It was Niall at the door. He stood framed in the doorway, wearing jeans and one of his “Crazy Mofos” t-shirts. His smile, radiant as ever, could genuinely brighten anyone’s day. He looked genuinely happy to see me.
“Hey Spencer, are you sure you don’t want to come to dinner with us? It would be nice for us all to go out together, just for a break from the bus.” He asked sweetly, his tone warm and inviting. Niall had been my best friend since Liam’s days with One Direction. I could tell him anything, absolutely *anything*, and he’d guard it with his life, offering precisely the right words to make me feel better. But I still had to deal with Preston, and our conversations were going nowhere.
“You know what, Niall? I think I will come. Just… give me one minute?”
“Yeah, totally.” I turned my back to him, intending to grab my jacket.
“Hey Preston, can we talk about this later?”
“No, I need to talk now, babe. We’re on completely different time zones and schedules. I need to know you’re planning on getting to my games.” Preston’s voice was clipped, demanding.
“Preston, I’m really going to try, okay? But right now, I need to go.”
“Fine, as long as you come.”
“Okay, goodbye.”
“You didn’t say I love you…”
“I love you, Preston.” I relented, wanting to end the conversation quickly.
“There ya go! Bye babe.” He hung up without another word. Niall was still in the doorway, waiting patiently. I decided to compartmentalize the phone call, to not let it ruin tonight.
“Ready?” he asked, his smile unwavering.
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” I replied, grabbing my jacket from the bed and following Niall out the door.
A single car waited downstairs, and a small crowd of girls waited to scream for Niall. I couldn’t blame them. Niall *was* adorable, Irish, and possessed a voice that could charm the birds from the trees. The Directioners were fortunate, boys and girls, to have such sweet boys to fawn over. We navigated the screaming fans, smiling for their cameras, and finally climbed into the car.
“Where is everybody else?” I asked, realizing I was alone with Niall.
“Oh, they’re already there, holding our spots at the table. I stayed behind to get you.”
“But you knew I wasn’t planning on coming.”
“Yeah, but I was hoping you would. And look, now you’re here, you’re coming. Yay!” He said, his enthusiasm bordering on manic. I punched his arm lightly, and he responded with a dramatic overreaction.
“Oh, ow! Ouch, ouch, ouch, oh my gosh, Spence, I think you broke my arm, oh, owwww…” He was such a tease.
“Oh, poor baby can’t take a hit. Do you need me to kiss it better?” I retorted, matching his sarcasm.
“No, if you come near my arm, it might just go limp. You’re too strong, I just can’t handle it.” We both dissolved into laughter, unable to even speak. Steve, our security guard, seemed to enjoy our antics as well.
“Why’d you wait for me, though? Why didn’t Liam try to convince me?”
“Because Liam didn’t know you planned on spending the night talking to Preston.”
“And you did?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Who told you? No one was supposed to know because Liam doesn’t really like Preston.”
“Umm…”
“Niall, come on. The restaurant is right there. Tell me now or I’m going to be dying all through dinner.”
“Ugh, fine… Gemma told me. I asked, okay? Don’t get mad at her. I was just worried about you because whenever you talk to him for a long time, you end up getting depressed and wanting to go home. Liam needs you here. You’re the only reason he doesn’t just fall apart. He wants his little sister here so he has someone from his family with him.” That was one of the most profound things Niall had ever said about Liam.
“Really? Liam gets that lonely?”
“Yeah, he does. That’s why he brought you, plus Lou needed the female help with hair and stuff.” I wouldn’t mention that Niall worried about me. That would turn his face as red as a tomato.
“Well, alright, thanks for that. We should really go inside, don’t you think?”
“Oh! Yeah, let’s go inside. Food, yum.” We stepped out of the car and followed Niall inside the restaurant, where the others were waiting.
“Well lookie there! Niall, you were right, you did get her to come.” Louis said playfully.
“Alright then Louis, but did you already order my food?” I shot back, eliciting a chorus of “oooooh, burn!” from the rest of the group.
“Nice, come have a seat, you two.” He responded. We walked over and sat next to each other, between Louis and Liam. The waiter came over and asked for our orders. Since there were so many of us, we decided to share a few pizzas. Conversations flowed around the long table, too fast to keep up with. It was a welcome distraction.