Lipstick [Narry-EDITING]

~38~

Louis paced back and forth in his apartment, biting nervously on his nail knowing it was something he shouldn't do. He was growing annoyed of the dialing sound his phone brought to his ear. After a few seconds the dialing stopped and went to voicemail. 

"Why aren't you picking up?" Louis mumbled as he began dialing again. His apartment was dead silent and every light was off. He was going to leave in a half hour or so for a photo shoot.

The call went to voicemail again and Louis hung up in frustration. He looked at his phone and let out a sigh before walking over to his bag that was sitting on the couch. He dropped his phone inside and zipped the bag closed.

A knock on his door made him drop his bag back down on the couch. 

"Who is it now?" Louis muttered under his breath, walking towards the door. He opened up with a small smile plastered on his face. When he revealed who was behind the door, his smile dropped.

"I don't want to talk to you," Louis turned and marched away from the person in the entrance. The person walked inside in desperation. 

"Louis please," Melissa stopped a few steps away from where she stood before. She watched Louis continue grabbing things and putting them in his bag. She could only assume he was going to work soon. "I need you to listen to me."

Louis stopped for a moment and looked up at the ceiling. He let his shoulders slumped and let out another deep sigh. He straightened himself and turned to Melissa, walking closer to her. 

"Look, I know what Niall did to you was wrong. Cheating is wrong. And I do regret condoning Niall to keep going behind your back instead of making him tell you the truth," Louis confessed. "But you need to know that Niall wasn't happy. He doesn't-"

"I'm sorry," Melissa interrupted Louis, clutching to her purse. She looked at him straight in the eye and repeated, "I'm sorry."

"I- What?" Louis stopped short when he heard Melissa the second time. 

"I know I've done and said pretty bad stuff. You have no idea how bad I feel. It took me so long to realize," Melissa had tears in her eyes. "It took me something really bad like Niall cheating on me to become self aware of the ba- horrible person I was."

Louis' face features softened as he looked at the women before him. He didn't see the evil, snobby, and plain mean women he grew to hate over. Instead, he saw a genuine, sincere, and regretful women that he didn't think was there. 

"But why come to me about this?" Louis asked. 

Melissa let out a small laugh through her tears. She sniffed and wiped away the falling tears. "Because you saw right through me. You didn't fall for the mask. You treated me the way I treated you. And I admire you for that." 

Louis was surprised. He didn't know what to say. 

"Do you have a little time to talk?" Melissa asked. 

"Um. . . sure," Louis responded. They both walked towards the couch and sat down. 

Melissa began talking and Louis listened to what she had to say. 

-x-

"I don't think you can do that," Liam said from across the coffee table. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. 

"What?" Harry asked, sitting on the couch in a large grey sweatshirt and a blanket over him. His complexion was pale and the color red was noticeable under his swollen eyes. 

"You just put two down," Liam said, looking at their Connect 4 game that was set on their coffee table in the living room. Liam had thought it would be good idea to have Harry play some games to keep him from thinking about Niall. Problem is, it wasn't really working out like Liam wanted it too.