Baby, I think of you
When I'm all alone and it's half past two
Bet you think about it too
Ain't nobody love you like I do
- David Guetta, Like I Do

FRAZIER

I remembered the last time I was nervous because of a girl, I'd been fourteen and she'd been seventeen. I hadn't been born with confident bones in my body, just like everyone else, I got nervous around my crush. She'd been the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid my eyes on and the way she'd carried herself had struck a Cupid arrow straight to my heart.

One day, at a senior party, she'd kissed me. It was my first kiss and she was my crush for a year. An hour later, I'd found her on the couch, on top of one of the senior guys, making out as if nobody was watching. I'd gone home with a broken heart, knowing that the kiss (although had meant so much to me) had meant nothing to her.

Since that day, I'd never felt nervous around girls. I'd built my confidence and frozen my heart. I'd vowed to never be troubled with something as silly as love.

I cleared my throat and shoved the memory to the back of my head as I stared at the closed door in front of me. For someone who hated surprise drop-ins, I'd done it once this morning and was about to do it again right now. I raised my hand and rang the doorbell.

Unlike this morning, I could hear the faint sound of her footsteps approaching and my heart beat faster. Damn it. Of all females in a big city like New York, why did I have to feel nervous around the only female I could never have?

Autumn had made it clear a couple of times that she wanted nothing more than friendship. The right thing to do was to respect her request and moved on but some things are easier said than done. In fact, since that night she'd slept beside me, I hadn't been with anyone. Not even a quickie inside the janitor closet or make-out session in a party. Hell, I hadn't been in a party since last weekend. Maybe I should find a girl, some random girl who wanted to have fun. Maybe that way, I would finally be able to move on.

"Frazier?" I heard her calling my name from where she was standing behind the door. The lock turned in a low thud and the door swung open. "What are you doing here?"

The corner of my lips pulled into a slow lazy smile. "Testing if your doorbell is working." I borrowed her sentence from our conversation this morning.

She seemed to notice that as she rolled her eyes and started to walk away from the door. I took the invitation and stepped into her apartment, paused for a brief second only to close the door behind me.

"Seriously, why are you here?" Her brow arched.

I shrugged one shoulder and gave her a lopsided smile. "Wanna go for a picnic?"

"Now is not a good-" Autumn didn't finish her question and I suddenly realized that we weren't alone.

A blonde girl with wide mouth sat on one of the bar stools, she looked at me curiously. "So you're Frazier Ronan."

I'd never met anyone's parents, not even Margaux's. But I had the feeling that it would feel exactly like this. The blonde gave me a once-over with her scrutinizing gaze. For some unknown reasons, I wanted her approval. I knew she wasn't Autumn's mom or sister since they didn't look alike yet I still wanted her to like me and that surprised me most because I'd never felt like I needed anyone's approval yet one look at Autumn's eyes telling me that she valued the blonde girl's opinion.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you have company." I walked towards the blonde girl and stuck my hand out as I introduced myself, "You know my name but sadly, I can't say the same."

She raised her brows and shook my hand. "Jessica Williams." Jess slid her gaze from my face as she looked at Autumn and said, "why didn't you tell me that he has an accent?! Dang, Tyler be damned." When she returned her attention to me and offered me a smile, I finally exhaled the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

I could hear Autumn groan. "Jess. Don't get any ideas."

"Oh, I don't." Jess grinned and winked at me, confirming that I had her approval.

AUTUMN

It was weird. Yes, that would be the word I used to describe watching my best friend and a guy I only knew for a week sat on the couch and talked about Ireland. First, I didn't know my best friend knew so much about Ireland and Irish people. Second, when I'd opened my door for him earlier, I would've never thought that he and Jess would click almost instantly.

Sure, I had filled her in with what had happened between me and Frazier earlier but I hadn't expected her to like him, especially knowing that he had been the reason Ty and I had broken up.

"--Yeah, Niall performed there too when he as a kid. I think it was a fundraiser for the local football team. I couldn't remember the name, though," spoke Jess like a true fan.

I was feeling left out as I watched the two of them talking so I decided to pipe in, "I thought Niall is a British."

Jess turned and looked at me as if I just sprouted a horn in the middle of my forehead. "Niall is Irish. He was born in Mullingar, Ireland." Her voice rose as she went with her sentence.

