“I’m sorry, Li,” was the first thing I said when I walked back into the living room after that much needed nap. I noticed all of the lads were now sitting around the telly with snacks, so I threw myself over the back of the couch and landed right into Liam’s lap while my legs fell into Niall’s lap, causing the three of us to let out assorted “oomph” noises. I probably shouldn’t have jumped at all because that didn’t sit too well with my stomach, but it doesn’t feel as bad as it did earlier.

“Well, hello,” Liam laughed as I grinned up at him, completely ignoring the pain in my abdomen. “You seem awfully chipper. Are you feeling better?”

“Um, well the headache is gone, but I still feel kind of nauseous. It’s nothing bad though. I don’t think I’ll throw up.”

“That’s good, and what was it you were apologizing for?” he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

I shrugged, “For almost canceling our plans. I’m up to doing it now if you still want to. Priya hasn’t shown up yet, has she?”

“What time did you tell her to come?” Zayn asked from the red velvet loveseat he sat in as he glanced down at his watch.

“Two.”

Zayn pursed his lips and nodded before meeting all of our curious gazes. “Well, its 1:48 right now, so we’re still good, and if she’s as late as yesterday, then we definitely have time.”

“Yes,” Liam silently celebrated as he threw a fist in the air, making the other lads and I laugh.

“Wait,” Niall sat up in his seat and furrowed his brows at me. “You didn’t even tell Priya you weren’t feeling good?” he rose his hands in the air before clapping them together and resting them onto my legs.

“Um, yeah, about that…” I trailed off, gaining everyone’s full attention and a worried expression from Liam. “I was in a pissy mood that was far out of my control. I didn’t want to deal with any of you, including her. I’m really sorry I was a dick.”

“Hey,” Liam smiled as he gently ruffled my curls. Normally, I would’ve said something about him touching my hair, but it was too serious of a moment for that kind of thing. “That wasn’t you. That was your tumor talking.”

“I still feel guilty.”

“Don’t pout, Hazza,” Louis stood up from his love seat and lifted up my legs from Niall’s lap before sitting down in the blonde’s lap and placing my legs on his own. “Nobody’s feelings were hurt, and if they were, we’d calmly talk it out with each other. There’s no sense in blaming it on you or complaining to you when you can’t do anything about it. It’s not like you can tell your cancer to shut up.”

I let out a lengthy sigh, ending it with a pout. “It will get worse. I just hope you guys will be able to put up with it.”

“Put u-?” Louis choked on his words in a clearly offended manor as he clutched his chest. “Are you kidding me? We aren’t ‘putting up’ with anything.”

“Yeah,” Zayn agreed with a nonchalant nod. “You are our best mate, Haz, and we love you. We didn’t sign up for anything, and we aren’t here to babysit you. We are here to spend time with you, and, of course, there will be times where we have to look out for you, but that’s nothing new. We’re always looking out for one another.”

I looked around at each of them who all just nodded with content smiles on their faces. “Well, I guess it’s a relief that I’m not burdening you guys too much,” I lightly chuckled in attempt to lighten up the mood a little.

“At all,” Niall corrected with a roll of his eyes.

“Yet.”

“Harry…” Louis warned and pinched my leg.

“Hey, no violence in my lap,” Niall scolded Louis after I had let out a yelp and shot the older lad a glare.

Just as Louis opened his mouth, most likely to say something that would lead to the two of them wrestling on the floor, there was a knock at the door. I whipped my head in the direction of the penthouse entrance, and from the corners of my eyes and the movements that shook the couch, I could tell the other lads had done the same.

“Shit,” I breathed out. “Is she already here?”

“I was not expecting that,” Zayn spoke with his eyes still trained on the door.

Liam lightly shoved me off of him and stared expectantly at me when I just looked at him. “Well go answer it,” he gestured towards the door as he stood up from the couch. “We’ve all got to change. If anybody needs an orange article of clothing, I’ve got extras.”

I stood to my feet while Zayn muttered to Liam about how he’s way too excited about this, and Louis informed the boy that he understands why he’s single. “Hey Harry,” Niall got my attention as I walked towards the door.

“Yeah?”

