Us Against the World.

Well, I told him. I told Rory, he was so angry but at first he was silent before yelling at me. I understand why he was mad, I was a bad girlfriend. I kept apologizing, and he told me to shut up before telling me that I better find a good way to explain this when he gets home in a month.

I immediately regret telling him, but I couldn't take the guilt. My mind wondered to whether he would dump me or not then I started thinking about being single and I liked the ideas until Louis appeared in my thoughts and I heard the words, 'You're a bad person, you don't deserve me. The paparazzi is going to eat you alive, I don't want that falling to my career.'

I shook my head as tears pricked my eyes, I'm not a bad person. My conscious is telling me it though, after the phone call I felt worse than before.

Unfortunately, Rory being Rory, he went to the paparazzi and spilled the beans about me and Louis. My face or mine and Louis' face was all over every gossip magazine. When I went to work, women would come in and just say things to me, men too. Paparazzi would get pictures but yell things, ask me questions. If that wasn't bad, I had Louis trying to call me even more due to Rory's stunt. Mel came home, two days after the phone call and threw four or five magazines on the coffee table as I was on my phone, tweeting.

I was tweeting on my phone as the tv played in the background. The front door opened and I yelled 'hey' to Mel. She walked into the living room and looked at me. She had this 'you're in deep shit' look.

"What?" I asked, she threw magazines down on the coffee table, I looked at them. The main titles read, 'Quinn Flynn and The sassmaster from Doncaster, Louis Tomlinson locking lips?', 'Quinn Flynn's secret relationship revealed by anonymous source!', 'Quinn Hartley has cheating fever?', 'Quinn Flynn singer, producer..cheater?!'.

I sighed before Mel calmly asked, "You wanna tell me what's going on now?"

Mel didn't know squat, I didn't tell her. I pushed it out of my mind, just trying to move past it. I looked at her, and she kind of glared at me. "Your name is on every other magazine, you know my mum called asking about you and what's going on, that was a phone call I really wanted to have. I had to ask Harry what was happening. Do you know how dumb I looked? Not knowing what was wrong with my bestfriend and roommate!"

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed again, "I was going to tell you. At the right time. I just didn't think Rory was going to go to the paparazzi. I had pushed everything to the back of my mind. I didn't want to think about it, alright?"

Mel sat next to me and looked at me with slight concern, "What happened?"

"We were dancing and writing music, I got soda on my shirt and he gave me one to changed into-he kissed me. I left and felt so guilty because of Rory. So I told him, now he is telling every magazine and paparazzi."

"This is why I'm here, you're supposed to tell me so I can help." She hugged me and stood up before picking up the magazines and tossing them away.

Four days after Mel and I had our talk about what happened, I went into work one day and Louis came in with Niall. Niall smiled at me and told me the orders, I started making them as he talked. Louis was looking at the ground and I was trying so hard not to look at him directly. After Niall paid for the drinks, I stepped out from behind the counter and hugged him before I saw a teenage girl taking a photo. That's how it was at work, my reputation blew up and now when I go to work, it is like everyone has their phone out and waits for me to screw up. They left and I went back behind the counter, not too long after that the same girl came up to me and introduced herself. Saying she worked for a magazine, she started asking me questions as to whether Niall and I were a thing now. I rolled my eyes and said 'no' before telling her to mind her own business.

So that's where I am now, reading the so called article the girl made on her blog. Yeah works for a magazine my ass. My suitcase was sitting on my bed with it halfway full, as I sat at my computer desk reading the girl's blog. She said I showed rude behavior when asked if I was with Niall and basically she said I was easy and getting around the band. Right at the bottom of the blog was the picture of me and Niall along with the caption, 'Perrie and Sophia better watch out before this singer gets her claws into one of their boys.'

I rolled my eyes as Mel walked into my room and cleared her throat loudly getting my attention before saying, "You're not done packing yet?! We have to leave in like 20 minutes."

We were going to my mom's for Thanksgiving weekend. We were going to spend Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, then Mel has to come back home and go to her cousin's wedding, while I spend Friday and Saturday with my mom. We have been doing for almost two years now. Every year, my mom gets stranger.

