Forever Your's //L.T. Completed [✔️]

Chapter 8

Louis & Tallulah are fifteen now

+++

I sat perched on the counter in Louis' kitchen, next to the stove where the griddle was on full heat. Louis poured pancake batter into the griddle.

Louis has been problematic and keeps wiping batter all over my face.

"What do you want your pancake to be  shaped?" Louis asks.

"A dobber," I respond, jokingly.

"Yeah, a pancake dobber is the only way you're ever going to give a blow." Louis snorts.

"Oh! Oh, I see how it is, Tommo!" I tilt my head back, laughing.

"A dobber though, that was quick." Louis smiles.

"Penis jokes." I laugh, giving him a hi-five.

+++

"Why don't you sing in front of anyone else?" Louis stops playing the piano.

"Because I'm fine believing that I'm just average at singing, rather than amazing. That's how I categorize myself in every activity. It's safe to believe you're average rather than fantastic or talented. If I believe in myself more, then I would be full of hope. I learned, if you hope for things you get disappointed." I ramble, wishing I gave him a different answer.

"Christ, that's morbid." Louis looks at me puzzled.

"I don't expect what you expect out of life, Lou." I sigh.

"Oh yeah? What do I expect?"

"You expect good things. You expect adventure and fun. You expect people to keep their promises." I explain.

"You don't?"

"I'm not a dreamer."

We're different, but also similar in many ways. Louis has this incredible charm inside him. He has a positive aura. He just radiators off positive vibes and happiness. Somehow, at the same time, he's so down to Earth. He's everybody's friend, always respectful to his classmates and teachers.

Everybody loves Louis and maybe I understand why. Not because of his looks or anything, but how he makes other people feel welcomed and loved. I mean it when I say Louis is my best friend.

"Hey, the lads are coming over to practice." Louis says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Okay," I said, caught off guard.

"Are you okay?" He asks, standing up.

"I'm always okay." I answer, half smiling.

He gives me a hug, but I don't hug him back. The doorbell rings, and he goes to answer it.

+++

"You're joking, right?" I ask, gobsmacked.

"No, I'm not." Louis shakes his head. "I want to tear down the treehouse."

"I heard you clearly the first time." I snap, walking back and forth in my bedroom.

"We're not-"

"Are you high?" I cut him off.

"We don't even play in it anymore." Louis looks confused. "I thought we could replace the space with a trampoline!"

"So what? Louis, that treehouse has always been there in your yard. We can't just destroy it!" I pull my hair.

"Tilly, it's time. Imagine what we could do with a trampoline!"

"No! Eff your trampoline!" I shake my head. I stop pacing and look at him. "That treehouse has always been my safe place. When I sat in that treehouse, it never mattered what was going on below me, in the real world."

"Tallulah, it's not about that. My mom wants to build a garden below that and the shade of the treehouse will block the sun. As a deal, she promised a trampoline in return for our sacrifice." Louis explains.

I shake my head, turning away from him.

"Promised. Louis, as a kid I always went there when I didn't feel safe. It didn't matter if it was raining or if it was midnight, that treehouse protected us."

"It's a treehouse, Tallulah."

"It is not just a treehouse!" I raise my voice.

"We're not little kids anymore, Tallulah. The treehouse is a little kid's treehouse." Louis is sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Louis, how many times do I have to tell you that treehouse was the first place I ever felt safe in? It was my home."

"A home doesn't have to be a place, Tilly, it can be a feeling."

I look out my window, where I have a perfect view of the treehouse.

"You can't tear down the treehouse." I whisper.

I feel Louis' hand on my shoulder behind me.

"What if when we're older, we want to revisit all our old memories from the treehouse, but it's gone?" I ask, gulping.

"They'll always be in our heart. We aren't always going to have a choice on how things happen, but that doesn't mean we have to forget."

He's offering reason and logic, but I don't want to hear that right now. I want to be sad and hold on to the treehouse as long as I can.

"Don't let the treehouse be your safe place." Louis looks at me. "Let me be your safe place."

I gulp, nodding.

Without saying anything, he holds out his pinkie. I smile slightly, wrapping my pinkie around his.

"Come here," he opens his arms.

I wrap my arms around his torso and bury my head in his chest. He hugs me tightly.

+++

Stanley Lucas is my favorite person

oh, look, Louis is there

August 17th, 2016
2:59 pm