Friday 2nd October
Tegans POV

Working in London was always the childhood dream. Walking down the small, charming alleyways and seeing the sights was always something I had wished to do, but I never truly thought it would actually happen! Currently I am working in a small art gallery in the heart of London; I live here with my 4 best mates, Georgia, Jess, Kiko and Zoe, while we are studying at University.
As I walked downstairs one afternoon the phone rang at the staff office, I was the only staff member there so I took the call.
“Hello you have reached London’s Fine Art’s art gallery how may I help you this afternoon?”
“Ahh yes I just wanted to confirm that I will be coming in this afternoon at around 3ish to pick up the art piece I ordered.” Replied the voice of a young man, he had a very strong accent… it was somewhat familiar…
“Yes that’s fine, the gallery closes at 4 so please be punctual.” I said, although I said it rather slowly. I was still trying to rattle my brain as to where I had heard that voice before.
“Alright thanks, see you then.” Beep…beep…beep… he had hung up.
I walked back to the front desk a little dazed and very curious. Why did I know that voice? I sat down and started to doodle on my notepad as I waited for 3ish to arrive.
I waited for half an hour and still at 10 past 3 I was waiting to discover who the voice belonged too. I got bored and went back upstairs. If he came, he would ring the bell. Sure enough, I was half way up the hall when I heard the bell ring. Finally, I would discover the man behind the voice. As I entered from behind the door, I saw a lone man in the corner eyeing off a painting against the wall. He was wearing reddish pinkish pants and a white shirt with dark blue stripes. He had soft brown hair that went in an untameable side swish. Very sexy. Then it hit me.
“I know who you are!” Oh gosh…did I really just say that out loud!!!! Why oh why did I say that aloud! “Ahhhh… Sorry. Are you here to pick up the painting?” The boy looked amused. Louis Tomlinson looked so perfect.
“Haha…yeah I am” he said with a smile.
“I’m sorry if I kept you waiting,” I told him, trying to catch my breath. “No no if anything I’m sorry for not being punctual” I gasped, and then he winked at me. This was crazy. It is not every day a handsome boy from a boy band that you fan girl about with your friends like every second of the day walks into your shop to buy art from your gallery. ”Haha no you were right on time, so if u would like to step upstairs with me and you can show me the painting you ordered…” I had to remind myself to breathe.
I gestured for him to come upstairs and we spent a couple of minutes sifting through all the art to find his. “My mate ordered it under Stylinson, if that helps you find it” it was very easy to pick it out now I can remember the conversation on the phone 2 weeks before. I went to get it and as I reached, I realised the painting he ordered was my own artwork! “YAY that’s the one! Its great isn’t it! I love the way the bulldog looks so confused,” he yelled. I still can’t believe he liked my painting. It was a painting of a British Bulldog. “Well actually… I painted this” I said with a slight giggle. “Oh wow you are really talented! This is amazing!” he seemed in awe of my art. “Why thank you good sir” I joked. He looked over his shoulder at me and stared me down with what looked like curiosity. I felt un-easy and very self conscious. I looked away from him and as I did I saw a smile break across his face. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked.
“Oh no it’s just that… I’m sorry but I love you!” SHIT! WHAT THE HELL DID I OPEN MY MOUTH! “It’s just that my friends and I love your music” I continued ” and then here you are in my gallery praising my art! This has to be a dream”
“Calm down, it’s alright” Louis looked concerned now, I had started shaking and had to sit down and hold my breath to make myself shut up. He came and sat beside me patting me on the back in hope of calming me down. This didn’t help. I began to shake even more. “Ahhhhh deep breaths?” he asked “Yeah just take deep breaths”. He started to panic. He ran to get me a glass of water from the kitchen but by the time he came back I was already calmed down. He gave me the water anyway and kneeled next to me. “All better?” he asked
“Yeah all better” I replied. I looked at his face and started laughing.
“What? Why are you laughing? That was scary not funny!”
“No it’s just..’’ I couldn’t contain myself and I began to wail with laughter. His face had been so funny when he was freaked out, he seemed so worried and for some reason this amused me. “It’s just that your face was priceless, you looked so worried… I’m sorry this isn’t funny… “I looked at him hoping I hadn’t offended him.
