Time of Our Lives

*Eleanor’s POV*

“I seriously don’t know what I’m going to get for his birthday, Eli…” Louis sighed, dishing through piles of yet more clothing.

He took a step back, running a hand through his hair. Niall’s birthday was coming up soon. Very soon. Like, in a two days’ time soon. “Gah! Damn…” Louis said, giving up.

I couldn’t help but smile. Louis had a way of thinking for his friends. I put my arm around his, intertwining our fingers. “It’ll be okay, babe. Let’s just check out another store.”

“We’ve been to four already…” He pouted, but otherwise walked with me to another store.

We walked along, trying to find a decent store. “What’s this?” Louis asked, looking at a newly put-up store.

Merchandise. Such a simple name for the store, but that was what it only needed to be called. We walked in, seeing nothing but random items inside. A grin came across Louis’s face as he ran ahead to check out the shelves. I looked around myself, seeing what I could find for Niall. I wanted to get him something too, but I had no idea what.

“I got it!” I heard Louis yell, running back to me.

I looked up, seeing a rubber chicken in his hand. I laughed. “Are you seriously getting that?”

“Hell yeah!” He said excitedly. “He’ll love it!”

He stuck next to my side as we both continued to look around the store. I settled on a necklace with a fake signed Bryan Adams on it. I was sure he would like it.

Louis and I left hand in hand. “There’s a lot of new shops around.”

We both saw a store that said Air Waves. “Hey, that’s the store Dakota’s friend, Bonnie, modeled for, right?” I asked, looking at the name.

“Yeah… Let’s go check it out.” Louis said, pulling me along with him.

The store was definitely a summer and beach setting. The many of shirts were bright and thin. I pulled out a pair of shorts, checking the fabric.

I liked it.

“Hey, what do you think about this shirt?” Louis asked.

I turned around, seeing him holding up a sleeveless shit to his chest. The shirt was button-up and looked quite nice, but… “It’s plaid.” I said. “I thought you liked stripes.”

Louis blinked, looking down at the shirt. “You’re right… Hmm…”

He stuck the shirt back on the shelf, looking around some more. Strange, maybe he was picking up Liam’s style. I knew that boy loved wearing plaid.

We got a few clothes before leaving the store. “Ah, I feel accomplished.” Louis sighed, laughing some. “I can’t wait until his birthday. Are you still going to go pick the girls up?”

I nodded. That was the plan. I would go to America tomorrow, Thursday, and pick the girls up from their homes and bring them here to London. The girls have received permission to skip out on school. Their excuse: college tour trip. The guys were going to take Niall to their summer home they always hung out at. We had the biggest surprise planned out for Niall.

To be honest, I couldn’t wait.

I was excited for the birthday party planned, and at the same time to meet the girls. I’ve heard so much about them, it was like I knew them personally myself. I would finally meet Dakota, a very close friend of Louis’s.

It was going to be a good day.

*Niall’s POV*

Okay, I was not expecting that rubber chicken from Louis. I was still laughing after fifteen minutes of getting it. Zayn and Liam passed the thing back and forth, using it as a football. Harry and Louis were in a heated competition with foosball. It was another day with the boys. It was a nice getaway birthday party with the guys for the weekend, but to be honest, I wished the girls were to celebrate my 20th birthday.

Yeah, I know, I was asking for too much. To be with the guys, it should’ve been enough. I mean, come on, there’s no way the girls could be coming to London to just celebrate for my birthday…

A knock was heard on the door. Liam seemed to perk up some, grinning as he got up. “I got it!”

He disappeared behind the wall to greet whoever was there. “Ah! You made it!” I heard Liam said, along with more chatter.

Female voices.

American accents.

My eyes widened. No way. No way. No way…

I stood up from my chair, looking between the three other boys in the room. They were grinning from ear to ear at me. “You didn’t…” I started.

“Niall!” I turned around, seeing Dakota and Kariann coming around the corner followed by Liam and Eleanor.

They both came running over. I picked both of them up, spinning around in a circle with a hug. “Oh, my God.” I breathed, putting them down to where my back was facing Liam and Eleanor. “I can’t believe the two of you came. I…”

I was trying to express my emotions into my words, but I couldn’t. “Um, Niall.” Kariann said, grinning. “We didn’t come alone.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, then it hit me. “Oh! Eleanor-“

I turned around, ready to thank her, but my breath caught. Okay, maybe it wasn’t Eleanor they weren’t talking about. A girl stood a few feet in front of a smiling Liam and Eleanor. A girl with dip-dyed, multiple colored, orange hair stood, beautiful brown eyes wide, and a huge side-grin on her face. This was probably the perfect time to use the metaphor that my jaw hit the floor. It seriously did. Oh, my God. There was no way she was here.

Bonnie Michele Haub.

“How long are you going to stare at me with that look on your face?” Her Australian accent broke through.

