Just great, Niall thought. Three out of the five boys have girlfriends. Liam and Niall just happen to be the only single two in the band. Which consequentially meant that the two were always getting dragged along as the fourth and fifth wheel.

Niall was standing in front of the mirror fixing his hair wondering for about the millionth time why he was even bothering. Liam was going to be his date for the night anyway. He didn’t particularly like the idea; he was afraid fans might think he was turning queer. But he was just being a twit, because fans weren’t going to be seeing him or any of the other boys tonight.Niall put the finishing touches on his hair and trudged down the hall.

“Lads, I’m ready to get this show on the road,” Niall said putting on his most cheerful façade.

“Great! We’re meeting the girls there,” Harry said springing up off the sofa.

“Don’t worry, Niall, I’ll be all the date you need,” Liam said throwing an arm around his shoulder. “It’ll be a proper date. I’ll buy you food and everything.”

Niall felt himself perking up slightly at the mention of food. Niall was always hungry. He ate the most out of the band. “Your wallet will regret that promise, I can guarantee it,” he said with a laugh.

And with that the boys hopped into the car. They were headed to a friend of the Harry’s family owned restaurant. The band was promise a fan-free evening. Now don’t get the boys wrong they love their fans just as much as any other celebrities, but when they want a private evening with their girlfriends fans can become somewhat of a nuisance.

“Oh, Harry, you oaf, you forgot to ring the girls and tell them that we have left,” Louis said after ringing off with his girlfriend Eleanor.

Harry gave his best innocent grin and shoulder shrug before saying, “Oops. It slipped my mind, mate.”

“You’re just lucky Eleanor had enough sense to leave or we would have had to watch Niall and Liam eat without us,” Louis chided.

Harry was quite forgetful when it came to solidifying plans. Louis usually had to go right behind him and do it all. But Louis didn’t mind he was used to it by now. So needless to say he was the one who took care of the restaurant business tonight. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for a night as special as tonight. It was he and Eleanor’s six month anniversary and he knew that was a long time to date someone while one of them happened to be part of an international sensation.

Louis led the boys to their table, which were really three tables put together in the centre of the room. Perrie, Jenna, and Eleanor were already seated looking as stunning as ever.

Zayn felt a little twitch of nervous excitement as Perrie stood up to kiss his cheek. He gave her a little squeeze and made his way to his seat across from her. She immediately tangled her feet with his beneath the table and smiled at him.

Harry took in Jenna’s slender figure in a purple bedazzled dress and couldn’t help the smile that spread across his cheeks. He whispered a private greeting and then took his seat. Jenna smiled back taking his hand atop the table.

Louis’ breath was literally taken away when Eleanor stood up to greet him. Her raven hair was off to her left side in ringlets and she wore a tight fighting blue and black dress that stopped just shy of her knees. She blushed before kissing him proper on the mouth. He rested a hand on her hip and kissed back. They both pulled away at the same time when they heard coughing coming from the other boys.

Liam and Niall made a show of sitting down across from each other without any touching whatsoever. They ended up knocking knees underneath the table and scowling at the paired members of One Direction as if it were somehow their fault. Which in a way it was, if it wasn’t date night Niall would have suggested they eat take-away and Harry would have agreed and then eventually Zayn and so on.

“Oh, quit being so bitter. You all will find a couple of girls and drag us on date nights soon enough,” Zayne said rubbing his leg against Perrie’s.

“But its absolute torture seeing you three being all couple-y while we are just left to sit here and twiddle our thumbs,” Niall complained.

“It really is,” Liam conceded ducking his head.

“I’m sorry, lads, next time we won’t drag you along,” Harry apologized.

He almost felt bad for his single mates, but at the same time he thought they were being the slightest bit puerile. He might be able to feel for them more if they suffered in silence instead of whining about.

The server came with food after a while and Niall was the first one to dig in. Feeling the least bit embarrassed by how childish he was acting. It wasn’t so bad to go to dinner on Liam, but he just wanted a girl to sit across from and make cow eyes at. He had a feeling Liam felt the same way he did.

