Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 79

Cheekiness.

Playfulness.

Goofiness.

"Bye." I chuckled as I walked out for real this time.

***

"Hey." I grinned at Louis who opened the front door. He had a dish towel hanging over his shoulder as he smiled widely and pulled me in for a hug.

His arms went around my shoulders as I circled his waist, hugging him back. Somehow, I had no problem with Louis hugging me ever since he had comforted me during my panic attack at Harry's bar many weeks ago.

Abby and I walked into the house, smelling the roasted vegetables throughout the space as we entered. Abby had a free night in the club so I decided to bring her along for dinner at Louis and Eleanor's home.

Eleanor greeted us in the living room, a glass of red wine in her hand. My face lit up when I saw Niall on the couch, "Oh my God, hi! I haven't seen you in ages!" I exclaimed as I sat down next to him and whacked his arm in excitement.

Niall winced and rubbed the spot on his arm, "Know you're excited to see me, Vi, don't have to beat me up."

I rolled my eyes and accepted the glass of red wine that Eleanor handed me, "Thanks." I smiled.

"You look good." Niall complimented as I took a sip from my glass, "Thanks. You too. How've you been?"

We got engulfed in a pretty long conversation about Niall's life. He told me about the gang, what everyone had been up to, some business stuff that had been going on. He also told me some about his personal life, about a girl he had been seeing on and off.

Her name was Amelia and ever since Emma, she was the first girl who made him think about settling down and doing something long-term. They had been dating for a little bit throughout the past few months, and she apparently knew bits and bobs about him being in a gang.

Eleanor and Abby were chatting pretty deeply about something serious, while Eleanor showed off her brand new engagement ring that Louis had given her. Apparently he had re-proposed a few days ago, and they planned on finally having their wedding quite soon.

"Food's in the oven, dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes." Louis sighed as he plopped down on the couch next to me, on my other side. He also had a wine glass in his hand and greedily took a few sips.

His hand patted my knee, "How've you been?"

"Good," I smiled, "Had a therapy session with Harry today at Clarendale's."

"Really?" Niall asked, "How was it? Haven't seen him in ages. When's he coming back?"

"He said something about three weeks from now, so pretty soon. And yeah, it was good. We – um, we... kissed."

"What?!" Louis exclaimed, sitting straight up immediately as his wine almost spilled from his glass and his eyes were wide. I looked shocked at his outburst, and Niall burst into cackles next to me, "Mate, your eyes."

"You kissed?! This is huge!" Louis continued in a high pitch.

His voice grabbed the attention on Abby and Eleanor. Abby rolled her eyes when she heard Harry and I had kissed, and I felt like a teenager, surrounded by my girlfriends as if I just confessed to them I'd lost my virginity.

"It's not a big deal." I breathed before clearing my throat, "Let's change the subject."

"Let's not." Louis retorted, leaning closer to me and taking another sip of his wine, "come on, details."