~ Edited ~ 

***

"102.. 102.." I whispered under my breath as I ventured down the hallway, scanning the wooden doors for the foreign number. I glanced down at the watch smugly hugging my wrist. I was ten minutes earlier than we had planned. Would it be okay to arrive so early? The stunted idea of waiting in my car for those ten minutes lingered faintly in the back of my mind, but I decided against it when I stepped foot in front of the mahogany door labeled 102. I picked nervously at the rough fabric of my jeans, before wiping my clammy hands on the material. 

First impressions weren't exactly my strength. Maybe it was because although the person may have never met me, he or she believed every concocted word that was plastered on the cover of too many magazines.

I shook the negative thoughts out of the mind, and tried to ignore my nerves, which were rocketing upwards like a skyscraper.

"Have fun, you're here to have fun," I comforted myself before raising my hand and softly knocking on the door. The sound echoed down the deserted corridor, bouncing off of the embellished walls and velvet linings. The hallway that housed Liam's flat was peculiar. There were five very spaced out apartments, ones that seemed like they could be worth millions based on the ridiculously expensive building I was currently in.

After a few seconds of silence and flourishing anticipation, I slightly raised my fist once again, but it fell back to my side once the door flew open. In front of my stood a boy, clad in exactly what Danielle had predicted he would be dressed in. Royal blue plaid shirt overlaying beige chinos. His hair was short, crisp, styled neatly.

"You must be Charlotte," he spoke first, his voice pleasant. I nodded meekly as he ushered me inside the flat. The monstrous sized flat, that is. The living room alone was bigger than my bedroom and living room combined, which was quite big considering my house was basically considered a mansion. The area surrounding me was surprisingly clean, making it obvious that Liam had put effort into creating a presentable environment.

"Yes, and you're Liam?" I asked. 

My voice was calm, collected -- completely deceiving my emotions.

"That's me," Liam smiled, "here, why don't you sit down? Danielle should be here with the guys in a few. I'm going to go bring out some snacks," he added, nodding over to the couch before heading towards the kitchen.

"Thanks," I smiled warmly and obliged. If the rest of the guys were like Liam, then this wouldn't be too bad. My body sunk effortlessly into the leather material as I crossed my legs, then uncrossed them. I wanted to pull my hair out for being so nervous. This was nothing to be nervous about, I had made a friend and she asked me to hang out. Then why was I feeling so uncomfortable sitting in this stranger's house, when she would be here in only a few minutes?

I shifted uncomfortably and finally stood up, fixing the cushions from where I had indented them. I made and effort to slow down my thoughts, so I began scanning the room. I couldn't help my curiosity from peeking at the sight of a large picture frame hanging in the center of the wall to my right, along with smaller frames surrounding it.

I peered closer at the navy blue painted wall, and studied the largest picture. I couldn't make out their faces so I got up and took a few steps forward. Every frame bordered five guys, ones that seemed very familiar. I studied their appearances, struggling to grasp the names. The biggest photo was one of the five guys standing on a stage. The slightly shorter one sporting blonde hair held an award in his hand and a proud smile graced his child-like face. My eyes traveled down the row, widening when they landed on a face that seemed all too familiar. I gasped audibly when my eyes landed on the boy with his arm slung around Liam's shoulder.

Louis? Stunned, I narrowed my eyes and looked closer, recognizing the gorgeous blue-eyed boy as the one from two nights ago.

I studied the other boys and they were all attractive, no doubt. I looked at the award in the blonde guy's hand, and everything began to make sense as I connected the dots. Of course Liam looked so familiar, he was a part of the infamous boy band, One Direction. He was one of the five faces that covered every teenage girl's wall. And Liam's friends, the ones coming over, were most likely his band mates. If these boys were his band mates, that must mean Louis..

"Charlotte? Are you okay, you don't look so well..." Liam interrupted my train of thought as he placed  a tray of snacks on the table behind me.

I jumped, turning around fully so I was facing him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are these your friends?" I asked, nodding over to the picture. It was a stupid question, considering the fact that the pictures were plastered all over the wall and he no doubt had more.

Liam took a few steps forward and stood next to me. "Yup, that one's Niall. That's Harry. Oh and that really good-looking one in the middle there is named Liam. Then those two are Louis and Zayn." He stated, pointing to each boy from left to right.

I laughed at his description of himself. Liam seemed to like to have a good laugh, and I found it appealing. 

"If you don't mind me asking, you guys are in that band, One Direction right?" I asked nervously, playing with the many bracelets that loosely embraced my wrist.

Liam chuckled and led me to the couch, where he sat down. I followed suit.

"Yes, that's us!"

