Don't Let Me Go

Becca twirled her younger sister around on the dance floor, shaking her own hips to the sound of some rock classic. Chloe giggled, shaking her bum, allowing the glitter coated skirt to shimmer against the strobe lighting. Jensen joined his girls, picking up little Chloe, but always keeping his hand in Becca’s. He danced with both his girls until it was time to take their seats.

Becca walked over to table two, where she would be seated for the rest of the night. The first was a simple two seat table sat up front, dead centre. Jensen and Lisa took their seats behind it and everyone followed suit, attempting to find their seats.

Apart from Louis and Eleanor, nobody had yet to sit down and Becca was anxious to see who would be her table guests for the night, although she already had a small inkling. You see, the tables had an obvious pattern to them. On either side of the bride and grooms table sat table two and three. Table three held all the elderly parents of both parties and some other elders who preferred to chat amongst themselves. Table four, dead centre middle was a small table for the younger children, giving them easy access if a parent needed to quickly dash over for some given reason. All the other tables were seated with distant relatives and people Becca vaguely recognised, as well as close friends of Jensen and Lisa.

And then there was table two, the table that undeniable grouped the younger, teenage population of the party. That pretty much included Becca, Louis, Eleanor and the rest of the band. A lot of girls had to be seated separately for obvious reasons.

Becca double checked the name tag beside her and was a little thankful Harry’s name wasn’t there. The delicate white paper read ‘Niall’ and before she could question Louis on which one that was, the blonde guy with the cheeky smile sat down.

“Hi there,” He smiled again, his blue eyes still ever so dazzling, “The names Niall.”

“Becca,” She replied, holding at her hand for him to shake.

“Nice te’meet you Becca,” He greeted as all the other guys took their seat. It wasn’t helping that Harry was sitting dead in front, so her eyes would naturally find his without her realising.

Niall chatted to Becca for a while, introducing her to the other members, Liam and Zayn. She had heard their names many a time, but had never had the time to put a name to a face. For once she knew who her sister had been talking aimlessly about. Whilst he nattered with that sexy Irish twang, Becca’s eyes kept wandering and would always end up in the same place. Harry would sometimes catch her stare and hold it, or other times he was too busy chatting to notice.

For a moment she had zoned out of Niall and her conversation, but had clocked back in time for him to mention some sort of party.

“Louis is holding a birthday party for Eleanor at the weekend, so I’m looking forward to that,” Niall replied and Becca realised he had answered her question she had asked during her dream state.

“Oh of course, you must come,” Eleanor said when she heard Niall mention her party, looking genuinely sorry for not thinking of the idea herself.

“Great idea, El,” Louis smiled, turning to Becca, “You’ll come, won’t you?”

Becca stared between Niall, Louis and Eleanor and realised she was being sucked into a world only many had dreamed of.

“Yeah sure,” Becca replied with a sincere smile.

“Awesome,” Niall chortled, “Perhaps I could pick you up so you don’t have to go alone?” He asked, looking a little embarrassed. Becca suddenly realised she was being asked permission to be his date.

“Are you asking me on a date, Niall?” Becca asked in a cheeky voice, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“Well, I guess that’s what I was getting at.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly uncomfortable since they now had an audience; the whole table was eavesdropping. Becca caught Harry’s stare and she wondered if behind the poker face he was jealous? His expression never faltered and Becca silently cursed herself for being so big headed. Of course he didn’t care; he had far better and prettier girls to worry about. She bet he turned up with some beautiful girl who Becca could never compare too.

“Well I accept,” Becca replied, realising she had left the poor guy hanging for too long. She jotted down her number and address on a napkin, which Niall tucked safely in his jacket pocket.

The chatter on the table died down as Jensen stood to his feet and tapped his fork against his empty wine glass. The room fell silent and everyone looked eagerly at the newly married man. Becca knew it was time for her speech soon, however she wasn’t sure she would be able to do it. She knew that one day she would need to get over this fear of being in the spotlight or centre of attention, because it really did hold her back. Her uncle had constantly been on her back for performing at his pub on Saturday nights for extra cash. She enjoyed singing and playing guitar, but it was a hobby she kept to the confinements of her room. The only person to hear her sing is her younger sister, who usually demands a song before bedtime. She liked her voice, but it wasn’t Adele perfect or Christina Aguilera powerful. She was more of a Gabriella Aplin, soft and tender. As for the guitar, it was her mothers and she had learnt because of her.