He began to laugh as well” actually it was funny” he laughed.
PHEW! He wasn’t offended. Thank god.
Although I had calmed down he continued to sit next to me and rub my back, he must think I was insane! I put my face in my hands and moaned. “I can’t believe I made a huge fool of myself.”
“Don’t be sorry it happens all the time, it’s sought of charming actually… well sometimes.”
“Well I’m not usually like this I swear!” I hoped he didn’t think I was a nut job! “Thanks for calming me down”
“I’m always happy to help a damsel in distress”
“Well you rescued me, thank you brave knight” I laughed.
He smiled, then I smiled, then silence…
“So ah we better wrap the painting up for you then” I said.
We stood up and headed for the stairs, he had his hand on my back, I think this was because he was afraid I would collapse or something. Was I that hysterical? As we went back down to the counter I was suddenly extremely aware of his presence and I could tell he was watching everything I did. Louis cleared his throat and that made me jump. His hand gripped my shoulder and my heart began to beat very fast, he was making sure I was stable. “So ahh…I don’t mean to pry but you aren’t from England are you? It’s just you have an accent I can’t figure out.” he asked. “No I’m actually from Australia, my friends and I moved up to London last month, I’m studying at university with my mate and the others have jobs.”
“Wow Australia. I really want to go to the land down under! Where in Aus did u live?” he seemed impressed.
“I lived in Brisbane in the Sunny Shine state” I answered with a smile, he looked confused. “Oh ah you know, Queensland,” he laughed hysterically. He thought that the Sunny Shine state was a great name, very original. It took us 10 minutes of conversation to come off the topic of Australia. I discovered he wanted to climb the Sydney Bridge and he wanted to see Uluru. We had moved to the storeroom to sit on the couch and have a chat. “Enough about me” I said” I’m boring, what have you been doing lately? What’s new in the band?” he looked bemused. “You are not boring” he clarified “but I have to cut our chat short, I need to get back to the house, Harry would be getting frustrated. You see Harry wants to get the place finished and this painting will represent our final piece to out apartment puzzle.” He paid me for the painting and was about to turn to the door but instead turned to face me. He had a thoughtful smirk on his face.
“Now don’t hyperventilate but I might need another painting actually, could you please paint it though? My mum would adore one. You could be my personal artist” he announced.
“OF COURSE YES!”… Whoops, I said that a bit loudly. “I mean sure”. I was blushing intensely .I could feel myself going red.
He laughed again. “You are so adorable, this might be a bit random but could I maybe have your number? I would like to continue our chat sometime… maybe even over tea?” I was as quick as lightning! I got out a pen and scribbled my number down and handed it to him. He took it and as he did his hand touched mine and my heart skipped a beat.
“Thank you. I will call you soon… Oh My God I don’t know your name!” he realised, “How very rude of me!”
Oh. Had I forgotten to tell him my name? “I’m Tegan” I said” but my friends call me Tiggy or something cause I hate my name…” he stretched out his hand and held mine and shook it ” Its a great name… let me start over… Hi Tegan I’m Louis” I giggled, this made him smile.
“Hi Louis it’s nice to finally meet you!” I gave him one last smile before he had to leave.
He left out the door with one last goodbye and thankyou and he waved before he turned the corner. I stood there staring blankly at the door. It was now 4: 30 the shop was supposed to have closed ages ago. I regained movement and started to pack up my things. I locked the door and switched off the lights. As I stepped out into the cold street, it finally hit me. I looked at my reflection in the galleries window. Did that really happen? Did I really meet Louis Tomlinson! I was looking at the smile on the girl in the window. Her long brown hair was in a messy bun and she wore a white dress and sweater. I looked into her brown eyes and thought replayed the last hour in my mind. I noticed something different about the girl. I was smiling! I continued to walk up the street; I was not really concentrating on where I was going. I bumped into three people and knocked over a pedestrian. By the time I had gotten to my front door I was laughing and smiling so much that my cheeks hurt! I couldn’t stop thinking about it! Louis Tomlinson THE Louis Tomlinson had my number!!! He met ME!
