Honestly, I don’t know how long I was in there before someone came knocking. I had already cried all my tears out and had to swallow too much venom for my liking. Still, by the time whoever was outside of my door came knocking, I was ready to talk about this calmly and rationally.

Dad was waiting outside the door with an apologetic and genuine smile. “Look, Ev, you’re right. About all of it. Maybe it seems stupid, but you’re not a stupid girl. You know what you’re doing, and though I don’t like the timing, you can’t choose who you fall in love with. Sometimes, the things you want most in life come when you’re not looking for them, and that’s what happened. I can’t judge you because I don’t know the whole story, and if you say this is what makes you happy, that you can trust him, then so can I, and if you say you love him, I believe you.”

I was smiling before he even finished, but once he did, I hugged him as tight as I could without hurting him. “Thanks, Daddy. I’m sorry about what I said.”

“It’s the truth,” he murmured before kissing the top of my head. “Don’t apologize, pumpkin. Just get some sleep and know that we’re gonna explore LA to the best of our ability tomorrow. It'll be a blast, so get some sleep.”

And that’s exactly what I did. Now, I could go to sleep with a smile on my face.

There were only a few things that could make this even more perfect than it already was, and one was just out of reach.

Still . . . I slept so well that night.

---

It was too early when Harley came to wake me up, but I was happy to get up. I got a warm shower to both relax and wake myself up. The events of last night disappeared immediately, and I was able to get dressed to face the day quite eagerly.

I left my hair natural and put on a pair of black studded short shorts—not the sketchy short shorts, like I had seen a lot here in LA in just the little I had actually ventured out—a loose white Avengers tank top, and my sparkly grey, bright blue, and hot pink hidden wedges.

After getting ready, I came out and found Max getting Harley ready to go.

My eyebrows furrowed. “Uh . . . why are we taking him?”

He gave me a sheepish smile. “Actually, I was thinking we could take him by the house. I mean, we’re going by anyways, so maybe take him there and leave him so he’s with people he likes, you know?”

“Why are we going by there?” I asked. “I got everything I need.”

Dad actually came into the room and began putting his wallet and cell phone into his pocket, smiling the entire time. “We’re taking your stuff home, and you’re getting clothes here.”

My eyes were wide. “What? Are you serious?”

“Well, I noticed you throwing out all of your old clothes, and I know you got some new clothes, but there are so many more places to get what you truly want here in LA,” he insisted. “Besides, you didn’t get nearly enough. So, we’re shopping some today, and you can continue to shop while you’re here. Anything you really wanna keep that you’ve already brought here is fine, but we’re taking most of it back home.”

I squealed as I threw my arms around his neck. “Daddy, thank you! This is amazing, though definitely unnecessary.”

“It’s completely necessary,” he disagreed. “You’ve had to go through so much, and you had to do things no one should have to. I want you to have anything you want in life.”

And with that note, after I freaked out some more and thanked him over and over again, we left. It was early enough that I knew absolutely no one would be awake, and I could make breakfast first.

That always seemed to brighten Niall’s day.

---

Like I figured, the house was very quiet when we got there. Dad and Max were coming with me, despite how they talked about how awkward and out of place they felt in there. Still, they had to help me get my stuff, and Harley was walking with Dad.

I was so worried about waking everyone up. As a matter of fact, I knew there was only one person who was capable of turning off the alarm and letting us in, but still.

With a wince, I started knocking on the door. It was loud enough that hopefully someone would hear it, but I didn’t really know.

Surprisingly, though, after a minute of waiting, in trudged a very sleepy Harry. He was scowling until he saw me, and that made him smile. Only a little, though.

He quickly put the code into the alarm and unlocked the door. “Everit! What a surprise . . . way too early.”

I smiled sheepishly. “My dad’s an early riser. We’re about to explore LA and do some shopping, but there’s something I need to do first.”

He nodded and stepped aside. “Come on in. Hey there, Harley.” Harry knelt down to begin petting Harley and smiled up at Max and Dad. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Harry.”

“Tobey,” Dad very politely introduced himself.

Max seemed a little uncertain, though he smiled at Harry. “I’m Max.”

