October 25, 2012 

Yesterday the Love is Easy music video was released and today all the boys were coming over to mine to celebrate. 

We were going to watch the video all together, since I hadn't seen it finished yet, and I promised I'd wait for them. I was also excited to see my debut...as a bird...but still. 

When the doorbell rang, I expected to see just one of them, probably Tom, who was always on time, or maybe two of them together, but I didn't expect to see them all standing together, crowded on my doorstep. They were holding bags, boxes and balloons. 

"Happy Birthday!" They all exclaimed, when I opened the door. Danny popped one of those tiny confetti cannons, but all the smoke went right in Dougie's face and he started to choke. I just stood there shocked, as they composed themselves. 

"I don't want to sound ungrateful..." I start, once Dougie has finished coughing, "but...it's not my birthday." 

"Well yeah, duh, we know that." Tom says. "But it's almost your birthday and we realized we weren't sure if we had another chance to celebrate with all the press coming up and stuff." 

"So we're doing it now!" Danny smiles. 

"Well...thanks." I smile, ushering them in. 

"We even got a cake this year." Dougie smiles, going to the fridge and putting it in, while the other boys put the things they were carrying down. "I mean, we didn't make it. We bought it from Waitrose, but still. It's the thought that counts, right?" I laugh. 

"Absolutely." I smile. 

"And someone else wanted to wish you a happy birthday." I hear Harry say, as I turn to see Danny, Tom and him entering the kitchen, holding onto Flea's leash for dear life as he pulls to run towards me. 

"Flea!" I exclaim, bending down, as the three boys dropped the leash and let him run. He jumped up on me, which was not as cute as it was when he was a puppy, since he was a full grown chocolate lab now, and Dougie fed him way too much (I told him to stop because Flea was getting fat, but Dougie insisted he was just "big boned").  "Oh you guys! Thank you." I smile, getting up from petting Flea and giving them all big hugs. 

"And Fletch is coming over later. He wanted to celebrate too." Tom smiles. 

"What about the girls?" I ask. 

"Their getting their nails done, or some shit." Harry smiles. Don't get me wrong, I love Gi, Izzy, Georgia and Lara with all my heart, and I loved having them around, but it was kind of cool to have it just be me and the boys again...like old times. 

"Well he should be here any minute." Tom smiles. "Do you want to watch the video?" 

"Yeah!" I exclaim. We all make our way into the living room and I open my laptop on the coffee table. We all huddled around on the couch to watch it. They boys had started putting their music videos on YouTube, which was weird. I was so used to music videos being played on TV, but I guess the times were changing. 

The music video was amazing and brought back so many amazing memories, including the one's not even made a year ago, like Dougie winning I'm a Celeb and Harry winning Strictly. 

But of course, my favorite part was right in the beginning when they remade some of their earliest music videos; Five Colours, Obviously, Room on the Third Floor and That Girl.  

They were music videos I hadn't been around to see filmed, since I hadn't started working for them yet. 

I also loved the part were they recreated all their album covers. As they did, we paused the video, and I got my CDs off the shelf so we could compare them. 

"Guys that was amazing!" I say as it finishes. "I think that's my favorite one yet!" 

"Thanks Lil." Tom smiles. Just then I hear the front door open. 

"Hello?" Fletch calls from the doorway. 

"We're in the living room!" I call. Fletch walks in and smiles. Flea instantly throws himself off the couch (using Dougie as a launchpad) and runs over to Fletch. "Hey doggo." He says, petting Flea."Happy birthday Lil!"

"Thanks Fletch." 

"What are you kids doing?" He asks. 

"We just watched the music video." Harry smiles. 

"She liked it." Danny adds. 

"Well good! We've got the Lilly-stamp-of-approval." He says. We all quickly talk about our favorite parts before getting interrupted. 

"I think it's cake time." Dougie says. 

"Is it in the fridge?" Fletch asks. 

"Oh, yeah." I say. 

"I'll get it." He smiles. 

"What? You sure?" I ask. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm already up." He waves us off as he makes his way to the kitchen. 

"Well, what was your guys' favorite part of the video?" I ask the boys. 

"I liked when Harry and I got to jam out with the glow sticks." Dougie smiles. 

"Yeah that was pretty sick." Harry says, nodding. 

"Uh, forget your glow stick, what about my sick guitar solo?" Danny smiles, making us laugh. 

"What about my pink ukulele?" Tom smiles. 

"What about it?" Harry teases. 

