Just Hold On-A Louis Tomlinson Ageplay Story

Chapter 68

(The video on top is an interview that is mentioned in the chapter. You don't have to watch it, I just thought I'd attach it)

Louis' POV

After the talk with Steve on the plane, I find myself feeling much less stressed about the performance. We rehearse a lot over the next few days, and it's more fun than I expected. It's really nice to just get to spend some time with him, and we do a decent amount of mucking around when we aren't rehearsing. I take the opportunity to go out on some of the evenings, given that nobody is watching me too closely. When Niall was staying with me, it just didn't seem quite right to go to a club and leave him there. And going together was definitely not an option...just thinking about the paparazzi storm if we were to do that makes me shudder. Come to think of it, would he have let me go out? He was acting pretty overprotective, so probably not. At least he didn't stop me from smoking like Liam would.

Tuesday, the day of the performance comes. I'm a bit tense when I wake up, but after rehearsals and talking to Steve for a while, the nerves settle in time for the performance. It goes well, and I feel much better than I did at the X-Factor performance. That was terrifying. This is nerve-wracking, but manageable. After, I end up going out to party again, totally enjoying myself and returning to my hotel pretty late, which is fine because our interview the next day is in the afternoon. It goes decently well, nothing special.

A few days later, Steve and I have an interview at 92.3 AMP radio. It's a pretty good interview, the guy doing it is pretty fun and we enjoy ourselves quite a bit, which is surprising given how long it is. I'm not normally so great with the long ones; I don't have the attention or the patience to answer that many questions, but this one is good.

There's just one question that gets to me, and that's when I'm asked about the future. I don't want to think about the future. I don't know how to think about the future. It's a terrifying thought, and I need to pause for a moment before I can even answer the question. Finally, I get out something about 'taking every day as it comes' or something like that and try to laugh a little to keep my brain from going too deep.

The rest goes by well, but afterwards, when we're in the car, being driven back to the hotel, I find myself trying to wrap my head around what the rest of the year could look like. It's so hard to think about. I do want to write an album and drop a few more singles, but I definitely have to get through this promo run first. Some more collaborations would be fun, but I certainly haven't thought far enough ahead to know who I would work with. The other part that makes it hard to comprehend what could happen is the whole ageplay thing. I honestly don't know how often or for how long this is going to happen. Is it going to get in the way of me working, or is it going to help me? I let myself drift into thought, my head against the window as I stare blankly out at the streets passing by.

Steve's POV (A/N something different...I don't know if I like it, but I need to do it)

We're in the car, being driven back to the hotel Louis is staying in. He's been pretty quiet the whole way. I've tried making conversation, but he mostly just nods or hums in response. It's a bit worrying, he's normally pretty talkative, especially when it's just us. I don't know if he's just tired or something, or if there's something more going on, that I might need to call one of his friends about.

"Hey, Louis?" I ask, trying to get his attention. He makes a sound in response, looks over at me, blinks, then turns back to the window. "Are you okay?"

Louis shrugs, staring out the window, and stays silent. I drop it for a couple more minutes, but when I look back at him after hearing a slight noise, something like a whimper, I'm met with a surprising sight.