Breathe

I giggled as I sipped my diet coke while watching Layla twerk on Liv to the beat of Who Run the World. Zoe was sat beside me, painting my toenails a nice pastel blue color and singing along to the song. We all decided to skip out on parties this weekend and just have a sleepover in our flat. We stocked up on junk food and we were blasting Beyoncé all night. It was nice because it was a change of routine of the usual get drunk with the boys and have killer hangovers the next day.

“Do you want pastel purple on the other foot?” Zoe asked once she was done with one of my feet.

I bit my lip and contemplated, looking at the lilac varnish and then at the blue one. “Yeah, sure. It’s cute.” I moved my other foot and placed it in front of her. Zoe got to work while Layla and Liv started yelling excitedly when the song switched to Partition. Somehow their dancing got dirtier and I laughed, making Zoe scowl at me because she got a bit of varnish outside of my nails and onto my skin.

“Nice moves, Layla,” I said after shooting Zoe an apologetic look. “If Niall were here he’d be drooling.”

“Oh god,” Layla laughed, stopping her dancing and moving to grab a bottle of water. “Have you all seen his comment on my last selfie.”

“Yes,” Liv said. “He compliments you all the time. Don’t act like you hate it.”

“I’ll be honest,” Layla shrugged after uncapping her bottle and drinking. “I do like the compliments. It’s a great self-esteem boost. But, he’s annoying.”

“He’s not that bad,” Zoe said, looking up at her real quick before going back to painting my nails again. “He means well. I think he just doesn’t use his head sometimes and does stupid things.”

“All he does is hit on me and objectify me.”

“He has been trying to get that under control,” Liv piped up. “He went from wanting to toss quarters on your arse to calling you a beautiful goddess, was it? My favorite was the prettier than sunrise comment. Poetic, that.”

“And to be fair, in all the years I’ve known him,” Zoe added. “I’ve never seen him get like this over any girl. You’ve done a number on him, Layla. He’s a changed man.”

Layla mulled over that for a few seconds before sitting down beside us. “I know he likes me,” she said. “But he calls me Laylay. Does that not make you want to cry?”

We all burst out laughing as she made a sad, pouty face. “I think he does that to make you mad. Harry told me that Niall teases you on purpose to make you mad because it, like, turns him on.”

“What?” Layla screeched, giggling as she covered her face. Zoe and Liv were laughing, too and I shrugged.

“It’s what Harry told me. It’s like a weird fetish type of thing. Boys are weird.”

“What’s up with you and Harry, though?” Zoe asked, looking up, and moving back so that I could let my toe nails dry.

“Yeah, tell us about you and Harry,” Layla urged. “Liv told me he stays over sometimes to hang out in your room and watch some show.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “We’ve been binge watching How I Met Your Mother. That’s all it is, though.”

“You two seemed cozy at that last party, too,” Zoe noted.

“Cozy at parties,” Liv sing songed while grabbing a bag of crisps. “Sleeping together and watch tv shows, doing revisions together, going on late night coffee trips.”

“That’s so cute,” Layla cooed. “Do you like him?”

I frowned at them and felt a bit stumped. I didn’t know if I liked Harry because I never allowed myself to even consider that question. Liv was always on to me, but I ignored her for the most part. She never meant any harm and was always just teasing. However, sitting here with Layla and Zoe grilling me as well, I didn’t know how to respond.

I shrugged. “Not really, I don’t think so,” I said.

“Would you hook up with him?”

I felt my cheeks flame up and I stifled a laugh. Suddenly, the thought of kissing Harry seemed to be imprinted into my mind. It was something I was actually actively thinking about and wasn’t exactly hating. However, I did hate my friends for even putting this thought into my head. “Fuck you guys,” I mumbled, throwing a pillow at them.

“You so would,” Liv laughed, pointing at me accusingly.

“Like, I said. Fuck you.”

“Would you hook up with Niall, Layla?” Zoe asked. I was thankful for the topic redirection, but it was still possible it could come back to me again.

“You have to be honest,” Liv said, looking at Layla.

Layla bit her lip and sighed. “Don’t repeat this to anyone or I swear to God, I will kill all of you.”

“We won’t,” I cried. “Promise.”

“He’s cute,” Layla said. “Like, he has nice eyes and a smile. And I don’t know. Something about him is really nice, but he’s a tosser. I’m not going to hook up with him.”

“That’s what you say now,” I giggled. “But you guys have this pent up sexual tension that you’re going to want to relieve sooner than later.”

“Nope,” she said.

“Yes,” Zoe and Liv agreed with me.

“I would hook up with Liam faster than I’d hook up with Niall because Liam is really nice and Niall isn’t,” Layla said.

My eyebrows shot up and I contemplated Layla and Liam together. Liv laughed. “I’d hook up with Liam, too,” she said. “He’s really fit and I think he has a lovely smile. Very warm and comforting. Like a puppy or something.”

“Is there something I should know?” I asked, staring at both Layla and Liv. Since when have my best mates been drooling over Liam Payne?

“Shut up,” Layla scoffed. “You’re the one dying to have Harry bone you.”

“Okay,” I cried. “I’m not dying for Harry to bone me. I didn’t even respond to you.”

“Your face said it all,” Liv replied. “Besides Harry, who would you hook up with?”

I bit my lip and looked at Zoe apologetically before mumbling, “Zayn.”

All the girls laughed, including Zoe who put an arm around me. “It’s fine, I’m not mad. As long as you don’t try anything.”

“I would never,” I reassured her, hugging her. “But he’s beautiful, so. I’d also totally hook up with Louis. He’s a loudmouth like me. Would be fun in bed.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Liv said, nodding her head. “So, Liam and Louis would be my top picks. Harry and Zayn and Louis are Blair’s. Layla wants to bang Niall and Liam, but mostly Niall.”

“Heeey,” Layla cried, but Liv stuck her tongue out at her before turning to Zoe.

“What about you?”

Zoe bit her lip and smiled mischievously. “I used to hook up with Louis before I got with Zayn. Like just make out. And Liam made out with me fresher’s week, so.”

“Oh my god,” I cried. “I never knew that.”

“We don’t talk about it,” Zoe said. “Zayn knows about it and it’s fine. The other boys and I are better off as friends, anyway.”

“That’s so weird,” Liv said, grinning through a mouthful of crisps. “Are they good kissers?”

Zoe shrugged. “Louis is. I don’t really remember Liam’s since it was so long ago. Plus, we were both really drunk. If it hadn’t been for Louis, I wouldn’t have known Zayn, though.”

“Did they, like, fight over you?” I asked her.

Zoe shook her head. “No, it wasn’t dramatic. Louis and I hooked up for a while, but then we stopped and he got with other people. And Zayn and I just kept getting closer and talking more. Eventually, we realized we liked each other. Louis was actually really happy for us.”