"Oh, that's cool! So that means you'll have to sing for me sometime, I've never actually heard your music." I replied, quite ashamed of myself. Sure, I had heard their songs playing on radios, but never paid much attention.  I thought back to the night of the party and questioned my sanity. How had I failed to recognize Louis as Louis Tomlinson. And now that I knew he was one of Liam's friends, I had grown increasingly nervous. Would he recognize me? Would he remember anything about that night?

"Of course we will, once the rest of the lads get here. But now, do you want to check out some possible film choices?" Liam asked, clasping his hands together once before leading me to three towering shelves stacked with DVD's.

I decided not to drive myself insane. Maybe it was too dark for Louis to make out what I looked like, maybe he won't realize it's me at all. I shook my head clear of the thoughts and scanned over the movies, not seeing one I was particularly interested in.

"This may seem like an odd question, but do you by any chance own the movie Toy Story?" I asked, biting my lower lip in hopes that I didn't sound like a complete freak. I had always loved that movie and watched it on weekends when my parents were too busy. After not getting a response, I glanced over to see Liam smiling widely.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked, worried that I had already ruined the night.

"No, no. It's just.. Danielle needs to make more friends like you!" Liam yelled, searching frantically through the very top shelf for something. He sat back down and hid his movie choice behind his back.

"Close your eyes.." Liam said excitedly. I laughed at how childish he seemed and raised my eyebrow before reluctantly closing my eyes.

"Okay now open them!"

I quickly lifted my eyelids and smiled at what was in front of me. The three Toy Story movies, laid out in front of a happy looking Liam.

"Let's get this party started!" I yelled, taking the first disc and inserting it into the DVD player. Liam followed me to the couch and gave me a high-five as the beginning credits began to roll.

***

*Louis' POV*

I stared out of the window at the passing scenery, not really listening to the loud conversation Niall and Zayn were having, My thoughts drifted to last week, the party where I had met a girl. Charlotte, that was her name. As the image of the mysterious brunette with a cigarette between her fingers came to mind, I wondered why she seemed so fragile, so broken. There had to be a reason behind the sadness prominent in her eyes; the story that lay beneath her melancholy smile. And I was determined to find out just what it was. Why a stranger had such a huge impact on me; I don't know. 

"Louis, are you okay?" Zayn's worried voice made me jump and the image of Charlotte faded from my mind.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked, leaning back into the leather seat. I plastered a smile on my lips, hoping my friends wouldn't notice how worried I actually was.

"You just zoned out.." Niall trailed off, obviously seeing right through my facade. "We called your name about 5 times, Lou. Everything okay?" Harry added, glancing back from the driver's seat.

"Yeah why wouldn't it be? You guys are worryin-"

Zayn cut me off, "Is it the girl from last night? Charlotte?" His eyes were narrowed as he focused on my expression, examining every detail for some type of emotion. If anyone could detect that something was off, it was Zayn.

Harry parked the car in front of Danielle's house where were picking her up. All three boys now had their eyes on me, the silence answering the question for them. After the party last night, I had explained what happened and they thought I was overreacting. I didn't know this girl, I didn't know anything about her yet I couldn't help but think she wasn't okay.

"You shouldn't be worrying about her, Louis. I'm sure she can take care of herself," Harry stated grumpily, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. I narrowed my eyes at Harry, he had seemed out of it lately. I watched as he averted his gaze from mine and stared ahead at the road.

"I just wish I could help her," I spoke the truth, glancing down at my hands and back out the window where I spotted Danielle walking towards the car. She waved when she saw me and I waved back, giving her a small smile.

Liam and Harry were sitting in the front and Zayn and I in the backseats. The door next to me opened and Danielle sat down, speaking as she did. "Hey boys."

"Danielle!" We chorused, making her smile. Danielle had always been kind to us and kept Liam happy, so we all loved her. She didn't care about Liam's fame or title, she really loved him for who he was.

"So guys, I invited a friend to to hang out with us. She just moved here and she's really nice so keep the weirdness on a low? I don't want to scare her away.." Danielle trailed off, not a hint of sarcasm or joking in her voice.

Simultaneously, questions were fired at her.

"Is she fit?" Harry. I smiled at Harry's question, maybe he wasn't completely out of it today.

"Does she know how to cook?" Niall.

"How old is she?" Zayn.

I laughed at Niall's question and asked my own, "What's her name?"

"Harry, how can I possibly answer that question? I don't know Niall, I never really asked her. Zayn, 18. And Louis, I want her to introduce her to you guys herself." Danielle answered all of the questions on the car ride home, not once growing tired of us.

I wasn't too worried about this friend of Danielle's, I trusted her judgment. Although I couldn't help but wonder if she knew who exactly Danielle was dating. Hopefully she wouldn't scream every time one of us opened our mouths to talk.

