Another World

“Hey, Des!” the curly haired boy exclaims when he sees the older yet shorter girl. He shuts the door behind him and gives her a hug. “I’m sorry I’m late, everyone. They kept me there longer.”
Harry decides to not tell them about his run-in with Cassandra. Just the thought of it makes him smile. He would love to tell his friends how he picked out an outfit for the cute brunette. However, Harry figures that she would want to tell them herself. He’d hate it if he got on her bad side again.
“Now that Curly is here,” Des says. “What are we going to do?”
She turns to the owner of the apartment. Louis has brown hair that looks rather soft and blue eyes that have a very interesting shape. He’s wearing a striped long-sleeve shirt, suspenders, and red jeans that are rolled up some and show off his ankles.
“Well,” he says, “I got my hands on the first five video games in this world. I camped outside to make sure that I got a copy with the first game system. We were going to play those, but we can play something else if you-”
“I fucking love video games!” Des exclaims.
“Really?” Niall questions with a surprised look on his face.
“Hell yeah! Is one of them a fighting game?”
Louis picks them up and examines them. “This one is. The others are a shooter game, a one player fantasy game, a horror game that can have up to four players, and a trivia game.”
“Well, I say that we play that fighting game, so I can kick you guys’ ass.”
“I will not back down from a challenge! Last night, I played without everyone to make sure that I’d be the best!”
“That’s not fair,” Niall whines. “I request practice time!”
Louis smirks. “There is some leftover pizza in the fridge that you can have.”
“Pizza! I forgive you!” The blond runs over to the fridge as fast as his legs can take him.
Des is surprised to see him like that. Although she hasn’t known him for long, she didn’t expect for him to be so excited about food. She stares as he skips over to the microwave and does a leprechaun click. The short brunette can’t help but find it bubbley. Is he really always like this? Was he just acting different around her, and if that’s so, why does he act different around her?
“Is he always like this?” she whispers to Harry since he’s the closest to her.
Harry nods and whispers back, “Yeah. He loves food a lot, so he’s extremely happy right now, but he’s normally like this anyway. He’s not as silly as Louis since Louis is just plain immature, but he’s still goofy and carefree. Oh, and he swears a lot too and likes his beer, but that makes sense since it’s common in the area that he’s from.”
“Well, why doesn’t he act that way around me?”
“What are two whispering about?” the blue-eyed brunet whispers behind them.
“I was asking why he acts different around me.”
Louis smirks. “He went to an all boys school in his old area, so he’s not used to talking to girls. He gets all shy especially when it’s a girl he fancies.”
Des can feel her face warm up. She knows that he probably doesn’t like her, but the thought of it makes her blush. It’s no secret to her friends that she finds him cute. She had even told Carrie and Victoria that before she even met him. Besides, why wouldn’t she think that he’s cute? He’s adorable, but that’s the problem. No guy like him is ever going to find her attractive. Louis probably only said the last bit to get her to blush and to get all shy. He probably just doesn’t know how to act around her which is fine since she’s the same way with guys she likes.
Wow. Is she already starting to like him? Des does crush on people easily which can make her think that she likes them. The hazel-eyed twenty-three-year-old likes getting attention from guys. She thinks she likes them, but it’s only them talking to her. The thing, though, is that she isn’t feeling that way towards Harry or Louis. In fact, the whole liking thing hasn’t happened the last couple of years. Why is this happening with Niall, and why now? Unless...
Unless... she really is crushing on him and starting to like him.
“Des?” a familiar Irish accent pulls her out of her mind. She blinks her eyes a few times before staring into his blue eyes. He’s closer than he has before which causes her cheeks to heat up again. “You were out of it. What were you guys talking about?”
“We were just talking strategy,” Louis says before giving Des a wink. She gives him a smile to thank him for not telling Niall what they were really talking about, mostly the bit that Louis said. “Now are we ready to play?!”
“Fuck yeah!” Des exclaims and then laughing afterwards.
The boys stare at her. Was that really her laugh, or was she faking it? Of course they’ve heard their fair share of weird laughs, but they have never heard any in person or even like hers. Des raises her eyebrows at them. She has no idea why they are just staring at her. All she did was laugh after all...
“Was that really your laugh?” Harry questions.
Des laughs again but not as loud this time. “Yes, this is my real laugh. I’ve been questioned that before.”
“Wow,” Louis says. “That laugh...”
None of them say anything. It becomes really quiet, but then all of a sudden Niall starts laughing. Des smiles from it. She’s starting to really like it. It’s cute unlike her weird laugh, but that’s OK. She’s happy that her laugh isn’t cute. She likes it being weird. It’s more her. Des is a weird person, and her laugh just proves that even more.
“Well,” Louis starts, “now that the awkwardness is gone, we can play. Oh! I’ll go get some carrots for everyone!” Des starts laughing again. “What?”
“I have a really dirty mind, and that made me think of this really scary fic that I once read.”
“Wait, so you actually took me saying ‘carrots’ in a dirty way?”
“Of course I did! You should have heard the stuff that I used to write online and read. Oh my Great Goddess. If you read that stuff, I would pay you. I am not joking. There was this one time that my dad wanted to buy some cigarettes, so I told him that I’d give him ten dollars if he read ‘The Knife Fic’. It’s not the dirtiest thing that I’ve read, but it’s infamous. He read it too. In fact, he didn’t find it that gross... Anyway, yeah, I have a dirty mind, and I took that sexually.”
“That’s what I always mean when I say ‘I like girls that eat carrots’... Can we be best friends?”
“No... We’re soul besties!”