“Nice,” Liv commented.

“Okay, so whatever we just spoke about here, stays here,” Layla reminded us, rather neurotically. “I really don’t want Niall to know. He will never leave me alone.”

“As if he leaves you alone now,” I laughed. “You’re so paranoid he’ll find out, aren’t you?”

“Obviously,” she said. “I don’t want him to know.”

“We promise we won’t say anything,” Liv told her. “How does a movie sound right now? I’m in the mood to watch something funny.”

The girls and I agreed and grabbed a laptop to hook up to the TV so that we could watch something on Netflix. We ended up choosing Clueless, even though Layla and Liv had a small argument over whether we should pick Dictator or Scary Movie 2. Halfway through the film, someone rang our bell and I got up since I was closest to the door.

When I opened it, my eyes widened as I watched Liam, Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry all march in screaming at the top of their lungs and laughing. The other girls got up, startled, as the boys made themselves comfortable. Louis, Liam and Niall horded our food and drinks immediately while Zayn went over to Zoe to give her a kiss.

“Is that Clueless?” Harry asked, sitting down in my spot and pulling my blanket over himself. “I loved this movie. Gemma watched it all the time.”

The girls and I continued to stare at them in confusion.

“What are you doing here?” Layla finally asked. She looked a bit nervous and it probably had a lot to do with Niall smiling at her like the sun was shining out of her arse.

“We decided to crash because we thought it was unfair that we weren’t invited,” Liam answered. “It seemed like fun. But not much is happening now that we’re here.”

“Honestly,” Louis agreed. “Girls do boring stuff during sleepovers. I’ve seen my sisters; it’s all bullshit, like the movies show. Full of chick flicks and painting nails and gossiping. We should have gone out.”

“Speaking of which,” Liv said. “Why aren’t you at the party?”

“We got bored,” Harry replied.

“I wasn’t bored,” Louis pointed.

“Well, most of us were,” Niall said. “It’s not fun when you guys aren’t there.”

“Aww,” I cooed, finally closing the door and making my way over to sit beside him. Niall laughed, pulling me closer to cuddle. “We honestly weren’t doing much, though.”

“We can see that,” Louis said bitterly.

“I’m fine with a movie,” Zayn said, his head on Zoe’s lap as she stroked his hair.

“It’s a good movie,” Harry told him. “It’s about--.”

“Harry,” Louis interrupted. “Please. Your extensive knowledge of chick flicks is getting weirder by the minute. I have five younger sisters and I don’t even know that much.”

“They’re all so much younger than you,” Harry bit back. “Gemma is closer to my age. She’s my best friend so I spent more time with her and we watched these movies.”

“I love Harry’s extensive knowledge about chick flicks,” I said, shooting Harry an exaggerated wink. He smiled and laughed with me.

“Alright,” Louis rolled his eyes. “You two can go make out now.” My mouth dropped open, but Louis continued like he said that everyday. Which made me wonder if he did because Harry didn’t even flinch at the comment. “I know something we can do to make this night more fun, not just for us boys, but the girls as well.”

“We were having fun,” Liv said. “Besides, if you didn’t want to come, then why are you here?”

“They dragged me out,” Louis shrugged, pointing at Liam and Zayn. “Anyways, are you really having fun because I know you all have watched Clueless before? You could do without watching it again.”

The girls and I shrugged and Louis grinned mischievously. Niall looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “What are you planning, Tommo? Out with it.”

“Let’s do a scavenger hunt of sorts,” he said.

“Wouldn’t that take a lot of preparation?” Zayn asked. “We’d have to get stuff and put it in different places and make maps and stuff.”

“No,” Louis shook his head. “I’m thinking of splitting the nine of us into two teams and we make a list of things that we have to complete. Take pictures and videos of your task once completed and we meet at the campus pub to show each other. Losers buy winners drinks for the rest of the month.”

“That’s actually brilliant,” I grinned, getting excited and bouncing up and down on my seat. “Let’s do it.”

“Wait,” Liam frowned. “A month? That’s a long time. Why are the stakes so high? I know you won’t go easy on the items on the list, Lou.”

“Don’t be such a baby, Liam,” Louis said to him. “Are the rest of you in or not?”

Everyone smiled and nodded their heads, getting excited as well. I went to my room and grabbed a few sheets of paper and pens before walking back out to everyone. Louis was sitting in the center with Liam’s snapback in his hand. “First things first,” he began, grabbing the pen and paper from my hand.

“I’m the realest,” Liv finished for him.

“Thank you, Iggy Azalea,” Louis rolled his eyes. He ripped up a piece of paper into nine pieces before writing each of our names on them. “I’m putting these all in the hat and then I’ll mix them up and split them five-by-four to make the teams.”

We watched as Louis threw the little pieces of paper into the hat and shook it around a bit before dumping them in front of him. He separated them randomly and then opened each piece of paper slowly. “Alright,” he said. “First team is Liam, Blair, Layla, Niall and Harry.”

“Challenge accepted,” Harry said in his best Barney Stinson accent. I laughed and high fived him and Niall.

Liam looked happy as well and I noticed Layla looking at Niall. She looked unreadable so I wasn’t sure if she was angry or what. Niall was too busy cuddling with Liam to notice. Well, that was a change. Layla eyeing Niall instead of the other way around.

“Second team,” Louis began, “is obviously the remainder. Liv, Zoe, Zayn and me.”

“We’re going to win this shit,” Liv said. She was already looking ready to beat us down. Maybe putting Liv and Louis together wasn’t a good idea. They were both so competitive. Zayn would even it out. He wouldn’t be doing much of anything except looking good.

After the teams were settled, I grabbed a sheet for our team while Liv took one for theirs. We both wrote down the list of the tasks we had to complete. Each of us pitched in ideas and it got more and more outrageous every time. After compiling a list of twenty-three things, we all split up to get started. The other team left for one of the boys’ flat so we weren’t all running into each other, while Niall, Layla, Harry, Liam and I were sat in mine.

• 1) pie a team member on the face
• 2) shotgun a beer
• 3) milk challenge (with color dye)
• 4) run around a store and yell “penis”
• 5) picture with a homeless person
• 6) ballroom dance in the middle of the street
• 7) take a shot of hot sauce and don’t drink water for at least 5 minutes
• 8) flour a team member
• 9) kiss a stranger
• 10) kick a ginger
• 11)put ice scream in a sock and slap a team member with it
• 12) saran wrap a team member and roll them down a hill
• 13) belly bump naked
• 14) ask a stranger to marry you -- be believable
• 15) pick someone up through miley cyrus or hannah montana lyrics and get them to buy you a drink
• 16) banana boner in public
• 17) spank a stranger
• 18) go up to a random person and act like you haven’t seen them in forever
• 19) boys wear a girl’s panties and walk into a shop full of people (up to 2 boys)
• 20) naked team picture
  
  

“So, none of these have to be done in order,” Niall said, scanning the list. “I say we get rid of whatever is easier before doing the harder ones.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to do the harder ones first to get those out of the way so that we could go more quickly through the easier ones later?” Layla asked.