"Oh-kay," I slowly answered as I held my hands up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of Frazier smiling. It wasn't my fault that I wasn't a Directioner hence my lack of knowledge regarding all their members. All except Mr. Harry Styles, of course. I was a well-established Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes' fan. And as far as boybands went, I loved 5SOS. It was pretty obvious by the way I kept calling Luke's surname.

After another fifteen minutes of talking about One Direction and Ireland, Jess leaned back in her seat and folded her arm across her floral white blouse. "Okay. You guys can go for that picnic, he got my first thumb up."

Frazier raised one brow and looked at me questioningly. I ignored him and kept my eyes on my friend who sat back and looked like she had just conquered a mountain bear or done the mission impossible. "Why?"

"He's a Directioner. No Directioners are bad people, at least the true ones," said Jess with a nod. I was about to open my mouth when she continued, "oh, if you wanna know how I know that he's a true Directioner, I just did a quiz and he knew those tough questions that only true Directioners would know."

She really looked like she had accomplished something and I felt really bad to break it to her that none of those mattered since I wasn't in the mood for a picnic. It was ten PM for Hemmings' sake, who would go to a picnic at night?

"What's the first thumb's up?" Frazier asked, leaning forward with a great deal of interest.

Jess grinned. "Well, I can only give you one thumb's up. You'll get the next one if you treat my friend right and make her happy." She leaned forward and whispered behind her cupped hand, "I hope you have a Ben & Jerry's cookie dough flavor in your picnic box. It's her favorite." Tapping the side of her cheek with her forefinger, she quickly added, "oh, and margarita pizza. She doesn't like tomatoes on burgers but she loves it on pizza."

Frazier gave her a solid nod and took out his phone.

I eyed him suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

"Writing those down, just in case," answered him as he started to type on his phone.

Jess peered over his shoulder to see what he was typing then winked at me. "Oh, Autumn, I like this guy." I rolled my eyes at her. To Frazier, she pointed on his screen and asked, "is that her nickname?"

"Yeah. What do you think?" asked Frazier. Geez, they started having a discussion about me as if I wasn't standing in front of them and listening to every word. The only reason I didn't hold my hand up or blurt out my protest was that they both looked so cozy and I would feel really bad if I ruined their fun.

Jess gave me a once over. "Cute. She does purr sometimes and she really has nine lives. Did she tell you that there was this one bitch at our school who tried to kill her twice?"

Frazier put his phone down and looked up at Jess. "What? Who?"

"This crazy bitch called Rosie Park." Jess waved a dismissive hand in the air. "She tried to poison Autumn once but Tyler saved her."

Frazier slid his gaze to me and murmured to himself, "so much to beat." He probably didn't intend for me to hear that but I did. "So what happened to that girl? Did she get arrested? I feel like I heard this story before."

He turned his gaze to me and I nodded. "Maybe you have. Liam could've told you."

Jess frowned. "Who's Liam?"

"One of the CROWN boys," I replied then pointed at Frazier. "He and Liam are cousins."

"Holy Horan!" Jess gasped and closed her hands in front of her chests. "So you're not only British but you're royal too?" Her eyes twinkled and I knew what would come next. "Are you related to Prince Harry? Have you met him?"

I could no longer suppress my groan. Besides Harry Styles and Niall Horan, my best friend was also obsessed with Prince Harry. She watched the royal wedding countless time and even recorded it.

"No," Frazier shook his head. "I don't think we're related.

"I think she was sent to an asylum or something. Tyler's dad, I mean our high school principal, informed Rosie's parents and they sorted it out." Jess shook her head as if trying to shake the images in her mind. "Anyway, you haven't told me how you became a Directioner," Jess quickly changed the subject.

Frazier cleared his throat and swallowed. "I'm not exactly a Directioner but my brother is." He straightened his back and blinked. "I think you should meet him. Many people say that he looks like Niall."

Jess gasped. People would think something magical had just happened by judging her reaction. "Do you have a photo of him? Can I see?"

"Sure, let me find one." He went through his phone gallery and found a picture.

"Oh my god, he does look like Niall!" Jess tilted her head to one side as she examined the photo. "Except maybe his eyes. If only they were blue."

Frazier let out a chuckle. "We, Ronan, don't get the blue eyes. All of us have grey eyes, rather boring color, don't you think."