“I’ve heard about you, and you must be her dad,” Harry murmured. “The best friend, right?”

“That’d be me,” Max agreed, and I could see his uncertainty melt away.

I wore an awkward smile as I started walking backwards towards the stairs. “Dad, can you do me a huge favor? While I go get my stuff, can you get started with breakfast? I’m gonna finish, but I wanna save time.”

“If that’s alright, yeah,” he agreed.

Harry laughed. “Oh, it’s definitely alright. I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

“I’ll come help you, Ev,” Max murmured, and the two of us quietly but quickly began hurrying upstairs to my room.

My locked room.

I pressed my lips tightly together. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

As quickly as I could, I ran down into the kitchen and leaned against the counter while Harry showed Dad where everything was. “Harry, does he keep the keys to the rooms in his room?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “I forgot yours is locked. I can get it, but you’re better at being quiet than me. It’s in the chest in-between the two sets of beds. They’re unconscious, so you’ll be fine.”

I nodded and began sliding out of my shoes—just to be extra safe. While Harry continued helping Dad out, I began sneaking my way into the bedroom of Niall and currently Liam, Louis, Harry, and Zayn as well.

I noticed another bed in the middle of the room, which wasn’t surprising. After all, there were only four beds with the two sets of bunk beds, so it wasn’t surprising. That bed was empty, as was the bottom bunk underneath the Niall, who was sleeping on the top bunk. Liam and Zayn were occupying the other two, so that meant Louis was somewhere uncertain.

Someone was in the bathroom, so I knew I had to be quick.

The chest wasn’t locked, thankfully, but there was a lot of stuff in there, not to mention a lot of different keys. Some were probably the other guys’, and some might not be at all related to this place. Deciding which keys were keys to this house and which weren’t was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.

That’s why it was no surprise that Louis came out of the bathroom before I was out, and he actually let out a startled breath. “Oh God, Everit. Don’t move. I’m naked.”

My eyes were wide. “Oh dear. I’m sorry, Lou! I have to get into my room, and Harry told me the keys were in here.”

It wasn’t surprising when I heard Niall scrambling off of his bed, in his just-boxers glory. His eyes were wide, though very sleepy, as he bent down and grabbed the set of keys I needed. Without a word, he pulled me out of there, his cheeks flushed and uncertain.

I grimaced. “I’m sorry. Harry said you were all asleep, and I certainly didn’t realize Louis was naked.”

He let out a breathless laugh. “No, Evie. It’s okay.” He looked through the keys before handing me the appropriate one. “This is your room key. Ooh. I smell something good. Are you making something?”

I smiled sheepishly. “I was gonna, but I bet my dad’s gonna finish it before I get my stuff.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“They’re taking most of my stuff back home, and Dad’s leaving me his card,” I murmured, and I made a face. “He told me to just buy whatever I needed here, whatever I wanted.”

That made him smile, and he very carefully tilted my chin up so that I was looking at him. “Well, I’m so glad you’re well taken care of.”

“I am,” I agreed, unable to stop my bright and loving smile. “I’m gonna go get my stuff real quick. We’re exploring LA, shopping, and spending the day in this city.”

“That sounds like fun,” he murmured. “I think Noah, Madi, and Kiley were talking about doing that. You might run into them.”

My lips pressed together. “Hmm. Might just see if they wanna come with us.”

He laughed. “Alright. Just let me know. I’m supposed to keep a check on everyone. You coming back here tonight?”

“Not sure yet,” I admitted. “Um, are you gonna be here today?”

“For the most part, yeah,” he said. “Why? You need me to do something?”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I just didn’t wanna leave Harley in the hotel room, and if someone was gonna be here, I was gonna see if they minded letting him be here, too.”

He smiled as he softly placed his hands on my face, letting his fingers graze my cheeks ever so delicately. “Of course, Evie. I’d love to watch him.”

“Thank you,” I smiled before standing on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek. “I’ll see you either tonight or tomorrow. If I stay tonight, I’m coming back early tomorrow morning. I need to work on my other song.”

He made a face. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“I agree,” I laughed. “Bye, Niall.”