I haven’t heard that voice in so long, not since I talked to her on the phone that fateful night she called Dakota. I got her number from Dakota and I texted her. A lot if I must say. For the longest time, she was the only person I texted, the only person who’s texts I looked forward to. Holy shit. She was standing right in front of me.

And stupid me wasn’t sure wasn’t to do.

“Take a picture! Take a picture!” Louis shouted. “I’m loving his face right now!”

“One step ahead of you!” Zayn laughed, phone held high.

I blinked, looking at Zayn. I felt a hand press on my back. Kariann whispered to me. “What the hell are you doing? Go hug her.”

I swallowed, looking back at Bonnie. She had her hand on her hips, raising an eye at me. Such a sassy girl, but I couldn’t help but see the beauty that eloped her. I walked toward her. Her cheesy grin turned into a smile as she opened her arms for a hug.

Oh, I hugged her alright. Tightly.

“Surprised?” She asked as we pulled back from each other.

I nodded. “Very. I wasn’t expecting them-“ I nodded my head toward Kariann and Dakota, “to come. Especially you. I... My goodness. I think I can die happy right now.”

She smiled. Her face, which I now noticed were filled with so many freckles pulled up. She really was beautiful. She leaned in, whispering into my ear. “Why don’t we go somewhere private and talk?”

My breath caught. Seriously? “What about the others?”

“They’ll be fine.” She said, pulling back. She winked up at me. “I only came for you anyways.”

A smile spreads across my face. I couldn’t help it. She grabbed my hand and began to head toward the hallway. “Where you going, love!?” Dakota yelled out.

Bonnie looked back at her friend, grinning. “We’ll be back! We’re going to talk for a bit.”

I noticed the guys grinning at me, wiggling their brows. I rolled my eyes. They had such dirty minds. She somehow led us into one of the bedrooms. Ironically mine, too. Bonnie checked the room out, intrigued by it. I sat down on the bed, pulling my legs up.

I had quite a bit of stuff in here. The guys and I stayed here often and I made sure to make myself feel right at home. I shared the room with Liam, since Lou always liked to sleep on an air mattress. “Wow…” Bonnie breathed, squatting down to look at two of my guitars. Both were signed by older rockstars.

“Steven Tyler… holy shit, I’m jealous.” Bonnie said, lightly brushing her fingertips across the guitar’s glossy surface.

“You into Aerosmith?” I asked.

“Um… hello?” She said, jumping up to spin around, indicating her shirt.

I was too busy shocked by her presence to notice her clothing. She was indeed wearing an Aerosmith rock t-shirt tucked into some ripped jean shorts. Her boots clicked as she walked over to sit on the end of the bed. She kicked off her boots. “Hell yeah, freedom!”

She curled her legs up, spinning to face me. “What else do you like?” I asked, talking about the bands.

“Hm… let’s see…” She thought to herself. “I like Nirvana, definitely. Radiohead, AC/DC, Pink Floyd… stuff like that. I especially like Alternative Rock like Evans Blue. There’s a lot of good older bands out there.”

Shit, not only was she beautiful, but she had the perfect taste in music. We talked some more about random stuff. “So…” She started, touching me with her bare foot. “You find a girl, yet?”

Oh yeah, definitely. I shook my head no anyways. Even if I did like this girl, there was no way we could date. I had my band and we were busy to multiple things to prepare for our world tour next year. I knew I was crushing hard on this girl, but it was just a crush. I had work to worry about and I didn’t need anything or anyone to distract me from my career. “That’s too bad, I would at least think since the last time we spoke you would have found a decent girl to be interested in.”

I shrugged. “Who knows?”

She leaned closer, staring up at me. “You sure you’re not interested in anyone? The look on your face makes it seem you like someone.” She snapped her fingers. “I got it. It’s me, isn’t it?”

She raised an eye at me, grinning as she did so. I couldn’t stop the reddening of my cheeks. “Oh, my God! You have got to be kidding me. One of the most loved boys from One Direction crushing on a girl like me? Pshahaha!”

Her laugh droned on and even through the embarrassment of my reddening cheeks, I couldn’t help but like the sound of it. “Well,” she continued on after the laugher as if it never happened, “it would never work out anyways. I’m not the type of girl that likes long distance relationships. We wouldn’t last a week.”

I didn’t know what it was, but I had to ask. “Why though?”

Bonnie grinned some, though her eyes didn’t hold any sense of amusement. “I’m quite the selfish girl, Niall. I want to be by my man’s side at all times. I want him to look only at me. I want to be stuck at the hip. I’ve been told I’m quite clingy, though not the desperate clingy. I’m the kind of girl that will make others know when a boy is mine. I can be quite feisty if another girl tries to make a move on my man.”

