The Misfits

I woke up in strange room the next morning, not knowing exactly where I was until I recalled yesterday's events. I was in my father's guest room. I quickly pulled myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I wonder if he'll have to go into work today? I threw on my black shirt and ripped jeans, topping it off with my little green vest. I headed downstairs humming as I pulled my hair into a messy bun.

"Oh!" I cried out as I bumped into a tall, muscular brunette.

"What the-"

"Thalia! Jesus. Sorry darlin' I forgot ya were here!" I heard my father shout from the other room. I stared up at the boy in front of me, still slightly in shock.

"Who's Thalia?" I heard different voice ask, followed by another one saying, "Oh! Hello!"

It suddenly hit me who these guys were. A smile spread across my face as I said to the brunette, "You're a lot taller in person."

He frowned and I headed off to the kitchen. It was eight in the morning and I was extremely curious as to why One Direction was at my father’s house this early.

"Have you guys eaten yet? Want any breakfast?" I asked, opening the cupboards to see what the selection was. I’m not going to lie, as soon as I figured out whom my dad worked for I did a little research just in case something like this happened. At least I didn’t look as baffled as they did.

"Uh yeah sure!" Smiled Harry. Louis and Liam wandered in behind him, my father bringing up the rear.

"Lia, ya don't need to feed them." He said, looking at the boys sternly.

"It's fine," I smiled. "How was the party last night?"

Liam frowned at my knowledge while Louis answered, "It was alright. I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"You mean he hasn't told you?" I asked with a playful smile as I began cracking eggs. "I'm a little offended."

"Boys, this is my daughter Thalia." Dad said, looking at me with a smirk.

The guys stared at me for a moment before a smile broke across Louis face, "Bullshit...is this a prank?"

"No prank." My dad said, shaking his head. Just then his phone began ringing and he stepped outside to take the call.

Louis turned back to me, doubt written all over his scruffy face. "You're really his daughter?"

"That's what I thought too." I laughed. "But yes. I am."

"How come we've never seen you? Why didn't he tell us about you!" Liam interrogated.

I slid some eggs on a plate trying to figure out the best way to say it. "He met my mom at school. They messed up and had me. It didn't work out and my mom and I moved away when I was four. Two years ago I contacted him and we've been talking ever since. Then a couple weeks ago he invited me to stay with him for the summer before I went back to University."

They continued to stare at me as I put the plates in front of them.

"So you're really his daughter?" Laughed Louis, covering his mouth in disbelief.

"What's that wonderful smell?" I looked up to see a drowsy looking blonde enter the kitchen.

"It's the ass crack of dawn, why the hell is everyone awake? Who's she?"

"This is Thalia. Paul's long lost daughter." Harry replied. Niall nodded and began eating from the plate I had set in front of him. We watched him for a minute before he snapped his head up.

"Wait what?"

“Nice to meet you too,” I laughed.

“So how old are you?” Harry asked, flipping his curls out of his face and leaning forward on the counter.“If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Twenty-one.” I laughed

“And you’re in Uni?” Liam quizzed. I filled some glasses of water for them; positive they were all fighting hangovers.

“I study fine arts.”

“So you can paint and draw and that sort of thing?” asked Harry taking the water gratefully.
I nodded again as they stared at me curiously and I could tell they were trying to figure me out.

Just then my father came back into the room. I passed him a plate and he stood against the counter, eating it hungrily. He looked up to me after a moment. “What do ya have planned for the day Lia?”

“I’m not really sure,” I frowned and then nodded to the boys. “I’m assuming you’re working today?”

“They roped me into it,” he said apologetically. Harry, Niall, Liam and Louis gave us smiles while I rolled my eyes.

“That’s alright. A few of my friends from Uni live in London,” I shrugged. “I can go hang with them.”

“Can we come?” Louis asked.

“Oh I assumed you had a press conference or something.”

“Well…we do,” Liam said slowly. I raised my eyebrow in response.

“You should come,” added Harry.

“I was going to my friends remember?” I met his green eyes and tried hide my smile. Damn these boys were cuter than I expected.

“Yeah but we’ll be done by noon,” Niall waved. “And I doubt yer friends will be up before then.”

“Please!” Louis said with a smile. I looked over to my father who merely laughed at myexpression. Louis turned to him and whined, “Dad! Make her come!”

