Leslie:

Drew and I stepped off the plane, both a little groggy and on edge. The long flight and the time zone change were kicking our butts, but I didn't care because I was in London. Mother effing London, to see one of my best friends in the whole wide world.

We knew that one of the boys was supposed to pick us up, but we weren't quite sure who would be there. And by one of the boys, I mean one of the five members of the superstar, mega boyband, One Direction. It still hadn't fully sunk in that my friend was getting married to the cute, blonde, Irish one in a very short time.

I shook my head in disbelief as Drew wound our fingers together and we started walking out of the gate. Suddenly, I felt a firm grasp on my ass. My mouth formed a surprised "O". Drew whipped around, but his glare instantly became a smile. He let go of my hand to offer it to the perpetrator.

"Sorry mate, I couldn't resist. I'd recognize that bum anywhere. It's just not normally so sober." a smooth British voice rang out.

I spun around and wrapped Harry up in a hug. "I should have known it was you!"

"Oh, you know me. Always cheeky!" he replied, pinching both of my butt cheeks for emphasis.

I pulled out of the hug and stared at Harry, admittedly a little starstruck. He laughed at my stupid looking face and pretended to yell. "Somebody get this girl a drink. Apparently she doesn't know what the hell to say to Harry frickin' Styles unless she's had some booze!"

Reality hit me hard and I snapped out of my moment. "I may or may not have had a few on the plane. Now shut up, Harold, and make yourself useful by showing us where the baggage claim is!"

"Geez. No wonder you and Kiersten are friends!" Harry said as he did as he was told.

"You don't even know the half of it," Drew mumbled, rolling his eyes and dragging me after our ride.

We got our bags and followed Harry out to his car. I was surprised to see that Harry was without a bodyguard. But paparazzi were scarce and hardly a soul bothered us. It appeared nobody really cared about a few hicks from Wisconsin.

We spent the ride to Kiersten and Niall's house chatting away with Harry, who did his best to inform us of the plans over our stay. He was only positive about the big things and told us not to take his word on the details. Nevertheless, we were a lot less clueless than when we had landed in the UK.

We pulled up to the Horan household. It looked like every light in the house was on, and there were several vehicles in the driveway.

"Party?" I asked.

"Ummm...you could say that." Harry replied as he parked the car.

We grabbed our luggage out of the trunk and headed inside. I gasped when we walked in. It was huge and gorgeous! I'd seen it on T.V. when they did the Cribs: One Direction Special, but what they showed did not compare to it in real life. And I'd only made it into the foyer!

A bulldog came huffing and chugging down the hall, stopped at my feet, and looked up at me with his puppy-dog eyes. "You must be Nando!" I said picking him up. He licked my face and I cuddled him. Drew scratched behind his ears.

Not far behind Nando came a tiny little pig with a ribbon in his mouth, and not far behind him was just who I'd come to see. "Frank, you little shit! Bring that back to Mama!" My smile grew huge as I set the dog on the floor. Kiersten skidded to a halt as the pig got away scot free.

"HI!" she screamed as we tangled each other in a bear hug.

"I MISSED YOU!" I screamed back.

She let me go, and we giggled at the tears we both had on our cheeks. She stepped to the side and grabbed Drew for a hug, too.

"Ahhh, my One-True-Pairing. How are Mr. and Mrs. Lambert doing?" she smiled.

"It's been over a year, and I still absolutely love hearing that. Mrs. Lambert." I smiled, too.

"Oh! I have presents for you!" Kiersten disappeared for a moment and came back with two prettily wrapped boxes. "Open these up, then I'll show you to your room. Then if you think you can handle it, you can meet the rest of the 1D family. They're all in my basement as we speak."

Harry, who had been silent throughout this whole scene, piped up. "Oh no, Mrs. Lambert will have to control her fangirl! She's already had enough starstruck for the day." He flashed a grin, and with that disappeared back down the hall Kiersten had emerged from a few moments ago.

