Gotta Be You [Complete]

Chapter 34

I couldn’t live like that any second longer. 

I felt myself start to tear up but I forced myself to stop. I couldn’t show Louis how weak I’ve become.

I looked back up at him and took a deep breath.

“Who’s ‘we’”? I asked. My heart thumped against my chest waiting for his answer and when he smiled, I felt like my heart was going to explode.

“The rest of the boys are here, of course.”

I smiled grew on my face. I honestly couldn’t help it. Once Louis saw my smile, his own smile grew bigger. 

“I offered to be the first one to talk to you because I thought that it would be too much for you if…if Niall or Harry came to you first,” he said. Then he gave me his one-of-a-kind smirk, the one that I’ve surely missed. “Plus, I wanted to be the first one to hug you.” He finished his sentence by opening up his arms towards me.

I couldn't help but smile widely as I took big steps to close the distance between us and hug him. A feeling of relief and safety washed over me as Louis wrapped his arms around me tightly and rested his chin on the top of my head. He rubbed my back comfortingly, feeling myself relax in his arms. I closed my eyes, taking in this moment. 

I hugged him tighter, afraid that if I let go, I’d lose him again. I heard him chuckle as he pulled back to look at me but still kept me in his arms.

“I think you should save your hugs for the other lads,” he said, smiling down at me.

“It’s just…I missed you so much,” I said. I paused as my thoughts brought me to things I didn’t want to be thinking right now. “Look, I’m sorry for--.” 

“Shh, shh,” he said, giving me a sympathetic look, “we can all talk about it later.” He smiled at me. “And I missed you, too.” 

I nodded, feeling grateful for his gesture.

“I’ll go get them. They’re probably getting really anxious,” he said. “They’ve been dying to see you since we got here.” 

Again, I just nodded, unable to make words come out of my mouth. He let go of me and gave me a comforting smile before turning around and headed up the stairs. The second that Louis let go of me, sadness filled me. I just wanted to be in his arms again. I wanted to feel safe again.

Not one minute later, I heard footsteps running down the stairs. I whipped my head up and set my eyes on a bright-eyed Liam rushing to me. I smiled at him and before I could say something, he engulfed me in one of his warm hugs. I couldn’t help but laugh in his arms; once again, like I did with Louis, I hugged him back tightly. 

“Isla! I missed you so much!” he said against my hair. He pulled back and grabbed my arms carefully, observing me. “How are you?” He had sincere worry in his eyes. 

But, once again, I realized that it wasn’t the right time to tell them the truth so I just nodded and said, “I’m good, thanks. How about you?” 

He closed his eyes, relief washing over his face as he hugged me again.

“I’m wonderful, especially now that I’ve seen you,” he said. My heart ached at his words, I felt so guilty about the trouble that I’ve caused them.

Suddenly, I felt Liam being pulled away from me.

“It’s my turn.” 

I looked behind Liam and saw Zayn giving me his lopsided grin before pushing Liam and giving me a hug.

“Isla! It’s so great to see you. You have no idea how much I missed you. And Perrie misses you like crazy!” he said before pulling back and releasing me from his arms.