Chapter 9:

Harry rang me earlier and asked me if I was still up for the meal tonight, which I was, I found it sweet that he rang to check, just incase. I looked to the time and noticed it was 3:56pm. Katie asked me to work 9 - 4 today, meaning that she should be here any minute to take over until closing time. It had been a fairly busy day today, a lot of people think that we don't get much business considering we're a flower shop, but we get a lot more than you'd imagine.

Normally the shop is full, so it's nice at times like this where there's close to no-one here. One of the regular customers Mr Gate comes in and buys flowers for his wife, normally a small bouquet of red roses because it's her favourite. "Good afternoon Mr Gate." I smiled at him as he place the change in my hand.

"It is indeed Faith, Im just getting the regular for Mrs Gate. Do you have anything special planned this evening?" he asked me.

"I'm going out for a meal with a new friend and some of his friends." I explained.

"Well he must be a very special young man if he makes you smile like that." he replied, motioning to my involuntary grin and making me blush. I shook my head lightly and bit my lip trying to stop myself from grinning but failing miserably, "Well he's a very lucky young man to have you Faith. Take care of yourself." he smiled sweetly as he picked up his flowers and headed for the door, passing Katie on the way out.

"Say hello to Mrs Gate for me!" I shouted to him.

"I will!" he yelled back from outside, making me chuckle. "Hey." I turned to Katie as she hung her coat up.

"How's it been?" she asked.

"Busy up until now, I don't think you're going to be doing much." I chuckled.

"I'm happy with that. I've been with Millie all day and she's taken the energy out of me." she sighed, laughing at her over active daughter.

I giggled with her before heading for the door, "Right I'm off, see you later!" I shouted.

"Have fun tonight!!" she yelled making me smile. I hopped into my car and drove the short drive back home; I got out my keys and opened my front door before heading straight to my bedroom. I looked in my wardrobe and decided to wear a short black strapless playsuit that just covered my bum and accentuated my long legs - I paired it with black ankle heels that had a lace design on the outside.

I lay the outfit on the bed and went straight to the bathroom for a shower; I did the usual hair routine, but I lathered my vanilla body wash on my legs and shaved them so my legs were smooth for when I wore my playsuit. I rinsed off the bubbles, watching them fall effortlessly down the plug hole as I turned off the water and hopped out of the shower, wrapping myself in my towel. I strolled into my bedroom and put on some matching black lace underwear, I sat on the floor and applied my make-up, I put a light layer of foundation on then sealed it with a light powder; I used a sand shimmered eye shadow on my eyelids then I carefully applied some cat-liner.

I used my eyelash curler to make my eyelashes appear longer and then applied some mascara to keep them in the same place - I exfoliated my lips, making them smooth and then covered them in a light pink tinted lipgloss. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided to curl my hair, getting dressed into my playsuit as I waited for the curlers to heat up.

I curled my hair and ran my fingers through the ringlets giving it a more natural feel. I then turned off the curlers and grabbed my bag, throwing my keys and phone in; I put my heels on and heard my doorbell, making my way downstairs and answering the door. "Hey Fai- WOW!" Niall commented as he noticed my outfit, his eyes drifting from my legs, to my outfit and then finally up to my eyes. "You. Look. Amazing!" he breathed steadily, making me giggle shyly.

"Thank you Niall, you look great too!" I complimented as I looked at his smart outfit - he wore jeans, a white polo and a blazer to top it off. He wiggled his eyebrows and fixed his collar.

"Aww I know." he answered playfully making me laugh. He held his arm out for me to link and led me to his car.

"So why are you picking me up? I thought I was meeting you all there." I asked him.

"Well considering all of the other lads went to pick up their girlfriends I thought I'd come and pick you up." he smiled friendly.

"Aww thank you Niall, that's really nice of you." I smiled, appreciating his kind gesture, he continued to drive to the restaurant.

"And I promised Harry I would take care of you tonight, so if you need anything, just let me know." he smiled at me.

"Thanks Niall, I will. And thanks for taking care of me, I'm probably going to need it." I chuckled nervously. We reached the restaurant and started to walk inside; Niall walked in front of me and I followed him to where the others sat at a rather large table, the rest of the lads were there with their girlfriends, including Harry and Laura, who I had noticed to be clutching onto him rather tightly.

"Hey everyone," Niall waved to the group as he sat himself down in a seat, "this is Faith." he motioned to me. Everyone nodded their heads in understanding, they must have already heard about me, oh god!

I waved shyly, "Hello." The girls all smiled to me except Laura who gave me snotty looks, I wouldn't expect anything less from her to be honest. I look to the other lads and see them all smiling and returning the welcome, I sat myself in an empty chair between Niall and Louis and glanced over at Harry; his eyes were wide and his jaw had dropped slightly, making me blush and smile slightly. He must have liked my outfit then!

