The car ride was quiet. Too quiet, really.
When we finally reached the car, Chloe's happy and energetic mood had diminished. We all got in and buckled up and soon we were back on our way home. She didn't even dare to turn on the radio, the atmosphere was just too uncomfortable to do so.
I sat in the back with Louis again, with each of us sitting on opposite sides of the car. I kept my gaze out the window, as did he, and watched the first raindrops of the incoming showers slide down the window. When I was a child, I would always watch the slick water droplets race to the bottom and see which one got there first. The thought of that childhood moment made me smile a little.
Let me just say that life was so much easier back then. I had two parents who supported me in anything I did, which was mainly football. They would volunteer at the games and carpool my friends and I and would always be there with open arms and a juice box if I had a bad game. I had no worries, no stress of school, and no stress of boyfriends or looking skinny and beautiful like the media wants every One Direction girlfriend to look.
You have to realize that when you get older, it never gets easier. They always tell you when you're little that if you can't do something that you can do it "when you're older", but even though I wanted to grow up and live a great life when I grew up, I suddenly don't want it anymore. I want to go back to where it was easier and I had those sort of restrictions.
My eyes were starting droop from the fatigue that made them heavy, but I shook my head to wake myself up. I didn't want to fall asleep in this position, mostly because it's extremely uncomfortable and I don't want to wake up tomorrow. I'll have to deal with my life tomorrow, and I'm really not in the mood to. So instead, I sat up straighter in my seat, and laid my hands in my lap, keeping my gaze out the window. I stole a quick side glance at Louis who was trying not to fall asleep as well.
I knew I had to forgive him at some point, because our argument earlier was just ridiculous. Honestly, I wanted to talk to him about it. I wanted to tell him that I will take this competition the way I want to take it, whether it's seriously or passionately or not. I wanted to ask why he thought we were wasting time, especially since we took time to practice for it constantly and efficiently. And then he said I couldn't handle it. Man it just really just bugs me when someone says I can't do something or can't handle it. That's probably why I've got a stubborn trait in my personality, because every time I'm told I can't, I try to find a way to turn around, smile, and say, "watch me".
My head drooped down again, so I quickly looked up to keep my eyes open. I started trying to rub the sleep out of them, although I know I was miserably failing. I really wanted to just scoot over and lean my head on Louis' shoulder so I could sleep comfortably, but I'm not going to give in to him so quickly. I'm still mad at him. I'm infuriated, but I'm just so damn tired...
"Hey," Louis softly says, when we've stopped at a red light. I look over at him with a small glare and he waves his head over. I reluctantly scoot over, unbuckling and re-buckling my seatbelt in the process so I'm sitting right next to him. I raise my eyebrows at him, as a sign of wanting him to say something.
"You tired?" He whispers. I nod and rub my eyes again.
"Just sleep then, I'll tell you when we're home," He says with a soft smile. I don't hesitate to lean my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes. I feel his arm slip around my shoulder and pull me closer to him.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, the words slipping through my lips. He kisses the top of my head and rubs my shoulder as I finally start to drift off in the world of sleep after I hear him say one last thing.
"I know. I am too,"
************************
"Hey Chloe," I hear Louis whisper.
"Yeah?" She yawns.
"Thank you," He keeps his voice low. "I know we all fought today and weren't in our best moods but...you've helped a lot,"
"You have too," She says. "This one's definitely a handful," She chuckles, surely gesturing towards to me. It's silent for a bit, so I try to fall asleep again. I didn't want to get up and walk all the way to my flat, so maybe I could just stall the time with them a little while longer.
"You really love her, don't you," Chloe asks, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," I swear I could hear him smile when he said that. "I want the best for her. I don't want her hesitating or wasting her time doing something she doesn't want to do. If I could get her back on a football league I would but..." He trails off.
"I get it," Chloe says. "But you shouldn't be telling me this, you should be telling her how you feel. I didn't like seeing you guys fight,"
"I know, I'll talk to her in the morning," There's the silence again.
"Want me to drop you guys off and I'll park?" Chloe suggests.
"Sure," I feel him nudge my shoulder a little. "Lola?"
"Yeah," I mumble, not moving from my very comfortable position.
"We're back," He says. I finally open my eyes and allow myself to stretch a little.
"Okay," I mumble again and take off my seat belt. It was still raining a light drizzle outside, and I dreaded having to walk out in it.
"Hey, just wait here," Louis politely orders me as he walks out in the rain. He slams his door behind him and runs around to my side of the car, quickly opening my door.
"C'mere," He says, wrapping one arm around my shoulders and another under my legs. He lifts me out of the car, closing the door with his back.
"Louis..." I groan. "You don't need to do this..."
"Shh...just go to sleep love," He says, holding me closer to him. Although this gesture was unnecessary, I felt more comfortable being carried in his arms. The rain was making me shiver a bit, so I nuzzled my head into his neck and closed my eyes again, even though I felt nowhere near falling asleep again.
"I'm sorry," I find myself mumbling again. "I'm so sorry Lou..."
"It's okay, you're okay. We'll talk about it in the morning," He says to me. I can feel his slow and steady steps as he walks up the stairs. Only a couple minutes had past and he was already at the door of my flat. I was about to question how he was going to get in, because I remembered leaving my bag in the car. But I heard the click of the door unlocking and him stepping into the dark room. He carried me to the bedroom and set me gently down on the bed. I opened my eyes to look at him, who was kneeling down so he was eye-level with me.
"Can...can you stay?" I quietly ask him. He gives me a small smile and nods. As he walks to the other side of my bed, I take the time to take off my jewelry and lie the pieces on my nightstand. I was okay with sleeping in my clothes tonight, especially since I felt too tired to take the effort to actually change. It was only a few moments later when I felt Louis slide in the bed beside me, then wrapping his arm around my waist to pull me closer to him.
"I love you," He says out loud. I smile and close my eyes again.
"I love you too," I reply. And with that, we're both out for the night.
A.N: Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed the bit of fluff and silent forgiveness here. There's so much to come with this story, so I'm excited for yo u guys to see! May the odds be ever in your favor! -CookieKrumm