Last Girl Standing

The boys filed into the room, each of their hands wrapped tightly around their date’s. For the most part, the boys looked happy, as did the girls, and Sadie assumed the dates went well. Even though she had been picked for the first date, she was still upset that she hadn’t been picked for the second.

Sadie sat comfortably on the sofa, with her feet plopped onto the coffee table. Next to her, Haley was sipping on a margarita. Both girls’ eyes were fixed on the boys, but when Louis’s eyes met Sadie’s, she flipped her head in the opposite direction.

“You ladies wanna come outside with us?” Zayn’s voice asked from above them. Haley nodded quickly, and Sadie followed suit. The two girls followed the boy outside, to the patio, where the rest of the house was sitting.

The girls were all lounging around the pool, and each of their eyes lit up when the boys walked through the door. It was obvious everyone wanted to run to the boys’ sides, but no one moved.

With his hand still wrapped around his date’s, Harry walked over to the tiki bar at the far side of the pool. He slammed his hand onto the wooden surface and shouted, “shots for everyone!”

The curly haired boy moved behind the bar and rounded up as many shot glasses as he could find. Pulling a bottle from under the wooden top, he spilled the liquid into the cups. More liquid landed on the counter than in the glasses.

In a matter of moments, most of the house was crowded around the tiki bar, picking up a shot. When everyone had a drink in their hand, Harry lifted his into the air, and the group followed suit.
With a smile on his face, Harry shouted. “To love!”

“To love!”

Everyone smiled, as they pulled their glasses to their lips. Simultaneously, the group threw back their drinks and chugged the coarse liquid.

Sadie pressed her hand to her mouth, holding back a laugh, as she watched the curly haired boy’s grin widen. His dimple filled his cheek, and Sadie chuckled at the sight.

“He’s something, isn’t he?”

Flipping her head to the voice, Sadie’s eyes met Louis’s, and a small smile graced his lips. His hands were tucked gently in the pockets, while his foot tapped against the ground.

“Something. Yes, something.” Sadie laughed, moving her eyes from Harry, back to Louis’s. The two paused for a moment, before Louis looked back towards the group. He chuckled, pushing his foot around on the floor.

“You, uh –” Louis pulled his hand to his hair, ruffling it with his fingers. “You know, if you like fancy him or something, I can put in a good word.”

Shaking her head, Sadie looked over at Louis. “Oh, that’s alright. You don’t have to do that.”

Louis looked back at Sadie with a smile. His eyes crinkled at the edges, making his grin look even larger. “You wanna have a seat?”

Nodding her head, Sadie smiled, as Louis led her to a lounge chair by the pool. She sat on one end, with her legs folded in front of her, while he sat on the other. Her hands pulled at the hem of her denim shorts. Louis watched her fingers as they moved, until she realized what she was doing and stopped. When their eyes met, a smile fell to Louis’s face.

Pushing her hair behind her ear, Sadie smiled. “So, did you have a nice time on your date?”

Louis nodded. “It was fun. We got to cook with some famous chef and this girl, Megan, did a really good job. It was delicious. I hung out with her most of the time.”

Sadie forced out a smile to mask that she was disappointed Louis’s date hadn’t gone terribly. She knew she had no right to feel that way, but her stomach couldn’t help but turn. If all of Louis’s dates went as well as that one had, it was going to be a long summer.

Her gaze moved to the floor, before returning to Louis’s face. He moved his mouth to speak, but before he could, Harry called to him from the tiki bar.

“Louis!” Harry shouted. “You and Sadie need to get over here and take a shot. I said shots for everyone!”

With his eyes wide, Louis looked back at Sadie. She returned his gaze, and he laughed. “At least he knows your name.”

Nodding her head, Sadie gave a small smile. Her eyes flashed between Harry and Louis, before falling on the latter. He stood up and held his hand out to her. He pulled her up and kept his fingers wrapped around her wrist.

