I so sorry this chapter took forever to load. I have been so swamped with finals for last semester and new classes, but I'm updating now. Please don't be mad. I tried to make this chapter a bit longer and I added some drama.
So, here it is (finally):
Chapter 18:
Niall--
I just sat there. Harry said my name a few times, but I could get up enough nerve to look at him. It's not like I was homophobic, or hated him now. I accepted him, but it just came as such a surprise when it really shouldn't have.
A hand flashed in front of my face a few times.
"Niall..?" Harry's voice said, timidly. "Uhmmm... What are you thinking about?" he asked. I didn't answer right away, just looked at him for a moment.
"It's just surprising," I finally said.
He let out a strangled sound, breath whooshing out of his chest.
"That I like Louis, or that I'm gay?" he asked. I sighed.
"Both, I guess. But it really shouldn't be. I mean, I kind of knew all along, but I just... I don't know," I tried to explain myself, but I just couldn't get the words out.
"I know what you mean. Sort of. It's not like I really hid my feelings, it's just that I never expressed them in an "I love Louis like a potential lover" kind of way, more of a "I love Louis like a brother" kind of way," Harry said. I nodded.
"I completely accept you, Harry. And I promise that I will help you win him over. If you even have to," I smiled at him.
"Even have to?" he asked. I stared at him, incredulously.
"You really don't know?" I asked. He shook his head, shrugging.
"Louis acts the same way around you as you do around him. And he's never as touchy and close to the rest of us as he is to you," I told him. "He obviously has SOME feelings towards you. If not love, then what?"
He was about to answer when Jillian walked in, a stunned look on her face, followed by the exact boy we had been talking about moments before.
"Jill? Please, say something. I'm begging you," I heard Lou plead with her, his hands outstretched as he attempted to grab her arm. What was going on with them? Jill looked over at me, widened her eyes a bit and gave me a look. She obviously wanted to talk to me, but couldn't because of Louis. Her eyes flashed to Harry and a sad smile made its way onto her face before she turned around to face Lou.
"I know how you feel. I get it. I understand and accept it. I just... can we talk about it more later? It's just that the first time we met you said you weren't and now... It's just a lot to take in right now. I'm not judging, but... later, please?" her voice spoke to Louis. His face went hard for a moment, then he frowned and nodded. She gave him a hug and he went to go sit by Liam and Zayn, the latter of which, still eating.
I saw her sigh as she headed towards Harry and I. I opened my arms, and she say down next to me, cuddling into my chest.
Harry looked like he wanted to continue our conversation, but not with Jillian here. I nodded to him as he stood up and went to sit with the other boys, but not too close to Louis. Hmm...
Jillian sighed and looked up at me, her eyes boring into mine. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Smiling, she moved up a bit and kissed me right on the mouth. A jolt went through my body, followed by an intense tingly feeling that I liked a lot. She froze a bit, as if she felt it, too. Then, as I deepened the kiss, she followed my lead, opening her mouth for me.
Everything went away.
We were no longer in a hospital, no longer with the guys, no longer a part of this world. It was just us, alone in each other. She sat up, and moved onto my lap, not breaking the kiss. My hands went to her hips, as hers went to the back of my head.
I felt free and alive. Happy.
"Eh-hem," someone cleared their throat. "If you are going to do that, please go outside," a voice said.
We broke apart and I looked up to see the slutty nurse from the other day. She gasped.
"You, but... He," she stumbled, pointing at Liam, who had his hand locked with Morgan's.
"Yes?" I asked, annoyed by her lack of respect, even though, really, Jillian and I weren't being too respectful either.
"I, uh,..." she composed herself. "Are you cheating?" she asked me, flat out. Jillian looked at me, as if she wanted this nurse to go fall in a hole.
"And why would I do that?" I asked, a bit snarky. Her eyes widened a bit.
"It just, you were with him the day before," she said, pointing to Liam again. I sighed.
"Actually. No. Liam and I are not together, never have been, never will be. Not only are we like brothers, but both of us like our girls. As if that was any of your business," I told her, wrapping my arms around Jillian, picking her up and carrying her away from the nosey bitch.
"Wow," Jillian said. I nodded and pecked her lips before setting her down next to Liam, and sitting next to her.
"I love you," she whispered to me.
"And I love you," I whispered back.
Liam--
"Okay, lovebirds, I'm done. Jill? Wanna go to the mall or something?" Morgan asked. Jillian looked over at her and nodded.
"Sure," she said. Morgan leaned over and kissed my cheek, before standing up.
Both girls got up and walked out. I sighed.
"What's the matter, mate?" Zayn asked.
"I don't know what to do. I asked Morgan out, but I have no idea for a date," I dropped my head into my hands.
"Did she say something that she liked?" Harry asked. I bought about it for a minute before it dawned on me.
"I got it!" I exclaimed and jumped up to make a call, leaving them sitting there, confused.
I pulled out my phone and dialed a number that I hadn't called in almost forever.
"Dave's Bowling Alley, how may I help you?" a voice came through.