She had her arms crossed and a pout on her lips because she didn’t want to work with Niall. A part of me felt like she only built this attitude and wall up just because she felt like she had to. Not because she actually hated Niall. I mean, considering her previous confession of finding him attractive.

“No, because if we did the easier ones first we could take our time with the harder ones,” Niall reasoned.

Layla was just about to argue back when Harry grabbed the sheet of paper from Niall. “Stop. Let’s just. Let’s strategize. With the determination I saw on Liv and Louis’s face to win, we have to be quick.”

“I think that sounds better than hearing these two argue,” Liam agreed.

Layla scoffed. “I can strategize,” she exclaimed. She grabbed the sheet back from Harry and looked it through. I watched as she bit her lip and looked back up at us. “There’s a lot of things here that we might need to buy depending on whether or not Liv and B have any in the flat. I’m going to go look through the kitchen for everything while Blair gives you guys her knickers.”

The boys all looked confused for a second and I snickered. “There’s a task on here that says you have to walk into a shop in girls pants.”

Niall cackled loudly and looked over Layla’s shoulder to confirm. “So, we go in wearing girls pants and nothing else and buy the other stuff we need? Two in one.”

“Yup,” Layla nodded in confirmation.

“I’ve worn girls pants before,” Liam quipped. “I was eight years old then, though, Ruth and Nicola thought it’d be cute to dress me up.”

Harry laughed, patting Liam on the back, and then turned back to me. “Do we get to pick the color?”

I nodded, grinning. “Let’s go,” I said. I led the boys into my room while Layla got to searching the flat for the necessary items. When I got to my room, I opened my drawer for the boys. “Take your pick, but I get to approve. I don’t want you guys taking my favorite ones.”

“Ooo,” Harry cooed teasingly. “Saving the sexy lingerie for anyone special?”

I shot him a look and he snickered before looking at the selection towards the front. Niall wasn’t fussy and settled for a simple blue one from the top as did Liam with a black one which had pink hearts around it. I gave them a simple nod of approval, but Harry was taking his time, not pleased with the ones he saw so he rifled a bit until he smirked. “I like this one,” he said, picking up a lacy black one I’d gotten a few weeks ago. “Do you ever wear this? This is so fucking hot.”

“That looks like it might hurt,” Niall said to him. “I don’t even think it’ll cover half your dick.”

“I’m not going to wear it,” Harry said. “I just think it’s really hot.” He turned to me, smiling smugly. “You should wear this sometimes.”

My cheeks heated up and I laughed nervously. “Shut up. Just pick something.”

Harry laughed, his eyes trained on me, as he pulled out a pink one with shooting stars on them. “Do you have any more?”

“Any more what?” I asked.

“Knickers like those,” he said, like it was obvious.

I did have more, but Liam and Niall were staring at us, so I didn’t know how to say so. Plus, Harry was looking at me in a way he never had before, which made me a bit nervous. I nodded my head and closed the drawer. “I’ll go to Layla. You guys can change in here.”

“Thanks, B,” Niall said as I walked back out to Layla who had a banana, a can of beer, a sock, ice cream, and saran wrap in a bag. “Do we have everything?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “We still need flour, a pie, food colouring and hot sauce.”

“Christ,” I laughed. Layla laughed as well, dangling the bag in front of me.

“This is fun,” she said, quietly moving closer to me so I’d hear her and her voice wouldn’t echo off towards where the boys were.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You going to be good around Niall?”

She rolled her eyes. “I suppose he isn’t that bad.” I started laughing because I knew it. She kind of liked him. She rolled her eyes and smacked me on my arm to get me to stop. “They’re coming,” she warned before looking over my shoulder.

I turned around to look and snickered as the boys walked out of my room, looking as uncomfortable as ever. Liam was wincing and Niall had a grimace on his face. Harry followed behind, his lips in a thin line.

“You guys alright?” I asked.

“You’re a lot smaller than either of my sisters,” Liam said. “I think we all underestimated the size.”

Layla laughed loudly. “This is going to be gold. I can’t wait to watch you all walk into the shop. You can’t have your jeans on, by the way. Louis said.”

“Louis can suck my dick,” Liam groaned. “This hurts. My circulation is gone all wrong.”

“Are you wearing it right?” Niall asked, still adjusting. “I’ve got it set up right and I’m fine.”

“Oh my God,” I mumbled, hiding behind my hands.  

“Are you saying your penis is peeking out from the top?” Liam asked him.

Niall nodded. “It’s better than folding it and stuffing it in the middle, that’s why you’re in pain.”

Harry looked just as stricken as Layla and I with the conversation being held in front of us. “Are you two done?” Harry asked, impatiently. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t believe I’m going in there in girls knickers,” Harry mumbled, holding onto my shoulder as he pulled his jeans off. Niall was already standing there, hands on his hips proudly, and his jeans in the bag Layla was carrying. Despite tucking in his penis in a more convenient way for himself earlier, Niall quickly realized that he couldn’t do that once he took his jeans off considering he’d be flashing everyone inside the shop, so he turned away and wore the pants like the other two boys.

“Remember that one of you has to run around screaming penis while you’re in there,” Layla reminded them.

“That will not be me,” Liam quickly said. “I’m going to go buy the stuff and walk out. I’m not even going to look anyone in the eye.”

“Well one of you has to do it,” I said. “The other can help get the stuff we need as quick as possible because I’m sure someone will call the cops. Whoever yells penis will create a diversion towards the end to stall everything. I’m going to be filming that while Layla films the other two.”

The three boys looked between each other and somehow conversed through their eyes. Layla was starting to get impatient. “Well?” she asked, tapping her foot.

Harry sighed heavily. “I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll scream penis.”

“Harry has little to no shame,” Niall told us. “He’d be the least embarrassed out of the three of us. First would be Liam. He’s weak as fuck.”

“I resent that,” Liam jabbed him. Niall smacked his bum and pushed him towards the shop.

“Let’s go buy the fucking stuff,” he said. He turned back to us. “You girls ready?”

Layla nodded, following after Niall and Liam with her video turned on recording. I walked beside Harry, getting my camera ready. The other three had walked in and were already grabbing the items as fast as they could. Harry and I stood there, watching them through the glass walls, snickering as everyone turned to look and point at the boys.

