fix you // liam payne

chapter thirty-six // paging dr. love

ellie's pov

My third alarm of the morning goes off, causing me to roll over quickly to stop the infuriating noise. I resist the urge to throw the phone against the wall and slump out of bed instead. 

Rubbing my tired eyes, I head towards the door to head to the bathroom, but the moment my hand touches the doorknob, I remember my new roommates - Louis and Mia - and turn around, figuring just a pair of underwear isn't the best way to greet them in the morning. 

I throw on a pair of leggings and a baggy sweatshirt I still have from high school. It's certainly seen better days. One perk about being a doctor is you aren't allowed to take your scrubs home for contamination reasons, so I just roll into work in whatever, knowing that I change when I get there anyways. 

I emerge from my room, popping right into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. It's always a little battle for the bathroom in the mornings, and I feel bad for being a bad hostess so I try to be as quick as possible. 

The bathroom door swings open right as I finish moisturizing my face, causing both Mia and I to jump. She apologizes, but I hurry out and shut her in the bathroom before she can feel too guilty. 

"Stop apologizing, Mia. You're fine," I tell her as I head into the kitchen, catching Louis making breakfast for us all - as he does occasionally, much to my pleasure. 

"Good morning," Louis smiles at me.

I feel bad for avoiding everyone for the past week, so I smile shyly, hoping there are no hard feelings between the two of us. 

Louis splits the delicious smelling breakfast onto three plates and hands me mine, shifting my shy smile into a large grateful grin. 

"Wow, thank you so much," I manage to express my gratitude in rushed words before I dive into the food, forgetting how amazing hot breakfast can be in the morning. Usually I have time to put a poptart in the toaster before heading out, shoving my face in my car on the drive to work. 

I could get used to this. 

"No problem," He smiles back as he takes a seat across from me at my little kitchen table, barely big enough to fit all three of the plates, "I feel like I haven't seen you in a week. I figured I'd coax you out with some good food," He admits, causing my smile to fade into an apologetic frown.

But before I can swallow my food and try to give some sort of pathetic excuse for my behavior, he goes on, 

"Hey, I get it, I really do," He shakes his head, still beaming that world famous Louis smile of his, "Sometimes Tyler can be a real dick. Especially if it's something that's coming between us and making the company more money. Trust me," He explains, being much more preceptive than I give him credit for. 

He makes me regret being my introverted, moody self for the past week. If I had simply talked to him the first day I got discouraged, my week would have been infinitely better. 

"Sorry, sometimes I forget I have friends now to talk about this stuff with," I smile, my cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.

"Yeah, about that, why don't you have any other friends?" Louis teases me, seeming genuinely stumped as to why I'm all alone - well, was all alone, "You weren't like in prison for murder or anything like that, right?" 

I can't help but to laugh at Louis's bluntness, it's refreshing. If it were anyone else, I'd defensively lie that I did in fact have friends. 

But I take a page out of his book and give it to him straight; no bullshit.