'Hello, love,' Harry said as he stood up to give me a hug. He flashed a cheeky grin and I saw a hint of those famous dimples that make 1000's of girls swoon. I started to go shy and gave him a small, shy smile and a hug back.

Niall was just staring at me with those big, ocean coloured eyes.
'Niall, it's rude to stare,' Louis jokingly scolded him.

'Said the man who carried someone he didn't know into his household, unwillingly,' I said, laughing, which earned me a glorious laugh from Niall and a high-five from Harry.

'I do know you!' he tried to argue but Eleanor cut him off.

'Lou, babe, I don't think that butting into a skype conversation, talking to her for 5 minutes about your theory on the purpose of goldfish qualifies you as knowing her!' Eleanor finished with a smile and gave a very disappointed Louis a peck on the lips.

'Alex, why don't you sit down and tell us more about yourself,' Niall was now smiling and eagrly patting the seat next to him.

'Alright, what do you want to know?' I asked, lightly sitting down next to him, my shy side returning.

'What part of Scotland do you come from?' he asked me, both him and Harry swiveled in their seats so that they were both facing me, making me extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious as always. I stared down at my lap and answered.

'The Borders. It's the southern most part of Scotland so I don't really have a strong accent, unless I'm being sarcastic. Then I sound like a gay, middle-aged, Glaswegion man,' I said, laughing.

'I like your accent. You sound a bit like Merida from Brave,' Harry said, making me blush.

'Thanks,' I said, momentarily looking into his sparkling green eyes, before looking back down at my lap to hide my further blushing.

'What's your favourite movie?' Louis enquired, but Eleanor beat me to it before I could answer.

'It's a three way tie between The Hunger Games, Love Actually and Beastly!' She answered for me, faking a scottish accent terribly, sending us all into fits of laughter. She was sitting on Louis' lap and was now hiding her face in his shoulder.

'Okay, okay,' I said between giggles, trying to calm everyone down. 'Next question, or is the interrogation finally over?' I asked hopefully.

'Far from it!' Niall exclaimed, his accent heavier just from laughing.

'Okay, but can we be finished soon because I'm HUN-GAR-Y!' I said (moaned, really).

'Al, you're like Niall. You're always hungry!' Eleanor said while removing her face from Louis' shoulder.

'And there is a problem with that, because?' Niall asked, getting defensive.

'There is a problem because, between the two of you, we are never going to have any food!' El exclaimed, giggling. By now, I'm sure that my cheeks had turned the same colour as beetroot.

'You know that I'm going to start doing the grocery shopping and cooking from now on,' I said, getting up and heading to the first door I saw.

'Where are you going?' Harry asked.

'Where is the kitchen, Harry?'

'The red door,' He replied.

Every door was a different colour. Eleanor had asked me what colour I wanted my door, and I said purple. I got to the red door, when Niall called me back.

'Alex, what ya doin'?' he asked, his voice going up and down comically.

'Making pasta for everyone, if they want it,' I shouted back, looking over my shoulder to see everyone nodding, smiling and saying 'please'.'

'I'll help,' Harry volunteered.

'It's only pasta!' I said, but he was already behind me as I looked in the cupboards for the pasta shells.

'I meant, you need help finding everything,' he said laughing.

'Oh. Okay, thanks,' I said quietly.

'You're welcome. The pasta is in the cupboard above your head,' he replied with a smile.

Once the pasta was finished boiling and Harry had helped me make a tomato and basil sauce, Harry learnt more about me and I had learned more about him. He carried his and Niall's dishes to the dining room, while I skillfully balanced a further three plates on my arms. Two years of being a waitress for the local restaurant have really paid off!

'How can you do that?' Niall shouted as I walked into the room with the three plates and a 2 litre bottle of water tucked in my arm. He jumped up to help me (what a gentleman!) but I stopped him.

'I was a waitress back in Scotland. This is barely anything. Sit back down and enjoy!' I said, giving him a small smile. He took the bottle of water from my arm and reluctantly sat down. I set Louis and Eleanor's food infront of them and they thanked me and Harry as we all started eating. We finished and Niall volunteered to help me clean up.

'Hello, again,' he said cheerily once we were safely alone in the kitchen.

'I'll wash, you dry,' I said looking up into his bright blue eyes and smiling, then quickly looking down at the floor to try and hide my blush.

'Don't look at the floor, I think it's cute when you blush,' he said, making my cheeks get even more red. He was uncontrollably blushing at this point as well.

'Why did you drive away so quickly once you figured out who I was?' He asked, the smile disappearing from his face replaced by a sad expression that made me just want to wrap him in a massive hug.

'Because that's what I do when I'm scared or embarrased. I run away. I did it just half an hour ago when I left to make the pasta. It's some sort of instinct that I have. Sorry,' I said, tears welling up in my eyes as memories of the costant bullying and beatings that I took throughout my time at high school.

'Please don't cry!' Niall's voice brought me out of my revorie.

'Sorry, it just brought back some bad memories,' I said wiping the tears from my cheek.

'No, it's my fault for asking. Are you okay?' He asked, genuinely concerned.

'Well you would probably of found out sooner or later, so i'm just going to tell you,' I said with a deep breath.

'Tell me what?' He asked with a questioning look.

'It all started when I was 11. I had just started high school and all my primary school friends had stopped talking to me. The only friend I had left was Eleanor and she lived hundereds of miles away here in London. The bullying started. I would get physically and verbally abused everyday,' By know, the tears were streaming down my cheeks. Niall wiped them away and I continued. 'Last year my mum died from breast cancer. My dad thought it was a good riddance as he had been having an affair behind my mum's back. She moved in soon after and all they did was go out clubbing and come back drunk. They both shouted at me, told me I was an ugly, useless, selfish whore. And I just stood there and took it. They never hit me, just called me things like I just said. they told me I was worthless. The only safe place i had left was the Art Department at school. Nobody could find me there.I could just sit and draw for hours on end. And then, well, I moved here. Fresh start,' I said, happy that he knew most of the story. I wasn't ready to share the Rick part yet.

He crushed me in a hug with a bit too much force, making me fall on the kitchen floor, Niall sprawled on top of me. We both burst into fits of laughter. He rolled off of me and stared at the ceiling with me, still hysterically laughing.

Harry burst in the door with a worried Eleanor and Louis behind him.

'What. Are You. Two. Doing?' he asked, giving each word it's own sentence.

'Laughing at the ceiling!' Niall and I said in unison, fist pumping at the end. This only sent everyone else into further fits of laughter.

'You two really are wierdos!' Eleanor shouted through her laughter. Niall helped me of the floor and we finished through to the living room.