“You should eat something, yeah?” he raised his eyebrows at me, and I shook my head. “I know you don’t feel good, but you can’t go out on an empty stomach. Just eat some toast, okay?”

“Alright, Ni,” I breathed out in a sigh of defeat just as the knocking sounded at the door again. “I’m coming!” I informed the girl as I approached the entrance.

The first thing I noticed when I swung the door open was Priya’s outfit. Her white shirt hugged her body tightly as it popped up a bit of cleavage at the top, the shirt was tucked into sand colored lace shorts that complimented her long tan legs, and she topped it all off with a salmon blazer that looked classy as fuck.

She let out a groan, “I know, I look so ridiculous right now.”

“No,” I shook my head before letting my eyes meet her hazel ones. I watched as she yanked her hair out of its fancy looking bun and shimmied out the tangles the best she could with only her fingers. “You look great.”

“Not for our plans, Harry,” she remarked as she pushed passed me and kicked her nude heels off of her feet. “God, I hate those shoes so much. I don’t get how people wear them.”

I shut the door and looked at her with squinted eyes and flattened lips. “Then why-?”

“There’s no time for questions. I came here earlier so that I could change, and by the looks of it, you still need to get ready as well. My outfit’s in here,” she held up a tennis bag before raising her other hand to stop me from trying to ask another question. “Don’t ask.”

“Alright, then,” I laughed. “I’d imagine that the boys are all changing in their rooms, but Li’s probably hogging the only guest bathroom because he’s going all out for this. You can use the bathroom in my room, if you want, but I’ll be changing too.”

She shrugged, “I don’t mind. Any where’s fine.”

I turned away from her and waved for her to follow me as I walked towards the hallway, “This way.”

“Have you ever noticed how deep and raspy your voice is?” she asked from behind me.

I smirked at her observation and also at the thought that we were passing all of the lad’s rooms. “You mean it’s not squeaky like Lou’s?” I made sure my voice became annoying and high-pitched when I said “squeaky.”

“I HEARD THAT!” I heard Louis shout from behind his door.

“THAT’S WHY I SAID IT!” I retorted, and I heard Priya let out a beautiful giggle. I twisted the doorknob to my room and pushed it open as I stepped to the side and allowed the girl to walk in. “And to answer your question; no, I’ve never noticed,” I joked.

“Shut up,” she rolled her eyes playfully and shoved my shoulder. I watched as her eyes wandered around the room and she curled her lips in between her teeth. “Is it bad that I kind of imagined you to have a messy room?”

I silently thanked Ada for paying me a visit before my nap and pointing out the mess in my room because after I had awoken, I decided to clean up. “I’m offended,” I gasped exaggeratingly. “You know what, now you can’t even change in here,” I grabbed her shoulders and began to push her out of the door. She laughed loudly as the heels of her feet dragged across the carpet in a terrible attempt to stay put.

“Fine,” she gave up and allowed me to remove her from my room. She threw her tennis bag to the floor and began to remove her blazer, “I’ll just change out here, in the open, where the guys might see me.”

That was enough to make me grab her wrist and pull her back into the room before grabbing her bag and placing it into her arms. Once I shut the door behind us, I found her staring me down with a satisfied grin and crossed arms. “Shut up,” I muttered, and she giggled. “Go change in the bathroom.”

“Yes, Sir,” she saluted me and walked to the bathroom, shooting me a wink before she entered it, and shut the door behind her.

I shook my head before searching in my drawers for the tiger tank top I was instructed to wear. It was a stupid looking shirt, the whole tank being covered by the head of a roaring tiger. It didn’t even look good on me, but Liam had gotten it from the shops, and because he’s actually excited about something on the bucket list, then I’m more than willing to wear it for him.

As I rummaged through the drawers, I came across some black skinny jeans, and I became aware that I was still wearing my sweats from this morning. I quickly swapped out the article of clothing before searching for the stupid shirt again. When I finally found it, I threw off my shirt and picked up the tank to observe it. I can’t believe I’m going to wear this shit.