Niall and Liam kept their complaining to a minimum during dinner feeling as though they were going to make arses of themselves if they said much else. But as soon as they were through with their meal they excused themselves, not wanting to stick around for the cutesy stuff.

Liam shoved his hands in his pockets to bite off the chill. “What do you suppose we do now, Niall?”

“We could just walk it’s not that far to the flat,” Niall suggested looking at the walkway in front of him.

“That’s not what I meant,” Liam said kicking a pebble out of his way.

“About girls?” Niall asked.

“Yeah-“ he started but was cut off.

“OhmyGod! It’s two-fifths of one direction!” A voice squealed.

Several more squealed similar things and the two boys heard their footfall.

“Crap, Niall, what are we going to do?” Liam asked with a look that said he clearly was not in the mood to draw a crowd.

Niall looked to his right and then to his left and noticed a small little pub called the Irish Pun. He smiled to himself before grabbing Liam and ducking into it before the girls had a chance to see. A bell above the door tinkled when they came busting through and the barmaid glanced up. She gave a small smile and went back to cleaning the counter tops.

Niall gave a quick glance over his shoulder before heading over to a stool.

“I’m going to go for a wee,” Liam said and wondered off in the direction of the toilets.

Niall just nodded and turned his attention to the girl behind the counter. She barely looked like she was able to be driving let alone working at a pub.

The girl noticed Niall studying her and looked up. She gave a bright smile and said, “What can I do ya for?”

“Actually my friend and I were hoping to hide out in here,” Niall said trying to decide if the girl’s accent was put on or not.

“Ah, okay. I don’t mind letting you stay as long as you buy a soft drink and keep me company. My friend is in the back doing inventory,” she said nodding towards the door in the corner.

“That I can do,” Niall said with a smile. Then it occurred to him he hadn’t asked for her name. “How rude of me, my name is Niall. And you are?”

The girl just chuckled and tossed her head side to side. “I’m Katharine.”

“A pretty name for a pretty lady,” Niall said with a smile.

“Niall is a nice name,” she said offhandedly and leaned against the counterwhile pouring him a Coke.

“It’s Irish ironically enough.”

“I know,” Katharine replied her eyes twinkling. She tried to keep a knowing smile off her face, but only partially succeeded.

Katharine was no twit she knew exactly who the boy sitting across from her was, but she decided to play coy for the time being.

“So are you really eighteen, because you don’t look old enough to drive,” Niall said before he could think better of it. He sort of winced after he realized she might take offense to that, he tried hiding it by taking a swig of his soft drink.

“Just turned eighteen last month.”

Niall smiled but before he could reply there was a crash in the back room. Katharine whirled around and disappeared through the door. Before Niall thought it out he hopped the counter and followed her.

At first he didn’t see them, but he followed the noise and found a small blonde girl sitting with her back against the wall and her head in her hands. Katharine was at her side consoling her as a bin of ale gushed onto the floor. Niall picked up the bin and tried to staunch the flow of alcohol and finally managed to after a moment.

“What happened?” he asked the blonde.

“I was doing inventory when a huge raft spider sprinted across the floor right at me!” the girl sniffed, feeling a little stupid for her reaction. But in her defence she did know how much trouble she would be in due to all the ale she had spilled in her attempt to kill the bloody thing.

By this time Liam had decided to come out of his hiding spot in the toilets and made his way to the backroom. He had overheard the ruckus and wondered in. As soon as he found the centre of it all his eyes locked onto the girl sitting on the ground. She was a petite blonde, with black rimmed glasses, and a killer smile. She was one of the most fit girls he had ever laid eyes on.

“Well, it looks like you did a bang up job at killing it,” Niall said with a small level of amusement.

“I am so screwed,” the girl said in a small voice.

“Don’t worry, love. I will compensate for the spilled ale,” Liam offered wanting nothing more than to comfort the distraught barmaid.