“Goodbye, beautiful,” he murmured, and for some reason, that completely caught me off guard.
I tried to not make a big deal about it, but as I turned to walk away, my heart was absolutely racing while my cheeks burned and my stomach flopped. I forgot how to breathe for a minute, so I had to somehow stumble past Dad, Harry, and Harley in the kitchen all the way up to Max without anyone noticing something off.

Max noticed me being all goofy, of course, but I had to contain my excitement until we were in my room with the door closed.

The moment it clicked shut, I started dancing around in circles. “I love this place.”

He laughed. “I’m guessing you ran into Niall.”

That made me giggle a little, something that scared him a bit—in a goofy kind of way, obviously. “I did, and a naked Louis. I didn’t see anything, thankfully, but he was naked while I was looking for the room key.”

While he busted out laughing, I started going through the closet and pulling out anything I didn’t plan to wear. I kept a couple of dresses, four pairs of shoes, and a couple of outfits, but that was it for me. Everything else was very Audry-like, and I didn’t want that anymore. I had to be completely Everit in order to win this thing.

Max wasn’t really surprised when two of my three bags were packed up to send with them. He found entertainment in laughing at me about it, too.

“Of course, Ev. Now, I expect you to come home with four, maybe five bags full of stuff?”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

He just shrugged his shoulders. “You probably will.”

Someone began moving outside in the hallway, and on the slight chance it was someone good, I very quickly walked out of the room. When I opened the door, I practically rushed out right into Noah, who was rubbing his eyes, and when Max had to reach out and grab me before we collided, Noah immediately woke up.

“Well, hey there, Ev,” he laughed. “You alright? A little tipsy, are we?”

“No,” I scowled. “Just hoping to catch you. Are you guys planning on seeing LA today?”

“Yeah,” he said before yawning, having to close his eyes for a few seconds after. “I think they wanna do some shopping, too.”

To my complete and utter surprise, Max had the same idea as me. “You guys should come with us. That’s exactly what we’re doing, too.”

Noah’s lips pressed together as he looked to Max, grinning a little. “You as bummed about shopping as me?”

“Definitely.”

I smirked at the two. “You can carry our bags then. We’ll have so much fun.”

Max snorted. “You especially.”

I just flipped him off and scurried down the stairs. More people were down there, so I wasn’t surprised to find every member of One Direction in the kitchen helping Dad make a huge and elaborate breakfast for the entire house.

Niall looked kind of nervous off in the corner, and I guess I understood why. We weren’t dating yet, but it’s my dad. The father who had spent years protecting his daughter. He would do anything to protect me because that’s what he had done my entire life.

I had to bite back my smile as I casually walked over to them. “Need any help?”

“We’ve got it covered,” Liam assured me, laughing as I quirked my lips to the side. “Hope you’re not too bad scarred.”

“I didn’t see anything,” I promised, shrugging a little. “I was facing a wall.”

“She only wishes she had,” Louis joked before walking around and putting his arm on my shoulder. “Well, love, I hope your day is splendid. I will watch over Harley like he’s my son. Though he’s not, because I’m not a dog.”

Zayn snorted and pushed Louis’s hand off my shoulder. “Not if I watch him better.”

Liam groaned. “Guys, we can all watch him. Just shoo and let us finish. This kitchen is getting crowded.”

Niall actually laughed at that, surprising us all with the fact that he had actually gone and picked Harley up. With the cutest puppy eyes, he walked over to me and smiled. “Does this mean I get a cookie?”

Noah busted out laughing himself and shook his head. “No, Niall. You get bacon and warm fuzzy thoughts.”

Niall grinned sheepishly back at him, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink, while I just cocked an eyebrow at Noah. Liam seemed confused as well, so I figured it was just something they had talked about at some point.

However, Max seemed to understand and laughed, too. Instead of saying anything, like I really wanted him to, he just smirked and took a piece of bacon. “I’ll take the bacon.”

What did I not get here?

Notes

Here you guys go. :)

I think I have decided to put space and two lines in between the naughty stuff and the not so naughty stuff. That way, when the time comes and you wanna read or don't wanna read the naughty stuff, you don't have to. :) But can, if you wish. x3

Anyways, lemme know what you think! This is more of a filler, if anything, but fillers can be good, too. So just lemme know. :)