Kiersten raised both eyebrows at me, but I knew she was trying to give me a questioning look. "Explain later. Open now!" She gestured towards the presents she'd just placed in our hands.

Drew looked at his quizzically. "It's...cold and wet."

"Open it!" Kiersten demanded. He did, and found a box of frozen mini corndogs. "I figured I'd supply your favorite while you're here." Kiersten said, referring to her inside joke and nickname for Drew she'd had for years.

I went next and found a box filled with cupcake baking and decorating supplies. My face lit up. Kiersten and I had had a time, as short as it was, during high school where we thought we'd experiment with our version of gourmet cupcakes.

"I've learned a few tricks," I said, laughing.

"As have I!" Kiersten replied, "I just really hope we have time during all this crazy preparation. But enough, let's get out of the damn foyer and I'll show you some more of my mansion."

Kiersten showed us up to our room and we dumped our luggage off. There was no time for unpacking, it was time to meet the 1D family. We marched down the stairs into Kiersten's huge game room and found a horde of people in the basement.

The buzz of conversation died and the sudden silence rang in my ears. Niall broke it by bounding up and grabbing Drew and I each in one arm. "Hiya guys! Nice to see you again!" he said for all to hear, and then added quietly, "They're not judging you, they're waiting to be introduced. They all just know the drill. Welcome!"

"I don't even have to say anything, everybody's waiting for introductions!" Kiersten joked. "Everybody, this is my friend Leslie and her husband Drew that I've told you about." Drew and I waved shyly.

"And this," Kiersten began pointing around the room, "is Zayn, Xara, Perrie, Danielle, Liam, new baby Elise, Louis, Eleanor, Claire, you know my cousin Kali, Greg, and Sean."

"Hey! You forgot about us!" Harry yelled from the middle of the group.

"Harry, you and Samie were at our wedding. Not to mention I knew Samie in high school. Duh." I snapped.

"Touchy, touchy." Louis said, making the room laugh.

"Sorry, it's just hard not to react to Harry's cheekiness." I defended myself. Everybody laughed again, most nodding in agreement.

"So this is everybody," Kiersten cut in. "The whole wedding party is here, guys! I'm so excited that you guys love Niall and I enough to come out this early and help with prep."

"Is it because we love you or because you threatened our removal from the wedding if we didn't?" Liam said quietly.

You could tell Liam wasn't normally the one with the witty comebacks as everyone sort of just looked at him in disbelief. The laughter started slowly, and then erupted. Kiersten just fake glared at us all.

Niall let go of Drew and I and returned to what was obviously his spot. He had three bowls around him filled with who knows what type of food, but food nonetheless. Kiersten and the internet didn't lie. That kid liked his food.

"Well, join the party!" Kiersten said, taking her spot next to Niall.

I looked around the room at the families and couples and was slightly uncomfortable about choosing a spot. I knew Drew felt the same, if not worse. He wasn't a huge fan of crowds. We both stood there hesitantly until Louis saved us.

"Let's do some newlywed, non-parents, bonding. Come. Sit. Speak." He said, while motioning towards the spots next to him and Mrs. Tomlinson. "Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Payne. The baby disqualifies you from this meeting." Liam and Danielle just shook their heads and laughed.

"So, we've been married for almost four months and you've been married a little over a year. Does that mean you have more experience than us, or are we pretty much in the same boat?" Louis asked.

"Well...they say the first year is the hardest, and we've made it through that!" I said. Drew nodded.

"Okay, but is it a lot different?" Louis said.

"No, not really. We're still just as happy as our wedding day." Drew replied without missing a beat. Good God, I loved that man.

"Alright, so the most important question. How's the sex?" Louis asked, completely straight-faced. Eleanor blushed and smacked him.

"Louis, don't scare them away before we even get to know them."

"Fine, fine. I have to obey my beautiful wife here. I love saying that, my wife." he said pulling Eleanor close and kissing her head. She beamed.