“Liam has a wedgie,” Harry pointed out. “And Niall’s balls are practically hanging out. Do you see that lady standing by the cash register?”

I laughed, nodding my head, feeling like I couldn’t breathe. “She looks horrified. This is the funniest thing I’ve seen.”

“Time for me to run in yet?” he asked.  

I nodded my head quickly, seeing that Liam and Niall were nearly done. “Yeah, they’re almost done anyway.” We both turned back to the store and laughed harder when we saw two men approach Liam. Liam looked absolutely scared shitless while Layla was hovering a foot away from them. Niall, on the other hand, was trying to quickly pay for everything and leave.

“I think you’re ready to go,” I said to Harry, watching as Niall joined Liam and Layla where the two guys who had approached him earlier, were looking quite angry as they told them off. One of the blokes was blushing furiously and I wasn’t sure if they were put off by the whole incident or felt turned on.

Harry quickly ran in and I followed behind. As soon as Harry was inside the shop, he took a deep breath, catching the attention of everyone in the shop, and then started running around with his arms over his head.

“Penis!” he shouted, running through the aisles. I started to choke because I was laughing so hard, running after him. I could hear the cashier calling in the security, who were yelling over the speakers asking Harry to stop. Once Harry and me had made a full round, the others quickly ran out of the shop with us and we all ran into a nearby ally, away from everyone who’d walked out after us.

There was a rather large crowd of people standing outside now, looking to see where we’d gone, but after five minutes, they all went their own ways.

I turned back around to find the boys were standing in a darker, secluded area, taking off my pants and putting on their own again. Layla was hunched over the wall of a building and laughing as she re-watched the video. I went and sat besides her, looking over her shoulder. “What were those two guys saying?” I asked.

“That we’re going to go to hell,” she told me, snickering. “But they were priests from the church a few blocks down.”

“No,” I cried, covering my mouth. “Were they really?” Layla nodded her head, laughing just as hard.

“They were lecturing them so bad. It was hilarious. Liam kept mumbling and apologizing.”

“That was not funny,” Liam said, walking back to us. He had my pants in his hand and handed them to me. I wrinkled my nose and opened my purse, asking him to just dump it in. I was not going to touch that until it had been washed. “They were talking about God and our indecency. Had me feeling rather guilty.”

Harry and Niall laughed behind him as they walked over and gave me my pants back. “If it hadn’t been for Harry, Liam would have probably been taken to Confession and all to ask for forgiveness for having his anaconda dick out,” Niall said, pulling out the list of tasks and crossing out two of their tasks. “What should we do next?”

“Milk challenge with color dye,” Layla said, looking over his shoulder.

“Oh God,” Liam moaned. “I heard that was, like, really hard.”

“What do you even do?” I asked. I remembered it had been Louis who suggested this after he’d seen some Youtube videos, but didn’t explain.

“We all have to drink a gallon of milk with color dye in it and try not to throw up.”

I cringed at the idea of the task. “So, how about the four of us do it and one of us film?”

“Well, I’m lactose intolerant,” Layla said. “I have to film.”

Liam groaned again. “I was hoping it’d be me. On account of my kidney and all.”

“Drinking milk doesn’t affect your kidney,” Harry glared at him. “Plus, your kidneys are fine. When will you stop being the boy who cried I only have one kidney even though he always had two.”

“One of them wasn’t working before,” Liam argued back. “It now is, but before it was barely there.”

“Give it up, Payno,” Niall agreed. “We know the real truth.”

“Fine,” Liam said. “But if I get sick, I’ll be sending you lot the medical bill.”

“Send it to Louis for putting that on the list,” I told him. “I assume you all got the milk and dyes.”

Harry nodded his head, taking out the necessary items from the bags. Each of us grabbed a gallon of milk while Layla waited with her phone set to video. I grabbed the pink dye and poured it into my carton before closing it and shaking it to let the color mix in. “Are you excited or nervous?” Layla asked.

I shrugged, looking to my right as the boys mixed in their colors. Liam looked rather sickly even though we hadn’t even started. “I think I can do it,” I said to Layla, turning back. “Could be funny, though, if we threw up. Can you imagine the mess we’d leave? A rainbow of milk vom.”

Layla laughed, leaning against the brick wall behind her.

“Okay, we’re ready,” Harry said, holding his carton of red milk.

“I’m not,” Liam moaned.

“Let’s start then,” I said. We all uncapped our milk cartons and started drinking. For a while, it was fine. I made it halfway through until my stomach started turning. I winced as I drank some more and pulled away immediately, heaving against the wall. “I don’t know if I can anymore.”

“You’re barely done,” Niall pointed out. His carton was about three quarters finished and I pouted. Harry was in the same state as me with only half of his carton finished.

It was Liam who puked first, though. He turned away from all of us and clutched his stomach as he vomited blue liquid all over the ground. Seeing him go made my stomach turn even more and I gagged before throwing up myself. It was undeniably repulsive. Harry soon followed after trying to take a few more gulps, but then gave up. Niall was the only one able to stomach the entire gallon of milk, despite looking rather sickly.

I was slumped over on the wall, with my eyes closed, as I let myself relax. “I’m never drinking milk again,” I said.

“That makes two of us,” Liam piped in.

Layla was watching the video she had recorded over and over again, laughing. It was then that I realized Niall was stood close beside her and watching as well, the two of them laughing together. I didn’t think she realized exactly what she was doing, but it made me smile to see them finally somewhat, maybe getting along.

“What’s next?” Liam asked.

I watched with Liam as Niall and Layla looked through the list and mumbled things to each other. It was rather entertaining. They’d laugh over some things and then if their shoulders brushed or fingers touched, they’d both turn a deep shade of red, blushing before acting like nothing happened. I couldn’t be the only one to notice how often they’d look at each other and get quiet for a few moments before continuing either. I turned to Liam who raised his eyebrows at me.

“How about,” Layla suggested once her and Niall were done discussing. “We get one of us to film, while the other four pie and flour someone. So, it’ll be another two in one.”

“Okay,” we agreed. They all got up and let Harry take the camera this time since he was still feeling poorly from throwing up. I paired up with Layla while Liam and Niall paired off.

“I call dibs on the flour,” Niall said, quickly grabbing it out of the bag and handing it to Liam.

“Gee, thanks for leaving me with the pie, Ni,” I said to him, pursing my lips when I saw Layla pull out the small lemon meringue pie. She grinned at me, putting her finger through it and popping it in her mouth. Niall looked like he was in pain.

“Yum,” she moaned.

“Don’t drool, Niall,” Liam warned, shutting Niall’s mouth for him, since he was still transfixed on Layla.

“You guys ready?” Harry asked, standing back and setting the camera to the right angle.

“Give us a minute,” Liam said, opening the bag of flour and holding it up next to Niall. “Okay, now I’m ready.”

