Study of Life and Love

The house was quiet. Too quiet for a Saturday, most of the girls were resting their hangovers from the ballroom last night.

I had been up early to drop Thea off at the train station with all her stuff. She seemed tired but determined to enjoy her week off. I had promised to talk to her tutors and get any extra work sent to her if necessary. Caydance and Indiana were in the living room watching a movie but before I could join them the doorbell rang.

I paused and placed my cup of tea on the closest surface before opening the front door.

I blinked at Liam as he stood there, bright eyed with a bouquet of roses.

“Liam,” I greeted, eyeing him wearily. Caydance’s head popped around the door as well. Her nosiness always taking over her ability to be subtle.

“I would like to formally take Riley on a date with your permission.” Liam stepped forward, head held high and eyes firm.

I shared an amused look with Caydance. It was an old tradition to formally ask the housemother for permission to date a sister. We all knew that Liam and Riley had already dated, briefly. And to ask now was almost pointless.

“Aren’t you already?” Caydance asked. I elbowed her. She wasn’t supposed to talk through this.

Liam’s shoulders hunched slightly. “She thinks that I only dated her for a bet so I thought if I do this properly and publicly she will see that I love her.”

Both Caydance and I tensed at the word love. Liam, beautiful soulful Liam in love wasn’t exactly knew or unexpected. Just maybe unexpected that he seemed so serious.

“Then I formally accept your question. Caydance go wake Riley up so she can accept the rose and the date.” I pushed Caydance away before turning back to Liam. “Love?”

His eyes narrowed. “Yes, is that a problem?”

“You tell me Liam. You’ve only known her half a year.”

“And Niall’s known you for five and you’ve only just dated him now. Love doesn’t always have to take time.”

I bit my words. I never said I loved Niall. Liam raised an eyebrow at me like he saw the flash of panic that ripped through my mind.

“Be careful Liam.” I warned gently.

I could see Riley out of the corner of my eye, following behind Caydance. She was rubbing her eyes and yawning. I almost told her to go back and get changed from her sleepwear but decided to leave it. I doubted Liam would care.

“You’ve got a formal request.” I told Riley as she neared me and opened up the door wider.

I watched as her face moved from sleepy irritation to confusion and then slowly to embarrassment as she quickly cross her arms over her Mickey Mouse top. Liam didn’t care, his smile turning brighter in the morning light the moment he saw her and all her bed hair.

“Liam,” Riley said weakly. The blush riding high on her cheekbones.

“Liam is here to make a formal request through me if he can take you on a date. I have accepted this request, if you take the rose he is offering, you will also accept his request.”

Liam tipped the rose towards Riley. Hope shining through his eyes as Riley reached out to gently take the rose. Her own eyes wide and hopeful. I could see why they would make a good pair. So open and innocent in their feelings.

“Why does he have to ask you?” Riley asked, her eyes wandering over to me.

I grinned. “He doesn’t, traditionally yes but he doesn’t anymore.” I finished, letting Liam to explain why he was really doing this.

“I didn’t want you to think this was a secret. I’m serious about dating you and I wanted you to see that. I’m not hiding you and I never want to again.” Liam reached up to tug on one of Riley’s strands of unruly hair before tucking it behind her left ear. She grinned and smiled down at the rose in her hand.

“Okay,” she said softly.

I took a step back and took Caydance with me, allowing the two lovebirds in the doorway to figure out their date.

I grabbed my cup of tea gratefully and headed into the living room where Indiana was waiting patiently. The first Iron Man was paused on the TV.

“Everything okay?” she asked. Her legs tucked up neatly underneath her as she rested curled around a couch cushion. Caydance dropped down next to her while I took an armchair.

“Just Liam and Riley being all cute and gross and shit.” Caydance told her picking her phone up from where she left it on the couch. No doubt texting Harry about what she had just seen.

“Right,” Indiana laughed before turning to me. I stared at her curiously. There was something different about her as of late. A kind of lightness that suited her.

“How was Thea this morning, when you took her to the train station? I wanted to get up and say goodbye but I was more tired than I thought.”