I felt his eyes on me as I glanced down at the menu and my thoughts were confirmed by Louis, "He's staring at you." he singsonged in my ear making me blush and giggle, I furrowed my eyebrows and turned to face him, watching him wiggle his eyebrows menacingly. I shook my head and looked back to Harry to find him already looking at me, "Told you so." Louis singsonged again making me laugh again. The waiter came over and took all of our orders, flirting with Laura before walking away; everyone turned to me and smiled.

"So Faith, you work in a flower shop?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah," I smiled, "it's a cute little shop in central London." I explained.

"I love your outfit Faith! It's so pretty. Where'd you get it from?" Eleanor asked politely.

"Probably a bin." Laura mumbled, earning dirty looks from the rest of the group.

"A charity shop next door to the flower shop. Its got some really nice stuff." I smiled.

"Right, enough of the nice girl. Why are you even here?" Laura snarled.

"Because I was invited." I explained simply and as quietly as I could.

"Well why don't you leave? No-one wants you here!" she insulted.

"I do." Zayn piped up.

"Us too" Louis and El smiled.

"And us." Liam and Danielle added.

"Me too!" Perrie exclaimed.

"Same here." Niall finished. I looked to Harry and saw his head hung low as Laura scoffed. He raised his head and his eyes met mine, his green orbs pouring into my vision as he looked at me sadly. I furrowed my eyebrows... Does he not want me here?

"Fine," Laura spat, clearly defeated by everyone, "So how's the little whining brat?" she smiled evilly, referring to Millie, I ignored her question and dropped my head, fiddling with my fingers.

"So Faith, tell us about yourself?" Louis smiled at me, trying to take my mind off of Laura as he change the subject. I can tell these guys are lovely people, always thinking about others, they're true friends. I'm lucky to have met them.

"Well I-"

"She's an ugly slut that tried to steal my boyfriend! That's all you really need to know." she interrupted, I glanced to all of the lads and noticed their annoyed expressions, they clearly hate her as much as I do but are putting up with her for Harry's sake. Which I found very considerate of them. The girls faces dropped and turned to Laura, disgusted at how she was treating me. Harry stayed silent in his seat, looking at me with apologetic eyes that I avoided, I'm not going to fall for that. "I see your face is healing pretty well" she snickered evilly. I sighed and looked back to my hands.

"Yeah it is." I answered quickly and briefly feeling victimised.

"I guess I'll have to hit harder next time." she muttered loud enough for us all to hear, everyone looked to her in disgust again. I finally cracked, standing up abruptly and grabbing my bag.

"I think it's best if I leave. Thanks for inviting me, it was lovely to meet you guys." I smiled sadly at the lads and girls, my tears clouding my vision as I walked out of the restaurant alone and started to walk back home.

---{Niall's POV}---

I don't know how Harry can just sit there and let Laura talk to Faith like that! She did nothing to deserve any of this and shouldn't be the one that's leaving. If Harry liked her so much he wouldn't have let Laura insult Faith as much as she did and then let her get away with it.

After Faith left I looked at Harry and noticed his head in his hands. "I'll be back in a minute baby." Laura told Harry smiling victoriously as she walked in the direction of the bathroom.

"Harry what is wrong with you?!" Zayn scolded.

"I can't believe you just let her talk to Faith like that." Liam whisper yelled.

Harry raised his head from his hands and we noticed his eyes were clouded slightly with tears, he sniffled and looked at me. I nodded in understanding and smiled sadly, feeling sorry for him, "I'll go and find her, I'll take her home." I reassured him as I grabbed my car keys and ran out of the restaurant.

I jumped into my car and searched the streets for Faith. I looked everywhere, unsuccessful for about five minutes before I turned a corner and noticed a figure sat on a park bench; I recognised it to be Faith and parked my car, immediately getting out and running over to her small frame. I walked gradually to her, hearing small sobs and seeing her body shake slightly making my eyes soften and my legs run over to her. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side resting her head on my chest, her quiet tears soaking into my shirt as I hugged her tighter. "Come on, let me take you home." I whispered as I led her to my car and shut the car door behind her.

After a few minutes she had calmed down and her tears were replaced with sniffles, she took a deep breath, "Thanks for keeping your promise Niall." she smiled at me sadly as she wiped a few tears away.

"It's okay." I replied, pulling outside of her house. She ejected her seatbelt and opened her car door, getting ready to leave, only to turn around and face me properly, "Could you tell everyone that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I left, I-I just cou-" I interrupted her.

"Faith," her eyes shot up and looked into mine as I interjected, "don't worry about it. We know what she's like, and the lads prefer you to her anyway, I can tell. It's just a shame we couldn't get to know you better." I nudged her playfully making her laugh.

"I hope they do." she smiled, "Thanks Niall, I'll see you soon." she smiled and waved as she closed my car door. I waited patiently until she went into her house before driving off and going back in the direction of the restaurant.

__________________________

Comment and vote please :) Thank you!

- Pianogirl56