I opened the door and was greeted by a chorus of hellos. Zoe and Jess were both sitting on the couch, a bag of Doritos wedged between their legs and Kiko and Georgia were sitting at the bench top by the kitchen ready mags. “Hello Girlies!” I practically screamed at them. “Tegan what happened to you? Why are u so happy?” Zoe looked surprised. They all did. “Oh nothing just had a good day you know” I had decided I wasn’t going to tell them… yet.

Louis POV

As I walked out of the Gallery I felt a little taken aback. I had experienced fans going crazy for me many times but that was definitely a first. The thought of her shaking and hyperventilating was still etched into my mind. On one hand it was quite amusing, and very endearing. I gripped the painting tighter against my side making sure it didn’t knock into anyone. I flipped the keys to my car out form my pocket and opened the doors. I gently placed the painting into the back seat and buckled it up. As I bent over to clip the buckle in a small piece of yellow paper fell out from my shirt pocket. It was Tegan’s number. I gazed at it for a while wondering if it was really a good idea to have requested it. I shrugged off this thought. She was a pretty girl who was very sweet and easy to talk to; of course it was okay for me to have her number why wouldn’t it be?
I sat myself in the front driver’s seat and started the car up. At that moment my phone started to ring and vibrate on the dashboard. The screen flashed with a picture of Eleanor. Right, that’s why it was a bad idea. I stared at the phone and thought of an excuse not to pick up the phone, we had a fight earlier on and I didn’t want to discuss it now. I began to pull out and drive off along the familiar street, driving was a good excuse not to pick up a phone. After about 2 minutes the phone buzzed again. One new message from Eleanor. You didn’t pick up? What you are avoiding me now? I sighed. I turned my phone off in an attempt not to be bothered again. As I drove I received a lot of attention from a pack of school girls who were waiting at the lights. My windows were of course tinted but they recognised the car. They started to squeal and cry but the light turned green before they reached the car. I was off speeding down the street. I pulled up to mine and Harry’s apartment block and parked the car. I grabbed my phone and the painting and made my way upstairs.
“YAY YOU COME BARING GIFTS!!” was what I was greeted to when I opened the door. Harry had hopped off the couch and run up to snatch the painting from my arms, also knocking the phone from my hands. I surveyed the room and saw Zayn sitting on the couch as well. Liam and Niall must be out or something.
“So where shall we put it mate?” asked Harry.
“Ahhhh wherever you want, It doesn’t bother me.”
I picked up my phone and rummaged through my pockets retrieving the small square piece of paper with Tegans number on it. I turned on my phone and started saving the number into my phone.
“And who may I ask belongs to that number?” Zayn had snuck up behind me and was looking over my shoulder. I just about hit him. “Mate it’s not safe for you to sneak up on me like that, you WILL lose an eye.” I said.
“It’s up” shouted Harry from the living room. “It looks perfect in here.”
Zayn and I followed Harry’s voice and walked in to see a giant British Bulldog hanging over the Television. It really did suit the apartment.
“How come it took you so long to get it?” Harry asked.
“He was chatting up some girl” replied Zayn. “I’m guessing from the number and the guilty look on your face” I was absolutely amazed at how fast Zayn caught on.
“Is that True?”
“Yes it is, but not for the reasons that I feel might be swimming round in your head Zayn.”
“So still on the rocks with E then?” Harry made it out to be a question but it was more of a statement.
Ever since that fight we had in the club the other day nothing seemed to feel right anymore. We both wanted different things, and that was fine. I just felt I wasn’t the right person to give her what she needed and vice versa. I nodded at Harry and sighed.
