Hitlist | h.s

Thirty-four

Megan was sitting at the kitchen island a short distance away, feet loosely dangling in the air as she scrolled through nonsense on her phone. I noted that her hair was freshly tinted with a deep pink color at the roots, gold at the bottom in an ombre effect. As for Louis and I, he guided us to sit at the oblong dining table, face to face across the wooden slab.

“I appreciate you wanting to talk, Lou, but I really came here to speak with Harry.” His name burned my tongue.

“I think this is important,” he sighed, poking into a compass engraved on his forearm. Reluctantly, I waited for him to continue.

“What?” I sneered, leaning back leisurely in the stiff chair and crossing my arms over my body, “are you going to tell me more about how you loathe me?”

Megan’s head snapped over, eyes squinted as she stared disapprovingly at Louis who had just let out a chuckle of hilarity.

“He better not,” the girl firmly spoke. I could see the curvatures of Louis’ face harden, a serious expression masking over the amusement that had previously rimpled his countenance. He looked almost obedient towards her.

“Damn,” I slyly smiled, looking between their stone cold expressions. “She must have ya whipped Louis Tomlinson. Never have I seen you listen to anybody.”

The boy’s light pink lips slanted upward as he looked towards his girlfriend whose cheeks were set ablaze.

“I do love her,” he shyly admitted, causing a smile to grace over her pretty face. Her grin was contagious and soon spread over my own mouth. Before Louis could say anything else to the girl, she spun in her chair and nonchalantly returned to her phone.

“So what do you need to talk about?” I asked, inching slightly closer to the boy.

“About how… I’ve acted towards you.” I watched on in admiration as he twirled a bracelet around his tan wrist.

“Look, I know tha-”

“I’m sorry for what I said… and how I’ve treated you.”

I sighed in frustration, knotting my hands in my lap like hair strands that had been caught in a wind storm.

“You don’t have to do this, Lou.”

He sheepishly looked towards Megan, then back to me.

“I want to,” he heavily sighed, blue eyes wandering.

“Go on then.”

“I’m sorry that I said you were dead to me. That was wrong… a-and,” he took in a sharp breath, closing his eyes tight before adding “and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you your sister was in the gang.”

“You knew?”

He nodded, squinting one eye open to examine my bewildered face. I didn’t feel hurt by his confession for some reason. I just wasn’t expecting it.

“I actually… yes. I knew.”

Things swirled in my mind like dye dispersing in water.

“How did you not know that Harry and Adrianna were together?”

“Harry and I weren’t friends until after she was kil-” he paused, swallowing hard, “passed away.”

I nodded, gripping tightly to the wooden chair below my body that kindly prevented me from falling.

“I see…” my voice trailed, chest slightly heaving. His sea blue eyes looked sympathetically into mine and I could see the genuine compassion clouding them. “It’s okay, Lou.”