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“And now there are barriers that management had installed so that Harry doesn’t fall off the stage again…” Liam said pointing toward the metal girders off to one side of the stage.
You snorted with laughter as Liam finished his story, “Stop it Li! I can’t breathe!” you gasped as you tried to stop laughing, “I can’t believe that he fell!”
“It’s not that funny,” Harry’s deep voice called from the audience of the arena, “It really hurt.”
This sent you into hysterics for a second as the rest of the boys sauntered up to the stage where Liam was giving you a tour. “Come off it, the only thing you hurt was your pride!” Louis said jabbing Harry in the ribs with his elbow.
Harry stuck his tongue out at Louis, which elicited a hearty round of laughter from the rest of the boys. Harry responded with a small pout as he crossed his arms over his chest which only increased the entertainment value of messing with Harry.
“Aww Harry, don’t be like that! We still love you,” you cooed sarcastically, “Even if you are a horrendous klutz.”
The boys exploded into laughter again, as Harry’s pout became deeper. Louis pulled Harry into a side hug. “Don’t worry about it Harry, everyone falls off the stage from time to time. Though it has yet to happen to the rest of us…”
Niall was doubled over and nearly in tears because he was laughing so hard. “Well, at least management didn’t have to write gullible on the ceiling for me!” Harry shot out teasingly.
Both you and Niall stopped laughing long enough to look up toward the ceiling. Now it was Harry’s turn to join in on the laughter. “I can’t believe you two fell for that!” Louis snorted.
You felt your cheeks start to burn, and one look at Niall revealed that he felt the same way. Even your boyfriend Liam was snickering. You elbowed him in the side, “Liam!” you hissed.
“What?” Liam shrugged his shoulders innocently, “I think it’s cute.”
Great. You were never going to live this down.
***
You were playing Angry Birds on your iPhone, waiting for Liam to finish up the radio interview with the other boys. Liam had promised to take you to lunch afterward. But if the intensifying growling noise coming from your stomach were anything to go by, you weren’t going to hold out much longer.
You were startled by the buzzing in your hand as an incoming call lit up your screen. It was Liam. With a sigh, you answered it. He was probably calling to tell you that he was going to be late, but you were starving!!
“Hey Liam, what’s up?” you asked, trying to sound like you weren’t about to rip his head off out of hunger.
“Hey [Y/N], sorry we’re taking so long Love. But we’re on a commercial break and I thought I’d give you a call,” Liam explained.
“It’s okay Li, I’m just playing Angry Birds so I’ll be okay for a while longer. I can’t seem to get past this one level….” You tried to sound light-hearted, though inwardly you were despairing over your growling stomach.
Liam laughed lightly at your Angry Birds dilemma, but then continued, “We'll just before the commercial break Grimmy told me the coolest fun fact, you want to hear it?”
You were a sucker for fun facts. The more ridiculous the better! Feeling marginally more light-hearted you giggled into the phone receiver and said, “Lay it on me Payne!”
“This is going to sound so weird, but…”Liam started like he was telling you a secret, “Apparently if you say the word ‘gullible’ really fast over and over it starts to sound like ‘orange’.”
“Gullible?” you said slowly.
"Yeah, except that you have to say it as fast as you can before it starts to sound like ‘orange’, Niall just did it for the radio and it was freaky!” Liam explained.
“Gullible. Gullible. Gullible. Gullible. Gullible.“ you repeated in close succession, “Li, I don’t hear anything.”
“It has to be a lot faster for you to hear it, you almost have to blur the words together,” Liam encouraged you.
“Gullible-gullible-gullible-gullible” you said faster.
“Even faster than that Love.”
"Gulliblegulliblegulliblegulliblegulliblegulliblegullibe,” you repeated as fast as you could, “Did you hear it? Because I sure didn’t.”
Liam made a noise like he was deep in thought, “Mmmm maybe it works best with Irish accents? Could you do an accent like Niall?”
You let out a sigh, “Well my Irish accent isn’t that good, but I can try.”
“Trust me, Babe, it’s going to work this time.”
“Hold on, let me warm up my Irish…How are you? Ha-ware-ya? I tink dat I’ve got it now, just trowing out da t’s sporadically.” You said in your best impression of Niall.
“Good. Now try to say gullible with that accent.” Liam said encouragingly.
“Gull-ible, gull-ible, gull-ible” you tried to say in the same accent, but it was hard to do, “Liam I don’t think my accent is working, it doesn’t sound like ‘orange’ at all.”
“Well ‘orange’ you glad that this was all a prank?” came the familiar sound of Grimmy’s voice over the receiver.
Your face flamed red as you heard the chorus of the other boys’ laughter in your ear. You dropped your face into your free hand as you asked, “You weren’t on a commercial break were you?”
Grimmy was still snickering as he said, “Sorry Love, but we just pranked you on air. Say hello to all our listeners!”
“Hi everyone…I’m Liam’s gullible girlfriend,” you sighed light-heartedly.
“I can’t believe that you thought it would sound better in an Irish accent!” Louis’s laughter rang in your ear.
“What can I say? Liam’s a very trustworthy guy.” You laughed a little at your own expense.
“I can’t believe Liam came up with the whole thing himself!” Grimmy sounded impressed, “But he just went with it. Asking you to do it in an Irish accent, classic.”
You couldn’t see Liam, but you could tell he probably gave Grimmy one of his innocent shrugs. “I wanted to see how far I could take it.”
"Well, I’m glad that you embraced your inner prankster Liam because it made for some great radio. I just hope that you haven’t ruined your relationship,” Grimmy teased Liam.
“Oh! I guess I hadn’t thought…Babe, I’m sorry I embarrassed you. Forgive me?” Liam sounded suddenly worried.
You decided to tease him a little of your own, “Oh, you’re in big trouble, Liam. BIG trouble.”
You heard the chorus of laughter in your ear as all the boys razzed Liam, but you hung up before he had a chance to respond. Let him stew in his own juices. He was about to take you to the nicest lunch that you had ever had.