“Thank you, Westfield Mall!” Niall shouts causing a burst of screams to nearly shatter the boys’ eardrums. They had just finished Fly Me Home. Every single boy felt great to be back on the stage; it was where they realized how real their dreams had become.

“That’s just a taste of our new song called Fly Me Home. We’ll be singing this song along with many other new singles part of our tour coming up in March,” Liam announces the tour.

“We want to thank every single one of you who tweeted about our little surprise today,” Zayn adds.

Louis then said, “Without our fans, we would be nothing. You’ve helped us to be where we are today as one of the biggest boy bands across the globe!”

Girls surrounding the stage were screaming their heads off as crewmembers start to pack up the stage. There was a crowd of mainly teenaged girls packed in the very center of the mall. With the immense amount of body heat, the cold air was more like a light sprinkle than a pouring rain. The boys, wearing thin layers consisting of jeans and t-shirts, were simply smiling and waving to the fans while waiting for a cue from Paul that they could leave to the heat of their homes.

Paul walks onto the stage and gathers the boys in so they can hear him. “Alright boys, I have the van waiting out front. Stay close so we can get out of here quickly.” The five nod and shout out their last goodbyes to the mob before following Paul and a team of security guards to the exit.

Once the boys are pushed through the doors, the reality of winter hits them with a gust of cold air. Some shiver and huddle together more. Others wrap fold their arms over their chests and try to maintain body heat.

“Harry?” a girl voice questions from nearby. Harry stops and turns his head to see the brunette he met at the coffee shop just last week.

“Oh, hey! Morgan, right?” Harry responds, walking a little closer to her despite the protests of the guards. “I completely forgot to text you, didn’t I? I’m so sorry,” Harry apologizes, smacking him on the head for forgetting about her.

She shakes her head and smiles. “No, that’s completely fine. I’m sure you’ve been busy with work and all. It’s not like I would expect someone with such a busy life to actually text me. ”

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but Liam decides to walk over and interrupt. “Mate, we have to go before we get mobbed,” Liam says before glancing over to Morgan.

Harry follows Liam’s gaze to see a now very pale and wide-eyed Morgan. Then he turns back to see that Liam’s jaw has dropped a little, looking stunned at the girl. “Right… Um. Liam, this is Morgan. You know… that girl I was telling you guys about.”

Liam straightened up and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, love.”

“Mhm…” Morgan nodded, star struck. She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I mean… it’s nice to meet you too.” She shook his hand, trying to prevent herself from exploding with excitement.

“Well, Harry and I have to get going, but maybe we can hang out later. I mean, all of us if that’s okay with you,” Liam offers.

Morgan smiles and nods, playing it cool. “I’d like that. I’m sure Harry still has my number, so… text me.” Then, the three walk off, Morgan goes in one direction, and the boys leave in the other.

Once seated, in the middle row of the van, Harry turns and smiles at Liam who is fiddling with his thumbs. “Way to play it cool, mate. I saw the look in your eyes.” Liam just shakes his head and smiles at his thumbs.

~

Darren sat blankly, staring at the computer screen in front of her. Thinking. Contemplating. The task at hand was just too much for her mind to process. She wished she could just not do the assignment, but there was no way she could fail her online courses, not with her chance at applying to a real institute coming up later this year.

Studying, or learning for that matter, was one thing Darren had never favored, but she figures that by doing the first few basic courses online, she can finish the rest of her education publically later – the difficult courses at least.

She groans in agony, unable to find the theme of the poem in front of her. By now, her contacts mixed with the bright screen are giving her a major headache, so she shuts her laptop and calls it a day. That is the one good thing about taking her online courses; she can do the work when she has time, and come back to it later if she doesn’t understand it. It wasn’t as good as being taught in a real school, but it was all she could do for now.

Darren compressed her hands to her head and squeezed her eyes shut to try and rid herself of the headache. However, it is no use, so she gets up and decides to bother her brothers with her problems. Darren gets up, off her bum and stomps downstairs, upset with her grammatical struggle. Once she sees them sitting lazily on the couch, she walks up to them and lays her head on Jack’s lap and her feet on Finn’s.

“English is so hard,” she says frustratingly. “Tell me again why I decided online courses would be a good idea.”

Jack chuckles and plays with his sister’s hair. “You said you didn’t want to see people because you hate nearly all of the Earth’s population. Then, you insisted that we let you take at least a year of online courses before you go off to that school you want to go to.”

“I don’t see how you find English hard, though. Math is the one that killed me in high school,” Finn shivered at the thought of his years of math analysis and calculus. “And why do I get the feet?”

“Because you were being a dick this morning,” Darren says. “Besides, Jack usually gets my feet, but he never complains.”

“Not to your face at least…” Jack mumbles. Darren glares at Jack and sticks her tongue out.

“Any news from Harry?” Finn asks.

