Blue Hydrangea l.s.

2: Blue Moon

2: Blue Moon
"You heard me saying a prayer..."
-

Nobody saw Louis after that Monday. He chose the solitary life while he sorted out the trip back home to come to terms that his mother had passed and he was soon to inherit a decent sum of money. Money earned by his back-breaking father and the sweat of others. It sickened him that people admired his family and once him. Guess running away and denying the family fortune was viewed as "backstabbing" and "rude".

Now Louis loved his family, Johannah the beautiful glamorous mother, but Collin the cynical evil step-father who "stepped in" when Louis' real father had passed away could go to hell. He had no brothers or sisters which led to a multitude of play dates and childhood friends that came and went whenever they grew bored of little Louis' Hide-And-Seek and Freeze Tag. The other children preferred to play Surgeon or MultiMillionDollarPopStar which resembled their parent's career. These children were bred to be successful entrepreneurs and famous celebrities not a newspaper journalists or architect like Louis wanted to become.

Through adolescence Louis closed himself off and would only eat with the maids who made his sheets soft and complete his homework if Teddy (Edward The Butler) would give him a cookie after every page finished. Those were his friends, the ones who were paid to stand around and "love" Louis. Deep down he knew the love was artificial but it didn't stop him from growing attached to the replaceable faces.

The teen years were the hardest for everyone: Johannah couldn't find the perfect white-washed girl for her son; Collin could never catch Louis in the right mood to talk to him about stocks and the importance of investments; and his small group of friends could always take away his loneliness with a couple smokes and a few lingering kisses.

The grades dropped.
The heads shook in shame.
The boy ran away for the first time.

It wasn't until Louis had come to terms with himself and understood that he was the black sheep of the family/neighborhood/city. His mother's Cornell rejected him. His step-father's trusty Oxford buddies couldn't even schedule an interview for him. Louis was going nowhere with his life and that was just what he needed. He packed up and left for Doncaster to spend the remainder of the summer with his Gran and apply for local college over there.

He was now 24, working for a small Health Care office that required him to listen to customer complaints and then solve the problems. He didn't need a degree in business but he felt it was the least he could do for his dead father (and might come in handy later on in life). Louis never visited London, never planned a trip with his parents, and when his Gran had passed last May he didn't invite anyone to the funeral.

The plane skidded and came to an abrupt stop and shook Louis out of his trance. He blinked his drying eyes and smacked his stale mouth while he undid his seat belt. He pulled his little blue suitcase from the top carrier and successfully brought it down without knocking anyone's head and/or injuring any small children. Off to a good start then, he thought. The backpack was strapped tight and ready for his quick departure from the airport to the cabby waiting for him down the street as he requested. The plane door opened and Louis sprinted down the aisle, through the tunnel, and straight out of the terminal.

London air smacked him in the face and he drew in quick damp breathes and tried to calm his racing heart. The swelling of panic and clouds of anxiety rolled over him and constricted his lungs. Easy now. Breathe in. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Breathe out. Happy thoughts, he chanted. The surge of unknown guilt and jitters slid off of his body and his mind was clear again. Louis tightened his grip on his suitcase and sped off in the direction of the cab. Louis was 1/3 down the street when a long jet black limousine pulled off to the side next to him. The thickly tinted passenger window slid down and a man of 26 appeared.

"Sir, would you happen to be a Tomlinson?"

"Uh," Louis looked around the area and saw the limo had gained quite the attention, "yeah that's me. This isn't neces-"

"Get in the car!" demanded the chauffeur. Louis refused to upset the strangely young and handsome man and climbed into the back. He peeked through the window to see confused London faces. Probably wondering why the hell they don't know who I am.

The drive was undisturbed silence. The limo ran perfectly and didn't allow for the space to be filled with the sound of tires hitting pavement or the drum of the engine to ease Louis from this uncalled for tension. He tried breaking the silence with the young gentleman but his efforts were hushed whispers that couldn't be picked up from behind the partition. The ride didn't become enjoyable until the radio was flipped on and a low buzz of...Smashing Pumpkins filled the car. Then Nirvana. Followed by The Cranberries? The Smi-

"Oh hell, you found my MIXTAPE?" Louis had taken a collection of songs--from tv ads and songs mentioned in books--and cataloged them into one mega CD. While the CD defeated the purpose of calling it a "mixtape" there wasn't another word to label what Louis had done when he was 17.

The Driver began to laugh and Louis felt his cheeks redden. "Sorry, Sir but I found it when I was preparing your room and thought it would help make you feel welcome." Oh...that was thoughtful?

"Driver," he felt ridiculous and awfully rude calling the man by his job, "why were you preparing a room? Doesn't Teddy do that?"

"Well Sir, Ms. Johannah retired Mr. Edward. She allowed for his student to stay and take his place though. I was given Mr. Young's job also."

"Student?"

"Yes Sir, a trainee actually. He's a great guy but very loud, always has to bang on things."

"Oh, well Teddy and Sensai were excellent servicemen. Irreplaceable even," joked Louis.

"Sensai? Why did you call a old white man 'teacher'?"

"He did a killer impression to be honest. Gave me a good laugh when I was little," and Louis was now undeniably soothed by the young man's presence. "Can I know your name? I'd hate to call you Driver. It's so disrespectful."

"I am Liam, Sir. Liam Payne."

"Well Liam please call me Louis. Enough with the 'Sir' shit."

"Yes Sir-" Liam caught himself and went with it,"-rrrrrreally nice to have you back at the manor!" Louis just laughed because how could he not? Within 5 minutes he had found a new companion and that just meant his trip would become so much easier.

Depeche Mode's People Are People was slowly lowered until Louis' mixtape was completely muted and his stories of Doncaster and trivia questions bounced through the limo. This was no artificial friend, because to him, Liam was definitely not replaceable.

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Part 1 is only 5 chapters of juiciness. Hope everyone likes the story so far!!
-Syd