Boring would definitely not the word I would use to describe his eyes. "They're warm," I accidentally blurted out what was in my head. Jess and Frazier turned to me and I had the urge to kick myself or put my foot in my mouth.

"Grey is a warm color, you know, like the mouse," I continued.

His lips quirked up into an amused half-smile. "Did you just compare me with rodents?"

"No, she didn't," Jess immediately came to my rescue. "She meant to say that your eyes are hot, like burning charcoal." Or maybe not. I gave her a pointed look which caused her to grin. 'Hot burning charcoal' was exactly the words I'd been using to describe his eyes when I'd talked to Jess earlier.

Frazier shot me a faintly pitying look. "I still need to get that Ben & Jerry's tube. I think it's better to get going now or the pizza won't taste as good." He rose from his seat and looked at me.

"I'm not going for the picnic. You guys have fun." I folded my arms and faked a yawn, hoping they'd think I was too tired for this extra hours activity.

"Oh, come on, babe. He has prepared everything for you. Trust me, he's a good guy, I can vouch for him even though he's not a Directioner." My best friend was clearly had it in her mind to ship me with Frazier off to the sunset. Did she forget that I had just broken up with Tyler today? "You need to have fun, especially after what happened today." Okay, she didn't forget.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jess," I replied. "Plus, I don't care whether he's a Directioner or not. I'm a 5SOS Fam."

"Well, I care." She rolled her eyes. "For Horan's sake, just go and have some fun. I know you haven't eaten yet. He brought pizza, what more could you ask?"

I groaned internally. The guilt trip was on point. "Fine. Let me change my clothes first." I looked down at the pajamas I was wearing. It was comfortable but not proper clothing for a picnic or night out.

"You really like minions that much, huh?" said Frazier with a smirk as he gazed at Tom, Gru's minion maid, on my stomach.

My comeback was very childish, one I wished I didn't do but I did. I stuck out my tongue then stalked my way to the bedroom.

* * *

Jess, a traitor that she was, waved at us once we were outside my building, telling me that she needed to go home because Colton had been waiting for her. I should've known that she wasn't planning on coming with us from the beginning.

After making a stop at seven eleven to buy Ben & Jerry's, we were good to go. Frazier had told me that it would take about an hour to get where we were going. An hour was enough time for a nap so that was exactly what I did.

I felt a soft tap on my shoulder and willed my heavy eyelids to open. "Are we here?" I covered my mouth with one hand and yawned.

"Not yet. We have to go by bike." He opened his door and stepped out of the car.

I was immediately wide awake. "What?"

Frazier moved to my side and opened the door for me. "Bike. You can cycle, right?"

One of my greatest weakness. "Err, no."

He paused for a moment then shrugged. "I'm sure we'll manage somehow," replied him vaguely as he moved to the back of the car.

I quickly followed him. "Why do we need to cycle? Why can't we go by car?" I stifled another yawn. "And where are we, by the way?" I searched for any road signs but found none.

Frazier chuckled. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not when it's dark and I don't have my GPS with me."

He clapped a hand over his heart. "Ouch. You broke my heart, kitten."

I rolled my eyes. "Kitten? Dude, you gave me too many nicknames." I shook my head in disbelief.

"One is not enough to describe you," he answered with a smirk. "And to answer your question, we are close to one of the best beaches in NYC. Fort Tilden Beach." He lifted the big picnic basket with one hand and used his other hand to shut the trunk. "NYC's best-kept secret and a lifeguard-free three-mile stretch of clean sand, trees, and grassy dunes. The place is so isolated that even on a summer weekend you'll get a good 50 yards of beach to yourself. Only a true New Yorker knows of this, you're lucky I am one." He gave me one of his breathtaking smile and I was suddenly aware of how close our bodies were. "Do you have the ice cream with you?" Frazier asked, apparently didn't hear my loud heartbeat.

I took a step back. "No, I think it's still in the car. Let me get it."

Frazier answered me with a nod and I opened the door to get the ice cream.

"Got it." I held up the 500 ml tube. "Okay, so are we going to walk? Since I can't cycle."

He grinned-the slow, devastatingly wicked smile that only he could pull it off. A smile that reminded me so much of Damon Salvatore. "Nah. You can ride with me." I was about to protest but he put one finger on my lips. "Don't worry, Princess. I won't let you fall."

Somehow, I felt that it was too late for that.