concealing ➸ tomlinson

xxi

louis. her adrenaline went back down in an instant. kris squinted her eyes in an attempt to make out his face.

"what time even is it?" she whispered back, rubbing her eyes lightly. then she shook her head. "never mind, i'm awake now. what'd you want?"

the shadow in front of kris shifted. "this is probably a bad time and place, but there's a very nice ocean outside and i'm currently unable to sleep. would you like to come with me?"

kris smiled, but louis couldn't see that. "you sure have a thing for going places in the dark. let's go."

kris eagerly followed louis down two flights of stairs and across the parking lot barefoot. the streetlights at regular intervals lit the path down to the shore. goosebumps raced up her arms.

more lights illuminated the beach, revealing the dark waves crashing forward against the sand, of which louis instantly jumped into. kris was right behind him.

"i hope you realize i can't swim." she said, finally catching her breath.

louis walked backwards, grinning at her. "neither can i."

he took off his gloves- kris was having an easier time telling if he was wearing them or not- and clapped his hands, sending snowflakes everywhere. kris laughed, feeling the sand shift under her weight. every part of her body was freezing, but they'd only just gotten there and she didn't really care.

"regardless of neither of us being very water-friendly," louis said, taking a few more steps back. "i do happen to know a way we can get out on the water."

kris watched without a word as louis kicked off his shoes and ran towards the ocean. as soon as another wave crashed down, he put his foot down on the retreating water. a portion of it instantly froze over. he then took a couple steps into the water, forming a boardwalk-like path of ice.

"may i?" louis came back and extended a hand.

"this is a terrible idea." kris said, taking his hand.

her first steps were shaky at best. louis, on the other hand, didn't make one misstep. they went about sixty yards into the ocean. if she fell, she'd drown.

finally, louis made the ice spread out with enough space for them to sit. the waves were calmer out there, only a tiny bit of water lapping over the sides. silence.

"so, what are you going to do when we get back home?" kris eventually asked.

louis tried to shrug it off like it wasn't an important idea to consider. "i'll probably just avoid jacob, can't be that hard."

"until when? when is jacob just going to give up and leave you alone?"

"...i don't know."

kris pulled up her knees to her chest and looked at him. "we're all going to help, but you can't just succumb to this like being beaten is normal. you need to fight back too."

louis slowly nodded, intently staring at the water around them. after what felt like an eternity, he answered her. "i'll try, but if jacob threatens you, we stop. no one is going to get hurt for my sake."

"and you're not going to get hurt for me." kris countered.

he smiled softly at her. for a while, they sat in silence, talking about nothing. but nothing was better than painful something. just as the moon began to  reach it's peak in the sky, louis felt something rise up in his chest. it climbed into his throat and made swallowing uncomfortable.

"let's try something." louis said, forcing the words out rather rushed. he tried to block out the sensation and slowed his speech. "before we leave tomorrow, we should each do one crazy thing, one thing we'd never do otherwise. since we're breaking out of our norms and all."

kris smiled. "deal."

"am i allowed to do my crazy thing now?"

"is there a rule otherwise?"

louis smiled a ghost of a smile. the panic in his chest rose up, making him want to scream. before he could be overwhelmed, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. his throat felt dry as he pulled away.

kris swallowed. she felt lightheaded. "okay." she said softly. "my turn."

before anything could happen to stop her, kris moved closer, ghosted her hand on the side of his face, and kissed him. not on the cheek, but instead on his mouth.

the ice was cold.

the ocean was cold.

the air and moon and everything around them was cold.

but they were warm.

i was listening to boyce avenue's cover of 'a thousand years' while writing the last half of this chapter and wow emotions.

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