“Harry, do you-?” Priya paused her sentence, and I faced my body towards her to learn why. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom with her hair in her hand and her body frozen. Her hazel eyes danced around my torso, not even subtly checking me out. “Um…” she trailed off, and her mouth hung open. If this is how she reacts to me being shirtless, then she should be glad I’m wearing my skinnies right now.

When I let out a laugh, she cleared her throat and straightened up her stance. “I was going to ask if you knew how to braid, but I’m assuming, since you’re a guy, that you don’t know how to.”

“I have a sister,” I pointed towards my bed, “so sit down, and I’ll braid it for you.”

She obliged to my command while I tossed the tank top onto my pillow and took a seat beside her. Once I started to work on braiding her hair to the side, she spoke up again, “I knew you had tattoos, but damn, that’s a lot. How many do you have?”

“Maybe like forty,” I shrugged.

“Forty? Are you serious? My parents would kill me even if I got one, and you have forty.”

“Don’t sound so jealous,” I teased her, and she shot me a glare.

“Shut up or I’ll twist one of those abnormal nipples of yours.”

I rose my eyebrows, my expression completely amused as I asked, “Oh, so you noticed those?”

“Of course I noticed those. They’re kind of hard to miss when they stand out like a stain.”

I chuckled before holding my hand out to her, wanting her to place the hair tie in my hand. As I tied up the end of the braid, I said, “Louis thinks they’re cute, so that’s all that matters.”

She let out a snort and quickly covered her mouth to hold back more noises as her body shook with her laughs. “Put a shirt on, Harry,” she spoke with a bright smile still playing on her lips.

I laid her hair down onto her shoulder and picked up my shirt. “Why? Am I too distracting for you?” I asked innocently before sliding the shirt on and shooting her a cheeky grin. “No wonder you couldn’t do your own braid.”

“And to think I was going to compliment your braiding skills,” she huffed. “I don’t think I will anymore. Harry, you did a shitty job.”

“Well I think you look cute,” I blurted out and quickly froze at the realization of what I had just said.

A tinge of pink tinted her cheeks, and I swore Priya looked so innocent in that moment with the way she chewed on her bottom lip and played with her fingers in her lap “You think so?”

I slowly responded with a nod once it had appeared that my compliment didn’t freak her out. She really does look great in her orange booty shorts and black tank top with her knee-high tiger printed socks and black tennis shoes. She looks more and more beautiful every time I see her, and that might be because I’m seeing more to her than just a nice body and mesmerizing eyes.

“Thanks. You don’t look half bad yourself,” she smiled shyly. I think this is my new favorite way to see her. It’s strange seeing this whole other person in her, but I quite like it. “Well, you could look a little better,” she shrugged, instantly turning back to her normal self.

“Yeah?” I breathed out a chuckle before standing to my feet and grabbing my black headband from the dresser to push my hair out of my face. “How about now?” I held up my hands in question before placing them onto my hips.

She squinted her eyes as she pretended to think it over. “I don’t know,” her voice had a hint of a whine to it as she spoke. She held up her index finger and thumb to show a tiny gap between them, “Maybe just a tiny bit better.”

“Well then, what do you suggest I do?”

She jumped up to her feet and held up her index finger to inform me to wait while she disappeared into the bathroom. Within seconds, she came out and stopped herself only inches from me. She quickly grabbed the back of my neck and pulled my head down to the height of hers. I felt her warm breath fan against my lips as she just looked into my eyes with a grin that went from ear to ear. Before I could even ask what she was doing, I felt something cold swipe across my cheek, and then I felt it again along the other cheek.

“There, now your look is complete,” she said in satisfactory and capped what appeared to be lipstick.

“What did you just do?”

She held up the lipstick and placed it into one of my large hands for me to examine. I uncapped the product and twisted it up to reveal a black colored paint. “War paint,” she clarified with a nod.

I arched my brows at it before gazing up at the girl, “And why do you own black lipstick?”

She shrugged, “I went through a Goth faze for like a day. Can you put some on me too?”

This girl gets more and more interesting every time she speaks.

---

When I said Liam was going all out, I meant it. He had on an orange shirt with black tiger stripes all over it and an orange bandana tied around his upper arm. One of the strangest things about his outfit was the tall socks he wore over his black skinny jeans that were just like Priya’s. That’s not even the worst part. He had orange dye sprayed onto his hair, and right now, I’m watching Priya add stripes to his face with her black lipstick, under his instructions.

