Love Notes

-Wednesday July 11th, 2012
[b]Can we make it an early-ish dinner? Niall is going back home tonight. He really does not want to miss your honey cake though..[/b]

Iris smiled at the text. She was in the staff bathroom at the day-care trying to clean some very persistent chocolate milk out of her white blouse. In hindsight, it hadn’t been her brightest decision to wear the new blouse to work with a bunch of two year olds who still had trouble calculating the strength of their grasp reflexes.

[i]Have you been talking my honey cake up to your buddies?[/i] She teased back.

[b]That could so be misconstrued as dirty..[/b]

His reply was immediate, which made Iris smirk. That boy did not know what to do with himself on the first day of his time off.

Giving up on her blouse with a sigh, she leant against the sink to text him back.

[i]Ew, that’s nasty. Early dinner is fine. I’m out of here at about one, come by at five?[/i]

In reply, she got another picture of Louis with both his thumbs up and a stupid grin on his face.

[i]Do you always use that boy as your personal emoticon?[/i]

Not waiting on the reply this time, she hurried back out to her group.

“Lost cause?” Morgan asked with a sympathetic smile, bouncing a very fussy Madeline on her hip.

Morgan had been her co worker for nearly the entire time she’d worked at the day care. They got along alright, she was a very happy go lucky kind of girl. Morgan was just the kind of girl Iris could be friends with outside of work, or needed to be friends with. She just really didn’t know how to go about it, so it kind of stuck to a workplace friendship.

“ ‘fraid so..” Iris mumbled. “I really want to swear right now..” She muttered, taking over Madeline so Morgan could attend to Geoffrey, a bratty toddler who would only talk to her and none of the other staff members.

Morgan snorted. “Keep it clean babe, think about the kids..” She mumbled back before crouching down to deal with Geoffrey.

“How about..” Iris started with a smile, effectively gaining the attention of the young girl in her arms. “you and me go read the cat in the hat again huh?” She adjusted Madeline and took her over to the reading corner where some other kids were looking at picture books.

“Cat!” Madeline cried out happily, every trace of her previous tantrum forgotten.

“Yes love.” Iris smiled, tucking a thin red curl behind the girls small ear. “The cat in the hat..”

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]


After work, Iris schedule was all about rushing to get things done. She hurried to the store, got everything she thought she needed, (‘cause frankly, she hadn’t had time to plan out an entire dinner after her phone call with Zayn the night before) before rushing home and actually preparing the food. It was two o’ clock already when she finally started.

Dessert was easy, she’d baked her honey cake once when she was bored and Zayn had nearly eaten the entire thing. So that was a no brainer. After some deliberation she decided to go with Italian for the rest of the dinner. She remembered Niall’s reaction to hearing it was her favourite two nights ago and knew it was easy food to make for a lot of people. In the end, she was actually quite proud. Prosciutto an melon balls for starters, gorgonzola/aubergine lasagne with a salad on the side as the main course and her honey cake with some vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The perfectionist in her even squeezed in the time to make a small menu to put on the table.

She’d just put on a new blouse when the doorbell rang.

Five ‘o clock sharp. Leave it to Zayn to be punctual when she least needed it from him.

Iris opened the door to an exact replica of the photo she’d been sent that morning, in quintuple. All the guys were standing there with big grins and their thumbs up.

The same unladylike snort that embarrassed her at the store came out again, making her blush as well.

“Well, that was unexpected..” She mumbled, biting back a grin. “Come in, please..”

Zayn was first and gave her a hug as he passed her. She didn’t know if that was the reason, but after him all the other guys hugged her too.

She was kind of stunned, not used to that much.. familiarity with someone other than Zayn, and on two rare occasions, Morgan.

Louis was last, giving her a small smile before he went in for a hug was well.

“You’re feeling better, yeah?” Iris questioned him as she closed the door behind them.

Now it was Louis’ turn to snort. “Much, yeah. Me and tequila don’t mix that well..”

“I’m glad.” Iris answered, laughing lightly.

He gave her a look.

“That you’re feeling better I mean! Not that tequila.. Ah crap..” She sighed, feeling the well known awkwardness creep up on her.

She was alone in that though, Louis was very obviously enjoying her discomfort.

“Gotya.” He laughed, giving her a quick wink before following his band mates into her living room.

“This smells amazing Iris!” Niall yelled, not realising she’d followed them into the room already.

“Thank you..” She answered normally, making him jump. The other guys laughed at him.

Iris bit her tongue and smiled to herself. Her first assumption of them had been right, their happiness really was infectious.

“Dinner is almost ready, can I get you guys something to drink?”

All her guest fell silent for a second. It was broken by Harry who swung his arm over her shoulder, leaning on her with quite a bit of his weight. “I really love how proper you are!” He laughed. “Should we tip you at the end of the night?”

Iris’ smile tightened, both Zayn and Liam noticed. Zayn, having expected as much and Liam being able to relate to her a little. He had been kind of a late bloomer, it took him a while to get comfortable with himself and his life before he was able to deal with situations like this better. He recognised quite a bit of that in Iris.

“Sorry, default setting.” Iris answered with that same tight smile. “Beers for everyone, I’m guessing?”

Met with no immediate objections, she fled to her kitchen to ready the drinks.

None of them was immune to the loaded silence that lingered when she’d gone.

“Mucked up?” Harry questioned with a grimace.