“Man that sucks” Harry tried to comfort me but I didn’t really want the attention on me at the moment. So instead I answered Zayns previous question. “The number belongs to the girl who panted that painting” I said while pointing to the Bulldog painting on the wall. “I wanted her to paint me another art piece for my mum.” I continued talking while I went to get myself a drink from the fridge. The boys followed me, obviously intrigued as to where this story was going. “And then we started talking, Oh and get this” I said, I laughed a little at the memory I was about to re-live. “She was so shocked to see me, she started shaking and hyperventilating after I told her I thought her painting was amazing. She was adorable, so fragile and vulnerable. She had a charm about her. I sat that and comforted her and I just… I don’t know something clicked I suppose.” I began to trail off completely forgetting that the boys were in front of me listening. “Then we got to talking, she is from Australia of all places” I continued “ But I had to leave cause I knew Harry would be waiting so I had to cut the chat short… so I got her number.” I finished off my story looking at the boys faces. Zayn shrugged and went back to the couch
“As long as you know what you are doing” he said. ‘’I don’t care what you do.”
“Thanks Zayn…” I said sarcastically
“Always here for ya mate” he replied.
I turned to look at Harry knowing he was judging the situation.
“Sought things out with “E” Before you go off making plans with another girl” was all he said.
I took a sip from my beer and flopped onto the couch. This was going to be hard. I hated ending things with girls. I was afraid of what they were capable of. Me and Hannah remained friends which was nice but something tells me ending it with Eleanor was going to be different. I looked down at my phone and thought to myself. I will text her later, I will let her calm down for a while. And with the thought of her laughing and shaking with glee when she saw me filled my mind I couldn’t hold back a laugh and a smile.
Zayn and Harry looked at me then at each other, their faces said it all “yep he is insane.” Is what I assumed.
I laughed once more and then stood up and began to walk to my room. I needed to do some serious thinking. I wouldn’t text Tegan until I had decided what I was going to do.
“Louis you are such a player!” I heard Harry yell from behind me.

Zoes POV

The bar was quiet tonight. It was a Friday and usually the whole pub would be packed with tourists and locals. There were about 5 men at the pub and it was 9:30.
‘’Zoe?’’
I turned to face my manager who was standing in the storeroom.
‘’You look like you’re daydreaming…get to work. Some tables need to be cleaned.’’
I turned back away from him and grabbed a cloth, walking around the rest of the pub slowly wiping benches and awaiting the time that I could actually go home to my apartment to eat and sleep. I quite liked my apartment, it was in the middle of London and I shared it with 4 of my best friends who I had known since high school. We had two apartments above and below each other, but they were connected through a staircase. They were luckier than me in the way that they were not stuck with a job at a pub…Tegan worked in an art gallery, Georgia worked in a clothing store, Jess was a stylist, and Kiko was an advertiser. I worked in a pub because it was the only job I could get…and it payed really well. I wasn’t from England; we all had come directly from Australia to start our new lives here in London. I started to feel extremely sorry for myself as I pushed chairs underneath tables and mopped the beer stained floor. I knew that at this time they would all be at home, having a laugh and probably having a better time than me. I signed and walked back behind the bar and started to stare blankly into space again waiting for time to pass. Just as I was beginning to drift into a state of daydreaming, the front door creaked open. It actually gave me a bit of a fright because no one had come in a couple of hours. I straightened myself up and directed my eyes towards the boy who walked through the door.

Then I stopped. I recognised him and I could not stop staring at his blonde hair and bright blue eyes as he strode over to the bar in confidence, sitting in one of the chairs directly in front of where I was standing. I was 18, and was a big, big fan of the British boy band, One Direction, and now one of them was sitting in front of me, and I had to act as though nothing was wrong. I had never met any of them, but Niall was always my favourite one…all though I couldn’t exactly put my finger on why. I had no idea what I was going to say, all I knew is that I had to keep calm because chances are, he wouldn’t want a screaming, crying girl all up in his face in a pub at 10 on a Friday night. He was looking down, on his phone I think, which I was actually quite happy about because it meant it would give me time to think what I was going to say to him. So I stood there awkwardly, not doing anything, not saying anything, for about 5 minutes, and I’m pretty sure he noticed that all I was doing was staring at him.
‘’Zoe, what did I tell you before? Stop day dreaming and get back to work…you have a customer…You know what to do.’’
My manager hollered this from the storeroom, and I could feel my cheeks turning pink as Niall looked up from his phone and up at me. I knew I had to say something; it was just a matter of what to say that was confusing me.
