I'll Look After You

The next morning, I wake up with a pounding headache and groan as I pull the big duvet cover over my face to block the bright sunlight coming in through the window. It was way too early – seems like it – and I had no idea what time it was. I knew I must’ve drunk too much last night despite the fact I had a great time with new friends I made on my first day in my new home of London.

I roll over in bed and groan as I pull the pillow to cover my face from the light. As I shut my eyes and bury myself deeper under the covers, I hear a sound go off on my computer. I must have left it on, because that sound was very familiar. I bet it was probably Haley or Nikki calling me on Skype.

As I let out a muffled groan, I kick the warm sheets off my body before I slowly get up and make my way over to my laptop that was sitting on my desk. I take a seat in my chair before I reach forward and open my laptop. The screen came to life as I pressed the left mouse-button and I typed my password in.

The Skype screen pops up on the screen after I type my password in to unlock my laptop. Sure enough, Haley called me a few times. She was still online so I decided to call her. While I wait for her to answer, I rest my elbow on the edge of my desk and rest my chin in the palm of my hand. Her picture comes up on the screen a few minutes later.

“Hey Abs!” she exclaims with a wide smile.

“H-hey Hales,” I mumble and run my right hand over my face. A loud yawn escapes my mouth and I keep my eyes shut a few seconds before I slowly open them again.

“A-are you okay?” she asks with a giggle. I shake my head in response.

“No, I’m not,” I tell her honestly.

“What happened?” she asks as I notice a look of concern come over her face.

“Met some new friends yesterday and we just drank and had a great time. You won’t believe who they are when I tell you because I know you’ll flip shit,” I say with a laugh.

Her eyes grow wide. “Who?!” she asks her brows furrowed as she looked at the screen.

I stay silent for a few minutes before I open my mouth to speak. “The boys of One Direction,” I say a bit loudly as I walk over to my bathroom that was connected to my bedroom and grab two ibuprofens from the medicine cabinet and take them with some water. As I walk back in to my room, I hear a loud squeal come from my computer speakers.

“Oh my God – Abs! Are you serious? I’m so jealous, I want to meet them!” she says as I walk back over and take a seat in my chair with my phone in hand.

“Maaaaybe,” I tell her with a small smile as I type my pass code in to see if I had any new messages. I notice I had two; one from Julia and one from Louis. I decide to read Julia’s first.

Julia’s text read: Hey! It’s Julia! I had fun last night, the guys really liked you, especially Louis, you were all he talked about last night after we got back to the flat. I was thinking about going shopping later with Danielle, Liam’s girlfriend, would you like to come? It’ll be fun!

I smile as I begin to type my response back: Aww! I’d love to go, I’m up for it! =)

After I send that text, I go back to my messages and tap on Louis’ name. I can’t help but feel my cheeks heat up as I begin to read his text message.

Louis’ text read: Hey love! I had a great time last night. I was thinking about going to get something to eat later for lunch at this really good place. Would you like to go with me? I’d like to see you again, if you’re up for it. xx

My lips curve into a big smile as I begin to type back in response to Louis’ text: I would love to go, Louis, but I already made plans to go shopping with Julia and Danielle but would you mind if we reschedule and hopefully do it tomorrow if you’re free? =)

He quickly texts back with a response: Yes, that’s fine, love. I’m really looking forward to seeing you again, beautiful. xx

I smile brightly as I text him back and tell him I can’t wait to see him again either. I really couldn’t wait to see him again. There seemed to be something about him that made me want to know more, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on it.

“Abs, I hate to hang up so early, but I have to go to bed, I have work in the morning and it’s already super late. Talk to you soon, girl! Love you,” she speaks up. I glance up from my phone and look at her on the screen.

“Talk to you later then, tell Nikki I said hey! Love you too, Hales,” I tell her and wave before I end the call.

I look back at my phone and notice that Julia replied back to my message. I tap on her name in my message list and begin to read it.

It read: Great! Send me your address and we’ll come get you! Danielle can’t wait to meet you!

I respond back and tell her the address of my house. She responds back with a smiley face and tells me they will be over to get me in about fifteen minutes. I decide to start getting ready now so I won’t have to rush since they’ll be here in about fifteen minutes or so.

I walk over to my dresser and pull out my bra and pair of underwear before I make my way over to my closet to find an outfit to wear. I find a nice floral shirt to go with some skinny jeans before I head to the bathroom in the hall to take my shower.

After my shower, which didn’t take very long, I was dressed and just about finished with getting myself ready. My hair was styled how I wanted and my teeth were brushed. Once I finish getting ready, I go in to my room so I could find a pair of shoes to wear. After a few minutes, I finally decide on a cute pair of strappy sandals.