The other boys immediately followed suit and for a moment there I thought he would give in. It dawned on me how much of a soft spot he had for them. He had even gone out after midnight to pick them up from a party and brought them back here to make sure they would be taken care of.

“I’m not going te make her do anythin’,” he finally said.

“But daaaaaaad,” Louis continued. While Harry added, “We only want to get to know our new sister!”

“Oh God,” I heard myself say. The boys turned and gave me evil smiles.

“What the hell is everyone yelling about,” yawned Zayn from the doorway. He slowly moved towards the counter and I passed him a plate of eggs and toast.

“This is Thalia, Paul’s long lost daughter,” Niall introduced.

“She’s coming with us to our interviews,” added Harry matter of factly.

“Are you always this persistent?” I asked.

“Are you always this stubborn?” Louis countered.

My dad let out a laugh from the corner and said, “Now you see what I have to deal with.”

“Yeah but you get paid. What do I get out of it?”

“A chance to hang out with the coolest lads you’ll ever meet,” answered Liam.

I stared at them for a moment, contemplating weather or not I should go. But Niall was right; Calhan and Nate wouldn’t be up until at least two. I let out a sigh.

“Jesus. Fine!” I said. The boys let out cheers and I yelled on top of them. “But you’re doing dishes!”

Twenty minutes later I was getting in the front seat of my dad’s large black SUV with One Direction. I put my feet up on the dash and plugged my phone into the radio as we took off.

“What’s your favorite color?” Louis asked. He was sitting directly behind me and was continuing the game of 20 questions he had started inside.

“I don’t have one.”

“What? You have to have a favorite color.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I laughed. “Although at the moment I’m really liking choral.”

“What year in Uni are you?”

“Third.”

“Whales or dolphins?”

I thought for a moment before saying, “Whales.”

“Favorite movie?”

“Hmm. That’s a tie between Breakfast Club and Grease.”

“What?” A few of the boys asked.

“Did you know I was Danny Zuko in my school’s play?” asked Louis.

“Really!” I laughed. “I decorated the set for ours. They threw me in as one of the chorus.”

Louis and I high fived and I saw my dad frown at me from the corner of my eye. The boys continued their interrogation all the way to the studio where their interview was going to take place. Thankfully there wasn’t that large of a crowd outside yet, and we headed right in. The boys were pulled into one of the conference rooms while my dad and I headed to the break room to grab a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t know you were in a play?” He said after a moment.

I shrugged. “It was when I was in high school.”

He nodded and I could tell he was a little upset, however I felt myself feeling unsympathetic. He was going to have to realize that there was a lot more of my life he missed than a school play. He headed back into the conference room, ruffling a few of the boys hair before sitting down.

“Thalia! There you are love,” smiled Harry as I walked in. I put on a smile and sat down next to him. He grabbed my coffee and took a sip before making a face at me. I laughed along with the others while he said; “You take it strong don’t you?”

“I got used to it,” I shrugged. “Kept me going through the double shifts.”

“Where did you work?” Niall asked curiously.

“Waitress in the morning, nanny after lunch, night shift at the pub.”

“You were a bartender?” cried Louis. I nodded, failing at keeping a smirk from my face. “You’ll have to make drinks for us sometime.”

“Deal.” We all chatted for a while before the boys were called to the interview. I followed my father to the window dividing us from the room as the boys took a seat. They began joking around with the radio hosts and I felt myself growing bored.

I plugged my headphones in and pulled out the sketchbook I carried with me everywhere. It was my baby. It contained all my disassembled thoughts and ideas, combining them into one organized statement. If anyone wanted to understand how I worked all they would need to do is flip through my sketchbook. It was how I understood the world. Transferring what I saw onto paper was capturing that moment and freezing it in my mind. It wasn’t until I drew someone did I feel I really knew them.

I looked around for inspiration and for some reason kept landing on the boys. They interacted with the radio hosts as if they were old friends and I could see how so many girls could be attracted to them. I couldn’t help but laugh at Harry for he had to keep pushing his mane of hair out of the way. I began drawing and quickly lost all sense of time.

“A lion?” I jumped and heard a chuckle behind me. Harry had leaned his head on my shoulder to look at my drawing and scared the living daylights out of me.

“Zayn come and look at this!”

“I drew a picture!” I said, holding it out to him as he strolled over.