‘’So umm…what do you want..?’’ I said, my voice cracking as I said it.
Niall laughed at this…Which I found quite strange. He could clearly see the fact that I was struggling and holding myself back from jumping on him from behind the bar, yet he remained calm. Niall opened his mouth and his soft Irish accent said ‘’Just a beer…That would be great.’’
I turned around staring at all the drinks and knew he was watching me from behind, I could see him in the reflection just staring at me, which I wasn’t sure whether I should be flattered or whether I should feel self conscious. I was a tall, brunette girl, wearing a pub outfit, so I wasn’t really sure what was there to look at. I quickly fixed his drink and slid it across the table to him, our hands brushing as he grabbed the glass from my hand.
‘’So are you going to ask for a photo now or should I drink this first?’’ he asked.
‘’umm…well no…you should drink that, it’s your night to relax so…You can do that without any crazy fans here.’’
‘’Wow…That’s strange. Most fans in your position would’ve probably jumped on top of me already if they were you’’
I laughed nervously at that because at this moment I don’t think he realised how much I was trying to stop myself from doing just that.
‘’So…Australia hey? I’ve always wanted to go there…it’s like every Irish man’s dream to go there.’’
He obviously picked up on my thick Australian accent through our little conversation already…
‘’Well…it’s not that great to be honest. I mean that’s why I left…to come here. I prefer London a lot more.’’
‘’Oh so are you new to London? How long have you been here for?’’ Niall took a slow sip of his beer before looking at me questioningly.
‘’I’ve been here for about a month…I am here with my 4 best friends. We share an apartment.’’
‘’Oh I see…well if you ever need someone to show you around…I could always show you around.’’
My stomach flipped. I was extremely surprised that my urge did not win against me and Niall wasn’t already on the floor with my on top of him by now. I cleared my throat.
‘’Umm…yeah, that would be great’’, I replied.
We talked for the next hour or so. About random things, mostly his job, what’s been going on with him and the boys. He quickly found out that I was actually quite a stalker and knew a lot about him and the other boys, and so did my best friends, who were also huge fans. All I could think about was how jealous they would be when I went home and told them about this little encounter at the bar. Suddenly my job didn’t seem so terrible anymore.
It was about 11:30 and my shift had actually finished half an hour ago and I was supposed to be home by now. My phone buzzed in my pocket, I apologised to Niall and quickly got my phone out and checked my messages. I had one from Jess saying ‘’Why aren’t you home yet? You didn’t hook up from anyone in the bar and go home with them did you?’’ I laughed at the thought of even going home with one of these seedy men in the bar…minus Niall.
‘’What’s so funny?’’ Niall asked while he was grinning at me.
‘’oh nothing…my friends are just wondering why I am not home yet…my shift finished half an hour ago and my apartment is only up the road so I should be home by now..’’
‘’ahh I see. Sorry I probably distracted you..You should get home’’
‘’No its fine…Don’t worry about it…But I probably should be getting home anyway….’’
I turned around and grabbed my bag from underneath the counter, and shoved my phone into it. Someone else had already arrived to take over my job…so the bar was getting a bit crowded. I exited and went over to where Niall was sitting.
‘’I better be off too…the lads will be wondering where I am and I don’t wanna get home too late cause we have work tomorrow….’’
‘’Oh yeah…getting up and living the life of a famous person sounds like real hard work….’’
‘’Hey, you’d be surprised…the fans can get crazy sometimes. It’s a lot of hard work…but its fun at the same time’’, he smiled at me. We exited the bar together and I really did not know what was going to happen and I knew it would be awkward when we said goodbye.
‘’Which way are you going?’’ he asked me.
I pointed left, as I could already see the top of my apartment block, and I think one of the lights in our apartments were on, so no doubt the girls have been partying all night.
‘’oh that’s great, I’m going that way too…I guess I’m walking you home then.’’
