𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙔𝙊𝙐 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

four - stand up

[from girlhood i had never
believed in permanence;
though i longed for it.]

_________________________________

Surprisingly, the RV was still standing when we got done cooking. Correction, when I got done cooking. The boys couldn't cook to save their lives.

I made macaroni and cheese from a box, because that was quite literally all that they had ingredients for. Per request, I made three boxes all at once. I scooped the prepared food out onto separate plates.

The boys came up from the kitchen table and grabbed plates. I grabbed my own and followed them back to the living area. There, the six of us dispersed between the chairs and the couch.

The problem? The seating was for five, but there were now six of us. I was about to just sit on the floor, when Zayn spoke up.

"Here, sit by me," he said. He scooted over in his chair probably as far as he could, leaving half of it open. If I sit there, I thought, he'll hurt me. This must be a test.

He must have seen the hesitation in my face because he gave me a small smile. I causiously moved and sat down next to him. He put a careful arm around my shoulders.

I thought about asking him to move it, or maybe standing up and running for my life, but I stayed. The boys went on talking casually, only pausing to eat.

I unknowingly relaxed against Zayn, listening to the banter of One Direction. I focused on their accents. They were all unmistakably British, except Niall's Irish one. I understood why perople liked their singing so much.

Even their voices were nice to listen to.

"Mickey?" Liam asked.

"What?" I said, focusing back into their conversation.

"Harry asked what you think we should do tomorrow," Liam said. They were all staring at me, as if expecting me to have any sort of idea.

"I don't know, whatever you guys are gonna do is fine." They nodded. Niall glanced down at his phone.

"11:30? How did it get so late?" he asked, visibly shocked. The rest of us shrugged.

"We should probably get to sleep, I'm sure management will throw something at us tomorrow," Liam said. The boys all groaned, but stood up regardless.

"What about the dishes?" Louis and I asked at the same time, causing us all to burst out into fits of laughter. It was decided that sense we both asked about them, we both got to do them. Louis was upset about that.

We stood doing the dishes in silence, while the other boys were in the bunk room.

"So," he started.

"So?" I replied, trying to be at least a little quiet so the other boys could sleep.

"Earlier, we were in the car, Zayn asked about your neck..." he trailed off. I sighed and shook my head a little bit.

"It's nothing, really. I'm good," I said. I flashed him a small smile. Louis still seemed unconvinced.

Why do they all care so much?

"We both know that those aren't bruises from the seatbelt, Mickey."

"Okay, fine," I relented. I continued washing a plate, not looking up at Louis even when I passed it to him to dry and put away. "It was the man who runs the orpanage. I made him mad, and he gets physical when he's mad." Louis inhaled sharply and I shrugged. "I don't have to go back there anymore, right? You guys don't have to worry about it."