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➛ 𝒞𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 ℰ𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 －
𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾

The bell chimed as the six of them entered the small diner, the warm air mixed with the scent of sizzling burgers, salt, and something vaguely sweet immediately hitting them. The place wasn't glamorous per se, it had a rustic atmosphere. With its pink and blue booths and the crooked paintings on the walls, to the tiled checkerboard floor and warm lights, the waitresses in their preppy uniforms and the jukebox in the corner sputtering the song meet me halfway by black eyed peas.

It was the kind of place that clung to the past, a relic of time captured in an 70's movie. Wedged in between a record shop and a bookstore. And Ophelia loved it.

None of them had ever been here before, and after Harry decided that the nearest subway was too far they settled for something else, something new.

Louis, being the absolute menace that he was, slid into the booth first, sprawling out dramatically so no one else could sit beside him. "Guess it's just me then," he sighed loudly, stretching his arms across the entire back of the seat, making himself comfortable.

"Get over yourself." Harry muttered, rolling his eyes before shoving his legs aside and sitting down next to him.

Louis lifted a brow, smirking. "Well if you wanted to sit next to me that badly you could've just asked Harold." Harry simply pinched his side.

She slid into the booth, Zayn sliding in beside her and Liam next to him. Across from them, Niall, Harry and Louis, the five of them immediately starting a debate over what to order.

"Mango milkshake and cheesy chips," Ophelia decided after a while, tapping her pink almond nails against the laminated menu.

"Gross."

"Ew."

"You have bad taste in milkshakes and ice cream?"

"Who orders a mango milkshake? Is this some weird girl thing we don't understand?"

Ophelia gave up.

━━━ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

After a long while of deciding who wanted what, Niall who was already set on ordering half the menu, waved the waitress over. Orders were placed, milkshakes were debated over ─ chocolate versus strawberry (her mango was already voted out), and the table was soon filled with bickering and laughter.

As they waited for their food, Ophelia found herself absentmindedly playing with a salt packet. Zayn, bedside her was flipping through her Frankenstein book, seemingly interested in the post it's that stuck out and her messy written annotations. He found himself wanting to read it even more, wanting to know her thoughts and emotions throughout the book. He always found people's minds interesting, and now he wanted to pick apart hers.

"You actually gonna read that?" the blonde asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he mused, glancing at her. "I'll give you a debrief after every chapter if you want." His words made her smile. "You better. I don't give a lot of people my books you know."

"Promise on my own monster creation," he repeated his words from earlier. A small amused grin on his face. Ophelia shook her head, smiling to herself.

The food had arrived a few minutes later, her cheesy chips were perfect and the milkshakes were heavenly ─ thick, creamy sweet. Ophelia didn't waste a second, pulling out her phone and taking a picture of their food, definitely to be posted on Instagram later.

"Really?" Louis raised his brows as his plate was dragged across the table to be used in her picture. Ophelia rolled her eyes slightly and pushed his plate back once she was done.

"Yes really," she replied like it was obvious. Louis sighed, accepting it, "tag me at least."

She put her phone down and began eating her cheesy chips, "don't worry, i will."

The chatter around them blended into the hum of the diner ─ clinking plates, distant laughter, the low buzz of music from the jukebox. It was easy, being here. Easy to fall into the rhythm of this newfound group dynamic, easy to pretend that this wasn't new for her at all.

Ophelia rested her chin in her hand as she ate her cheesy chips, watching Niall attempt to barter one of his chips for a bite of Liam's burger, and naturally he was having none of it.

Across from her, Louis was absentmindedly peeling the label off his water bottle, his fingers moving with almost unconscious precision. She noticed things like that. The way his knee bounced slightly under the table, the way he always had to be doing something, even if it was small

"What?" he asked suddenly, his gaze flickering up to meet hers as he ate a mozzarella stick.

She hadn't realised she'd been staring. Swallowing her bite before she spoke, "nothing." She said smoothly, reaching for her mango milkshake. "Just wondering how long it's gonna take you to steal one of my chips."

Louis smirked, tilting his head like he hadn't even thought of doing that before she said it. And unfortunately for her, that was the truth. Because before she could put her milkshake down, his hand darted across the table ─ quick, precise, completely shameless.

She gasped, scandalised. Half a mind to pour her milkshake on his head.

"You bitch-"

Louis popped the stolen fry into his mouth, chewing with exaggerated satisfaction. "Your fault really."

Zayn snickered beside her as he watched the interaction. "That was cold Lou."

Ophelia narrowed her eyes, but there was a flicker of amusement beneath her faux outrage. Instead of arguing, she simply reached across the table and swiped a mozzarella stick right off of his plate.

Louis' jaw dropped. "That's mine."

"You started it," she shrugged as she chewed his food.

Louis looked positively betrayed. "You can't just take a man's mozzarella stick like that. That's sacred."