I huffed and turned the laptop towards Mel before going to my closet and dresser to grab some more clothes.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Mel asked looking incredulously at me then back to the laptop.

"Nope, Niall came into Starbucks. I hugged him and that girl took that picture then proceeded to come up to me and asked me about Niall and I's relationship. I told her nothing was happening then told her nicely to mind her own business. Then she got mad and walked off."

I closed my laptop after Mel finished reading the blog post then shoved it into my duffle and zipped it up. I threw it on my shoulder and said, "Let's go."

It was a two hour car ride for Mel and I, my dad was going and it was a four hour car ride for him. My mom lived in Dereham which happens to be in Norfolk. I kind of live in between my parents. London was smack dab in the middle of their two places. They loved it too, well my dad did. My mom wanted me to move back in with her. But I'm good where I am. Mel and I put our bags in her backseat before getting the front and starting the car. She drove off, the car ride was going to be very long.



As expected, the car ride was long. We left at 3 so we could get there around 5-ish. And we did, Mel pulled the car in my mom's driveway and parked the car.

My mom came out of the house yelling, "Yoo-hoo! Mel! Quinn!"

I rolled my eyes and opened the trunk as my mom came over to us. Taking the suitcases out of the trunk, my mom hugged Mel and kissed her cheek. I grabbed my suitcase as Mel grabbed hers, we made our way into the house as my mom started talking about her latest excursion to the Dominican Republic.

She told us she would let us get settled in, Mel and I walked upstairs and went to our separate rooms. I put my suitcase down and looked around my room. It was always the same, my mom never changed it. I started unpacking before my mom yelled that the company was here. Company?

I went downstairs with Mel following, when I got to the middle of the stairs, I saw all five boys and their two girls standing in the foyer. What the hell?

"Look who's here girls, friends of yours. I assume." My mom said grinning like a fool, "Hi boys, what are you doing here?"

I clenched my jaw as Niall replied with, "Mel invited us, she said you wouldn't mind. You also mentioned it to us a couple weeks back."

"Why don't you give them a tour and show them their rooms, Quinn?" My mom said smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Sure.." I replied shooting a look at Mel, the boys grabbed their bags as my mom motioned for them to follow me. Mel was close behind and the boys close behind her. We got up the stairs and started down the hallway. I stopped at a door, my mom had signs on the doors with their names. I had told her their names way earlier when I first met them.

"This is Liam and Sophia's room, next to that is Zayn and Perrie's. Across from Liam's is Niall's room and next to his is Harry's. Next to Harry's is Mel's and across from hers is mine and next to mine is..Louis'." I finished, they opened the doors and set their things inside before Harry said, "Your mom's house is nice, Quinn."

"Yeah, she likes to show off. Anyways, follow me. There is a public restroom right here. Down this hallway on the left, is the library. The hallway on the right has the game room. There is a set of stairs at the end of this hallway it has a mid ground which has two doors, one leads to one of the kitchens. The other leads straight to the basement." I explained, the boys followed me downstairs and I showed them the two kitchens, laundry rooms, the lounge rooms, dining room and the backyard.

When we got back into the house, Liam asked, "So why are there so many rooms?"

"My mom likes to boarder rooms out to people. They go home for Thanksgiving. And come back afterwards. It's for people who don't have homes."

"How long do they stay?" Zayn asked, I shrugged.

"Usually my mom helps them get jobs, she saves up their checks and buys them houses. She helps alot more people than most think she does. Like mom said, make yourselves at home." I replied before walking upstairs and going into the library.



After I went to my room, Mel came in then my mom did. They were trying to get me to come out. I was pissed at Mel for inviting them. I shouldn't be, but I was. She knew full and well that I didn't want to see Louis.

I stayed in my room a bit, Niall came and hung out with me, seeing as how Sophia, Liam, Perrie and Zayn were having their own little movie date in the theatre room. He told me that Harry and Mel were in the other lounge room and he didn't bring up Louis.

After an hour or two, my mom called everyone down for dinner. Pizza, tradition since I was 5. My dad had arrived and I didn't hear nor see him, I went to my room after eating and worked on covers on YouTube.

