The Misfits

I woke up early the next morning with a familiar pounding in my head and a curly-haired boy laying on my left. Our legs were intertwined underneath the blanket, and he had an arm lazily draped over my stomach. I turned over and poked his cheek. He flinched and I suppressed a giggle before doing it again.

"Psst!"

No response.

"Harry."

A small frown appeared across his brow.

"Dimples wake up."

There was a groan and suddenly I was being pulled on top of him.

"Has anyone told you how annoying you are?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

"Nope. Now get up curly!" I ruffled his hair and he let out another groan and pulled me closer. "Come ooooon. I’m hungry."

"Fine," he groaned, loosening his grip and letting me slide off. I jumped off the bed and stole a pair of sweatpants from his drawer before running out to the kitchen. Niall and Zayn were still out cold and I giggled at their appearances. I heard the familiar sounds and smells of the kitchen and looked up to see Elaine already at work.

“Ellie!” I whispered. “That was my job!”

“You slept in,” she shrugged. I shot her a glare. It was nine in the morning, I did not sleep in. “Morning Harry.”

“Good morning love,” he said groggily as he pushed the mane of hair out of his face. He was only wearing sweatpants, effectively showing off every tattoo on his body. I couldn’t help but stare and then turn away in a blush when he caught me. “Are you making breakfast?”

Elaine smiled and gave him a nod as she poured us both a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” he said, his eyebrows rose in surprise. “She beat you to it this time huh Tootles?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said as I took a sip of my coffee. He let out chuckle. We took a seat at the counter and Elaine handed us each a bowl of porridge and two pieces of toast. We remained silent as we ate, though Niall’s snoring brought on small fits of laughter.

“Good morning!” Mackenzie cried as she stepped out of the bedroom.

“Shh!”

“Wha—oh!” She slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized Niall and Zayn were still sleeping. I let out a laugh at her actions before grabbing Harry’s dishes and heading over to the sink. Elaine may have got to make breakfast, but there was no way I was letting her do dishes too. Mackenzie and Maeve sat down and were immediately served by Elaine.

“How’s your head?” Harry smirked.

“Not too bad actually.”

“Horrible.” We turned to Maeve who had her head facedown on the counter, her red hair splayed across the surface.

We began to laugh, only to be silenced by a particularly loud snore from Niall. When it was clear he was still asleep we laughed even harder. The others slowly began to wake and trickle out for breakfast. Eventually even Niall and Zayn were woken, though that might have been because Louis jumped on them.

“So, what are we doing today?” Liam asked.

“Studio!” Niall cried, smacking him in the arm. Liam let out a yell and jumped away from him.
“What about us?” Mackenzie asked. Everyone turned to look at me and I quickly set down my coffee.

“Dad comes back today.”

“PAULY!” The boys yelled. I gave them a smile and noticed Elaine, Maeve, and Mackenzie remained silent. Zayn must have noticed too for he shot them a puzzled look, but thankfully didn’t ask.

“We should probably get going then,” Elaine said, looking down at her watch.

“So soon?” Frowned Eleanor, while Niall asked, “Do you need a ride?”

“Nah I stole my dad’s car, figure I should return it before he gets home right?”

A few of them let out laughs and we began to say our goodbyes. Harry gave me a tight hug and wished me luck with my dad. Zayn grabbed his things to tag along. Being the odd one out, he was the only member of One Direction who had yet to take a drivers test. As we left the boys yelled about meeting up again in a few days.

“Alright Z, where to?” I asked, as we piled in the car.

He began giving me directions and we headed out. We all remained relatively silent until he suddenly blurted, “Why don’t you guys like Paul?”

“Who said we didn’t like him?” Elaine asked?

“You’re faces when Thalia mentioned him just then,” he laughed. The silence continued so he pushed further, “Oh come on. You can tell me.”

“I just think it’s weird that he left to visit his family when he’s supposed to be spending time with Thalia,” Maeve admitted.

“He wanted to give me time with you guys,” I replied. Maeve had always been hesitant about my dad suddenly wanting to be be a part of my life. She trusted him even less than I did.

“Why are you defending him!”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re only accusing him of being a good dad.”

“A good dad would be spending time with his long lost daughter,” She snorted. “Not running away to his new family.”