"You took my chip," she said in between bites, completely unapologetic. "This is justice," she paused, "or karma. View it either way." She watched as he leaned back against the booth dramatically like she'd wounded him. "I trusted you."

Zayn rolled his eyes, "it was deserved."

Louis was still clutching his imaginary wound from the mozzarella stick theft and now from being ganged up on when Ophelia's attention flickered over to Niall ─ just in time to catch him doing something truly vile.

She watched in horror as Niall took one of his chips and dunked it into his strawberry milkshake before eating it. To say she was disgusted was an understatement.

"And I'm the gross one?" she questioned with judgement written all over her face.

Niall shrugged, completely unbothered by her horror as he continued shovelling chips into his mouth, "there's a difference between no taste and no sense of adventure blondie."

"I have taste!" Ophelia argued, crinkling her nose as she ate her cheesy chips in much more delicate movements, "that's just criminal."

"Don't knock it till you try it." Niall grinned, holding out a chip drenched in his strawberry milkshake, wiggling it at her like a dare. The others watched in suspicion and surprise. Niall never shared his food, ever. She recoiled immediately and pushed his hand away.

"Absolutely not."

"Come on. Live a little." Niall urged again, still wiggling the soggy chip close to her face.

Ophelia scrunched her nose and leaned as far back as the booth would allow, shooting him a look. "I'm living great thanks."

The table erupted into laughter and Louis, never one to miss an opportunity to poke fun, leaned forward with a smirk. "You're so posh, it's actually painful."

"I'm not posh," Ophelia protested immediately, eyebrows knitting together.

"You so are," Harry chimed in, grinning. "You probably say things like 'oh no, I simply couldn't possibly' when someone offers you a cup of tea you didn't personally brew."

Zayn snorted beside her, resting his elbow casually on the back of the booth behind her. "You did look like you were about to faint when Niall dunked that chip."

"I did not," the blonde argued, cheeks flushing.

"You clutched your pearls, darling," Louis said in a terrible fake accent, dramatically miming the motion of grabbing an invisible necklace. "Next thing we know, you'll be fainting onto a chaise lounge."

"Would you lot shut up?" Ophelia said, but her voice was bright with laughter.

"You probably have one of those little bells to summon people too," Liam added with a teasing grin. "Ding ding, fetch me my mango milkshake!"

"Definitely. And a black card," Louis teased.

"I hate all of you," Ophelia declared, fighting a smile as she pulled her Prada bag that held her black card inside a little closer.

"Posho." Louis coughed into his hand, making Zayn and Niall dissolve into laughter.

Ophelia shook her head as she continued to defend herself. Not much to defend really. "I'm literally eating cheesy chips in a random diner with you idiots," she pointed out, waving a chip at them. "That's not very posh."

"You took a photo of your food before you ate it," Harry said, smirking. "Case closed."

Ophelia opened her mouth to argue — and promptly closed it again, because, fair enough.

"I like aesthetics!" she huffed instead, stabbing another chip with unnecessary force.

"You like the Queen's aesthetics," Louis teased, making her throw a chip at him.

Niall, ever the instigator, grinned. "Just admit it, blondie. You're one crumpet away from running the monarchy."

That did it ─ she burst out laughing, the kind that made her sides ache, warm and effortless and genuine. It rippled around the booth, the kind of laughter that pulled everyone else along with it. And honestly? She didn't mind it ─ being teased like this. It wasn't mean. It wasn't sharp. It was easy, unfamiliar, but safe.

"Fine. Next time, I'll bring a tiara. And you peasants aren't allowed to sit this close to me."

Louis clutched his heart dramatically. "I knew she was royalty."

"Queen of mango milkshakes," Zayn added under his breath, earning another round of laughter.

The jukebox switched songs again ─ something older, slower, laced with static. Ophelia leaned back for a second, resting her cheek on her hand as she looked at them. The way their faces lit up when they spoke, how Harry's nose crinkled when he laughed, how Liam seemed to try and hide when Louis did something embarrassing, how Zayn still held her book carefully like it was important.

For a moment, she felt it ─ that weird little squeeze in her chest. The good kind. The kind you get when everything feels exactly right, even just for a second. She hadn't felt that feeling in friendships in a long time ─ or ever.

The night stretched out lazily around them, time slipped by easily, the kind of night that didn't feel heavy or loud, just simple and good; a little louder, a little brighter, a little better than she'd expected. At some point, Ophelia realised she was smiling so much her cheeks hurt, but she didn't mind. And the diner, with all its crooked charm and grease-stained menus, tucked itself into their story like it had been waiting for them to walk in all along.

And just like that, Ophelia realised she wasn't just fitting into the group ─ she was part of it.

━━━━━ authors notes !!

i really hate this chapter can we skip to like 2013 or something

— love, ry !