered around me, suddenly bombarding me with questions.

“Are you okay?” “What happened?” “When do you get out of here?” “Will you be coming back to school right away?” “I’m not really sure what’s going on and I’m kind of freaking out on the inside and don’t really know how to handle myself right now!”

That last one came from Ebony. Ebony and I had a special relationship. It was most simply defined as a bromance, similar to Larry Stylinson. Ebony was a rather quirky individual. She was very slim with elfish features and bright blue eyes and curly brown hair. She and I were crazy, individual, random and One Direction fans. The only major difference between us was our size and the fact that she admitted to not being a true Directioner, as I professed myself to be.

“Ok, well, I believe that some introductions are in order, ey Hannah?” Liam stood. “I’m Liam Payne, but I suppose you already knew that!” He smiled, sticking his hand out to Ebony.

“Yeah!” She giggled, taking his hand lightly. “I’m Ebony!”

“Well, that’s a very lovely name, Ebony! And you are?” He turned to McKenna as Ebony almost died.

“McKenna Dowd!” she smiled.

“Ooo, do I sense a fellow Irishman?” Niall perked up at the sound of McKenna’s name. Once you add the fact that she’s slim, extremely fair skinned, covered in freckles, has bright greenish blue eyes and rich red locks, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out.

“How did you ever guess?” She laughed lightly.

“Ah, just my wild intuition!” Niall smiled. I could see McKenna visibly melt under his gaze. She wasn’t exactly a fan of their music, but had openly admitted that they were all beyond adorable. “I’m Niall!” he shook her hand.

As Liam was finishing introducing himself to her, he noticed Jessie standing to the side. “Well, we know you!” He smiled widely at her. “And we owe you a massive Thank You!” he clasped his hands together in genuine gratitude.

“Oh, I’m just glad everyone ended up okay!” She blushed a bit and bashfully continued, “I hate to say it, but I still don’t know all of your names!” Jessie was the Directionater of our group. Tsk tsk tsk…

“Oh, no worries! I’m Liam!”

“Niall!”

“LOUIS!” Louis shouted happily.

While all of this was happening, I had been sifting through my Facebook and Twitter notifications on my iPhone. Just as Louis yelled out his name, it blasted Tell Me A Lie, completely scaring me and making me drop it.

“Shit…” I said under my breath. There was no way that I was going to be able to bend down and grab it.

Zayn immediately bent down and picked it up, returning it to me with a kind smile. “There you are!”

“Thanks!” I smiled awkwardly.

“And the one making my sister swoon?” Allie’s irritating tone interrupted our small moment.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met you either?” Zayn challenged instead of ansering the question.

“Oh, I’m Allie, Hannah’s sister.” She waved her hand to everyone.

“Hello, Allie!” chorused the room.

“And I’m Zayn, by the way.” He finally answered softly.

“Oh, you’re Zayn! Hannah makes us all shut up whenever your solos come on!” Allie purposely embarrassed me. It was just what she did.

“Oh, does she now?” Zayn looked at me expectantly.

I laughed it off. They COULD NOT know that I was the mega fan that I was. It would ruin my image for them…

“She’s just trying to embarrass me! I practically yell at them every time a song comes on the radio. Music buff, and all…”

“Ah ah ah, not buying it, babe!” Louis scoffed. “You’re just enraptured by our Zayn’s godlike tones, aren’t you!” Everyone snickered except for Zayn, who looked down at me with a smug expression.

“Oh, don’t give me that look!” I rolled my eyes and playfully hit his hand.

“Please, you know you love it!” he put on a goofy accent and nudged my shoulder.

“Aw, now look at those two love birds!” Louis slung his arm around Ebony’s shoulder and leaned into her small frame. She put her arm around his waist and leaned into him.

“Yeah, aren’t they just- DEAD WEIGHT.” Ebony suddenly screamed as she let herself go completely limp in Louis’ arms. Obviously not knowing what the whole “dead weight” thing was, Louis looked momentarily stunned before getting a hold on her. Just as she was just about situated in his arms, she shot back up and continued, “-adorable?” Louis gaped at her for a moment, then laughed with the rest of the room.

“You are completely off your rocker!” He smiled zanily. “I approve of this one!” he nodded in her direction.

“Well good! She’s the other half of Habony Breslarke!” I winked at her, naming our bromance name. She winked back whiel the other girls rolled their eyes and the boys looked on, confused.

“Do explain, love?” Zayn leaned in. I was distracted by his closeness, so Ebony went on to explain.

“We kind of have the female equivalent of a bromance. Like, Jessie is my best friend and McKenna is Hannah’s best friend, but Hannah and I have this ‘thing’ that goes beyond all of that, ya know?” She looked to Louis. “You should understand what I’m talking about, hun!”

“Oh, you mean me and Hazza?” He laughed.

“If you two are anything like Louis and Harry, then it would be incredibly entertaining to get all the four of you in the same room!” Niall pointed out, amused.

“Yeah, where is Harry?” Ebony questioned.

“Oh, he’s resting down the hall.” I said.

“Did he turn out ok? Cuz he looked pretty messed up!” Jessie asked, concerned.

“Yeah, but he’s gonna need a little time to recover. Which is why we are taking lovely Hannah with us to our preview show today!” Louis gestured grandly to me.

“Oh, my gosh, are you going to perform?” McKenna squealed.

“Oh, goodness, no! they just thought it would be cool for the fans to meet the person who, um, I guess saved Harry’s life, you could say? You know, since Harry can’t be there. But there’s no way I’d even be able to perform!” I explained quickly.

Liam had been quiet for a bit and spoke up suddenly, saying, “You all are welcome to come and watch too, if you like! And Jessie, I’m sure that the fans would love to meet you too!”

“Oh, no thanks! I’m not a big crowd kind of person! Plus, there’s this giant math final on Monday that I really have to study for…” she declined, always the studious geek.

“Okay, well, I guess we’re stuck with Stinky, over here…” I looked up in awe at Zayn’s completely serious expression.

“I cannot believe you just said that!” I gaped at him. “Stinky?”

“Yeah, have you showered lately?” He squinted in disgust at me, wincing at my “smell”.

“Of course I have!” I shot back, offended by his- he was smiling.

“I’m kidding!” he laughed.

“Of course you were…” I grumbled as the rest of the room cracked up.

“You know you look like an awkward pigeon when you’re angry?” he chuckled.

“An awkward pigeon?” I looked at him in disbelief. “If I didn’t have two cracked ribs right now…” I shook my head at him, a smile creeping onto my face despite my efforts to remain expressionless.

“Sorry, babe. You really do! You don’t happen to know a bird by the name of Kevin, now do you?” Louis interjected, referring the fake pigeon they had featured in one of their video diaries. But, you know, not being a fan, I wouldn’t know about that…

So I just squinted in ‘confusion’ and said, “Kevin?”

“Don’t mind him, he’s crazy…” Niall laughed.

As a debate began referring Louis’ craziness, I looked around the room at my favorite band interacting with my best friends. Then my eyes met Zayn’s and he smiled that beautiful, calming smile that hid just a little layer of crazy.

It was going to be a wonderfully entertaining couple of days.