Liam nodded. “A bit mate, I think..”

Harry sighed. “Crap..” he moved towards the kitchen, mumbling a quick ‘sorry’ to Zayn as he passed.

Though Zayn didn’t like seeing Iris feel this awkward, he smiled knowing his friends really wanted her to feel comfortable and make her like them. Harry’s actions and his quick apology to him meant a lot.

Iris was just opening the last bottle when Harry entered the kitchen. She hated herself for being apprehensive to look him in the eye. Why had things been easier when they were drunk? Wasn’t it supposed to be the drunk person’s inhibitions who should be lowered?

“Love, I’m sorry.” He started, leaning on the counter next to her. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.. honestly just joking.” He waited patiently for her to meet his eyes. When she did, he smiled.

“I just haven’t really met anyone with these kinds of issues..” He admitted. “But I promise you I don’t bite, none of us do! Well, maybe Niall.. if we don’t eat soon.” The same grin she’d seen in all those pictures of the guys emerged. “We all just really want to get to know the person who is so important in our best friend’s life and maybe call her our friend too?”

No matter how hard it was, Iris had looked him in the eye during his short speech and all she saw was sincerity.

“I know.. I’d like that as well.” She answered. This made Harry beam at her. “But you’re quite a fast paced bunch, so I hope you’ll cut me some slack from time to time. This is quite big for me.”

“All the slack you need, promise. If you promise me you’ll not be bothered by my remarks again. Apparently I have the tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time..” He grinned.

Iris held out her hand with a formal expression. “We have a deal mister Styles.”

Harry snorted but shook her hand anyway. “Very good.”

They both took a few beers back into the living room. Harry shot the others a grin, quietly taking note of the small nod Iris sent Zayn before happily throwing up his arms, exclaiming: “Let’s eat!”

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

Dinner was actually a lot of fun, Iris forgot why she was nervous in the first place, and that hadn’t happened in a long time. She even cracked a few jokes which had all the guys laughing, mostly at the expense of Zayn, but it was all in good fun.

“I don’t know about you fella’s, but I say it’s time for desert..” Zayn said, smirking at Iris.

She rolled her eyes but stood up anyway. “Subtle..” She stated. Zayn grinned and bat his eyelashes. “I love you!”

“Don’t overdo it Malik..” Iris said, laughing softly as she came out with the first three plates of honey cake and ice cream.

When everyone had their dessert, they started eating in silence. After only a few bites, Niall spoke up. “I fully agree with Zayn!” He mumbled through a mouth full of cake. “This is so good!”

Iris smiled as the others nodded in agreement. When she looked up at Zayn, who was sitting across from her, he winked.

Happy she was able to make her best friend happy, Iris returned to her own cake.

“Oh, Niall?” She asked, suddenly getting an idea. “If you want.. I could write the recipe down for you? I don’t know if you’re much of a baker yourself, otherwise you could ask your mum to make it..”

The blond boy nodded quickly. “Yes please! Mum missed me, I know I can guilt her into baking this!” He sprayed some crumbs on the table as he talked. The others laughed.

They talked for a little bit after they finished eating before Niall stood up. “Gotta go lads, plane’s not waiting..”

Iris observed quietly as the guys said goodbye to him. It was quite an endearing sight. After a long tour together and the prospect of a very intense album recording in two weeks, they still seemed a bit wary to say goodbye to each other. Just as Niall came to say goodbye to her as well, she spotted Liam digging for his keys.

“Is..” Iris started, stepping away from the hug Niall was about to give her. “Is he driving you?” She questioned Niall. He simply nodded.

“No, not happening. He’s been drinking.” She stated resolutely. Liam smiled. “I’ve only had one beer Iris, I’m fine.”

She shook her head again. “No way. I’m sorry, but no way. I’ll drive him then.” She hadn’t joined the guys in drinking beer but stuck to water.

Before any of the guys could object, Iris was getting her coat on.

“Well, are you coming?” She asked from by the door, the decisive tone already a lot softer. Niall snapped out of his daze and shrugged, giving Liam a quick hug before joining Iris by the door.

“Make yourself comfortable guys, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

The rest of the guys turned to Zayn when they’d left. He just shrugged.

“I knew she’s a bit iffy when it comes to alcohol.. But honestly? I’m just surprised she has a working car!”

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

On their way to the airport they just talked about anything and everything, avoiding the strange departure back at Iris’ apartment. When she turned into the drop-off area, she sighed.

“I’m sorry about that. I’m just not comfortable with drinking and driving. I wouldn’t feel right letting someone leave my place like that, no matter how little he or she might have had to drink. Should’ve explained that a bit better. Liam’s careless attitude just kind of got to me for a minute.” She explained, looking the Irish boy in the eye.

Niall, who’d never heard anyone describe Liam as careless, couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“All good darlin’, no worries. If anything, it’s an admirable trait yeah? Now I would like that hug before I get out though!”

Iris smiled, obviously relieved, and reached over the centre console to hug him.

“Bye Niall, have a safe flight. I’m sure I’ll see you soon..”

Niall squeezed her shoulders a little before letting go. “Count on it!” He answered with a grin.

When he was almost out of the car, Iris tucked a small piece of paper into the hood of his jacket. Startled, Niall grabbed for his neck.

“Recipe.” Iris said with a smile.

She could almost hear his laugh ringing in her ears when she drove off.

Notes