“From all that dancing.” Caydance murmured.

“She was good actually. Better than I expected. I think this week away will be a good holiday for her in general.”

“I’m hoping it will do good for other people as well.” Caydance added, putting her phone down.

I knew she meant Louis. And I knew that she hoped her plan would work but Louis was stubborn. One of the most stubborn human beings in existence and for some reason he has decided to be stubborn about his feelings for Thea. She was a sweet girl and my friend and I was sick of her being hurt. Sick of it to the point that I was considering talking to Louis. Despite Niall telling me last night to stay out of it. I didn’t think I could or that I should. I was here to help these girls and that included their social lives.

-

I could feel Niall’s eyes burning through my skin but I ignored him and carried on, pressing my highlighter against the page and dragging it across two lines before jotting down a few further notes on the piece of paper I had ready. There was a sigh and noises of movement from my bed before silence again. I continued to focus on my work. Summarizing the paragraph in my own terms before another bout of restlessness broke through the quiet day.

Niall had been napping but the small sighs and constant movement seemed to be an unsubtle way of letting me know that he was now awake.

I looked over and blinked at my boyfriend, waiting for him to complain about something.

Niall lay, sprawled across my bed, his head still resting on my pillow, blonde hair a crazy mess.

“My head hurts,” he murmured, eyes impossibly large and sorrowful. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my textbook.

“You shouldn’t have drunk so much last night. I told you to stop.” I held no sympathy for him. I watched him chuck down glasses of champagne like it was his first drop of water after a morning marathon.

Niall whined pitifully. “Can I have some water please?” He begged from the bed. I groaned and threw my pen down trying to convince myself that I needed a drink too, not just because I was almost willing to do most things Niall wanted.

“Food would be nice as well.” Niall yelled as I left my room. I flipped him off before disappearing around the corner and down the stairs.

I tried to convince myself that I was only getting Niall food because I was hungry as well. Rhiannon’s judgmental face said she knew otherwise.

“So I thought Connor would be around here now that you guys are back together?” I voiced, grabbing a packet of plain crisps and chucking them onto the tray that was carrying two chicken sandwiches.

“We’re having dinner later.” She said, her eyes focused on the bench between us.

“Everything alright?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, it’s just I’m happy that we are together again, you know. But there were reasons why we fought and broke up in the first place. And those reasons haven’t exactly changed.”

“Then talk to him about it,” I said simply, grabbing two water bottles from the fridge and resting them on the tray.

“That easy huh?” She smiled sadly.

I sighed and reached over to ruffle her hair. “Don’t we always wish it was that easy?” I winked at her. “But you should still talk to him.”

I frowned at Rhiannon, feeling like there was more to all of this. She wasn’t normally so conservative and quiet when it came to her and Connor’s relationship.

“Niall is probably going to start eating your furniture if you don’t head up there soon.” She changed the subject and nodded at the tray.

I frowned but let her, not wanting to push a subject she didn’t want to discuss. I left, vowing to have a catch up with her later and make her tell me what was going on.

I barely made it to the stairs before Caydance appeared by my side. Her face was screwed up in concentration and I stopped, thinking that it must be serious if she was putting that much through into something.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, balancing the tray on the stair bannister and hoped that Niall actually hadn’t decided to hunt through my room for food.

“How well did you know Louis and Eleanor’s relationship?” Caydance asked, not a question that I had been expecting.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“It’s just Riley heard Eleanor say something last night to Liam that had me curious about the both of them.”

“What did she say?” I sighed, intrigued despite not wanting to gossip.

“That she never had his heart.”

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “You need to stop meddling Caydance. You got Thea to take a break and leave and that’s fine. And I know you told her that if he doesn’t react that she has to stop pining after him but that also means that you need to stop meddling.”

“But-“

I held up my hand causing Caydance to snap her mouth shut. “I mean it Caydance. I know you mean well but I also know that you are nosy by nature and you’re forgetting that these are people. That Eleanor and Louis have a history and that Louis might be a prick three quarters of his daily existence but he can also be hurt quite easily. You seem to have forgotten that he’s just as human and vulnerable as Thea in this situation.”