"Dave! It's Liam!" I said, excited.
"Liam Payne, Liam?" he asked.
"Yes!"
"Oh wow. How are you, man?"
"Pretty good, but I need a favor."
"Anything."
"I need to rent out your Bowling Alley for the day."
"Today?"
"Yeah. If you could?"
"Sure! Give me two hours, and everyone should be out. What do you need it for?"
"A date with a girl," I told him, blushing a bit.
"Oooo... Man! And at a bowling alley. Nice! She's gonna love it! Do you want me to keep the bar and kitchen open for you guys?" Dave asked.
"Sure," I said. "And thanks a lot, Dave. You're awesome!"
"You don't have to tell me, for me to know," he said, and I laughed with him.
"True. Very true."
"Well, I'll let you go, so you can get ready and I can close up for the public. See you in a few hours, Liam."
"See ya, Dave. And thanks again."
"No problem."
I hung up a few seconds after the line went dead.
Yes! So now I have a date!
In two hours... An the girls are shopping... Oh no.
I punched a few numbers in my phone and waited for Jillian to pick up.
"Yes, Liam?" she answered.
"I need you to get Morgan to Dave's Bowling Alley in about 2 hours! Can you do it??"
"Do you doubt my abilities Liam Payne?" she asked me, faking offense.
"No, but this is really important. And don't tell her! It's supposed to be a date! And I want it to be a surprise," I tried to stress the importance of this.
"Okay. And I promise to not spill the beans and to get her there on time," Jill said.
"Good! Now, have fun shopping," I said, smiling.
"Goodbye, Liam," she laughed.
We hung up and I ran back to the boys.
"Zayn, you can stay with Liz, but I need you three to help me set up a date for Morgan! It's going to be at Dave's," I told them. "We have two hours."
Louis smiled wide, as did the other boys.
"Great choice! Let's go!" Louis stood up, followed by Niall and Harry.
"We're taking my car. 'Cuz it's the only one here, since the girls took Jill's," Niall said.
"We need to go pick up mine," I told him. "Who's driving?"
"I will!" Harry yelled from behind us. Niall turned and tossed him the keys. Louis was at the car first, but instead of sitting passenger, he sat in the far back. Weird.
I shrugged it off as we got in the car and pulled out, to go get ready for what was, hopefully, going to be one of the best days of my life.
Morgan--
"Who was that?" I asked Jill as she got done with the phone.
"Just Niall asking when we were going to be back," she said.
"Oh, okay," I smiled. She grinned back at me.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
I shrugged. I didn't really care where we went.
"Doesn't matter," I told her.
"Okay. Do you mind if we stop at Hot Topic? I need a few more bracelets and I was thinking about hair dye," Jillian asked.
"Wait, what? Hair dye? What color?" I asked, surprised she was actually thinking about it.
"Not sure. Just a change, you know?" she shrugged.
We pulled into the mall a few seconds later.
"Yeah. I could see you as a blonde. Or maybe black..." I trailed off, thinking about it. Black would look stunning with her green eyes.
"You coming?" she asked, getting out of the car. I didn't even realize we had parked.
"So, hair dye, and bracelets?" I questioned. Jillian nodded.
We walked into Hot Topic, and I immediately felt out of place. Everyone here had either black or brightly colored hair and multiple piercings. Jillian looked comfortable, as she walked through the store to the rack of bracelets, grabbing a few with band names on them.
"Got the bracelets!" she exclaimed, smiling.
"Are you sure about the hair dye?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Not really, but we can look and see what colors they have. If there isn't any that would look okay, we can move on," she said. I nodded and we moved on to find the section that had the dye.
"Woah." The word slipped out of my mouth as we finally came to a stop. There were so many different colors. Every one that you could think of, in different shades.
"Well, it is Hot Topic," Jillian said, commenting on my surprise. We looked for a few minutes, trying to find a color that would suit Jill, but wouldn't be close to her normal color. We looked at the blacks and the blondes, but none seemed right. There was a blue that looked interesting, but Jillian thought it was too loud.
After about 30 minutes, we got bored.
"Wanna go somewhere else?" I asked her. She was looking a bit frustrated and annoyed. Nodding, she gestured for me to go, and then followed me out of the store.
What to do now?
"Did you have to work today?" I asked, suddenly remembering that she had a job.
"Nope," she announced, proudly. "My boss let me have this week and next off, paid, cuz Liz was in the hospital."
"Lucky," I muttered.
"Did you have to work today?" she asked.
"Nope. I have tonight off," I told her. I worked at a little restaurant close to the college I was going to.
"How about school?"
"Nope. Not this whole week, we're on break," I said.
"Sweetness!" Jillian exclaimed, and I laughed at her enthusiasm.
"Where are we going now?" She frowned a little.
"No idea. Where do you want to go?"
"Uhhh... How about... Dots?" I asked, as we passed one.
"Sure! They got colored skinny jeans," she said, smiling.
She linked arms with me and started to skip back to Dots.