“He’s lost it,” Louis chuckled from beside me as he handed me the toast Niall had toasted and buttered for me while making his own.

“It’s strange seeing him like this,” I agreed with a nod and took a bite of the bread. “Look at how excited he is though. He’s being ridiculous since it’s really nothing but a silly prank, but he’s so happy.”

“He’s stupid, is what he is,” Louis shook his head with such dramatics that I couldn’t help but laugh.

I lightly shoved the choppy haired guy, “Don’t ruin this for him, okay?”

“I suppose I won’t,” he breathed out in defeat, but the hint of a smile on his face showed me that he was only joking.

“Good because if you do, you won’t get to embarrass yourself with surfing.”

He shot me a playful glare, “I don’t know why you think I’m going to embarrass myself. I’ll be a real pro since I have beginners luck.”

“You do realize that you’ll be balancing on a board on a moving wave, right? I’m pretty sure it’s going to take you a lot more than beginners luck to even stand,” I smirked as I took another bite of the toast.

He flipped me the bird and stuck his tongue out before saying, “Shut up, Styles.”

“Styles?” Priya questioned as she walked towards us.

“Its Pretty Boy here’s surname,” Louis swung one arm around my shoulders and pulled me down towards his slightly shorter height. He then took his other hand and pinched my cheek before slapping it as I chewed my toast with a whimsical scowl.

“Oh?” Priya replied with an arched brow. “I did not know that. I think I like your last name better than your first name.”

“But his given name fits him so well,” Louis stated with a pout. He took the hand that wasn’t hugging my shoulders to him and began running it through my curls in which I raised two questioning brows at him. He knows I don’t appreciate this action at all. “So luscious,” Louis practically purred as he continued to pet me.

“Oh, sod off,” I shoved him off of me, and he and Priya busted into laughter.

“You lads ready to go?” Niall walked over to us with his last bite of toast in his hand, and we all nodded.

“You guys can start heading down right now,” Priya waved her hand towards the penthouse entrance. “Let me go grab all of the keys from Harry’s room real fast. I’ll catch up.”

“Don’t lie!” Lou shouted after her while she walked away from us. “You’re going to look through Harry’s underwear drawer!”

She raised her hand high above her head, lifting up her middle finger towards Louis as she turned around to walk backwards. “No thank you, I don’t need to see his whitey tighties!” she replied with a smirk.

“Jokes on you, I don’t wear any underwear!” I laughed as she shot me a look of disgust before turning away from us.

“You’re great with the ladies,” Niall stated with sarcasm rolling straight off of his tongue as he patted my back.

I shrugged and patted him on the back equally as rough as he had hit me. “I get more ladies than you, don’t I?” I cheekily grinned at the blonde, and he grumbled an, “arsehole,” as he slapped my hand away. “Love you, Ni,” I sang.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Mate,” he laughed and waved me off as he disappeared out of the room along with Louis. I’m guessing since Liam is so impatient, he probably dragged Zayn out as soon as Priya was done with his face. Typical.

“I told you to go ahead,” Priya rolled her eyes when she came back into the room to find me still standing there as I munched away on the rest of my toast.

I bobbled my head from side to side in mockery, “Well, sorry for being a gentlemen and waiting for you. I’ll remember to ditch you next time, Miss Sass.”

“Good, cause that’s what I told you to do,” she lightly shoved me, leading me out the door.

“I also needed to make sure you weren’t stealing my boxers,” I implied as we made our way to the elevator that Niall and Louis were still waiting for.

“I thought you said you didn’t wear underwear,” she teased back.

“I said I didn’t wear underwear. None of us said anything about boxers.”

She laughed, “Aren’t those underwear?”

“Why are you guys still taking about Harry’s girly panties?” Louis questioned as we approached him, and the elevator dinged in its arrival.

“Yeah, only I get to see those,” Niall pointed towards Priya in challenge.

“Jesus, you just get all of the cute guys, don’t you?” Priya nudged me with an amused expression playing on her face.

