After The End: Book 1

1. At a Bar: Many Years Later

I hope you're enjoying the first book in what I think is going to be a long ride! I love this story line and I have ALOT written for it. The song for this part is Lego House by Ed Sheeren.

Naomi's POV

When I turned 23 it was December 24th. Christmas eve. I was celebrating alone in a bar, with plans to drink off the horrors of the day, which had basically been a cruel mix of my parents arguing and a birthday cake in which nobody ate because my dads golden retriever had stepped in it.

The bartender at that particular bar was a friend of mine, named Chris. He hovered over me at the counter attempting to make conversation but I wasn't very talkative as I sat under the dim lights of the industrial style building. Instead I sat in deep silence enjoying the simplicity of the old rock music playing quietly in the background, and the cheesy checkered pattern that adorned the many booths on the walls. Despite my clear lack of desire to hold a conversation, as Chris served my drink, he leaned forward and said to me, "Naomi... The guy in the back, do you see him?" He was pointing to a man at the rear of the bar, sitting alone within one of the ugly booths. He was letting his dark brown hair fall into his tanned face messily, as if trying to hide behind it. He looked sad. Sad and exhausted. "He's a regular here. Normally he's got a curly headed chap with 'im. His buddy always gets wasted but he always orders water and just watches his friend. His friends real crazy.... Anyway it's his birthday and his friend didn't show today......" He trailed off looking at me expectantly.

I had to suppress a groan. "You want me to go cheer him up... Don't you?"

"Its his birthday," Chris insisted hopefully. I wanted to tell him that it was mine too, therefore I was exempt from being a good person, but I didn't.

I picked up my drink from the counter slightly irritated, and headed off in the guys direction. As I got closer, I started to see the finer details of his appearance. Particularly, I saw the startling blue of his eyes. He had the most beautiful eyes out of anyone I'd ever seen before. I found it difficult to focus on anything but their sapphire glow. As I approached, he didn't look up.

"Hey," I said softly, smiling at him kindly.

He took a long breath before he looked up at me calmly. He blinked once. Then in a clear voice he said, "Are you a fan?"

I shook my head confused. "I have no idea what you mean by that.... I was just looking for some company." I smiled again in what I hoped was a kind way.

He smiled back looking somewhat bored. The curl of his lip was clearly faked but he was putting a good effort into faking it. He held up an arm to the seat a crossed from himself biting his lip. "Go ahead, though to be honest, I won't be pleasant company."

He was very polite. That was my first impression of him. Very polite and very sad. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about him was undeniably sad in a way. I had a strange desire to hug him. He look like he needed one.

"My names Louis by the way," he added looking back at his drink.

"Naomi," I said holding out my hand. He shook it. I noticed his hand was very soft as it grasped mine.

We were quiet for a moment. Louis stared at his drink again, raising it to his lips and then setting it down again without drinking it. I could smell the hard liquor of it, but he hadn't brought himself to take a single drink at all yet.

"Why aren't you with your family Naomi? Its Christmas eve isn't it?" He asked faking yet another smile.

I laughed dryly. "Its my birthday. I was at my parents but it wasn't a pleasant place to be. What about you? Don't you have a family?"