I actually believed every word that she said. She probably was right though, with the fans I’m constantly surrounded with, we wouldn’t last a week. I couldn’t help but smile the whole time though. “So how long was your longest relationship?” I asked her, curious.

She thought for a moment before smiling. “Ah, Dakota. Since eighth grade. We’ve been together ever since”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The mere fact that those two were as close as Harry and Louis was quite fascinating. I had to admit though, a smartass plus sass was one hell of a combo. I have yet to see the two of them together. I watched as Bonnie looked around the room again. “Hey, you should totally play me a song.” Bonnie suggested, pointing at my guitar resting against the wall.

I stretched, reaching for it. I rested the acoustic on my leg. “What song?”

She thought to herself. “Wonderwall?”

Ah, I loved that song. I started to play the familiar strings on my guitar. Bonnie listened with her eyes closed as I sung. She did a silent clap whenever I was done. “I really love your voice.” She complimented.

I smiled at her before I heard my door swing open and the lights suddenly click off.

Zayn came through the door with a lit up cake. Six other people came crowding in after him as they sung. “Happy Birthday to you.”

I heard Bonnie quickly jumping in. A huge, cheeky grin was plastered on my face and I could not force it down. “Happy Birthday dear Niall!”

“Happy Birthday to you!” Everyone cheered.

“Blow out the candles!” Liam shouted.

“Make a wish!” Harry added.

I closed my eyes for a brief second before opening them and blowing the candles hard. I saw Bonnie reach over, fingering some icing off the top of the cake and sticking it in her mouth. “Hey!” Dakota yelled, running over to jump her friend on the bed.

Bonnie was heard laughing as she was tackled by Dakota on the bed. I set my guitar down upon someone turning on the lights. I was about to stand up from the bed but felt Louis quickly snapping a birthday hat on my head and placed the rubber chicken on my lap. I picked it up, throwing it at him. He screams like a girl, laughing as he runs out of the room, chicken in hand.

I couldn’t help but smile. This was great. All of my friends were present and I have received the best birthday present one could ever have. I soon learned that the girls would be staying with us the whole weekend also. That was even better.

Best 20th birthday ever.

*Harry’s POV*

It was one hell of a party weekend. Being a part of London, we were legalized to drink – well, most of us. Bonnie and Dakota were still underage. It didn’t stop Bonnie, though she was a careful drinker. Bonnie and Kariann were the only two who didn’t drink. Actually, I should probably count Liam also. He did drink one pint. That was it. Actually, I think Eleanor and Louis disappeared somewhere too, quite tipsy. Wouldn’t want to disturb them…

The rest of us were present though, jamming to Guitar Hero. The girls rocked at it. Zayn sucked. Oh damn, yeah, he sucked at it. Then again, he may have been the drunkest out of all of us. It didn’t take long before he crashed on the couch, fast asleep. I was much buzzed and in a good mood. The hours ran late and one by one everyone crashed somewhere in the living.

Except me and Kariann. Always me and Kariann. We were always the last to go to sleep. I took another drink of the bottle in my hand as I watched her text on her phone. I saw her eyes widened some as I heard her phone began to vibrate with a call.

“Hello?” She half-whispered, scrambling off the floor and disappearing around the wall to open the door outside.

How considerate of her to let everyone sleep. I stood up, trying to walk straight as I rounded the corner to go to the door. It was still cracked open, the warm September air breezing in. I stuck my head out, seeing who she was talking too.

Kariann was sitting down the concrete step that lead up to the door. I quietly stepped out, gently shutting the door. She looked up, seeing me. “What…?” She spoke through the phone. “Oh, no. I’ll be home…”

A smile erupted on her face, listening to the other end. I made a disgusted face before sitting down next to her on the steps. She continued to talk on the phone. I didn’t know what it was, but I was dying to get her attention. I poked her in the side. She half screamed before suddenly cutting herself off and grabbing my hand from touching her side again. I knew she was quite ticklish. She glared at me before trying to talk on the phone again.

I let out a breath. Why was she so determined to ignore me? I was Harry Styles, the boy who could win the hearts of thousands of girls, yet this one girl right in front of me couldn’t even acknowledge my feelings for her. Just how obvious…

I grabbed her shoulder, causing her to look at me while continuing to talk to her boyfriend on the phone. I blamed the alcohol I consumed. Maybe I had a few more drinks than I remembered. I moved my hand from her shoulder to the crook of her neck, my other hand reaching to pull the phone away from her ear. “Harry-“ She started, but I cut her off.

I smashed my lips onto hers. I felt her froze under my sudden movement. She didn’t pull away, yet she didn’t melt under my kiss. I pulled back, keeping my face close to hers. “Seriously, Kariann…” I slurred. “Just how slow can you be…?”

I suddenly felt my world begin to spin. I slumped onto her, my eyes shutting.

The world went dark as the alcohol consumed me into darkness.