The whole elevator ride down was filled with the lads and Priya joking about how I’m a “men’s man” and not a ladies’ man. Louis came up with that one, isn’t it obvious? I simply let them get away with their inappropriate comments about my “beautiful bum” and “kissable lips” because Priya was so entertained by the conversation. The way her head fell back as her sweet laughter filled the air, the way she clutched her stomach from the ab workout she was getting out of it, and the way her hazel eyes were slightly hidden by her crinkled eyelids had me in awe. As much as I wanted to slap Louis for mentioning him finding Niall and I in a compromising position yesterday, Priya was laughing so hard that she was crying, and I couldn’t bring myself to stop that. So I just stood there, laughing along and shamelessly shaking my head. Finally, the elevator stopped in the lobby, and we made our way out of the building.

“Holy shit,” Priya breathed out as she wiped away a few stray tears. “I haven’t laughed that hard since Estelle accidently stepped in sewer water.”

Niall snickered from beside her, “She did that?”

“Yeah, and as I was telling her to watch her step,” Priya then explained slowly through a fit of giggles while she her hands animated the words she spoke. “It was a golden moment. Maybe not for her, but it was definitely the highlight of my year.”

“What a great friend,” Louis joked.

“Damn,” Niall let out a whistled as he stopped in his tracks. I scrunched up my face in confusion before following his eyes towards the three golf carts that were parking in front of the apartment complex. Liam was already sat in one, chatting away with Zayn as the darker lad recorded him with chuckles falling from his lips. In the back of one of the golf carts, the giant stuffed tiger Priya had won at the carnival was strapped to a seat with a bungee cord disguised as a seatbelt. All three of the golf carts had steering wheel locks placed on the wheels so that no one could steal the cars, and I’m glad Priya used that safety because if it were up to Liam, he would’ve been long gone by now.

“You actually have three golf carts?” Niall asked the girl, and she let out a laugh at his shock.

“Yes, did you think I lied?”

Niall’s face flushed and he became pretty flustered, “Well I-I-”

Priya laughed again and rubbed his shoulder, “It’s okay. I don’t blame you. Three golf carts seems excessive. EvenIdon’t get why my father needs all of them.

“Li!” Louis shouted and Liam immediately turned his head towards us, his smile growing larger. “Do you have the stereo?”

Liam held up his iHome over his head, in which his phone’s Bluetooth is most likely already hooked up to, and replied, “Hell yeah!”

“I’m guessing Liam’s cart will lead the way,” Priya chuckled.

I pursed my lips and exaggerated a nod, “Most likely.”

“I’d suggest we drive by the beach because at this time, joggers would only be running over there,” she informed all of us, and we all agreed. She handed Liam the key to unlock the steering wheel lock and the other key to start the golf cart. “Who wants to ride with me and my tiger?” I immediately shot my hand in the air, and everyone laughed. “Well don’t seem so eager, Whitey Tighties,” she smirked, and gave Niall another two keys.

“Fine, I’ll ride with Nia-“

She didn’t even let me finish my sentence before she let out a groan and pulled me by my wrist towards the golf cart. I laughed at her reaction and mocked her words, “Well don’t seem so eager, Miss Sassy,” while the lads whistled and shared “ooooooh’s.”

---

We’ve spent hours riding back and forth along the street closest to the beach. Liam drove one car, Louis drove another, and Priya was driving the one I sat in. Niall was in charge of holding the iHome stereo as it replayed “Eye of the Tiger” over and over and over while we drove around, singing along and encouraging joggers to keep up their workouts. Zayn was in charge of recording everything, and it was a good thing he was because we got some pretty great stuff.

Louis thought it’d be smart to stand up in his cart and drive with half of his body out of the cart, and Zayn had caught it on tape when Louis accidently hit his head against some bloke’s surfboard. The poor lad was only walking along the sidewalk, but he felt incredibly bad for the incident. We all had insisted Louis is just an idiot, and it wasn’t his fault.