“Girls?” Harry asked.

“Ready,” we answered back.

Harry did a countdown and pressed the button. There was a mere three second grace period until I felt Layla smash the pie in my face and I let out a small scream, laughing as I leaned back on the wall.

“Oh my God,” I cried. “Shit.”

Layla and Harry were both doubled over laughing and I turned to see Niall looked like a walking ghost, covering in white that you could hardly tell if he was a person or not.

“You look fucking scary, mate,” Liam laughed as Niall shook himself like a dog and splattered us all with flour. “I can’t even tell it’s you except for your eyes. Shit.”

“Do you all see Blair?” Layla asked and everyone turned to me, laughing as they walked closer, and dipped their fingers on my face to get some pie filling.

“Yum,” Harry grinned, licking his finger. He then leaned in and kissed my cheek, but licked a stripe of cream off as well, and I squealed pushing him away.

“Gross,” I cried.

“I want to try that,” Niall said, leaning in to do the same.

After fighting them off for five minutes from licking my face further like actual dogs, I managed to grab napkins that Layla had thankfully brought with her and cleaned up my face as much as possible. Niall was still trying to shake the flour off of himself. Poor lad.

We all huddled up together and figured out which task to do next. We decided to head over to Hyde Park nearby to do the saran wrap task since they had a hill there and try to cross off a few more things on the list on the way. I walked alongside Liam and Harry, watching Niall and Layla walk ahead of us, talking amongst themselves.

“How long do you think this will last before either of them realize that they’re actually getting along and start fighting and teasing again?” Liam asked, nudging Harry and I.

“I think this is a big deal,” Harry told him. “I think it’ll only go up from here. They’ll finally realize that they like each other.” Harry grinned with glee and Liam and I laughed. He turned to look at us with a soft frown. “What?”

“Very romantic idea, H,” I said to him. “But I will have to side with Liam right now. Layla was scowling about him an hour ago. I think she’ll snap out of it eventually and Niall will go back to tormenting her.”

“But don’t you two see?” he asked us. “This game is bringing them closer in a way they didn’t realize would.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Liam concluded. It was as we were walking down the street that I remembered one of the tasks.

“Hey, we could do the ballroom dancing task right now,” I said. Layla and Niall stopped in front of us and grinned.

“You’re right,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Do you want to do it?”

“I don’t know how to ballroom dance,” I told her. “But I know you do.”

“Yeah, I learned when I was younger,” she said.

“So, which of you boys want to do the honor?”

“Niall is actually really good at ballroom dancing,” Harry said, his eyes brightening. “I think he’ll be a better contender than any of us.”

“Niall?” Layla asked, raising an eyebrow and giving him a once over.

Niall looked absolutely ecstatic as he nodded his head. “I danced during my brother’s wedding. Not professional. Just with my nan and mum. I think I’m pretty good.”

Layla shrugged. “Fine, but just so you know, this is strictly for game reasons. I will not be enjoying this at all.”

“Keep telling yourself that, babe,” Niall laughed, moving closer to her as he placed his hand on her waist. Layla rolled her eyes and Liam laughed.

“Besides,” Liam said. “I think Harry will enjoy this enough for you, anyway.”

I snorted when I got a look at Harry’s grinning face. “You can do the honors,” I said, handing him the phone to record them as Layla and Niall got into position.

It was funny more than it was romantic. Niall looked way too happy and Layla was trying to do it as properly as possible. He wasn’t kidding when he said that he wasn’t all that great and he’d only gotten minimal practice from his brother’s wedding. Layla kept pulling him from one spot to another, scowling whenever he stepped on her foot or made a wrong turn. After two minutes, she stopped and turned to us.

“I can’t anymore,” she said. “He’s got two left feet.”

“I resent that,” Niall said to her. “I’m a great dancer.”

“In what world?”

“I think we’re good as it is,” Harry said, smiling as he stops the video and replays it for everyone else. Layla only watches it for a moment before taking out the task list again.

“We’ve done six out of twenty of these,” she informed us. “Let’s hope we can do a lot of them in the park.”

“A bunch of these require stuff dealing with strangers on the street,” I said, looking over her shoulder. “Question is, who is brave enough to do them.”

“Oh, right,” Liam recalled. “Like, kiss a stranger, spank a stranger. I think Liv came up with those.”

“Somebody’s got a stranger fetish,” Harry laughed. “We’ll do those after the park on the way back.”

The five of us walked the last few blocks that led us into Hyde Park and we settled down near a few tables and benches. Niall and Liam raced each other to the jungle gym before we could even put our stuff down and I watched Layla looking at them briefly before turning away and muttering something to herself.

“You alright?” I asked her, feeling Harry rest his head on my shoulder and close his eyes.

“Fine,” she said. “Just thinking, is all.” It seemed she didn’t want to elaborate just yet what with Harry sitting right there. I reminded myself to ask her later. “I think,” she started to say. “We could probably do more than half of these here.”

“Let’s get to it, then,” I said.

“First up. Let’s do the hot sauce one. We have to take a shot of hot sauce and not drink water for at least five minutes. Are you two up for that?”

“I can’t do it,” Harry shook his head, lifting it up. “After the milk thing, I’m going to throw up anything and everything I put in my mouth. You two can do it, I’ll record it.”

Layla and I shrugged, nodding our heads in agreement. I walked around to the other side and sat beside her. We took two little plastic cups and poured a bit of hot sauce in it and I sent off a little prayer before gulping it down when Harry said, “Go.”

I threw my cup down and screamed, sticking my tongue half out of my mouth as I tried to breath and give it some relief.

“Oh my god,” Layla groaned, laughing, with tears in her eyes. I wasn’t sure if they were from tears of how spicy her mouth was or if she was just laughing. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Harry, on the other hand, was laughing maniacally from the other end of the bench and the other two boys ran over to see what we were doing.  

“Is anyone timing this?” I wheezed.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, wiping his eyes. “You’ve got about four more minutes to go.”

“Oh, shit,” Niall laughed as he caught on. “They did the hot sauce challenge.”

Liam laughed beside him, taking a seat next to Harry. Layla and I somehow made it through four more minutes. If the two of us were anything, it was determined. We sat there with our tongues hanging out the entire time. When the five minutes were up, we gulped down a water bottle each, and just breathed heavily through our mouths.

“So, that one’s done,” Harry said, crossing it off. “How about next, Niall could put ice cream in a sock and slap Liam with it?”

“Sick,” Niall laughed. “Do I do it with my own sock?”

“Do you want me to die?” Liam deadpanned.

“It doesn’t smell, you arsewipe,” Niall snapped, sitting down and removing his shoes.He pulled one sock off and slipped his feet back into his shoes. Harry took out the small ice cream carton from the bag and wrinkled his nose as he opened it.  

