The Misfits

“So where are we going?" I asked as my dad drove.

I had woken up this morning to my dad telling me I was coming to an event the boys had today. I didn't even bother arguing with them anymore, knowing they would talk me into going regardless. It had been over two weeks since I had seen them, which was saying something. My dad had gotten back from Ireland yesterday and I could already tell his mood had hardened. And I knew the feeling, for I’ve experienced it every time I left Birmingham.

“To pick up the lads," He replied, shooting me a glance. I rolled my eyes and figured I would find out soon enough.

We arrived at Harry's a few minutes later. I quickly jumped out of the car and ran inside to find the place empty. I frowned and began wandering around.

“Harry? Harry where are you?”

“In here love!” I frowned and headed towards the sound of his voice. It was coming from the sunroom in the back of the house…odd.

“SURPRISE!”

“Ahh!” I jumped as entered the space.

Inside were Maeve, Elaine, and Mackenzie as well as all my other siblings. Before I had the chance to ask what they were doing here the younger kids had tackled me to the ground. It had been nearly a month since I had last seen them and I began hugging and kissing them all ferociously. My heart felt as though it could burst.

“How did you…when did…oh I missed you guys!” I said, pulling them all in for more hugs. Even Hugh and Jasper were here. I felt like crying.

“Harry did it!” Laughed Mackenzie. “Harry did it all! He convinced Miss Lucy to let us come!”

“Harry I…”But I lost my words when I saw him standing there smiling. He nodded and gave me a kiss on the forehead in response. God, why was he perfect? I pulled myself together and turned back to my siblings, “My goodness Millie have you grown?”

“I have!” Cried Archie, jumping up next to me.

“You all have! Look I think you might be taller than me!” I grabbed Leo and began tickling him. Then I noticed my father enter the room, grinning like an idiot but standing back respectively. “Oh! Guys, I want you to meet someone…this is my dad, Paul.”

The kids turned to look at him, sizing him up. Every one of them had come from abusive homes and as a consequence severely distrusted men. Maeve stepped forward and scooped up Millie.

“You’ll never guess what his job is,” She said, pinching Millie’s sides. “He’s Harry’s bodyguard!”

“Really?” asked Layla and Tilly, while the boys’ jaws dropped.

“So do you like know how to beat people up?” Archie asked, receiving laughs from all of us while the other children waited carefully for a response. I prayed he would give the right one.

“I do. But my powers only come out when one of the boys are in trouble,” he said, giving Archie a smile.

“I’m his boss. Which means he has do what I say,” Harry said, resting his elbow on my dad’s shoulder. The kids burst into a fit of giggles. It was hilarious to them that a teenager could give orders to a grown man. “Alright, and since you all did a good job at surprising Thalia, I’ve got a surprise for you…think you can find the basement?”

The kids jumped up and ran downstairs with Elaine and Mackenzie close on their tails to keep them from trampling each other. Maeve shot us a glance before following after them and leaving me with Harry and my father.

“Sorry about that,” I apologized to my father. “They don’t like adults…especially fathers…and authority.”

He let out a chuckle, “It’s alright darlin, I don’t blame ‘em.”

“Just…don’t try and give them an order. The only guy they’ll listen to is Hugh.”

“And how exactly did he manage te gain control over a bunch o’ munckins?”

“He earned their respect.”

“Pssh, that’s not too hard to do,” Harry waved with a smirk.

“Oh hush up. They only liked you cause you were famous!” I gave him a nudge, which he quickly returned. “How the hell did you get them all out here? And where are they staying? Does my aunt—”

“I rented a car for them, they’re staying here, and of course your Aunt knows! I wouldn’t just kidnap them!”

“Staying here? For how long?”

Harry shrugged, “Three or four days? The lads said they could come over tomorrow; Louis’ wanted to play football with Hugh and Jasper ever since Niall mentioned it. And I figured we could take them out to see the city.”

“You’re amazing Harry, stupidly amazing. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

-

Harry kept his promise and the next day the four remaining members of One Direction came to visit. They kept the kids busying all day with games, coloring, football, and even a short performance after Layla and Tilly had begged them. We were now on our way to visit the London Eye before heading to dinner. Seeing as we were now a group of a whopping seventeen people we had decided to travel in separate groups and meet up there.

“Come here princess,” Harry said, scooping up Millie as we headed towards the impressive monument. Hugh and I were tag teaming keeping an eye on Archie and Leo, while Niall and Mackenzie brought up the rear with Luca.

“It’s huge!” Cried Archie, jumping up and down. He was holding tightly to Hugh’s hand as we stared up.

“Hey look! There the others are!” Luca said, pointing across the street. My dad, and another bodyguard stood with them inside of the large building, waiting to get on a lift. As soon as we met them the kids lost what little control they had over their excitement. Leo and Luca were spewing out random information about the London Eye that they had learned in school, while the girls were talking excitedly with One Direction. I caught Maeve’s eye and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright go stand by a window!” Louis called, as we stepped into the lift. The kids did as they were told, only to jump back a moment later when we began to move.

“WE’RE LIKE A ROCKET RISING INTO THE SKY!” Archie screamed, gripping tightly to the railing. While Layla added, “This is scary!”

“Look, you’re as tall as that building!” Liam said, pointing out to the neighboring building, which we were now rising above. “How did you all grow so fast!”

I let out a laugh and turned to see Mackenzie filming their reactions as we rose into the sky. When we were nearing the top Niall suggested we take a photo and the camera was quickly handed off to my father. It was truly a magical experience, and I knew the kids would never forget it.