“Damn Thalia! Where did you learn to draw like that?” cried Zayn. The rest of the boys came over out of curiosity and I felt my cheeks turning pink.

“What the fuck?” Louis grabbed my sketchbook and started flipping through my work. “You’ve been holding out on us Thalia.”

“I told you I was an art major,” I laughed.

“Can I have it?” asked Zayn.

I shrugged, “It’s not done yet.”

“When it’s done then?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright you lot let’s get out of here,” My dad said, appearing next to Harry. I packed up my bag and we headed downstairs. The crowd outside had grown and you could hear the screaming from inside the lobby. “Boys, keep Lia close.”

I felt Harry take my hand as I was led outside to the mass of screaming girls. However after a few steps Harry stopped to take a few pictures with fans. I panicked for a moment before Louis grabbed me and pulled me towards car, stopping only once to take a photo. Once we were safe inside we headed towards the closest drive through restaurant.

“I like ya Thalia. Ya should hang out with us more,” Niall said in between bites.

“I like you too Niall! I don’t know about that second bit though.”

“Why not!” he asked with a frown.

“If I keep hanging out with you idiots I’m going to need my own body guard.”

“I’m your bodyguard,” My dad said from the drivers seat.

Liam frowned, “Hold on, I thought you were our bodyguard?”

“I guess he likes me best.” I turned and stuck my tongue out at the boys. Niall and Louis repeated the action, which made me laugh.

“That’s cause you’re a girl,” smirked Harry. I wrinkled my nose at him and he reached forward and ruffled my hair.

“Hey!” I spun around but my father quickly said, “Thalia. Where are we dropping ya off?”

Harry shot me a wink as I turned back to my father, knowing he only interjected to stop a fight from breaking out. “Calhan’s. It’s just up here actually. Take a left at the next light please.”

“Who’s Calhan?” Niall asked. “Yer boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Damn right that hoodlum’s not yer boyfriend,” my dad chimed in. I looked over to him frowning. How would he know? He’s never met Calhan. Even my mom’s never met Calhan. And then something occurred to me.

“Wait. Did you do a background check on him?” I yelled. He remained silent as the boys sniggered in the back. “You had no right!”

“I’m surprised you even hang out with the kid—”

“—Dad.”

“Did you know he’s been arrested twice?”

I glared at him. “Yes, as a matter of fact I was there for one of them. We were at a bar and a guy had been trying to get me to go home with him. Calhan punched the creep so he would get off of me.”

The car grew silent as we pulled up in front Calhan’s flat. I didn’t even bother asking how he knew the address. I opened the door to get out but turned to look at him.

“I’ve been looking out for myself for sixteen years. I don’t need a piece of paper suddenly telling me what I can and can’t do.”

With that I slammed the door and headed up to my best friend’s flat fuming. And thank goodness for Calhan and Nate or I’m sure I would have gone mad. They effectively distracted me with games and drinking the entire night. It felt like school again and for a while there I forgot about my father and the boys of One Direction. It wasn’t until after one in the morning did I realize I should probably head back. Calhan offered to drive me and we headed silently towards my Dad’s.

“You gonna be alright?” Calhan asked when we had been sitting outside for five minutes while I debated if it was safe to go inside. I hated the small argument we had gotten in earlier, but he needed to understand that running background checks on my friends was not okay.

“Thalia?” Calhan’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry Cal,” I sighed.

“Do you want to stay at mine?” He offered.

“No. I should go in and talk to him.”

“Alright. Well give me a call if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks Cal.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips before stepping out of the car. Taking a deep breath I headed inside.

He was sitting on the couch drinking a beer. I paused in the doorway, not really sure what to do. My mother had always been working and was never around to ground me. I felt like a little kid again.

“Hi.” I managed.

“Take a seat Thalia.”

I sat down in the armchair across the room. There was another silence that lasted a few minutes while he sipped his beer. Finally I worked up the courage to say something. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say those things earlier. I’m just…”

“Not used to having a father?” he finished. I nodded slowly. “Thalia I don’t know your friends. Hell, I don’t even really know you do I? I have no idea what I’m doing, so I resorted to what I know. I treated you like one of the boys and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t really know what I’m doing either.”

He gave me a small smile before standing up and heading upstairs, patting my head on the way. This was going to be harder than I thought.

Notes

Sorz if this chapter is a little confusing with all the dialog between the boys. It's not too confusing is it???