When I got up the next morning, my mom and dad were cooking and making the food. Mel was helping out and the boys and their girls were sitting in the lounge room watching the Parade in America. I missed it, sometimes.

I sat at the bar and watched my mom run around the house cooking, and setting things up. After a while, she called for dinner. We all went into the dining and started digging in. My mom started making conversation, I wasn't paying attention to them, I didn't really like being at my mom's.

"..isn't that right, Quinn?" My mom asked, I looked up and saw everyone looking at me. "What?"

"I was telling them about how you were awkward in elementary school. You remember when Bryan Carter asked you to the school dance and you were just so awkward about it." My mom replied before I blushed and got embarrassed. She always did this when I had friends over, I kept eating and staring at my plate. When I looked up, Louis was looking at me with hurt but concerned expression. He was sitting next to me and I was next Niall then Mel and Harry. My dad sat at the head of the table then it was Liam, Sophia, Zayn and Perrie, with my mom sitting at the other end.

Suddenly, I felt a hand touch mine under the table, I looked over and Louis smiled small before continuing to eat. My mom went off about the many trips she always took then explained what she does. I tried to pull my hand from Louis' but he tightened the grip on it. Then stated tracing circles on the top of my hand. I may be mad at him, but he can always calm me down. He was trying to do that now and I knew why, my mom started talking about me again.

"Did you guys know, before Quinn looked like she does now, she used to be chubby?"

"No way," Harry said chuckling before my mom continued with what she was saying, "It is part of the reason I started homeschooling her. She was extremely overweight for her age and people made fun of her. Calling her 'chins' 'chubs' and all other sorts of names, it broke my heart to see her come home everyday crying so I took her out of school but kids still made fun-"

"That's enough, mom." I snapped, my mom looked surprised that I said that and so did everyone else.

"Quinn Flynn-Hartley, you do not speak to me in that tone of voice." She replied back before looking at me finally, "Then I will not continue to sit here and listen to you tell my friends about how I was fat and maybe you wanna tell them some more dark secrets. Go on, I'm waiting. oh wait, no. I'm going to my room."

My dad shot me a sympathetic look before I left the dining room and headed upstairs to my room. When I got there, I flopped onto my bed and just laid there as small tears ran down my face.

I never wanted anybody to know any of that stuff that happened before I graduated. I worked out and pushed myself to lose all the weight my senior year and I did.

I heard someone open my door and close it, "I don't want to talk, Mel"

"Good, cause I was hoping you would let me comfort you." I heard Louis say as he sat on my bed, I sighed and looked at Louis.

"Why are you in here?" I asked sitting up and looking at him, he did something unexpected and pulled me in close to him. "Because I care about you and you need someone and I'm here."

"Why?" I asked, before he started tracing circles on my shoulder with his finger. "Because, I'm in-becuause I like you a lot. You are pretty and perfect to me. All over your imperfections and your past scars and memories make you better, makes you who you are. I know you are mad at me but I couldn't help myself. You wearing my shirt just tugged on my heart." He replied softly before I closed my eyes and said, "You shouldn't have done that, we are already getting so much backlash from it because of Rory."

He pulled away and looked at me in the eyes, "Can't you see I don't care about that?! The only thing that matters if we are happy. Why can't you accept the fact that you want me?"

"Because, I'm a bad person. I always have been and I always will. I just cheated on my boyfriend, who says that won't happen to us?"

"It won't, because I will always keep you happy. We will just go with how we feel? And if by Christmas you don't feel the same when Rory comes back then I will drop it."

I sat there thinking about it, a lot of bad things can happen if we do this. But it could make me happy in a relationship for once. I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

"I like you." He said before I said, "I like you too."

He kissed the top of my head and I smiled, forgetting everything that's been happening. He can make all my problems go away. I pulled back and kisses his cheek before he put his hands on the back of my neck before pulled me forward and kissed me softly. I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his middle. He pulled me close and we pulled away. He looked at me and smiled, I kissed the corner of his jaw before laying my head on his chest. When he talked, his chest vibrated my head.

Yeah, I was mad and upset but he makes me feel better.

I am utterly, unbelievably, absolutely falling for Louis Tomlinson.