“It’s a bit melted,” he said.

“All the better,” Niall replied, taking a big scoop, and putting it in his sock. Layla and I quickly grabbed the carton of ice cream to taste something other than hot sauce in our mouths for a while Harry chuckled softly, watching us devour the Ben & Jerry’s chunky monkey.  

“Leave some for me,” Harry said. “I like the banana flavor to it.”

“Harry,” Niall said, impatiently. “You going to film this or not?”

Harry turned back to the other two and opened up the phone’s camera app. We watched as Niall twisted his sock together and then smacked it on Liam’s face. Liam winced and cried out, covering his face, before falling dramatically to the ground.

“Oh my God,” I cried. “Liam, you okay?”

“Niall hit me too hard,” he cried back.

“Oh, woman up, Payno. This is being recorded,” Niall told him, throwing the sock down on the ground.

“I just--didn’t expect that to be so hard,” Liam whimpered like a wounded puppy.

“Do you need anything?” Harry asked him.

“A moment.”

“Alright,” Harry said cheerfully. “On to the next task.”

“Let’s do the saran wrap one,” Layla said, taking out the saran wrap. “Who wants to do it?”

“Make Harry do it,” Liam pouted from the ground.

“Harry?” I asked, looking at him.

Harry mulled it over for a moment and nodded. “Alright. I suppose I could.” He got up and shucked his coat and stood there while Layla and I wrapped him up as much as possible with the saran wrap. Once done, we walked, or in Harry’s case waddled, over to the hill that was a bit further in the park. Layla and I stood at the bottom of the hill while Liam and Niall stood at the top with Harry. He looked like a mummy, all stiff and proper.

“My posture has never been better,” Harry said jokingly.

I laughed before pressing record. “Ok, go.”

Niall and Liam waited until Harry was in a lying position and then rolled him down. Harry’s laughs and screams could be heard throughout the park as he tumbled down. When he landed and stopped rolling, Layla and I ran over.

“Harry,” I said, bending down. “You okay?”

“That was the scariest and most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” he laughed. We all burst out laughing again, huddling around to Harry to free him from the saran wrap. Once free, he laid on his back and stretched. “I can’t tell if I had fun or if I was going to piss my pants.”

“You did good, kid,” I patted him on the tummy. Harry smiled at me softly before turning to Layla. “What next?”

Layla took out the paper and looked through the list, thinking over our options. “There’s take a picture with a homeless person. Which, I guess we could do on the way back as well as the stuff with the strangers. I think we should go to a bar after this because there’s things like shotgun a beer and get someone to buy you a drink, etc. Also, two people have to belly bump naked and we have to take a naked picture.”

“Let’s get the naked ones out of the way then,” Liam said. “I’d prefer we did it here where no one can seen us, seeing as the park is pretty much deserted.”

“Who’s belly bumping?” Niall asked.

“You and Liam could do it,” Layla suggested.

“Eager to see me naked, babe?” Niall asked cheekily.

“Shut up.” she rolled her eyes. “Just do this first and then the rest of us will strip for the naked picture.”

“Can’t wait for that,” Niall mumbled to me as he stripped off his coat and t-shirt. I giggled as Layla shot us both a suspicious frown, clearly not having heard what he’d just said. Once Niall and Liam were both down to their boxers, they stood a few feet apart, shivering.

“Hurry up,” Liam moaned. “My balls are freezing off.”

Harry cackled loudly, lounging on the grass, back in his coat. I pressed on record and gave Niall and Liam the go. They both ran towards each other and belly bumped, falling backwards on the grass as a result.

“It’s worse when it’s cold. My nipples hurt,” Liam cried. “Fuck. Everyone strip already. Let’s take the picture.”

The three of us took our sweet time in taking off our clothes, much to Liam’s dismay, who kept trying to hurry us up. When we were bare and naked, Harry took the camera, and raised it high above in the air to get everyone in the shot. Niall was pressed up against Layla and he seemed way too happy about it, of course. Harry got a few shots before the five of us scrambled to put our clothes back on. “Now, I’ve got an issue that I only just now realized,” Layla said as they walked out of the park.

“There’s a shock,” Niall replied back.

Everyone tittered, but Layla glared at us until we stopped. “This whole kiss a stranger and spank a stranger thing could be a bit problematic.”

“Why?” Liam asked. “It’s only fun and games. No one is doing it seriously.”

“I feel like we should maybe do this wisely,” she said. “Like, guys can’t spank or kiss girls. That’s sexual harassment.”

“So, it’s okay if girls do it to guys?” Niall asked.

“Well, not really,” she said. “We should combine it, maybe. Like, whoever goes up to someone at the bar and gets them to buy them a drink should kiss them and spank them. That way, it’s not totally out of consent.”

“Then it should be one of you girls,” Liam said. “You said guys doing it would be wrong.”

“Yeah,” Layla nodded. “Do you want to do it, B? You have the entire Hannah Montana discography memorized and it’d be best since you have to pick someone up using just her lyrics.”

“Oh and who would sing them with me?” I asked. The boys laughed as Layla and I went back and forth until it was decided that I would do it because she didn’t want any to kiss any ‘fuck boys tonight’.

On the way to the bar, we spotted a little homeless man and his dog sat on the sidewalk. “Let’s ask him for a picture,” Liam said.

“Wait,” Niall said. “I want to give him something first. Let me go get some food from the corner shop. Be back in five.”

He jogged over to the corner store, leaving the four of us to wait for him. I noticed a shift in Layla’s expression after Niall’s sudden need to be charitable. She looked at a loss for words, but didn’t let on. The other two boys seemed oblivious, going over previous footage and pictures to care, but I knew her better than most people. When Niall came back with a bag filled with crisps, bagels, and a drink, we all walked over to the homeless man.

Niall made the exchange, making the man smile extra big in our picture. Layla looked like her face was going to break from how hard she was trying to suppress her smile.

“That was quite nice of you, Niall,” Harry said, slinging an arm around him.

“If he can go to sleep on a full stomach tonight and all I had to lose was a tenner, then I’d gladly do it again,” he replied.

Harry smiled, giving Niall a kiss on the head. We walked the last few blocks to the bar and once inside, Liam picked us out a table where we could sit. We decided against the campus bar since we were further away. This bar was filled with middle-aged men with a few youngins here and there.

“So, Blair go up to someone at the bar, chat them up. If they buy you a drink then you kiss them and spank them. Maybe even ask them to marry you because that is also on the list.”

“I’m feeling the pressure,” I said to them. “Am I hot enough to be able to do all of that?”

“You’re hot enough to take over the world,” Harry reassured me. “Now, let’s go pick you your new husband. I’ll film it.”