Along with that, Zayn got some footage of Priya shouting at joggers that they could “do better than that” and that they needed to “push themselves more” and “hustle.” He also recorded Niall, Liam, and I singing at the top of our lungs and synchronizing dumb dance moves that included a lot of air thrusting and just waving our arms around. The best thing Zayn got on recording had to be when Liam was roaring like a tiger at some hot ladies that were laughing at his silly getup. Their wide eyes, agape mouths, and shocked laughs were priceless.

We are still driving around after all of these events, and we are having a blast. In fact, we found an opportunity to challenge each other to a race since the street was seemingly clear. We made a bet that the last car to make it to the end of the street would have to pay for dinner. At the moment, Priya and I were winning with Lou and Niall close behind.

That was until my stomach started to disapprove of Priya’s driving, especially when she took sharp turns that had me laughing earlier. Now, it was just becoming too much, and my body temperature kept feeling increasingly hotter. I could feel sweat rolling down my neck as the pain in my stomach grew, and no matter how hard I tried to keep it down, I knew there was no stopping it.

“Pull over,” I groaned out.

“What? Why? We’re winning,” Priya laughed. It wasn’t until she looked towards me that she realized I was being serious. “Oh my gosh, Harry,” her gaze shifted frantically back and forth between me and the road. “Are you okay? You look really pale.”Now is not that time to worry about my skin color, is what I wanted to say, but the bile rising in my throat had me speechless.

I gagged, and I heard her squeal at my sickness, but I managed to hold it down for both of our sakes. “Pull over!” I snapped at her. I didn’t mean to be so rude, but I figured throwing up all over myself would not be something either of us wanted to experience.

With screeching tires and a hard jerk of the wheel, the golf cart hit the curb and I quickly stumbled out of it. I sprinted as fast as I could towards the nearest trashcan and I surprisingly made it before emptying the contents in my stomach into it. All I ate today was toast, but it felt like my organs spilled out with it.

I felt a hand rub my back in attempt to sooth me, and I heard a bunch of footsteps getting closer as the vomit turned into dry heaves. When it came to a stop, Liam pushed a tissue into my hand and told me to wipe my mouth up. Zayn removed my headband from my head and poured some cold water onto my head to cool me down, and then he handed me the bottle to drink the rest.

I was embarrassed as I hunched over the garbage can in case I’d puke again. Not only had Priya seen me toss my cookies, but she’s also gotten to experience my cancer side. She may not know that, but she has. My stomach has been aching since the moment I woke up this morning, and I could’ve just called off all of our plans when I was moody this morning, but no.

I was willing to risk it if it meant seeing Priya and making Liam happy. I would never tell them that, but it’s the truth. I knew I couldn’t ruin this for Li when he’s been there for me and he’s been so eager to do this. I also wanted to spend time with a beautiful girl, listening to her musical laugh and watching her ombre braid flow in the wind as she drove the cart in a crazy fast speed. Is that such a bad thing?

“Come here, let’s sit on the curb,” Priya instructed with her hand still on my back as she guided me to take a seat. I’ve always felt stupid when sitting on the curb since my knees were practically the height of my shoulders in this position, but Priya didn’t make a comment on it like I had expected. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I breathed out and took a swig of water. “A little embarrassed, but I’m okay.”

“No, don’t be,” her voice came out as a whine, and she gave me a smile filled with pity. “People get sick all the time. It’s not a big deal. I didn’t realize my driving wasthatbad though,” she teased and lightly bumped her shoulder against mine. I bumped her back with a small chuckle fleeing my lips.

Liam sat down on the other side of Priya and sighed, “Are you alright, Mate?” I nodded. “Sorry that happened. I didn’t mean to pressure you into keeping these plans even though you felt sick.”

“You haven’t felt good all day?” Priya’s eyes widened with worry.

“I’m alright,” I assured her and focused my gaze onto my brooding mate, “and you didn’t pressure me into anything. I honestly felt better, and I didn’t think this was going to happen. I was queasy, but it didn’t feel that bad until a couple of seconds ago. I wanted to go out today. I thought it’d be fine.”

“Why didn’t you say anything though?” Priya removed her hand from my back to wave it in an annoyed manor and to have it land onto her knee. “I would’ve been fine staying in with you guys or something.”

“Like I said, I wanted to go out,” I chuckled and patted her hand. “In fact, I’m quite hungry now. We should go eat.”

