Star Crossed [h.s]

02

Things he loves to poke fun at me for are my height, though he's short for a guy too, he still enjoys throwing his arm on top of my head and saying that I haven't hit my growth spurt yet. He also jokes about my eyes a lot and says that my wide eyed stare is terrifying— which, I can actually agree with. My eyes are big.

To normal people it would sound like we hate each other and the things that we say are awful, though in actuality it's our way of showing love to each other. We've never been super affectionate people, so picking on each other is our way of showing that we care... If that makes sense at all.

It was only another few minutes before Louis was pulling into a parking lot and stopping the car completely. I ran my hands up and down my thighs again and started to brace myself for what was going to happen next as Anika and Louis started to get out of the car.

I took in a final deep breath and grabbed my bag from the seat next to me and flung it up over my shoulder. As soon as I opened the car door the winter air bit at my skin and sent an icy chill through my body. It's early January, meaning it's freezing outside.

I'm so glad I'm able to wear such warm clothes.

I bit back a smirk at my own thought and walked carefully around to the other side of the car where Louis and Anika were waiting for me. The pavement was slick under my heels, but thankfully due to my height and my style preferences I've worn a lot of heels in my life, even on slick streets like this, so I've had plenty of practice and I know I can manage well enough. Once I got to where my friends were I gave them a slight nod before we all wordlessly started to head through the parking lot towards the sidewalk.

"This is where we usually park," Louis started as we all made our way across the lot together. "It's down the street from The Payne's, but it's free parking and you won't get towed here."

"Yeah, since the club is underground it doesn't have a designated parking lot for itself. It's a bit annoying after a busy night, but it's worth the walk if you can keep your car from getting towed." Anika finished for him.

I nodded, listening to them as we crossed the street and continued on down the sidewalk. While we were walking I brought my hair over one shoulder and tried to keep it in place as best I could. The wind was swirling around us and the last thing that I needed right now was for my hair to frizz up or get knots in it before tarting my shift. 

Once we got to an alleyway we turned left into it, and the wind was blocked so I was able to comb my fingers through the slight tangles that had started to form. When I had finished we reached the end of the alley, and Louis turned to the right to lead us down a small flight of stairs with yet another alley for us to walk down.

When we got to the end Louis raised his hand, knocking on the large black painted metal door with the back of his knuckles. After only a few seconds the door swung open to reveal a tall well built man wearing all black. He stood well over six foot, looking to be in his mid fourties, with a buzzcut and an earpiece hanging out of his left ear.

If I had to take a guess I would think that must be part of the security here.

"Ah, Tomlinson." The man greeted in a voice that was a lot more friendly than I had been expecting.

"How's it been, Dave?" Louis asked as he made his way through the door.

"Same as always." Dave answered, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips. "Still fuckin' hate it here, but it pays good and get the bills sorted."

As he spoke I made my way past him and was now standing beside Anika inside of the hallway. The smell of old smoke was almost overbearing at first. My burning eyes instantly watered and I had to look up, blinking a few times to keep the tears from spilling over.