“Don’t be creepy about it,” I said to him. “I don’t want to turn him off by making him think I always get dumb uni boys to record my game.”

“Keep that up and I’ll give him the dad talk,” Harry warned.

“So, that’s settled,” Layla said, ignoring our banter. “Niall, can you wear this banana in your pants, disguise it as a banana boner and then shot gun the beer we got?”

“Yes m’am,” Niall saluted her.

“And then once you’re done with that, Liam can go up to someone and act like he hasn’t seen them in forever,” Layla concluded. “I’ll film both Niall and Liam. Harry and Blair, get going.”

We all split from the booth and went our separate ways. Harry hovered behind me as I scanned the bar for someone fit enough to try and chat with. Unbeknownst to me, someone had spotted me, instead.

“Looking for someone?” he asked, standing in front of me with a smile. I gave him a once over before replying. He was young, probably fresh out of college, give or take a year or two. He had a clean cut hair style and a button up, unbuttoned at the top with his tie undone. He could very well do because I couldn’t spot anyone else as fit as him.

“Depends,” I replied smirking.

Shit, I couldn’t make casual conversation. I had to think of Hannah Montana lyrics.

“Do you go to Imperial?” he asked.

I said the first lyric that popped in mind when I thought of Hannah Montana. “Sometimes I walk a little faster in the school hallway just to get next to you.”

The guy frowned, but looked amused. I could hear Harry snickering, but I couldn’t see him, which was bothering me a bit.

“I don’t go to school anymore. Graduated from London University. I work nearby, though. Have you seen me around or summat?”

I shrugged, not knowing what else to do. “Some days I spend a little extra time in the morning just to impress you.”

He started to laugh, clearly not catching on. “So, you have seen me around. Brilliant. I’m Drew.”

“Guess you don’t notice, guess you don’t need this.”

He frowned again, but this time he wasn’t amused. “You shouldn’t be so pessimistic. I did come up to you now, yeah?”

“Sad you’re not seein’ what you’re missin. On the outside shyin’ away. On the inside dyin’ to say.”

“Maybe you can start off by telling me your name...and a bit about you?” he asked tentatively.

I felt like crying because this was so embarrassing, but hilarious at the same time. I hoped by the end of the chorus, Drew would just buy me a drink so I could get on with it.  

“I’m unusual, not so typical,” I told him. This was quite hard because I was used to singing the words rather than saying it.  

Dew laughed, good heartedly, before nodding. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“Way too smart to be waiting around,” I glared at him. Was he insinuating that I was weird? The nerve.

“Hey,” he shook his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you. You’re really pretty, love.”

“Tai chi practicing, snowboard champion. I could fix the flat on your car.”

“That’s--that’s incredible. But, uh, my car is fine.”

“I might even be a rockstar.”

Drew smiled. “You’re gorgeous enough to be. Can I buy you a drink?”

I nodded my head gleefully. Yes. It worked. I waited while Drew ordered me some bourbon or whatever, waiting to just be finished with this task.

“You know,” he said slowly, turning to me. “I know you were reciting a Hannah Montana song to me.”

I gaped at him, surprised at his sudden confession. “Oh.”

“I have little sisters who play her music. I didn’t mind, actually. Just wanted to talk to you.” He then put his arm low on my back, rubbing circles, and I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“Sorry,” I chuckled nervously, moving away so that Drew would take his hand off of me. He didn’t. In fact, he wrapped it around my waist and pulled me closer.  

His hot breath hit my neck as he leaned down and whispered. “Come on, now. Don’t run away. You did all that just to run away?”

I shook my head, desperately looking around for my friends. I could spot Layla, Liam and Niall a few feet away. They were absorbed in whatever they were doing and I spotted a giant bulge in Niall’s pants, which I presumed was the banana. I tried to move towards them, but the arsehole had a death grip on me.

“Let me go,” I said. “I take it back.”

Just as he was about to say something, I felt someone pull me back and release his grip. I turned to see Harry and sighed deeply in relief. Thank God. I’d almost forgotten he was there.

“A problem, mate?” Harry asked him, his frown deep.

“No problem,” Drew shook his head, looking between us. “Just having a drink.”

“Seemed to me she didn’t want to have a drink with you,” Harry retorted.

Drew scoffed. “She was gagging for it. Chatting me up with bloody Hannah Montana lyrics.”

“I’d be more careful about how you speak about my girlfriend,” Harry said, putting his arm around my waist. “You’re lucky I’m not punching you in the face and breaking that stupid mouth of yours right now. Talk to or touch her again and you won’t be so lucky anymore.”

Drew looked at us for a moment before cursing under his breath and walking away. I sagged against Harry’s arm and turned to him. “Thank you,” I said. “Shit, what a failure that was.”

“No,” Harry shook his head. “Fuck the game, okay? Are you okay?”

I nodded my head, feeling hot under Harry’s attention. His arm was still around me and it felt weirdly good. It was comforting and a little nice.

“I don’t think you should talk to anyone at this bar. We’ll skip out on those tasks. It doesn’t matter. We’ll lose if we have to. I just want you to be safe.”

“Thank you,” I said, putting my arms around him in a hug. Harry kissed the top of my head and we pulled away, walking back towards the other guys. We came just in time to see Liam making another guy extremely uncomfortable.

“How’s your mum doing?” Liam asked the random guy. “Does she remember those cookies she made for us when we were kids? I miss them so much, mate. So delicious, they were,” Liam sighed wistfully.

Harry and I burst out laughing at the guy’s reaction, who looked like he wanted to run the other way.

“Anyway, do text me here and now,” Liam told him. “I’d love to get together and talk about Mipsy. Do you remember? She’s a doll, right? I’ve got to get going. Nice running into you!”

Liam gave him one last, extremely stiff hug, and we all walked back to our booth. I noticed Niall still had the banana in his pants. I poked it and he laughed, pushing me away to get it out. Once seated, Layla pulled out the sheet and crossed out three of the things. She looked up at Harry and me.

“Did you pull anyone?”

I shook my head sadly. “I tried, but--.”

“--The guy was a complete wanker,” Harry interrupted me. “I couldn’t let her go on with it. He was a fucking dick. Kept touching her when she wasn’t even comfortable. I would have punched him in the face.”

The boys and Layla looked worried at that and stared at us with wide eyes. “Are you okay?” Liam asked me.

“I’m fine,” I told them. “He just a got a bit hands on and I wasn’t...I don’t know. I can’t do it.”

“It’s stupid,” Harry said. “Let’s skip out on those. What have we got left?”

“Kick a ginger.”

“Do we know any gingers?” Liam asked, thoughtfully.

We were all quiet for a moment before chanting, “Ed.”