The pair stepped over to the tiki bar, where Harry was already holding drinks out to them. Louis dropped her hand, as he pulled the small glass from Harry. Wrapping her fingers around the drink, Sadie turned to Louis, who had a small smile on his face.

Harry held a drink in the air. With his eyes locked on Sadie’s, he cheered. “To love!”

Clicking their drinks together, the pair said the words back, before pulling their glass to their lips. The drink burned as it fell down Sadie’s throat. She pulled her arms tight to her body, shuddering from the feeling.

Louis chuckled at her. “Was it good?”

“So good,” Sadie said, her lips pursed in disgust.

Behind them, a voice called to Louis. Megan began walking towards them, a large smile on her face.

“Louis, you have to see this.” Megan beamed. “I haven’t laughed this hard since you spilt that wine earlier.”

Louis’s eyes moved from Megan’s large smile, back to Sadie’s face. He paused taking a deep breath.
“Don’t move,” he said to Sadie. “I’ll be right back.”

Nodding her head, Sadie watched as Louis walked away. Megan’s hand was wrapped around his, as she led him into the house. With every step they took, Sadie could feel her stomach grow tighter and tighter.

When they stepped through the door, Sadie let out a deep sigh, leaning back against the tiki bar. Harry stepped forward, so he was standing side by side with her.

“You alright?” Harry asked, a sincere look on his face.

Sadie bit her lip, before turning to Harry. “Of course. I guess that shot is just getting to me or something.”

“Would you like to go grab some chips with me? Maybe that will settle your stomach.”

The curly haired boy smiled at her, his dimple covering his face. Sadie’s eyes were hooked on his perfect smile. It was so perfect it almost made her forget her promise to Louis.

“Louis asked me to wait –” Sadie paused. Her thoughts couldn’t help but return to the image of Louis walking hand in hand with Megan. She shook her head, before speaking again. “Actually, I’m sure he won’t mind. That sounds great.”

With Harry’s hand wrapped around hers, Sadie followed him into the kitchen. He quickly pulled a bag of Doritos from the top of the refrigerator and passed them to her. Her hand slipped into the bag and she pulled out two chips, one for him and one for her.

The sound of Louis’s laughter filled her ears and she turned to the sound. Megan and Louis were walking on the other side of the large kitchen, heading towards the sliding glass door. His hand moved to the door, but before he could pull it open, Megan placed her hand on top of his.

Sadie watched as Louis turned to the blonde girl. She was sure the two didn’t notice her and Harry on the opposite side of the room.

Megan wrapped her hand around Louis’s neck and pushed her lips against his. The two kissed for a moment, before Louis pulled away, with a small smile on his face.

Whipping her head around, Sadie pulled her gaze away from the pair. Her stomach was burning again, and the feeling passed to her eyes.

With a deep breath, she moved her eyes to Harry’s and he gave her a soft smile. Luckily for Sadie, he didn’t appear to notice how upset she was, and his smile was more genuine than her own.

“You look pretty when you smile,” Harry said. “You should do it more often.”

A natural smile fell to Sadie’s lips, and she couldn’t stop her stomach from flipping at the words. The feeling was the exact opposite of what Louis had made her feel just moments before.

Laughing, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“What? You can’t smile? Why not?” Harry asked, a smirk covering his face.

“Well, first you picked that short girl to be your challenge partner.” Sadie pulled her face into a frown. “Then you picked someone else for your date. Obviously, I’m mad at you.”

Harry laughed, before pulling the pouting girl into a hug. His arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, while his head lay on top of hers.

“Next time I get Alpha, I promise I’ll pick you,” Harry whispered, his warm breath landing in her hair.

Letting out a deep breath, Sadie wrapped her arms around Harry. It wasn’t the same as when Louis’s arms were on her, all those days ago on the boat, but it was nice. The feeling of Harry next to her was definitely something Sadie could get used to.