We chatted for awhile and eventually we all ended up in one big conversation about the upcoming plans. I nudged Drew and reminded him that we hadn't yet asked what Harry had told us was the most important thing.

"Um. I was supposed to ask when we're all going to go toss ourselves?"

The room literally erupted into full out laughter around us. Drew, Kali, and myself were the only adults not laughing. I figured out quite quickly that it was some British slang word, and could even recall Kiersten once telling me what it meant. Drew's face was bright red and I could tell he wanted to just walk away. Kali just looked confused.

"Oh my gosh! Harry, you actually told him to ask that? You're such a prick!" Samie scolded. "I'm sorry for my fiance's ridiculous antics. He thinks he's hilarious. Cheeky bastard. They don't mean toss the same way Americans do. Here, toss means..."

"To masturbate," I finally remembered. I was kicking myself for not catching that when Harry first mentioned it in the car on the way here. It would have saved Drew a lot of embarrassment.

Niall noticed Drew's face and came over to sit next to him. He put his hand on Drew's shoulder in an effort to comfort him. "It's okay, mate. We won't hold it against you. Harry just thinks he's funny. Like Samie said, he's a cheeky bastard. But I guess you could now consider yourself officially welcomed into the family. We're pretty big on pranks and embarrassing each other around here. It means we like each other. Apparently Harry likes you, as do I. I haven't heard any different from anyone else, either. Same goes for your scrumptious blonde wife there. Mm-mmm."

"Niall!" Kiersten and I screamed and smacked his arm in unison.

"Sorry. I have a weakness for blondes with blue eyes. But I abso-friggin-lutely LOVE my fiancé. No worries." Again, Kiersten and I reacted in unison by rolling our blue eyes.

I smiled and glanced around the room. Everyone was still laughing and smiling. The love and happiness was so evident in this room, my heart was swelling. Kiersten may live across the ocean from her family, but she wasn't alone. She absolutely had a family right here in London.

Drew:

I felt my face slowly return to its normal color as the conversation veered off on another course. The chatting held steady and carried on for quite some time until the yawns started coming more often. They were contagious, and before long everyone started heading off in their respective directions. Some went right upstairs to their guest beds and others to their own homes.

I fought back another yawn as I stood up. I offered my hand to Leslie, who was chatting away with Kiersten and Kali. She didn't seem to notice me.

"Baby, I'm heading up to bed. I'm beat. You coming?" I asked.

She turned her head quickly, flashed me a smile, and replied "You go on ahead, I'll be up a little later." She stuck her lips out at me, and I gave her the kiss she expected.

I knew she was too excited to sleep, so I left her to have her girl time. It was probably the best decision whether I was tired or not. If memory served right, she and Kiersten could have some pretty ridiculous conversations.

I went upstairs to our plush guest bedroom and unpacked a few of our things. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled into the comfy bed. Even though I was exhausted, I let my mind wander.

It didn't wander far before landing on the radiant smile Leslie had been wearing a few hours earlier in Kiersten's game room. It was right after Niall welcomed us to the family. Her face was glowing, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

My wife had a big heart and Kiersten occupied a very special place in it. They'd been friends since just before Leslie started her senior year of high school and Kiersten was entering her sophomore year. Leslie had lived at home for the first two years of college, and coincidentally moved away the same summer Kiersten headed off to Pennsylvania to start college. Over that three year's time, the girls had formed a tight friendship.

Sure they'd kept in touch, but sometimes I think Leslie felt a little left behind since Kiersten had been swept into the world of celebrities and fame. Things were definitely different now, and Leslie didn't get to talk to her best friend as often as she'd always been able to.

Leslie had been worried about Kiersten for so long now. I didn't even want to begin to count how much money she had spent on the tabloids, or how much time she'd spent scouring the internet for anything about One Direction or Kiersten. She never believed what she found, instead she contacted Kiersten in some way or another for the real story. She looked out for her friend as best as she could from 4,000 miles away.