Niall watches as they smile at each other. He’s gets this feeling come over him, and he knows just what it is. Plus, he knows why he’s getting it too. He thinks that Des is interesting and cute. She’s fun, and just... OK, he has a crush on her. Although, he knows that she doesn’t fancy him. Why would she when she’s met Liam and Harry and Louis are standing right there in front of her? Out of his friends, he’s not the cutest or the most interesting. He’s just Niall. He’s the one that dyes his hair and is from a different area. He loves food and works at The Hangout. He’s normal, and his friends are amazing. He’s not going to end up with her. He’s probably not going to end up with anyone. He’s too shy, and he’s only had a few girlfriends that his parents picked out for him because they saw that he was upset because he couldn’t get himself a date. Now, he’s finally met a girl that he likes, and he can’t do anything about it. Niall doesn’t really know why he’s even been trying.
“Hey,” Des smiles as she looks at the game, “this game has a tag team system. We should do that! It’ll be so fun!”
“Yeah!” Louis agrees. “I call my soul besty as my partner!”
“Actually, I wanted Niall to be on my team. Um, it will make it more fair since you practiced and I’ve played fighting games.”
“I’m fine with that. Besides then I can play with my one true love!”
Harry chuckles. “I love you, Boobear!”
“I love you, Hazza!”
“I ship it!” Des exclaims.
“What?” the two of them question.
“I ship it. As in, I support it. Let’s see. You guys are... Larry! I ship Larry!”
“You do know that we’re both straight...”
“I don’t care! I am a fangirl, and that means that I ship bromances.”
“Your world is weird.”
“No, it’s just my fangirl kind and me.”
Everyone laughs before setting up the system and sitting down on the couch. Des really has no idea why all four of them are trying to fit on a couch for three. She’s pretty much sitting on Niall. Shit. She’s practically sitting on him! Her cheeks warm up. Damn it! Why does she always have to act this way around him?! Oh yeah, it’s because she has a crush on him. It’s been awhile for her.
~
When it finally got late, Harry walks Des home. They are neighbors after all. That, and she thinks he’s pretty cool. Fuck what Victoria thinks! He’s her friend. Of course, they aren’t soul besties, but they are definitely friends. Des actually can’t wait for the hangout. She needs it in her life now. The brunette wanted to go before, but now she really wants to go because she’s not just going because of a really cute guy. Now she’s going because the guys are fucking awesome even if they are all younger than her. That reminds her. Why the fuck is all her friends younger than her?!
Des thinks about this the entire walk back unless Harry started talking to her. They wave bye when he reaches his apartment. She figures that everyone is in her sister’s apartment, so she goes over to it. Her hand is about to turn the handle, but she swears that she can hear talking. She puts her ear up to the door and finds out that she can! The fuck?! Are these doors made out of styrofoam or something?! No wonder their neighbor heard them. Being loud must not be common in this world. Being the curious motherfucka that Des is, she decides to listen in.
“I wonder how Harry is acting around Des,” Victoria says. “I feel like they’re going to be great friends. I just have this feeling.”
“I think Curly and Des will make great friends!” Diana exclaims. “I wonder if this Louis guy will be her friend too! We should all be friends with them! I can’t wait to hang out with all of them! It’s going to be amazing!”
“I can’t wait for the hangout and for Des to get back,” Stella says. Des figures that she smirked. She sounds different when she does.
“Is it because of her liking of the blond guy? They are so going to go out, and get married, and-”
“We get it Diana,” Carrie says. “Besides, I really don’t want to think of the next part that you’re going to say. She’s my sister, and although I’d always been OK with it before when I was younger, now I just can’t see it.”
“Same,” Victoria agrees.
“But she definitely likes him,” Stella says. “She normally doesn’t act like this. Plus, the only guy that she’s even wanted to hang out with is Brandon, and he had to beg her when they first met freshman year of college.”
“I didn’t beg her!” Brandon protests.
“You so did.”
“OK, maybe I did a little bit, but that doesn’t mean that she likes this guy, and I don’t really like that she went over there tonight. She barely knows these people. In fact, we really don’t know anything about the people here. They could all be crazy and killers or something.”
“Well, they’re not The Killers,” Victoria jokes. “Plus, I don’t think they are a threat. They seem perfectly fine to me, well, besides Harry. He seems like a weird one.”
“Well, he probably only has those four friends,” Stella says as she comes to his defense. “He was probably just really happy that he found some people to befriend.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Well, I still don’t like that she did that. Can she really be that stupid?”
Des stops listening. She can’t take it anymore. She bursts through the door. “Well, you’re not my dad! Plus, I’m fucking older than you, you dick! Don’t fucking call me stupid for wanting to make some new friends! The world doesn’t revolve around you! Fuck you!”
Des slams the door shut as she leaves. Who does Brandon think he is? They’ve been friends for five years now, but that doesn’t give him the right to act like her father. The brunette knows that she’s probably going to forgive him by the time that they all hang out. She’s too nice for her own good. She’s tried to be a bitch, but it’s hard for her. The only time that you see it is when her temper gets the best of her.
When she gets to her room, she jumps onto her bed face-first. Thank the Goddess that the bed is the softest bed that she has ever laid on. Otherwise, that would have hurt. Des turns around and looks up at the ceiling as she cuddles one of her pillows. Her thoughts start to travel back to those beautiful blue eyes and that handsome smile. The brunette has a crush, and she doesn’t care what anyone says.

Notes

I just love this chapter.
I mean, it's great for Des. *winks Des now knows she has a crush on Niall. Des came up with Larry. Plus, Des gets to swear and play games.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that ending. I hope this all gets better. Brandon, why did you do that?
Anyway, I hope ya liked it!
P.S. The story about the "Knife Fic" and my dad is actually a true story. I just love in this chapter, you see how I am in real life. I mean, you get to see how a Des is in real life. Shhhhh.