It took us ten minutes to run to the frat house where Ed stayed. The party that was happening there was still on the go, but everybody was winding down and sloppily passed out in different areas. After asking someone, we found out Ed was upstairs in his room.

The five of us ran upstairs and Harry knocked on his door. It took a minute or two for Ed to open it and he looked at us blearily. “What?” he asked, clearly grumpy.

“Ed,” Harry began. “I’m really sorry, but...” He swung his leg and kicked Ed on the shin, making him fall back in pain.

“What the fuck?” Ed cried.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Harry told him solemnly.

“Then why did you, you shit? Louis came in an hour ago...did the same.”

We all started to laugh and helped Ed up before tucking the poor lad back into bed. Once we walked out, the five of us walked aimlessly outside on campus.

“So, we’re pretty much done, yeah?” Niall asked, bouncing on his feet and kicking rocks on the ground.

“Yeah,” Layla nodded. “Sans the few that we deemed too inappropriate. Think the other team did it?”

“Probably,” Harry shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll buy them all the drinks.”

It made me feel strange that Harry was so protective and adamant about my safety. Strange as in a really good feeling in my stomach that I associated with having butterflies. I hadn’t had them in forever, so it felt foreign. I surely didn’t expect to have it about a friend, either. He was just being a good mate, really. Coming to my rescue, and looking out for me so it wasn’t all that weird. I was only making it weird in my head when it didn’t need to be.

I quickly shook those thoughts away and focused on my friends. Niall and Liam were prancing and dancing around in front of us while Layla and Harry laughed together about something. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I fished it out and saw it was a call from Liv. I pressed answer and put it to my ear. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she giggled. “Are you guys done?”

“Have been for a while. We’ve just walked around campus a few times. What about you?”

“Just finished. Do you all want to meet at Queen’s Lawn?”

“Alright. We’re actually not too far from it. See you in a bit.”

“Ta,” she said, giggling again and hanging up. I had a feeling she was drunk.

“Guys,” I said, stopping them in their tracks. “The other team just finished. Said to meet at Queen’s Lawn.”

They all walked towards the center of the university and found the others already there. They were all clearly drunk because we could hear them singing Grease songs from half a mile away and dancing in an uncoordinated manner.

“Look who it is,” Liv said once she spotted us.

“Say, Liv,” Louis started. “Does that look like the walk of defeat or what?”

“I say it does,” she thrust a hand up in the air. Zayn and Zoe cackled, sharing a bottle of beer between themselves.

“I’m guessing you did everything on your list,” Layla said, crossing her arms, defensively.

“You didn’t?” Louis asked.

“We left out three things, but in our defense, they were rather problematic. We tried, though. I’m sure Harry’s got the video.”

“I do,” Harry said. “Like Layla said, we tried, but it backfired.”

“Which one didn’t you do?” Liv asked.

“Picking up someone at the bar, kissing a stranger, asking to marry them, and spanking them. We tried doing a few of them in one, but that one was not working out. Blair was chatting someone up, but he was a right skeez,” Harry told them as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“Are you alright?” Liv asked me.

I sighed, nodding my head. It was getting a little embarrassing how many times I was being asked this. “Fine. Everything else was done.”

“Well, we did those tasks,” Louis said. “Didn’t go to a bar. Just went to the frat house. I kissed some drunk girl, asked her to marry me, and spanked her when we were dancing.”

“That’s gross,” Layla spat.

“It was done consensually, Miss Social Justice,” he retorted. “You’ll see the evidence via video. She was fine with it.”

“Why didn’t we think of a party?” I asked Harry. “That’s brilliant. Everyone’s drunk and making out, anyway.”

Harry shrugged meekly. The next half of our night consisted of exchanging videos and pictures of all our tasks. It was funny and in the end, it really didn’t matter who won and who didn’t. We all had a lot of fun and ended up drunk in the middle of Queen’s Lawn because Louis brought a whole case of beer. The night ended with all nine of us tangled up on the grass, singing songs, and laughing about the stupidest things.  

Harry and I decided to build a little city with our Legos in Lego Club that week. He set about making all the buildings while I made the ground and the area around it so that he could easily put in the buildings. This club had seemed pointless to me at one point, and I thought that maybe it could just be fun, but it was actually rather therapeutic.

As I was making some finishing touches on the little park area, I felt my phone vibrate and picked it up to open my texts.



“Heeeey,” Harry whined, diverting my attention from the phone back to him. “What are you doing, texty texty? I feel neglected.”

“Sorry,” I said, putting my phone down. “Josh texted me.”

Harry smirked. “Oh, yeah? What’s he saying now?”

I shrugged, sliding over my phone so he could see for himself. After reading, Harry laughed and then I started to laugh, too. “It’s really not that funny.”

“It’s not,” he agreed with me, going back to his building. “But, it’s just sad. Which makes it funny.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

“I think I’m just going to avoid it. Like, maybe if I don’t react, he won’t be inclined to flirt with me all the time.”

“Maybe,” Harry shrugged. “Or he could keep trying and one day you might snap.”

“I won’t snap at Josh,” I shook my head. “He’s so nice.”

“He is. Remind me again why you don’t like him?”

“No chemistry. You need chemistry to be with someone, am I right or am I right?” I said emphatically. Harry hummed in response. “By the way, how are you doing on all that stuff with Darcy?”

Harry shrugged. “I’m doing pretty good, actually. Moving on gradually. Not really thinking about it these days. I’m taking your advice and just keeping busy.”

“That’s good. In no time, you’ll be ready to date again.”

“Yaaay,” Harry said sarcastically. I flicked a Lego at him and he laughed. “I’m not thinking about that at the moment. Probably because I haven’t seen or found anyone I like. I don’t really casually date. Actually, I never have. That’s probably why I haven’t really considered it.”

“Just dating is okay,” I said. “You don’t always need to be in a long term committed relationship. Loads of people do it. Are you looking for any type of girl in particular?”

Harry shrugged again. “Maybe someone who has the same ambitions as me. Like, well on with her studies. Someone who has the same humor as me. Same outlook on love like me.”

“You basically want your own clone.”

Harry shot me a look while I giggled. “Not really. But compatibility is nice, don't you think?”

“You might as well just date Liv then,” I laughed out loud. “You’re both going to be bloody lawyers. You both make horrible jokes. And you’re both the biggest romantics. A match made in heaven.”

Harry narrowed his eyes and his mouth dropped. “Liv?”

I nodded.

“Liv is...Liv is Liv. No, what?”

I cackled. “Relax. You’re not going to marry her. I only just said it as a joke. Ignore me.”

Harry seemed to relax a bit more after that, but I could tell he was still thinking about it because he wouldn’t stop frowning down at his legos for the longest time. I decided not to comment furthermore because I genuinely had been kidding. I honestly doubted Liv and Harry would ever be a thing.