Most recently, I found myself constantly talking her out of hopping on a plane to wherever Demi Lovato was to kick her ass. I'd go on and on with reasons. Things like the fact that we couldn't afford to be sued by a celebrity or that she had to work. The only thing that ever really got her to kick the idea was when I'd say that she'd be setting a terrible example to little kids literally everywhere. That usually shut her up...at least until the next Demi/Niall scandal appeared in the news.

On the plane here, she was telling me how much she didn't understand how Kiersten could be so far from her family and not feel lost and lonely. But this evening in the game room, that smile that lit up her face meant something. She now understood how Kiersten did it. Her face was content and satisfied, no doubt because she finally felt at peace knowing her dear friend had surrounded herself with good people.

Eventually my thoughts faded and I fell asleep. Only for a short time, though. I jolted awake and rolled over. The bed next to me was still empty, and my body was very aware of it. I hated sleeping alone.

I got up and creeped downstairs to see where my missing wife could possibly be. I heard giggling and followed it into the living room. Leslie and Kiersten sat side by side, curled into each other, their heads bent. I could see the glow of a screen in the small space between them.

I snuck up quietly behind them, not wanting to interrupt. They were sharing a laptop. Just as I suspected, they were on tumblr. I watched as pictures of One Direction scrolled down the screen. I smiled to myself. They had searched the One Direction tag and were fangirling together. It was just like the times before Kiersten met the band, and her and Leslie could only possibly dream of the reality we were now in.

I'd been told a million times how much Leslie missed that. So I backed out of the room as quietly as I had come and left them to their moment.

Early the next morning, the loneliness woke me up for the second time. I came downstairs to find that the girls had moved from the couch to the kitchen island. They were zonked out. Their heads were on the counter, while the rest of their limbs dangled haphazardly. Kiersten's butt was dangerously close to slipping off the stool completely.

Before I could wake them up, I noticed what appeared to be clutter on the counter across from them. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the "clutter" was seven large plates. Each held three cupcakes, and had a boy's name written in icing on the outer edge.

I looked from one to another slowly. Each member of One Direction had a plate with similar decorations. One cupcake had a tiny doll of the specified boy. Another had a cheap plastic heart ring that had a cheesy picture, also of the specified boy. Then there was a cupcake that had a tiny sculpture. Niall's had a small...potato? Louis' was a carrot. Liam's a turtle. Zayn's a mirror. And Harry's had a cat. The girls were so weird.

I laughed when I saw my plate. Instead of my tiny doll, there was a gingerbread man. Those smart asses were always picking on my red hair. Instead of my plastic heart ring, there was a fishing lure (where the hell they found that in this house...). My little sculpture was deer antlers. Well, I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb in all my Wisconsin hick glory.

Sean and Greg's plates were rather green, Irish themed, and identical. Their dolls were leprechauns, their plastic rings were shamrocks, and their sculptures were mugs of beer. How stereotypical...but funny.

Niall came into the kitchen and quietly joined me as we admired the girls' work.

"Not bad, quite hysterical really." he finally said. He pulled out his phone and began taking pictures of each plate. He said he'd tweet them later, but only with express permission from the artists. Then he turned and looked at the girls, a cunning grin spreading across his face.

He didn't have to say a thing, apparently we thought alike. We each snuck up behind the loves of our lives and wrapped our arms very slowly around their waists. We were careful not to touch them or wake them up before we were ready.

"On the count of three," Niall whispered, "1...2...THREE!" he shouted as we squeezed the girls tight and they jerked awake. Kiersten's butt finally said goodbye to the final inch of stool it had being clinging to. We'd both predicted this, which was exactly why we were ready to catch the girls.

The plan backfired on me as Leslie's foot swung back in surprise and cracked me in the knee. "Ow!" I said. But the four of us burst out laughing. Niall and I exchanged a look of relief that we'd actually gotten a positive reaction out of rudely awakening the sleeping beauties.