I'll Catch You

Chapter Sixteen:

“Jess, hey wait up a second!”

I would know that Irish lilt anywhere and I had never been more relieved to hear it. I felt my body relax, releasing worry and sadness that I hadn’t even known was there.

“I need your number! You didn’t think I’d let you leave today and never talk to you again, did you? You know way too much to just disappear.” Niall teased.

Smiling, I took his phone and entered my contact info while, unsurprisingly, Maddi did the same in Liam’s phone. Judging by their flushed faces and tousled hair, the boys had dashed down the stairs after remembering they hadn’t asked for our numbers. And then,  it was over. With one final, and much less distressing, hug good bye, Maddi and I got into her car and drove off with the boys waving to us until we were out of sight.

The whole way home we rocked out to their album Up All Night with the volume all the way up and the windows down. I’m sure our neighbors loved it.

Considering my mom was gone, as always, I decided it would be alright to spend the night at Maddi’s place. I mean there was no way I would be able to spend the night all by myself after such an amazing day! Of course we had to go through every detail, every conversation, and then convince eachother it wasn’t just a dream.

“So spill!” I immediately demanded after we had changed into sweats and tshirts. 

“Spill what? You heard most of it already. Zayn dragged us across London because he needed new combat boots for their tour and paying a cab for five people would be ridiculously expensive. So we walked the entire freaking way. If I don’t move tomorrow, you know who to blame. Then Liam saw the movie rental place and went crazy, asking to watch Toy Story. Jess, you know me, how could I deny a face like that? There was no bone in my body that even thought about saying no.” She laughed. “Zayn, Harry and Lou relented finally after I promised them popcorn. My time was good. No, perfect. I’m more curious where you and Niall snuck off to!”

“He said he was hungry and practically dragged me to this little ice cream parlor. It was adorable and the ice cream was great, but he called it a date! He paid for me and then, when I wanted to pay him back, basically said that the gentleman always pays on dates.”

The look on her face was enough to reassure me that this was not normal treatment.

“I know, right?” I said. “I... I want to think we have something but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I mean he runs into so many beautiful girls a day, we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings and if he remembers me” 

It was really a struggle trying to be rational when all I wanted to do was freak out because Niall frickin Horan and I had gone on a sort-of maybe date.

“Hi! We’re One Direction! Answer your phone. You’re annoying everybody now, answer your phone. Pick up the ph - pick up the ph- pick it up. Erm, pi-pick it up. Now. Ge-get it!” Liam’s voice rang from Maddi’s phone alerting her to a new text. 

“Its from Liam,” She said, reading my mind. “He’s quoting Toy Story. What a dork.” Though it was obvious she didn’t mean that, judging by the ever growing smile on her face. 

“Aww, well answer it! That’s basically all that happened today anyway.” I told her, hoping she wouldn’t ignore him for me.

I was also afraid of being boring. I could go on for hours about how every minute I spent with him today made me fall for him harder. I know its so cliche to say this, but it was the  most natural thing to be talking to him. At first I was afraid he would think I was really strange, or almost worse, too normal and shy, but the more we talked the more my fears disappeared. He laughed at everything. I guess I should have expected that, but he genuinely laughed. Not the “I’ll laugh because you think you’re funny” fake giggle. So we definitely got along on a personality level and I loved every minute I spent with him. I hoped he felt the same. It seemed like he did, at least. 

It was all so spontaneous. I felt like every idea seemed like a new adventure, every second held the potential for a touch or a kiss or something. It was a rush that could only be paralleled to standing on the edge of a really high cliff. There was the chance you could fall, but did you dare to take it?

I was afraid to take the chance to be honest. Liam had already texted Maddi after getting her number. Though I knew I was severely overanalyzing the whole situation, I just couldn’t shake the feeling I should have heard from him considering we had left almost two hours ago.

Leaving a smiling Maddi alone with her phone, I went downstairs to crash on the couch. I flipped on the telly to whatever was on, and checked for the hundredth time to make sure my phone was on vibrate so I would definitely know when a text came in.

He had to contact me. No, better, he would contact me. 

He had to have felt something too, right?