‘’oh…umm…ok’’ Is all I managed to get out. My nerves had settled quite a lot…and what I just realised as we started walking is that I had not even asked for a photo or an autograph or anything. The more I talked to him, the more I forgot about how famous he actually was, and the more I just thought of him as a normal boy. He was, in fact, a normal boy…he spoke about normal things and he didn’t speak as though you would think a famous person would speak. To me he was just like the boy next door. Just extremely good looking and with flawless vocals. We continued to speak about useless crap that was irrelevant…but at least we were speaking to each other and it wasn’t awkward. He kept laughing at everything I said, which made me laugh as well because his laugh was absolutely contagious. We finally reached my apartment and I came to a halt, and turned into the direction of the foyer of the apartment. He grabbed my arm.
‘’so…um…I should really show you around London soon, hey?’’
‘’yeah…I would like that’’ I smiled back at him, and our eyes locked for a couple of seconds.
He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out his phone and handed it to me. It took me a while to catch on to the fact that he wanted my number. I smiled at his phone background, it was a photo of him and Liam together and they both looked adorable. I typed my number in and saved it under ‘’Zoe’’ and handed it back to him. He grinned and put it back in his pocket.
‘’Ok, so I guess I’ll see you around then?’’ as he said this he quickly leaned in and kissed my gently on the cheek. This completely stunned me and I am utterly convinced that when he pulled back and looked at me I probably looked like some kind of statue, but I was smiling, and that’s all I knew.
‘’Yeah…see you around’’
He then turned and walked away, pulling up his purple hoodie as he walked, which I think he did because he didn’t want to get noticed my anyone. I was still smiling…and I had butterflies in my stomach. I walked into the foyer grinning like an absolute idiot but I didn’t care. It was finally beginning to sink in that I had met Niall Horan, and he wants to see me again…hopefully. I got up to the apartment, and strutted into the apartment with style, swinging my bag over the chair and sinking into the couch.
‘’Where have you been?’’ Kiko’s voice echoed from the study.
‘’Out’’ I shot back at her.
‘’Really? I had no idea. Now seriously where were you?’’
‘’I met a guy at the bar and I guess we kind of hit it off’’
‘’Really? What happened?’’ Suddenly Georgia appeared on the staircase smirking at me. I didn’t know if I wanted to tell them that it was Niall simply because I didn’t know if they would believe me. But suddenly I just blurted it out.
‘’Niall Horan. I met Niall Horan at the pub and I gave him my number.’’
All of a sudden Kiko and Georgia cracked up laughing. I knew they wouldn’t believe me, I was kind of expecting it. I just sat there blankly staring at them, waiting for them to realise that it actually wasn’t a joke.
‘’You’re joking….have you been drinking tonight or something?’’ Georgia asked.
‘’you know I don’t drink….’’ and this was true. I had never drunk and I wanted it to stay that way.
At this point I think Kiko started to realise that I wasn’t joking.
‘’DID YOU SERIOUSLY MEET NIALL HORAN TONIGHT?’’ she asked excitedly. And that set me off.
‘’YES, YES I DID…IT WAS AMAZING AND HES SO NICE AND SO HOT AND I JUST CANT EVEN DEAL RIGHT NOW’’ I screamed in excitement as I sunk back into the couch having a typical fan girl moment. So even though my plan was not to tell them…I told them everything, and they seemed so excited for me. They knew how much I loved Niall and how many times we have dreamt of something like this happening…I just sat there going through every little detail that had happened.
It was 1am when we finally ran out of things to fan girl over so I decided I would go to sleep. I said goodnight to Georgia and Kiko and walked upstairs into my room. My room was a mess, which was not that nice to come home too after a long day. It was Saturday tomorrow though, so I could sleep in. I then wondered why Niall said he had to work tomorrow…who works on a Saturday? I then went and showered and came back out and checked my phone. I had a message. My heart stopped and I opened the message.
Hey…so is tomorrow good for me to show you places? Niall x
I quickly replied.
I thought you had work tomorrow? Zoe xx
My phone buzzed again.
I can skip work…id actually like to hang out with you more than the lad’s xx
I smiled. I continued to text him for about another 20 minutes.
I need to sleep now…I will text you in the morning and we can work out some details xx
Sounds good…sleep well beautiful xx
And with that, I was asleep.