Caydance looked thoroughly chastised. Her eyes downcast. “Leave them be.” I ordered her, meaning every word. She needed to stop acting like a dictator and let Thea and Louis either revolve around each other or crash together.

I picked up the tray and began making my way back up the stairs. “I better not find out that you’ve been using the freshmen as spies.” I called over my shoulder, worried that she’s somehow employed Riley to be like her. I was starting to regret making them buddies now that I’ve realised how susceptible Riley is to Caydance’s whims and fantastical plans.

Niall was snoring when I walked back into my room. His limbs splayed across my bed with one arm lying across his eyes. I rolled my eyes but couldn’t contain the grin. It was cute, he was cute. I sat the food down and dropped onto the bed beside him. He didn’t wake.

Biting my lip I looked towards my doorway before leaning forward to rub my nose against Nialls. I moved gently lower pressing my lips to his a couple of times. Glancing up when his red lips pulled into a smile and he moved his arms away from his face, blinking sleepily into the sunlight.

“I asked for food but I’ll happily take this as compensation.” He murmured, arms circling around my waist and moving so he was hovering above me.

I snorted. “I brought food too,” I gestured over towards where I left it. A flicker of indecision swept over Niall’s futures and I smacked him in the arm.

“Are you serious?” I accused, causing Niall’s smirk to grow across his face. His scrunched up nose pushing against mine.

“I’m hungry.” He whined but leant down and pressed short kisses to my mouth. His hands coming up to play in my hair. I rested my hands against his waist, bunching at the soft sweater. Niall pressed down closer, his hips almost touching mine. I took the chance to dig my nails in and throw all my weight forward and over until I was leaning over him.

He blinked up at me, startled. Lips red and already spit swollen.

“I actually really want the food,” I grinned, pressing a peck to his nose before climbing off to get the food.

Niall gasped in shock. “That is so fucking rude.” Niall swore.

“Watch your mouth,” I said absently. Grabbing the tray of food and turning around to Niall who was still lying on his back, eyes staring up at the canopy of my bed. His jeans were tented. I laughed at how obviously he grinded his teeth together.

“I can leave you alone if you need me to?” I laughed, jumping on the bed next to Niall and pressing an apologetic kiss to his hair.

“M’still hungry.” He groaned, reaching for the sandwich I handed him.

I leant against him, snuggling into his warmth when my eyes rested on the homework I had left sprawled across my desk.

“Hey, how come you were up so early?” Niall asked around his mouthful of sandwich. “I saw your text came through at like seven.”

“I took Thea to the train station. She’s heading home for the week to spend some time with family.”

“Oh,” Niall mumbled, his eyes downcast.

“Does Louis like her?” I blurted out. Niall had never been one to gossip and I had never gone out of my way to get information out of him but this felt important. Important enough that it affected two of my friends, Thea and Louis.

Niall shifted next to me, pulling one arm around my shoulder. I sunk down in the bed, letting Niall’s socked feet entwine with my bare ones.

“I don’t really ask.” He replied, fingers tapping a rhythm against my shoulder.

“But your best guess?” I pressed, pushing myself further into Niall. Molding myself against him.

“Yeah I think he really does like her, a lot.” He pressed a kiss to my head and I let myself settle accepting the answer for what it was. His best guess and nothing more.

Notes

So for a while there I didn't know if I would carry on with these stories. You all know that I've had trouble finding time for them but they kept nagging at me because I've never not finished a story. So I've spent the last month writing and writing to get as far ahead as possible before I started getting the chapters out. I don't want to keep leaving you guys waiting so I am going to finish these stories and I am going to try and get these stories out quicker. I've already written ten chapters after this!
I am sorry for taking so long, it's just these stories haven't been a priority in my life anymore :( But I will promise to finish these and if there are still some of you out there who want to read them that's great! But I've probably lost some readers after such a long gap of chapters which I completely understand. Sorry everyone. xx!