“Archie! Archie look down!” Leo laughed. “The cars are like ants!”

“Look there’s Big Ben!”

“Hello Mr. Prime Minister!”

“Harry I think I can see your house from up here!”

“They’re loosing their minds,” I laughed, turning to look at Harry. “Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to them.”

“It’s my pleasure Tootles,” He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into a hug. He gave me a squeeze and turned to watch the kids as I continued to stare at him. How I wish my dad wasn’t here right now. I wanted to kiss those lips so bad.

Once the lift had landed safely back on the ground we carted the kids off to a nearby restaurant. The boys had reserved a special room upstairs where we wouldn’t be disturbed and the kids could run free.

“So what are we doing tomorrow?” Leo asked, once we had gotten our food.

“What do you want to do?” Louis replied. The kids sat there with frowns on their faces. They had no idea of the options they had in this city, and with One Direction’s wallet, they were nearly unlimited.

“Can we go to a museum?” Tilly asked hopefully. Archie and Luca let out groans. “Please?”

“Nobody wants to go to a museum Tilly,” Archie said. “They’re boring.”

“Arch, be nice,” I scolded. I felt Harry’s hand on my knee but refused to look at him, knowing he’d make me smile when I was trying to be strict. “Not all museums are boring.”

“What about the science museum?” offered Elaine? “I bet you could so some crazy experiments there Arch!”

“I heard they had a space exhibit now,” Harry added. The boys’ faces lit up and it was decided. I turned to Harry with a smile, which he quickly returned.

-

The next day Tilly’s wish was One Direction’s command and we headed off to the Science Museum in the heart of the city. I had noticed a few paparazzi standing outside as we entered, and hoped that they wouldn’t interrupt the kid’s day. Thankfully my father and another two bodyguards had accompanied us incase it turned hectic.

It was a long day and I was grateful for the guys’ patience as we moved through each exhibit on each floor. Though, I think they were just as excited as the little ones with some of the experiments. Afterwards, Louis and Harry informed us that we had tickets to go see a Broadway show that evening. They were taking us to see The Lion King.

“Come on! We’re going to be late!” Layla said, pulling Niall towards the theatre. We had stopped at Harry’s before heading to the theatre so we could do a quick wardrobe change. Louis, Zayn, and Liam had taken that opportunity to pick-up their girlfriends, allowing us to make quite an entrance at the theatre.

“Lay you’re going to rip his arm off!” Mackenzie laughed, grabbing Layla’s other hand and pulling her back gently.

“You boys sure know how to do it big,” Sighed Maeve, as we headed inside. Louis shot her a wink in response before we lead the kids towards the large doors. I felt someone take my hand and turned to see Millie smiling up at me, gripping Harry tightly with her other hand.

“Are you ready to see Simba? I asked her.

“I’m so excited! I can’t wait!” She said, shaking in anticipation. She began to run forward only to have Harry and I pull her up into the air before placing her safely back onto the ground next to us. She let out a giggle and immediately repeated the action.

“You are all so spoiled,” I heard Elaine say from the front of the pack. “What do we say to the guys?”

“THANK YOU!” They all screamed, even Hugh and Jasper.

We headed down to our seats, which of course were center stage, and waited for the show to begin. Tilly and Layla were in deep conversation with Perrie, who they had recognized immediately from the x-factor. Hugh and Jasper were talking excitedly to Liam and Louis, no doubt about football. Archie, Leo, and Luca were in the middle of telling Eleanor a story and being closely watched by Elaine. In the far corner Mackenzie and Niall were giggling from an inside joke while Maeve and Zayn were giggling at Perrie. Behind all of us were my father and the two other bodyguards.

“Alright fairy godmother, what do you have planned for their final day?” I asked, turning to Harry.

“Fairy godmother?” he cried, turning to me with a frown.

“Mhm.” I nodded before interlacing his fingers with mine, making sure our hands were out of view from my father. He frowned and I rolled my eyes, “Come on dummy, don’t you know your making all their dreams come true?”

“Pssh. That doesn’t make me a fairy godmother. More like…. Walt Disney.”

“What! No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

“No, you can’t grow a mustache.”

“That hurts,” He replied, failing at keeping a smile off his face.

“Only because it’s truuuuue,” I giggled. He poked my side in response, causing me to let out a squeak. He let out a hardy laugh and I shot him a playful glare, “Alright then Walt, you never answered my question.”

He frowned and I rolled my eyes.

“What’s our final destination?”

“Top secret.”

“Please?”
“Nope.”

“But—”

“My facial hair is offended.”

I did my best not to bust out laughing. “But you don’t have any, so how can it be offended?”

“You wound me woman!” He cried.

“Pleeeeeease?” I asked, giving him my best puppy eyes. He stared at me a movement before he broke into a smile.

“Let’s just say Niall’s keeping his promise.”

I frowned and then let out a gasp. “You’re taking them to a football game?”

“It was Louis’ idea,” he said with a smile. All I could do was stare at him, which caused him to frown. “What?”

“Why are you all perfect?”

He chuckled and shook his head, “Nope. Just me.”

“Oh right, how silly of me,” I giggled. “A perfect, talented, charitable angel with an annoyingly large ego.”

“What?” He cried out, but the lights dimmed before he could protest further. Through the darkness I could see he wore a frown and so I quickly brought up his hand and gave it a kiss before turning my attention towards the stage.

Notes