Homepage › Stories › The Best Thing › Chapter 4

The Best Thing

home sweet home

“And we’re here!” Liam exclaims happily as I glance out the window.

I look at the house that stood before me; a two story house that was huge with more than enough rooms from what I can remember the last time I was here. Trees were all over the place and there was even a bunch of flower beds near the front which lightened up the front of the house a lot. When I was younger, I remember running around outside all over the yard with Liam all the times we got together for holidays and such before we moved to America when I was five, I think but can’t remember exactly.

“Still looks the same,” I tell him with a smile.

“Still is, Roe, nothing’s changed ‘cept the fact we’re older now,” he tells me with the small hint of a laugh. We all pile out and I grab my bags from Louis who was kind enough to hand them to me. I thank him kindly and drag them behind me along with my backpack I had on my shoulder. We all make our way up the driveway to the front of the house after telling their driver a thank you, who soon takes off.

I walk up to the door and grab the handle pushing it on it a bit. It didn’t budge. It must be locked or something. As I turn to look at Liam and tell him it was locked, he just laughs in response. I scrunch my eyebrows together as I stare at my cousin who was laughing at me.

“Lock’s just rusty, love, you have to mess with it a few times before it opens,” he tells me with a small smile.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,”

He comes forward and grabs hold of the handle and messes with it a few times before he pushes the door open all the way. He pushes it open and motions for me to walk inside. I comply and make my way through the doorway. As I step in the front entry way, the smell of brownie batter cupcakes she makes when company comes over. They were legit the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. My mum makes some pretty good ones herself. It was all thanks to an old family recipe, I think. The smell makes a big smile make its way onto my face.

“She made them? Those brownie cupcakes you lot know how much I love, Li?” I ask looking at my cousin as we walk further inside.

“Of course,” he replies with a slight chuckle.

My eyes move around the room and take in the features of the front room. On the wall near the door, there was a small table with a lamp on it with neat looking trinkets. It still looked the same with a few changes. The walls were a different color than I remember, a light yellow hue, which brightened it up a lot.

Louis sets my bags near the stairs. I thank him and begin to make my way to the kitchen. I am caught a bit off guard when I feel a hand touch my arm. As I turn back, I notice Liam standing there, a small smile on his face. “I’ll show you to your room, Roe,” he tells me motioning to the stairs.

“In a minute, Li,” I tell him with a laugh, “Want to say hi to your mum,” I finish and make my way toward the kitchen where I was sure she was.

“Alright,” he responds with a laugh.

As I follow the scent in the kitchen, I am quite surprised when I see a tall, breathtakingly beautiful boy standing there with gorgeous brown eyes and black hair that looked a mess, dark jeans and a white shirt, his tattooed arms on full display. He stood there talking with my Aunt Karen who was placing cupcakes on a platter that sat on the counter. I recognized him right away, Zayn, the last fifth to the group my cousin was a part of, One Direction. He was beautiful yet he didn’t seem very happy.

I noticed his eyes locked on mine as I walk in the kitchen. He had a sad glint in his eyes as he looked at me. Aunt Karen’s eyes follow his and widen as she notices me standing there, a grin on her lips. “Monroe, so nice to see you, darling,” she exclaims happily and comes forward, pulling me into a hug after wiping her hands on a cloth and pressing a kiss to both of my cheeks.

I notice Zayn slowly yet quietly make his way out of the kitchen, not even sending a hello my way. That was quite strange… I think to myself as my aunt pulls me into a hug. I make a mental note to ask Liam about it later when I got the chance, his mates’ particularly weird behaviour.

“Nice to see you too, Aunt Karen,” I reply with a smile as I hug her back. I tighten my arms around my Aunt whom I haven’t seen in a very long time. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve last been here. That was when I was with my parents, about four or five years ago.

“Would you like a cupcake, Monroe? Just made them, know how much you love ‘em,” Karen told me, a smile on her face as she pointed to the platter of the amazing brownie batter cupcakes I’ve grown to love so much. They were super rich but I loved them. I nod and follow the direction of her finger to the delicious looking goodies. My mouth watered at the sight. I grab a napkin to place the delectable treat on.

I stand there and enjoy a delectable cupcake while I chat with my aunt. We are lost in conversation for the next few minutes when we look over to see Liam walking in the kitchen. He greets his mum and kisses her cheek. I smile as I look over at my cousin and his mum.

“Want to see where you’ll be staying, Roe?” Liam asks with a small smile on his face as he looks at me. I stay silent for a moment and look at Aunt Karen to see if it was alright with her. She smiles and tells me to go along with him because she said I looked tired from the long flight, which I really was. I nod my head slowly in response to his question. I soon follow my cousin out of the kitchen and back toward the stairs.

“Follow me, love, I’ll show ya where you’ll be stayin’,” he tells me and reaches for my bags and begins to head up the stairs. I slowly follow behind him. Once we got upstairs, I decide now is the chance for me to ask him about Zayn because it was weird, our first encounter, I guess you could call it, when I walked into the kitchen to greet Aunt Karen. Good thing we were the only ones around, I hoped we were at least.

“Liam, can I uh…can I ask you something?” I ask a bit nervous, looking at the tall boy beside me carrying my bags as we walked down the hallway. It was kind of funny to see him holding my pink suitcases I brought with me.

“Yeah, Monroe, what is it?” he replies looking over at me, a confused yet serious look on his face.

“Why is Zayn so quiet? I’m just wondering, because it was quite weird when I walked into the kitchen to say hello to your mum. He looked sad but I couldn’t decipher what it was. He didn’t even greet me, just looked at me with these pitiful looking eyes and walked out, leaving me standing there with your mum. It was strange,” I tell him, honestly, my eyebrows coming together as I stare at my cousin.

We slowly came to a stop in front of a closed door; I’m guessing the room I was staying in. He looks over at me with a weird look in his eyes like he knew something and then it disappears seconds later, “Uh, I don’t know, actually, he’s been acting real…different lately, dunno what it is,” he replies quickly and turns toward the door so he could open it. He pushes the door open and flips a switch, bright lights turning on making the room light up. I begin to question what that was; is there something he isn’t telling me?

“Here’s your room, babe, I’ll leave you to get your things settled,” he tells me after bringing my bags in the room for me and setting them on the bed. I thank him and give him a smile in return. He smiles and pulls me into a hug. “Glad you’re here, Monroe,” he replies happily. I smile and hug him back. I tell him I am too after we part from the hug and he heads for the door. He shuts the door behind him as he walks out.

I begin to take my clothes out of my suitcase and set them neatly on the bed so I could put them in the dresser. It took me a good three or four trips to put my things in the dresser drawer. As I continued to unpack my things and put them in their respective places, my mind can’t seem to shake what Liam told me about Zayn.