Niall laughed from behind us, “You sound like me in a situation like this.”

“Well I’ve hardly eaten today, so I’m starved,” I stood to my feet and brushed off my bottom. I actually was hungry seeming as the pain in my stomach had finally subsided. I guess I just needed to let it all out, and now I feel much better.

“I vote that you pay since you lost us the race,” Priya teased as she and Liam joined us in standing.

“As long as you don’t drive like a maniac this time around,” I joked back.

---

Priya suggested we go to some fancy restaurant as a joke, but once the idea was out there, Louis and Niall thought it’d be hilarious if I paid for their meals there. So guess where we are?

“Thanks a lot Priya,” I glared down at her, and she cowered under my stare.

“How was I supposed to know they’d take me seriously?”

“They didn’t take you seriously, that’s the problem.”

Louis hopped out of his golf cart, along with Niall, and tossed the keys to the valet, “I wouldn’t try to steal the carts. I’m a cop.”

“Shut up, Lou,” Zayn walked up to him and slapped him across the back of the head.

“This place is so fancy that they have valet parking,” I whispered harshly to Priya.

She rolled her eyes, “I mentioned that as well, but Louis thought that’d be even funnier.”

“You guys will never get into the restaurant dressed like that,” the valet informed us all, eying each one of us in an amused manor. “Maybe I’ll leave the carts here for your quick return.”

“Oh we’ll get in there. We have our ways,” Louis sneered at the guy and winked towards me before heading towards the entrance. I let out a huff once I realized that he was referring to me telling the workers that I’m dying.

“Just how expensive will this dinner be?” I mumbled grumpily.

“I can pitch in some money too, you know,” she stated as I held the door open for her.

I walked in behind her, rubbing my temples and letting out another huff, “Just rip off the bandage. How much?”

“Bloody hell, Priya,” I heard Liam say, and I looked up to find him holding a menu with wide eyes.

“How have you eaten at a place like this before?” Niall asked while reading through a menu as well. “Are you made of money or something?”

“How much?” I asked, tired of waiting for the answer. Liam handed his menu over to me and ran his finger along the prices. Every meal had to be forty to fifty dollars for just one serving, and I found myself narrowing my eyes at Priya for getting me into this mess.

She winced at my expression, “Sorry. I swear I’ll help you with the cost.”

“This is great,” Louis beamed and patted my back. “Isn’t this great, Harold?”

“I’m two seconds away from kicking you in the balls,” I replied with a growl.

“See? I knew you liked this plan just as much,” he patted my back once more before snatching the menu from me. “Ooh, lobster,” he chirped excitedly.

“Excuse me,” the lady at the podium cleared her throat and pushed back her black framed glasses. She wore a black dress with a white blazer over it, and her hair was in some fancy updo. “Can I help you guys with something? Are you looking for someone?”

Louis set his menu onto her podium and leaned his elbows onto it, causing her to flinch at his inappropriate behavior. “Actually, we’d like a table for six,” he leaned his head onto the palms of his hands.

She breathed out a laugh, “Um, we actually have a dress code here: formal and black and white. You guys do not meet those requirements.”

“Well, we didn’t get the memo,” Lou shrugged innocently.

She shifted her weight to her other leg impatiently, “That’s always been our dress code, Sir.”

“We aren’t from here, if you haven’t noticed,” Louis pushed, and I heard Priya stifling her laughter from beside me. “We didn’t know there was a dress code. Surely you can’t punish us for that.”

“Look, Sir, I’m not in charge here,” she sighed. “I can’t allow you to come in out of pity.”

“What if one of us had cancer?” Louis challenged her.

“Lou,” Niall warned, knowing how much I’d rather not use my sickness to get something from someone.

The lady let out a frustrated puff of air. “Judging by the way you all dress, you surely couldn’t afford a meal from here. Even if one of you were dying,” she added with a smirk.

“You bitch,” Louis growled and began to cuss her out, but Liam’s hand flew over his mouth as Zayn grabbed him and began dragging him out of the restaurant.

“Does Louis have a condition I should know about?” Priya questioned me. The humored smile she was just wearing faltered as she looked up at me.