Darren’s eyes widen. “Shit, I forgot about him… Oh well. He’s probably doing just fine without me bothering him. I’m sure he has a life as well. That’s what happens, though, when people break you phone. I forget about silly things like that. You people have no heart I tell you, no heart.”

The two brothers scoff. Darren may be such a pain to them both, but they love her regardless of her pessimistic and rebellious attitude.

“So now that messaging Harry is classified as a silly thing, maybe you’ll focus more on your studies,” Finn suggests slyly. Darren covers her face with her hands and shakes her head rapidly.

“And how is English hard? You want to know what’s hard-”

“My dick,” Darren’s face appears from her hands as she interrupts Jack midsentence. He glares at her whereas Finn stifles back laughter.

“I was trying to say that math is more difficult than English. How do you even do that shit?” he continues trying to not be mad at his sister for her inappropriate snide remark.

“Simple. I work well with numbers. You, on the other hand… just don’t.” She smiles at her brothers before snatching the remote and turning on the tele.

~

“Knock-knock,” Niall said for the billionth time this night. The group groaned at his attempt to make another joke. Niall scoffs. “I see how it is. If you wanted me to stop, you could’ve just said something.”

“We’ve tried, Niall, but you’re worse than Harry during our TMH tour,” Zayn tells him.

Harry looks up from his phone screen at the sound of his name. “Huh? What?” The group laughs at Harry’s lack of focus on the conversation, but Harry just goes back to staring at his phone. It has almost been two full days since he texted Darren, two days without response or sign of life.

Harry was worried. He is wondering is that last message he sent will be the last he will ever be communicating with her. He hopes not, but he can’t help but wonder where she is, why she isn’t responding.

“I should probably be leaving now,” Morgan’s declaration interrupts Harry leaving him to just put his phone away and worry later. “Thanks for having me over. It was nice meeting you all.”

“Of course. We enjoyed your company as well. We’ll definitely have to keep in touch,” Niall proposes.

Morgan nods, less timidly than earlier. In the past hour of being with the boys, she managed to loosen up more. “I guess I’ll be seeing you guys, then.” She starts to stand up and collects her belongings.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Liam offers. Louis makes a gesture with his hands that Liam glares at before accompanying Morgan to the door. The other lads laugh at Louis’ suggestion.

“Harry, mate, stop bouncing your leg; I can feel the vibrations,” Zayn says to Harry. Harry, unaware that he was bouncing his leg, stops and sighs, running a few fingers through his hair. “What’s got you so timid?”

Harry stares at the rectangular object sitting next to him, waiting desperately for it to light up like a Christmas tree to notify him of a new message. “It’s nothing,” he lies. The other boys, however, are unamused at Harry’s answer. It was plain as day to them that something is indeed bothering him, but they aren’t going to try and push any buttons tonight.

~

The dark, grey sky of night soon change into the subtle blends of orange and pink in the places where the clouds didn’t cover the sky. Darren breathes in the morning air and snuggles in tighter to her heavy winter coat. On this morning, she swears she can feel the cold winter moving away, but she knows that London is far from it.

Spring will come when it comes – which won’t be until February at the least. However, Darren wouldn’t have it any other way’ she enjoys being able to layer up in her thick winter coats and enjoy the snow. At the same, Darren also hates the fact that everyone’s mood seems to change with the grey skies and dull setting.

Darren watches as a few selections of birds and animals come to life and embrace the morning sunrise. She notices the few people already up and about, sipping on warm drinks and holding onto their mittens and coats and hats. Darren even watches in awe, as one couple walks through the park just across the street, holding each other tightly in an embrace that she is sure would bring heat to her.

Sometimes she wishes that she and her boyfriend, James, could be like that. Happy. She didn’t get that kind of feeling that the couple in the park has. Instead, she pushes back her doubt of her relationship and makes herself believe that James is the one that makes her happy when in reality, he doesn’t.

Darren sighs, averting her gaze from the couple to a nest of birds in a tree nearby. Currently, what appears to be the mama bird is feeding the little newborns a chewed up worm. Quite a disgusting sight, but Darren couldn’t help but wonder about her family. These days, Darren can’t possibly be more distant from her family, and does she regret it?

Sometimes she does, but every time she considers going back and apologizing for everything she stops and weighs out the resolutions. She would start to get sidetrack and realize that she shouldn’t be the one apologizing, that she should be the one getting an apology. She never did anything wrong; she just came into this world at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Having had enough thinking for one day, the girl on the roof slowly starts to gather her things and places them underneath her arms. Then, she cautiously starts to walk the path of newly made footprints to where she can climb in through her bedroom window.

“Hey Darren!” a male voice calls to her attention. Startled, Darren lets out a shriek and loses her footing. Blankets are sent flying, her hat is swept off her head, and the girl on the roof loses complete balance.

THUD!

Notes

Thanks to everyone who has voted and subscribed c:
~A