***

*Charlotte's POV*

"What are you making?" I asked, walking behind Liam who had carefully set a pot of water onto the stove. I peered over his shoulder and watched as he fumbled with the buttons in front of him.

"It's Liam Payne's famous soup!" Liam stated, feigning an Italian accent.

"Yeah, famous to your girlfriend probably," I muttered, watching him as he took a pack of noodles out of the cabinet. We had grown quite comfortable around each other after bonding over the first first minutes of Toy Story, as lame as it may sound. Liam wasn't the conceited, spoiled guy I thought any famous teenage boy would be. In fact, I would've never been able to tell he was a celebrity if the picture from the VMA's wasn't there.

Liam laughed and shook his head, "I heard that Charlotte," he said. 

"This needs more water.." He trailed off and turned around, bumping right into me with the pot of water in his hand. The water spilled all over me and the pot clattered to the ground. I gasped, but later began laughing.

"Oh my goodness, Liam you idiot!" He scolded himself, grabbing a towel from the sink. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there-"

"Liam, it's okay. I should have warned you. At least you hadn't turned the stove on." I said, making him nod in agreement. I pulled at my damp shirt and Liam apologized once again.

"Oh! Danielle leaves a pair of spare clothes here just in case something like this happens, they're in my room if you want to change into those!" Liam snapped his fingers, happy with his idea.

I laughed, "This kind of thing happens often? Are you sure that'd be okay with her?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to ruin the small friendship I had with Danielle already.

"It gets a little crazy when the lads are here... More than okay, she'd love to help," Liam nodded, pointing down the hallway. "My room's the first one on the right and you'll see the clothes in the first drawer in the corner."

"Thanks Liam," I smiled and followed his instructions, stepping into a messy room. It was huge and had an unmade bed in the middle, two dressers to the side, a bathroom to the left. There were three pictures of himself and Danielle resting on the dressers and side table. I stared at the pictures for a few minutes, noticing the pure love radiating from their smiles.

I walked to the dresser and pulled out a white t-shirt and some sweats that look like they'd fit me. I made my way over to the bathroom and changed clothes, the thought of Louis recognizing me not once leaving my mind.

***

*Louis' POV*

"Alright boys, before we go in, take a minute to actually remember what I said and please listen to me for once?" Danielle pleaded once we were at the Liam's door.

"Lord, she's worse than Liam..." I whispered to Niall, earning a punch in the arm from Danielle.

"Punches harder than him, too." Zayn snickered, making all of us, even Danielle, laugh. 

I glanced at the boys, sharing a knowing look. "She's right lads. We don't want to scare this girl away.." I said, trying to seem like I was agreeing. Before Danielle could say anything, Niall knocked on the door and Liam appeared no more than a few seconds later.

"Hey--" He was cut off by Zayn, Niall and I running through the door. I shoved Danielle so she was pushed into a hug with Liam. Harry lugged behind, his eyes not leaving his phone's screen.

"Where's our new best friend?" Niall shouted when he saw an empty living room. I stifled a laugh. Danielle was crazy if she thought we weren't going to scare this friend of hers away.

"You guys were watching Toy Story?" Zayn asked, pointing to the T.V. where the movie Toy Story was paused. Amusement was dancing in his eyes as he shook his head and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Yep, she has good taste in movies." Liam said happily as he threw an arm over a blushing Danielle's shoulder.

Harry gagged and flopped down on the couch behind me. I gave him a look, one that he reciprocated by rolling his eyes. I frowned. What was his deal? Harry wasn't his usual random, happy self. He had been all too serious, and it was worrying me.

"Liam, I think I forgot my phone here yesterday, did you see it?" I asked after walking over to the kitchen counter where I was sure I had forgotten it. I'd talk to Harry later and find out what was wrong.

"Yeah, I put it in my room, but--" Liam was cut off by a pillow being shot straight at his face, followed by Niall's contagious laugh. Liam and Zayn both shared a look and grabbed two pillows, throwing them right at Niall. I rolled my eyes and laughed, turning around, and walked to Liam's room.

The door was open and I spotted my phone on the dresser. I picked it up and scrolled through my messages, jumping when the sound of a door opening hit my ears. Stunned, I spun on my heel, only to come face to face with a girl. Not just any girl, though.

"Charlotte?" I asked, wide-eyed as I stared at the brunette and the damp clothes in her hand. I blinked several times, not believing my eyes. A strange wave of happiness surged through me, along with a tinge of nervousness.

"Hi Louis," she smiled weakly.

***

(A/N) I know this was a boring chapter, but I don't want to make everything happen in only one chapter.. that's no fun now is it? ;) Hope you guys enjoyed and please comment & vote, I'd like to know what you think! <3

- Aysha xx