I gulped back my anxiety.No, that would be me. “No,” I answered honestly, and it brought a smile back to her face.

“So he was willing to make up an illness to get into this fancy restaurant? Is he really that desperate to make you go broke?” she giggled.

I couldn’t help but to grin at her enjoyment, “I guess so.”

---

“This is way classier than that piece of shit they called a fancy restaurant,” Louis grumbled as he stared down at his one dollar cheeseburger. “Fancy my arse.”

“I’d hardly call MacDonalds classy, Lou,” Liam chuckled.

“Why do you guys call it MacDonalds?” Priya asked out of curiosity, putting an emphasis on the restaurant’s name.

“Why do you call it McDonalds?” I countered, and she shot me one of those “be serious” looks. “Okay, okay,” I defensively threw my hands in the air. “That’s just what we call it in England.”

“Wow, amazing answer. It gave me goosebumps, it was so exciting,” the sarcasm dripped off of her tongue like honey.

“Skin erection!” Niall exclaimed, and Priya shot him a weird look. “You do realize that goosebumps are skin erections right? When it’s cold outside, you’ll get goosebumps and your nipples will harden just like when you have se-“

I threw my arm around Niall’s shoulders and quickly covered his mouth to stop him from speaking, “I think she gets it, Ni.” He then licked my hand which I immediately rubbed down his cheek to remove his saliva from it, and he just laughed as he tried to lean away from my touch.

She giggled, “You guys are amusing.”

“We try,” I shrugged.

“Zayn, would you please put your phone away?” Louis whined to him and tried to swat the phone out of Zayn’s hands. “If Eleanor can’t reply to me right now, then you can’t reply to Perrie.”

“I don’t see how that’s fair,” Zayn furrowed his brows.

Louis placed his head onto Zayn’s shoulder and pouted, “Zaynie, pay attention to me.”

He shrugged off the choppy haired lad and groaned, “You’re so weird.”

“Why do I have to sit next to this guy?” Louis pointed his thumb towards Zayn who was back to texting his bird.

“I’ll cuddle,” Liam held out his arms, and Louis happily stood from his seat to sit in Liam’s lap and lean into his embrace.

“You guys are all so touchy-feely,” Priya pointed out in a high pitched voice as she wiggled her index finger.

“Except Zayn,” Louis stuck his tongue out at the darker lad, but he didn’t even notice it.

Priya giggled, “Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“Zayn thinks he’s too cool for us,” Niall answered as he casually tossed a french fry into his mouth. “He just likes to pretend he’s not as expressive as the rest of us.”

“He can be a real sap to his bird though,” I pointed towards him as he smiled sweetly at his phone while tapping away on the keyboard.

“What’s her name?” Priya directed her question towards Zayn.

He looked up at her, confused at first, before he grinned and replied, “Perrie.”

“That’s a pretty name,” she cooed. “I bet she’s just as beautiful as her name.”

“Yeah, she is,” he lightly nodded to her. “Want to see a picture?”

“Sure,” she beamed.

“Great, now we’ve lost the girl Mr. Whipped over there,” Louis complained.

“Excuse me, but I’m not the one who’s a mama’s boy whom spends half the day texting herand my girlfriend,” Zayn retorted, and Louis dramatically gasped.

“At least I love my mother,” Louis bit back, and Zayn had a laugh at that.

“You’re truly an idiot,” he responded to him before handing over his phone to Priya. “That’s her,” he pointed to the screen.

Priya let out an “aww” before looking up at Zayn, “She’s so pretty. Is she going to come and visit like you guys?”

Zayn looked towards me, to which I only shrugged, and he focused his attention back on Priya. “Most likely.”

“I’d love to meet her. If she’s anything like you guys, I know I’ll like her. You have a great group here,” her hazel eyes met mine as they smiled against her cheeks.

“That we do,” I replied and looked around at each of them. Niall was stuffing his face with a Big Mac, Louis was still leaned against Liam as they smiled fondly at Priya, and Zayn shifted his stare between his phone and the girl sitting beside him. “That we do.”

Notes

Updated a day late, I'm sorry about that. I hope you love the chapter since it took me a lot of work.

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