“So you want him to ignore his new family too?” Zayn frowned. “He’s not a bad guy. I think he just doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“Just let her be mad,” I said to Zayn, suppressing a smirk.

“I just want him to stick to his word for once. That’s all," sassed Maeve.

Zayn let out a snort. “He’ll be a hypocrite if he doesn’t. He’s always going off on us about being better people and keeping promises.”

“He’s trying to look out for you.” I pointed out.

“He’s looking out for you too,” He said.

“By running away?” Maeve interrupted, while Elaine smacked her, “Mae!”

“By giving you your space.” Zayn said as we pulled up to his house. He turned to me with a serious look on his face.” He’s afraid to push you too far. Trust me Thal. He doesn’t want to loose you again.”

Not knowing how to respond, I gave him a nod. He said his goodbye before hopping out of the car and running to the door. I turned to the other girls, who appeared to be just as baffled as I was, before starting the car again.

-

“So how was the trip?” I asked.

My dad and I were sitting in the kitchen waiting for the coffee machine to finish brewing. He had just gotten back from the airport not five minutes ago. Maeve and Elaine had taken Mackenzie over to the dance academy, so she could see where her classes would be once term started again. I was grateful that the girls had given me the time to catch up with my father.

"Bit sad te be back if I'm honest," he grimaced. "It gets harder to leave each time."

I nodded, not really sure what to say.

"You'll have te come with me next time. The wife an' kids want te meet ya."

I froze and must have made a face because a second he let out a laugh.

"Oh come on Lia."

"They know I...exist?"

"O'course," he frowned. "Why wouldn't they?"

I opened my mouth to respond but no sound came out. He let out another chuckle before pouring two cups of coffee.

“Clodagh has been naggin me fer two years fer an introduction.”

“Why would she want to meet me?” I frowned.

“Because yer me daughter.” When I didn’t respond he added, “You’re not some big secret Lia.”

“Have you told the boys that?”

He waved a hand. “Thas different. The press an’ me family are not the same.”

“I’ll be just as nervous,” I laughed. He let out a small chuckle and there was an awkward pause that fallowed.

“So how was yer party last night?” He asked, changing the subject. I looked up to him with a frown and he quickly added, “The boys told me. Think they were scared o’ something.”

“Or someone.” I smirked. “Maybe they were afraid you’d actually cut off their balls this time.”

He let out a hearty laugh, which I quickly joined him in.

“It was fun,” I shrugged. “I’m not going to lie, I was surprised with how much they welcomed the girls. Niall and Harry especially.”

“Well they went up te get them with ya didn’t they?”

“Yeah. I think they were a little overwhelmed but they handled it nicely.”

“Trust me Lia. They’re always overwhelmed. It’s somethin’ they’ve got used to over the years.”

“I imagine they’d have to.”

“Why’d ya think they were overwhelmed though?” He asked with a frown.

“Most people aren’t used to seeing that many kids in a house dad,” I said with a laugh. “The best part was when Aunt Lucy invited them to stay the night. But Maeve told her the house would explode so she let us go.”

“Explode?”

I nodded then frowned when I remembered something. “And then Harry invited them to come down and visit.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. And Niall said he could get Hugh and Jas into a practice with him and Chelsea.”

“He probably could.”

“That’s insane!” I practically yelled. My dad simply chuckled and gave me another shrug.

“That’s their life Lia.”

“Does it get…easier?”

“What?”

“Being around them?” I asked. “Not that they’re stuck up or anything – just the opposite, but…they can do whatever they want. Go wherever they want. Just because they feel like it. I’m not used to being around people like that. Everyone I know works two, maybe three jobs and saves every penny they can. Most dream of even getting the chance to leave the city and the guys…”

“They worked just as hard fer what they have too Lia. They jus’ get a better pay check.” My dad said, setting the cup down. “Sure they were seein’ the world, but that much travelin’ takes a toll. Those boys were playing shows night after night with hardly a wink o’ sleep. And on top of that they were visiting radio shows, meet an’ greets, an’ recordin’ their new album. They work their asses off.”

“I know.” I could help but smile at his praise of the boys. When he talked about them he had put on the air of a proud father boasting of his children. It was sweet, and made me wonder if he would ever talk about me like that.

Notes