Like Dreamers Do (Niall Horan Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 8

It was more than awkward.

We were seated in one of the corner booths, far away from anyone else in the restaurant. But it didn’t stop people from taking photos. There were a few girls close by having dinner with their parents and they were trying to look subtle with their iPhones, but we could all tell. Those photos were going to be online within a minute, something I was definitely not looking forward to. 

I was seated in between Harry and Zayn, not entirely sure how that had happened. 

Surprisingly enough, Louis and Liam didn’t look shocked to see me at all. 

“Danielle, Eleanor, this is Elli. She was at the radio gig today.” Liam had introduced me, the girlslooking at me as though this kind of thing happened every day. Which it probably did. 

“Elli, is that short for Eleanor?” Eleanor asked me, and I shook my head, even though it was. I didn’t want to make things more awkward than they already were. She smiled lightly at me, before turning to Louis and beginning her own private conversation. 

“So I hear you’re from Australia! I’ve always wanted to go there, it looks so nice.” Danielle smiled sweetly, which I returned as best I could.

“Yeah it was amazing.” I replied, playing with the cutlery on the table in front of me. Danielle cupped her chin in her hands and looked to me.

“So why did you mov-”

She was interrupted by Liam, who shouted out rather hurriedly “Oh yes, foods here!”

That was when I became a little bit suspicious. That was twice someone had looked embarrassed about asking me why I moved to London. First Zayn, now Danielle. I had no clue why it kept happening, not yet anyway. 

For a while, we became occupied by the food in front of us. I hadn’t gotten much, feeling way too nervous to actually eat anything. My meal consisted of a small chicken wrap, which I couldn’t finish anyway. 

It was the complete opposite to Niall, whose plate was loaded with the most expensive looking pasta I had ever seen. Harry kept pinching his food, which Niall wasn’t happy about. 

Everything was okay for a little while. I didn’t have to make too much conversation, it was all flowing rather well with me just sitting back and laughing at the right moments. Turns out the boys were currently in the process of writing an album.

“Play your cards right and you might just get your own song.” Zayn had said to me whilst winking, leaving me even more nervous than I had been before, if that were even possible. 

“You could call it ‘The girl who won’t fall for my flirting.’” I suggested, instantly regretting it as soon as the words came out of my mouth. 

Oh God. He probably hasn’t even been flirting with me anyway, that was a bad idea Elli. Be prepared to be met by an awkward silence.

Shockingly enough, the boys all laughed, aside from Zayn who smirked and gave this strange grin, muttering “Cheeky.”

What the hell did that mean??? I looked to the floor and played with my food, taking note of Harry who had now put his arm around me.

“Zayn’s an excellent flirt, don’t put him down.” Harry murmured, smirking at me. Something he did a lot, actually. 

“Whatever you say.” I muttered back, shoving him off me. Harry chuckled, shaking his head at me and taking another bite of his food.

After an extensive conversation about our favourite television shows from when we were younger, the best things to do in Australia and how crazy their fans were, I was starting to like the boys a little more. Maybe even feel a little less nervous around them. It was only when they began talking about who snored the loudest that I decided I didn’t need to hear anymore.

Since Danielle and Eleanor had already excused themselves to go to the bar quickly, I told the boys I was going to freshen up (I thought it sounded better than ‘go to the toilet’) and made my way to the bathroom. 

Conveniently, the bar was on the way to the bathroom. There were Danielle and Eleanor, on the two seats closest to the wall. I probably should have let them be, but then I caught them saying my name.

As sneakily as I could, I made my way within ear shot, but hidden behind a wall. As quietly as I could, I stuck my head around the corner, just being able to make out the jist of their conversation.

“-agree, I mean she’s pretty, she’s really pretty, but dinner?”

“Right…not usually their style, I would have thought they would have just taken her to their place like they do every other girl…”

“…said she was different but wouldn’t say why.”

Their voices were getting louder, so I quickly ran back to the table as fast as I could and sat myself down again.

“You running a marathon or something?” Louis joked, finishing the last of his drink checking his expensive looking watch. “I vote Code Zero, five minutes.”

The boys all agreed with whatever Louis had just said, I didn’t understand a word of it. To be honest, I wasn’t even listening to what they were saying. All I could think of was what Danielle and Eleanor had just been talking about. 

The boys had told them I was ‘different’. What did that even mean? Different like they thought I was a total freak, or different like I was actually kind of okay? More to the point, why was I even concerned? I barely knew them at all. And I wasn’t the type of person to just randomly go to dinner with people I had only just met, even if they were famous. 

And like the girls had just said, they didn’t usually do this kind of thing. If they liked me so much, why hadn’t they just taken me back to their place like they would usually do? I mean there’s no way in hell I would have gone with them, but still I-

“Elli? You there?”

I was snapped back to reality by a confused looking Harry waving his hand in front of my face, with the rest of the boys staring at me. I shook my head softly.

“Sorry. Must have drifted off there for a moment.” I replied feebly, and Harry grinned.

“No problem. You down for Code Zero tonight?” He asked, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

“Err…should I know what that means?” I asked, confusion plastered on my face.

“It’s a club, you’ll like it.” Zayn shrugged, staring me down again. God, it was intimidating when he did that.

“Do I really seem like the kind of person who would enjoy going to a club?” I laughed, trying to look equally as intimidating but most likely coming off as looking like a scared rabbit.

“I reckon you’re secretly a crazy partier.” Louis answered, picking himself up and wandering over to Eleanor and Danielle who were waiting by the front door. “Come on, have some fun!” He called back over his shoulder, just as he was stopped for a photo by some girls sitting at the front of the restaurant. 

I had already been spotted out with One Direction tonight. There were already going to be pictures all over the internet. Did it really matter if I went to a club with them too? 

“Don’t worry, we’ll look after you.” Niall smiled at me, throwing an arm around Liam. “Liam will be there, he won’t let you out of his sight.”

Liam nodded, he too picking himself up from the table. “You’ll be just fine under my watchful eye.” He grinned, with the rest of the boys now standing.

“That settles it then.” Harry smiled, holding out a hand to help me up. “Prepare for the best night of your life so far.” He laughed as I took his hand quickly and dropped it as soon as I was standing. 

I had no idea what I was getting myself in for.