About right as soon as I put my shoes on, I hear the doorbell ring throughout the house. They were right on time; I am excited. Today was going to be fun, I knew it. I grab my phone and slip it in the back pocket of my jeans along with my Vera Bradley purse and put it over my shoulder. I even remembered my jacket since the weather is so unpredictable here, I’ve heard.

“Abby!” I heard my mom call for me as I descend the stairs.

“Yeah?” I question as I make it down to the bottom of the stairs and notice my mother turn to me from where she stood near the front door.

“There’s two girls here for you – you didn’t mention you made new friends on our first day here?” she questions with a smile as she looks at me.

“I was going to tell you but I guess you were asleep when I got back last night,” I reply as I walk toward the door to see Julia standing there with a tall girl with curly dark brown hair, who I’m guessing had to be Danielle.

“Hey!” I tell them with a big smile.

“Hey!” I get in response from both girls in unison.

“Well, I’ll see you later, Mom,” I tell her with a smile as I start to head out the door following behind Julia and Danielle. I turn and wave to her.

“Have fun, sweetie, see you when you get back,” she says and waves back as she shut the door.

“Bye,” I mutter as I follow the girls to a light blue Honda Civic. It was so shiny and looked brand new. I put my finger tips against the car and ran them across the surface.

“Oh- I almost forgot- Abby, this is Danielle!” Julia says introducing me to her.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell her with a smile.

“Nice to meet you too, love,” she responds in a thick British accent.

“So, you ready to get going? Shopping and then maybe get some lunch after?” Julia asks with a smile as she presses a button on her keys to unlock the door.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I say with a smile as she opens the back door for me. I climb in the back and put on my seatbelt before I shut the door in place.

On the drive to the mall, wherever it was, the three of us talked and got to know each other a bit better. I learned that Danielle was a dancer and that was how she ended up meeting Liam when the boys were on X Factor back in 2010. They seemed real perfect together, just like Julia and Harry did.

We arrive at the mall about fifteen minutes later. After Julia parks the car, we all get out and begin to make our way up to the entrance of the mall.

“Where to first ladies?” Julia asks with a smile as she loops each of her arms through each of mine and Danielle’s arms. I shrug my shoulders as I look at the two girls.

“You two probably know this place better way better than I do; I went to the mall back home in L.A. numerous times,” I tell them in response.

The girls drag me to Jack Wills first. I’ve seen a ton of people with shirts with that on it, when I was going around London yesterday. It reminded me of Abercrombie & Fitch, which is a world-wide chain. But I think Jack Wills merchandise and clothing is only sold here in the UK unlike Hollister and Abercrombie which is sold all over the world.

After the girls and I look around for a bit, I decide to get a pair of shorts and a hoodie with Jack Wills written in big white letters. For the next couple hours or so, we shop around and find some pretty cute things. Each of us had about four or five bags that we were holding on to.

We decide to go get some food in the food court since we were hungry. I decided to get some fish and chips from one of the food stands. As we begin to head out of the mall, we run in to Harry and Louis.

“Fancy running in to you two here,” Julia says with a laugh as she leans over and presses a kiss to her boyfriend’s lips.

“We got bored and Louis said he wanted to go shopping, so we decided ‘hey, why not’. I have a feeling I know why Lou wanted to come,” he says with a cheeky smile and nudges the older boy in the arm.

“Harry, hush up, you wanker,” he says and pushes the younger boy lightly. He smiles as he looks at me.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon, love,” Louis says with a smile as he stares at me. I couldn’t help but find myself staring at the tall blue eyed boy who stood before me. He had really pretty eyes; they were a shade lighter than mine are.

As I get my mind off of his eyes, I look over and notice Julia and Harry were standing over on their own engaged in their own conversation. They walk back up to where Louis, Danielle and I stood a few minutes later.

“So, Abby, I think Louis has a crush on you,” Harry says and gives me a wink. I feel my cheeks heat up a bit. Was he serious? Did he really like me? I only met him and his friends yesterday.

“He wouldn’t stop talking about you the whole way-” Louis punches him in the arm.

“Harry, go spend time with your girlfriend,” he cuts him off and looks over at me.

“Uh – would you like to hang out with me a bit? I’d really like to if you don’t mind,” he says and looks at me with a smile. I smile and give him a nod in response.

“Yeah, I’d really like that,” I tell him with a smile.

“You two have fun!” Danielle mutters with a smile as she, Julia and Harry look at Louis and me.

Have to admit, I was happy that I was going to spend the day with Louis. I wanted to get to know him better. There seemed to be something about him that made me want to know more about him.