“But that would be over one hundred pounds,” the girl said looking up for the first time. Liam Payne was in her pub. She was acting like a twit in front of Liam Payne and he still wanted to pay for the mess she had made.

“Not a problem,” Liam started, but drew a blank. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name,” he said apologetically.

“Charlie,” she said getting up and sticking her hand out.

Liam shook it politely, trying to keep the feeling bubbling up inside him from spilling into his facial expression. “Right, Charlie. What a lovely name. Mine is Liam.”

Charlie smiled retracting her hand. “Why thank you. Nice to meet you, Liam.”

Liam smiled a cheeky grin. “The pleasure is all mine.”

That statement made Charlie feel all giddy inside. She wanted to jump up and down clapping her hands. But she didn’t. She played it cool. “I’m sure.”

Liam chuckled. He liked Charlie. A lot.Already. He hoped that she felt a tenth of what he did.

Niall crossed his arms glaring at Liam. He was flirting with the barmaid like some gowel and for some reason that bothered Niall. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it though.

Katharine looked over at her co-worker and spoke. “Come on, Charlie. Don’t worry about that now. We can take care of it later. No one is manning the register.”

Charlie nodded and the girls motioned for the two singers to follow their lead. Niall and Liam obliged the girls request and followed behind them wordlessly. They took turns shooting each other knowing looks that had to do with the two barmaids ahead of them. Niall’s was less pleasant than Liam’s.

Once out from Niall returned to his stool, his Coke still there barely touched. Niall didn’t particularly care for soft drinks, but he had ordered it anyway to comply with Katharine’s wishes. He didn’t want to get kicked he and Liam kicked out.

Liam plopped down on the stool beside Niall and took in Niall’s Coke. He chuckled to himself and picked it up taking a pull from it.

Charlie cocked her head slightly and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Liam shook away his laughter and replied, “Oh, nothing it’s just that Niall doesn’t like soft drinks.”

Niall shot Liam a look, but kept quiet.

“I don’t get how that’s so funny.”

Liam was about to explain when Katharine started speaking. “If you don’t like Coke, then why did you agree to buy one?”

Niall really wanted to give Liam a good thrashing for bringing it up. He was sure if he explained that he had bought the Coke only so he could stay in the pub Katharine might take it the wrong way. He opted for an answer that would make him look foolish instead. “I dunno.”

Katharine narrowed her eyes at the blonde boy. She didn’t believe his answer for a second. What if he bought the soft drink just to hideout from his ridiculous fans, she thought to herself. She shook her head. Surely he wasn’t that shallow.

Fortunately for Niall everyone’s trains of thought were interrupted by his ringing mobile. He answered it with a cheerful hello.

The others waited quietly for Niall to ring off and as soon as he did Liam spoke up. “Who was it?”

“Harry, he was calling to tell us that their date had ended with the girls and that they were coming to pick us up.”

Liam nodded feeling slightly disappointed. “Well, ladies, it was nice chatting with you, but it looks like we’ve got to go.”

“Sorry to not drink and run,” Niall said to Katharine as he pulled out his wallet to pay his bill.

Katharine laughed and took the money totalling it up on the register.

“Oh, I almost forget,” Liam said and fished out his wallet as well. He pulled out a few bills and handed them over to Charlie. “For all the ale I drank.”

Niall cringed.

“Thanks, I really, really appreciate it,” Charlie said with a smile. She couldn’t believe that Liam Payne was paying for her screw up. He was such a gentleman.

“No, problem. Got a pen handy?” he asked grabbing a napkin.

“Sure,” Charlie said retrieving one of the pens she kept behind the counter and handed it over to the dark haired boy.

“Perfect,” he said more to himself and scratched down something. He handed the napkin to Charlie and she let out a little squeal before composing herself.

Niall’s phone started blaring again and wordlessly tugged Liam off the stool and threw a goodbye over his shoulder.

Notes

I don't know a lot about One Direction so this is my crack at the boys. If I'm doing something wrong or making the boys out of character please feel free to comment and tell me so. I'd be happy to fix the problem. Anyways enjoy -xoxo Holly