Take Me Home

My morning started off on a sour note when I opened the door and saw Niall standing there. If I knew that would only be the start of what would probably end up being the worst day of my life, I would have just stayed on the sofa all day. However, I couldn’t afford the luxury of missing one day of work. Fuck, I could barely even afford the cup of coffee I had bought on my walk to work. Which, by the way, was money wasted since a tourist knocked it out of my hand and spilled it all over me when she backed into me while taking a picture.

I ended up showing up to work five minutes late and covered in coffee. I practically got my face torn off by my boss for being late. On top off that, I spent the next eight hours smelling like the coffee I never even got a sip off while listing every flavor cupcake that we had over and over again even though they were all listed on the menu which was hanging on the wall behind me.

And I still hadn’t eaten.

By the end of my work day I was exhausted. My stomach was growling so loudly I was sure people on the other side of the country could hear it. I questioned my ability to walk home when my legs were shaking and my head was reeling as a repercussion of my empty stomach. The only thing that kept me from collapsing was the hope that Connor had used her day off to get groceries.

“Connor!” I yelled after I fought with the door. I was only met with the silence from our dark flat and the sound of the upstairs neighbors walking. I sighed and flicked the light switch by the door, the lights flickered for a few seconds before the flat was dimly illuminated, showing no signs of my flatmate. “Connor!” I yelled again after I kicked the door shut. “Are you home?” I asked only to be met with silence again.

I hoped that if Conner was still out running around with Zayn that she had at least made time to get food. I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed the handle on the refrigerator door. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Please be full.” I whispered to the appliance.

I pulled the door open and was met once again by just a bottle of orange juice. I growled and threw my coat off, not caring where it landed. There was no way I could possibly make the pilgrimage to the market and back without collapsing. I finally accepted the fact that I would have to wait for Connor to come home before I would eat.

I picked up my guitar and grabbed the notebook Connor and I wrote our songs in. I sat on the floor with my back against the sofa. I slide my pick of its spot where I always kept it fastened to the fretboard by weaving it between the first three strings. I stuck the pick between my teeth as I flipped through pages upon pages of lyrics until I finally stopped on a song Connor and I had been trying to work out for probably a month.

I must have spent an hour going over the words and the music, trying to make them sound right. The way we had it sounded alright but I wasn’t going to settle for alright. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfection when it came to our songs.

I heard the door open but I didn’t look up from the notebook as I scribbled down the changes I thought would make the song a complete work. “Hey.” I said through my teeth, my pick stuck between them once again.

“Hey.” Connor echoed.

“I think I finally figured this song out.” I told her, dropping the pen and taking the pick from between my teeth. “You know that part that is like duh duh duh…duh. Well if we change that to duh…duh duh, it’ll flow with the lyrics a lot better.” I said excitedly. “Listen.” I played the music the way I had changed it and I listened to her softly sing the lyrics in time.

“You are the smartest kid alive.” She said happily, clearly pleased with me.

“I try.” I finally looked over at her and saw the dazed look on her face. I narrowed my eyes, trying to analyze her behavior to pin it with an emotion. She was either high or in love, both were viable options knowing my best friend. “How was your day off gallivanting with Prince Charming?” I asked, absently strumming my guitar but smiling at my best friend.

“Lincoln.” She said quietly and I watched the grin spread across her face. “I really like him.” She tried to suppress her smile when she sat next to me.

I smiled at her. I could just tell by looking at her face that she had already fallen head over heels for Zayn. I was happy for her but I was afraid because she’d known him for less than a day, she didn’t really know him. “I’m happy for you.”

“He’s so nice, Lincoln. Like the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He invited us to a party his friend is throwing tomorrow night.” Connor said and she lazily picked some fuzz off of my sweater.

I curled my lip in disgust. “Niall?”

“Yeah. Why? Don’t you like him?”

I snorted. “No.”

“He’s so nice though! He’s the funniest person ever!”

“I don’t care for him.” I said simply not wanting to hear anything more about him. I had made up my mind about Niall already. We were never going to be friends.

“Fine. Whatever, Lincoln. Whatever.” She feigned frustration but was still smiling at me which made me laugh. “But you’ll still go with me right?”

“I don’t know. Can we talk about this later…like after we go shopping. I haven’t eaten anything since we destroyed those Lucky Charms.” I whined and rubbed my stomach for emphasis.

“Jesus Christ, Lincoln!” Connor shouted at me. “Come on, let’s go.”

When we finally made it to market, Connor was content on talking all about her adventures with Zayn and his stupid fucking friend, Niall. I learned that they went to some really nice little restaurant and that Zayn paid for her meal. She also told me all of the stories Niall told her which were apparently funny but I wasn’t humored by the re-telling off them. Honestly, I had stopped listen by the time we reached were waiting in line to pay for our trolley full of groceries. I was merely nodding my head while she talked and I mentally calculated the estimated price of our food.

I was counting the wad of cash in my hand for the third time, making sure we had enough when Connor let out a “Holy fuck!” so loud that the cashier sent us a nasty look.

“What is wrong with you?” I laughed at her.

“Holy fucking shit! Holy fucking shit!” Connor kept screaming, each time her volume increased noticeable. I doubted the gossip magazine in her hand could have caused such a reaction.

“Connor, what the fuck is wrong?” I hissed, looking at my friend in horror. I had no idea what she was going on about but everyone in the store was staring at her.

Connor looked like she was going to pass out as she handed the magazine to me. The color was drained from her face and her bright blue eyes were opened wide in what I could assume was horror. “Holy fucking shit.” She whispered and thrust the magazine into my hands.

I scanned the pages of the magazine. “I don’t-“ and I instantly stopped talking when I saw what she must have seen. Right in the middle of the page there was a picture of Niall, Zayn, Connor, and I right after we had taken tequila shots. The picture was horrible quality, obviously from a phone that belonged to whatever person in the pub had taken this. Beside that one, there was a picture of Zayn and Connor leaving the pub. “I-I don’t. What?” I stammered.

Suddenly everything began to piece together, the security, the paparazzi, the pub packed full of people, the screaming girls outside. I knew they had to be someone special but I wasn’t expecting them to be so special that a trashy gossip magazine was questioning the relationship Connor and I had with the two boys less than a day after it happened. My mind was spinning while I tried to comprehend the words I was reading but I was in such awe that nothing was making sense.

The only words I could process where ‘One Direction.’ Even though Connor and I couldn’t afford television or internet, everyone talked about the boy band that had seemingly taken over the world. They were everywhere. Everything made sense then. The fancy clothes and perfect hair…everything. “Holy fucking shit.” I said breathlessly.

“Right!” Connor said and then in a whisper added “I boned a direction boy.” We looked at each other and burst out into a fit of giggles.