c. six

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[ it's the fourth of july and it's raining so all firework displays and barbecues have been post-poned. so i thought, what's a better why to spend an hour of my independence day than to updated picked?

this chapter is a quarter zayn-centric (because of the news) and a quarter liam-centric. it's to get you a sort of feel on the other characters.

can we get this story to 200 votes? (:

enjoy!

dedication goes to letnarrylove because royalty is hnnnng and i think it may have been one of the first narry fanfictions i read on here ooh. ]

-x-

When Niall and Harry entered Harry's house again after they had returned from the Macaroni Grill, the first thing Harry did was race to the living room and turn on the TV. Niall followed, of course, but reluctantly. He was tired and full of food and didn't want to hear what Zayn had to say about him.

But Harry needed to hear. And it wasn't that he wanted to, but he actually needed to. They say before you Pick someone, you will feel this special bond. When you dip your hand into the bowl, there will be one piece of paper that feels different from the rest.

That is the bond.

You get the same feeling if you are directly choosing your Pick. The person of choice will look different from the rest. They'll catch your attention. If they don't, they're not made for you.

Harry had thought that when he landed in front of whoever was next to Niall, that he had felt the bond. He tried to shamelessly flirt to see the other boy's reaction, but when he glanced over for just a second and noticed Niall, something in him changed.

It was like his heart was telling Harry to go to Niall and to Pick him, but his gut was telling him to stay with the other boy.

And as cheesy as it sounds, Harry had always trusted his heart before he trusted his gut.

It was this bond he shared with Niall that led him to getting so angry at the reporter and at Zayn. And it was this bond that made him want to watch the television.

Who knows? Maybe it was just so he could get angrier at Zayn. Maybe it was so he could tell Niall everything Zayn said was a lie.

When Niall sat down on the couch next to Harry, who was flipping through the channels to find the news that the reporter was talking about, he was a bit thrown off.

Just this day, he had seen several sides of Harry. Harry may have confessed something to him that only he knows about. But Niall can't help but wonder why. He's just a Pick. He thought he was just a person that Harry had randomly selected. He'd have to ask Harry why he chose him later.

"I found it," Harry said. "In two minutes they're returning with the story 'The Zayn Malik Scandal.' Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom. You'll be okay, yeah?"

Niall blinked. "Um, yeah."

"Okay."

Harry left the room and Niall used the time to become familiar with his surroundings. Harry had paintings and decorations everywhere. Each were different, but all were connected in a way. Niall just didn't know how.

There were also posters. Some were of Harry himself, and some were of other people who Niall assumed were famous but had never seen before.

Harry also had pictures hanging up of babies and family portraits. Niall assumed the babies were either Harry or other members of his family.

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