The List

“This church has helped me become who I am, Lou.” She had told him. “My pastor has taught me so much about myself and the youth program here is incredible. This isn’t just a church to me. This is my family.” He respected that immensely. It was yet another thing that he loved about her, that put him in awe of her once again. She held so many beautiful values, but yet she knew how to have fun and live her life at the same time. Why she wanted a guy like him, he didn’t know.

As they were driving down the highway, wind whipping through their hair, laughing and blasting the radio, Jason Mraz’s voice floated through the speakers, singing “I Won’t Give Up”. Suddenly, Elle’s face went blank as she stared out the car side at the passing trees. Louis looked over at her and grabbed her hand. She looked back to him.

“Hey, that’s over now. We made it through that.” He told her. She smiled weakly and tried to think about the good things this song brought about. But, even though she tried, the bad memories came rushing back all at once.

-About 3 Months Earlier-

She ran into the bathroom in the suite that they were staying in and slammed the door, tears in her eyes. Uncontrollable emotions overwhelmed her as she slid down the door, crying and trying to focus on breathing. Thoughts raced through her mind like wildfire. What if it doesn’t work out? What if this is too much for me to take?  After all, Louis was use to his fame—Elle wasn’t.

They had been dating for 6 months now, but she never really had to deal with mobs of people or crazed fans since she was typically by herself in her small town. Sure, she signed a few autographs and snapped a few pictures, but never any crazy paparazzi had chased her down. Now that she was in New York with Louis, though, everything changed. She was being pulled in every direction possible—to interviews, signings, and concerts. At each one, people were constantly bombarding her with questions, cameras, and paper and pens, desperately seeking her attention. Whenever she wanted it to stop or she needed someone to turn to, she expected to turn around and see Louis there, arms open wide. But, he wasn’t always there, nor was it possible to be. She had to learn to deal with the people on her own and it scared her to death.

The part that was the worst was that these people whom she’d never met or known had the potential of breaking Elle and Louis apart simply because he was famous and by association, so was she. Now, if she couldn’t deal with all the mobs and the people, who knows where that put her and Lou. They had just had a huge fallout about the whole thing with a lot of yelling on Elle’s part. She wasn’t mad at Louis because he wasn’t the one who asked for this to happen either. She was frustrated and scared in general and she had taken it out on him.

Now, she knew nothing else but to sit there on the floor and cry and hope that it would all work out. She knew crying wasn’t the answer, that it certainly wouldn’t make her a stronger person in the media’s eye. But, for right now, it felt good and the release of emotions was just what she needed.

Meanwhile, Louis was trying to think of something, anything he could do to get her to feel better about it all. He didn’t want to lose her, especially over the media. He was sitting on the edge of his unmade bed, head slung down in his hands, when Niall walked in. Out of all the band members, Niall was one of the best at making people feel better. He had this caring way about him. Not a ‘daddy’ side, like Liam, but more of a best friend side that could make anyone cheer up.

“Hey mate.” He quietly walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down next to Louis. Louis still didn’t look up, but muttered something like a hello to Niall.

“They don’t control you, you know.” Niall said gently.

“So, you heard?” Louis finally looked up into Niall’s eyes, his own being red and slightly tear-stained.

“Didn’t mean to intrude, but yeah. Most of us did.” Niall said quietly.

“What do I do, man? I have no control over what the media does. They’re scaring her away from me and there’s nothing I can do about it.”