"You know, people really love it. You'd be surprised." Tom says. 

"It was pretty cool when you poured the glitter out of it like water." I smile.  "How did you guys do th-" 

"Hey Lilly? Could you come here?" Fletch calls from the kitchen. 

"Duty calls." I smile, getting up, leaving the boys talking. When I walk into the kitchen Fletch doesn't have any plates or forks or knives out. Just the cake box. "Do you need a knife?" I ask. 

"How old are you?" He asks seriously. 

I feel my face get hot. Why would he ask this? Does he know something? 

And for some reason, for the first time in my life, I couldn't lie. I don't know why. For eight years I'd been lying constantly, but for some reason I couldn't just say it. I'm turning 28. 

"You know how old I am." I say quietly. It's all I can manage. 

"Look me in the eyes right now and tell me you were born in '84." He says. But I don't. I stay quiet. 

"Why are you saying this?" My voice cracks. He turns the open cake box towards me. 

It's got light blue frosting on it and sprinkles on the edges. 

And in pink icing, there's squiggly letters that read Happy 25th Birthday Lilly. 

I look from the cake, back up at him. 

"This is some joke, right?" He asks. "You weren't actually born in '87...you're not actually 24, standing here. You wouldn't give me a fake ID...right?" He speaks sternly, because he knows the answer already.  

"I-" I start. "I'm sorry." He shakes his head, sighing. He's gritting his teeth. "Fletch I really needed the job-" 

"Don't even." He says, still shaking his head. "This is completely unacceptable. No matter what the circumstances were... or are. I need someone who disciplines the boys. Someone who looks out for their best interest, even if it's not easy." 

"I do!" I plead. 

"Not someone who breaks the rules with them." He finishes. There's a pause before he continues. "You lied when they were smoking. I told you to tell me and you didn't." 

"Fletch that was eight years ago-" 

"You dated Dougie. That's something you are not supposed to do. It's completely unprofessional, and you lied about it for over a year." 

"I'm sorry." 

"And now...now I learn you've completely lied about your age. For eight years. You worked for me illegally." He says. "You're a liar, Lilly." 

He wasn't wrong. 

"That's three strikes." He says, getting more angry. "I've just been letting them all go."

"Fletch-" I start.

"You're fired."

"Fletch no." I breath. He turns and starts to walk out of the kitchen. "No please-" I start to follow him, but I hear the front door slam before I can even get out of the kitchen. 

I stop where I am. 

I'm completely screwed. I've got to get a job, and sure, it'll probably be easier now that I'm 24 with my A levels done, but I bet no matter what job I get it still won't be enough to keep my house. 

And what about the boys? Not working with them? Not seeing them everyday?

"Hey, where did Fletch go?" I hear Danny ask. I turn around, and all the boys are standing in the kitchen doorway. "Is he coming back?" 

I can't even say anything. 

"Hey...you alright?" Tom asks. 

"He fired me." I say softly. 

"Wait...what?" Dougie asks, confused. 

"He fired me." I say louder. 

"What?" Harry says through gritted teeth. 

"What kind of a birthday gift is that?" Danny asks. 

"Why would he fire you?" Tom asks. He's clearly astounded. I shake my head.

"The cake." I say. 

"He likes chocolate better?" Danny asks. Dougie elbows his ribs. I shake my head. 

"It says my age. It says I'm 25." Tom walks over to the cake, looks at it and shakes his head. 

"Lilly...I'm so sorry. I put the order in-" He starts. 

"No." I cut him off. "It's not your fault." 

"He can't just fire you!" Harry says, clearly pissed off and getting angrier by the minute. "We have to stop that bastard." He takes his phone out of his back pocket and begins typing. 

"No." I shrug. 

"No?" Dougie asks. 

"You don't like your job?" Danny asks. 

"Of course I love my job." I say. "It's the best job in the world. But i'm wrong. I lied. It's my fault. Fletch isn't wrong." 

"He is morally." Harry says, raising his voice. "He's a fucking douchebag. Doesn't he know what you've been through?" 

"Yeah." I nod. "He does...but I'm an adult now. No one can take liability for me...but me." 

"So....what are you going to do?" Tom asks. 

"I guess...I guess I have to find a new job." 

"No!" Danny pleads. 

"Danny I don't have a choice!" I say sadly. "I don't want to either but...I've got to make a living somehow." 

"Just talk to Fletch...tell him he doesn't understand." Tom says. 

But the problem was, he did understand. That's why he fired me. 

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