“And I think my eldest daughter wanted to say a couple of words; Becca?” She had missed his speech and was now being summoned to stand up and talk. He walked over and handed her the mic, giving her a kiss to the cheek. “Just relax and keep it short, you being here speaks more than words.” He whispered before returning to his seat beside Lisa.

She took a deep breath and remembered what Louis had told her; from the heart; forget everything you planned. Her eyes fell on Harry’s and his small reassuring smile was all it took for a new surge of confidence to radiate through her.

“When I was eight years old, my mother passed away, leaving my dad to raise me alone. I’ve never really thanked you for everything you have done for me, dad, because it couldn’t have been easy raising a daughter. I can’t imagine how you coped through the tantrums and the teenage dramas; the boys and the ridiculous phone bills,” Becca spoke, as the room filled with chuckles. “And then you met Lisa. I must thank you, Lisa, because it was when he met you that I saw the spark return in his eyes. He loves and adores you; you only have to look in his eyes to see that.” Becca saw the tears pool in her dads eyes. Lisa was smiling fondly, holding Jensen’s hand and giving it a small squeeze. “I know mum is looking down at us now and I know she would be happy that you found such an amazing woman like Lisa; I know she would have loved you. So I guess, here’s to Lisa and Dad… ergh, Jensen.” Becca blushed, correcting herself and raising her glass and everyone followed.

“Lisa and Jensen,” The room chorused, hitting their glasses together. Becca took a seat and let out a long breath; all the guys on the table were praising her, especially Louis who knew how hard it was for her to stand up and do that. She thanked them and looked over at her dad who was staring at his eldest with a few stray tears falling down his cheek. Lisa was also blubbering, asking her friend to sort out her make-up. Jensen smiled at his daughter and blew her a kiss, miming a ‘thank you’. Becca raised her glass and smiled at her dad.

“Didn’t mention Coco,” Chloe was at her knees, her tiny arms folded and a little pout on her cherub lips. Becca scooped her little sister up onto her lap.

“Oh I’m so sorry Coco,” Becca planted a group of kisses on her sisters cheeks and head until the little girl was squealing with delight. She had forgotten already that she was mad at her older sister and was now turning to Niall to hound him further. Becca played with the stray blonde locks that were bouncing around Chloe’s little shoulders, lacing her finger inside one of the perfect curls.

Soon it was time for the first dance and Becca was shocked to see the One Direction boys get up on stage and take a place behind a microphone. Chloe clapped her hands and shouted Louis’ name over and over in a chant until he blew her a kiss and she let out a content shriek.

“I didn’t know they were performing,” Becca said to Eleanor who was laughing at Chloe’s love infatuation with her boyfriend.

“Neither did anyone else; it was a wedding surprise that Louis set up with his mum and the guys.” Eleanor elaborated, helping Becca understand. She had been behind a lot of the weddings planning, since Lisa had asked her too, but she remembered hiring a DJ and karaoke machine, not One Direction.

“Hey everybody,” Louis spoke in the mic, “I just wanted to wish my Auntie Lisa and Uncle J a lifelong of happiness together. The guys and I hoped you didn’t mind, but we wanted to sing you a song and since you picked Little Things as your first dance, why not have the live version!” A cheer went up into the crowd and Lisa began blubbering again.

Jensen and Lisa took to the floor as the opening music began playing. Zayn’s beautiful voice filtered through the mic and into the function room, the natural echo in his voice bouncing off the walls and gracing the ears of those around. Liam joined in as Jensen gave Lisa a twirl before pulling her back into his arms. Becca’s dad was smooth that was for sure.

Louis’ higher tone joined the mix and Becca smiled, realising that he was now officially apart of her family. Louis Tomlinson was her cousin and had welcomed both her and Jensen into his family with warm arms. Chloe let out a cry of joy and shouted Louis name one more time, causing him to smile. I think Chloe had won the heart of one Louis Tomlinson.

Becca smiled, nuzzling her sisters main of locks but was momentarily stunned when she realised someone else was singing now. She looked up and hesitantly found him again. He was singing in that gruff undertone that Becca had remembered from Chloe’s album. It was low and soothing, sending shivers down her spine. It didn’t help that his eyes locked on hers when he joined in after Niall and sang the chorus.

Everything from the emerald eyes, soft pink lips, curly main of hair, the deep set dimples and the beautiful voice had Becca in awe. Feelings were stirring within the pit of her stomach; feelings so alien to her.

She had known the boy for five minutes and she knew she was already hooked. Hooked on the feelings and hooked on him. If only the same feeling of dread and anxiety didn’t accompany this state of euphoria.