"Oooh! Look! They have green ones!" Jillian giggled and grabbed a pair, going to try them on. I found a cute top a few racks down from where the jeans were.
"Jill? I'm in the room next to you," I told her, as I walked into the room to try on the top.
"They fit!" Jill yelled to me, bursting into the room I was in to show me. Luckily, I had the top on already.
"Ooh, that's cute," she said, motioning to the shirt.
"I think I'm going to get it," I told her. "You should definitely get those." I pointed to the jeans.
"I think I will," she smiled.
We hung out and looked through almost everything for like an hour.
Jillian suddenly checked her watch.
"Hey, Morgan! Wanna go bowling?" she suddenly asked.
"That's the best idea I've heard all day," I exclaimed.
Jillian smiled hugely and we headed off.
The whole car ride to the bowling alley was passed with the radio up and our voices louder. We sang all the sings we knew and make up random lyrics to the ones we didn't. It was fun and hilarious.
One of the boys' songs came on and instead of singing the whole song, Jillian stopped to listen to Niall's part, and I listened to Liam's. Gosh, they have such amazing voices.
The song ended as we pulled into the parking lot to Dave's Bowling Alley. This was going to be so fun!
I love bowling.
We hopped out of the car and raced to the door. Jillian beat me by a few seconds, but held the first door open for me. I held the second for her.
I looked around.
It was dark. The purple, green, and red laser lights flashed all around, but I couldn't see anything.
Suddenly, a hand found its way into mine and pulled me along to a room that was completely in darkness. No laser lights reached this place. The hand became two, and they guided me into a seat.
I sat there, blinking, trying to see, until the light of a few hundred candles shone.
I gasped.
I was sat at a round table, set for two, with a white cloth covering it. Candles were randomly placed on tables and chairs around where I was sat. Liam stood across the table from me, smiling widely, but looking a bit nervous.
"Oh, Liam. This is amazing!" I exclaimed, jumping up to hug him. "How did you ever think of this?"
"A good magician never reveals his secrets," Liam said, cryptically, with a grin. I hit his arm, softly.
"You're not a magician, silly," I told him. He just laughed.
"So do you want to bowl first? Or eat?" he asked me.
"I'm not sure..."
"Hmm... We could bowl, then eat, then bowl again," he suggested. I smiled at that, and nodded.
"But let's make this more interesting," I challenged.
"Winner gets to do whatever they please to the loser for the rest of this date?" he asked. Smiling evilly, I agreed.
This was going to be fun.
Liam--
She was kicking my arse.
I was down by 54 points with 3 frames left. There was no way I was catching up. And she knew it.
"Do you wanna call off the bet, Liam?" she asked, a bit cocky.
I just smiled at her, and motioned her to go on. It was her turn.
She threw the ball down the lane and it hit seven pins. Three were still standing on the right. The next time she threw the ball, it hit the remainder.
I was screwed.
"Your turn," she told me, smiling like a kid on Christmas. She was so happy, and that's all that mattered. I didn't care if I lost.
I threw the ball, and turned away from the lane to look at her.
She was looking at me, too.
Bells went off, signaling a strike.
I turned back to the lane, surprised. I had gotten a strike?
Wow.
Morgan took her turn and we finished the game pretty quickly after that. She beat me.
Instead of gloating though, she gave me a hug.
I smiled and burrowed my face in her curly hair. If I could have purred, I would.
So far, this date was amazing. This girl is amazing.
"Do you want to go eat now?" I asked, well, mumbled as my face was still in her hair.
"Sure," she agreed.
I pulled away, but kept hold of her hand, pulling her lightly back to the table we were at earlier.
I pulled the chair out for her and then went to go sit. She sat there, confused, for a few seconds, but then brightened up when Jillian came out in a serving outfit.
"My name is Jillian, and I will be your server this evening, here are your menus, can I get you something to drink," she spoke formally, handing us the menus.
"Morgan?" I asked.
"Coke, please," she giggled.
"Me, as well," I told Jillian, smiling.
"I'll be right back with those. Please, look through the menu while I'm gone," she said, walking off.
We opened the menu and Morgan started laughing.
There was one thing written on the inside:
"Cajun Chicken Alfredo"
Jillian came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order, a smile on her face.
"I guess I'll have to have the Chicken Alfredo, it sounds really good," I said, trying not to laugh, while Morgan cracked up.
As soon as she was able to talk she said she would have the chicken, too.
"I'll be right back with that,"Jillian held back a laugh as she walked away.
"Well, that was entertaining," I commented, laughing a bit. Morgan giggled. Her giggle was just so cute. It made me so happy to hear it.
(AN: Morgan really did giggle as I was writing this. We were having a sleepover at my house.)
Jillian came back less than a minute later, two plates in her hand. She set them down, told us to enjoy, and left again.
We dug in, eating in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward at all. It was comfortable, easy, simple.
Louis--
The way he moved was riveting. He practically danced around the kitchen as he made food for Liam's date. From one end of the kitchen to the other, he moved, grilling the chicken, fixing the sauce, and doing other things. I sat there watching him work, out of the way, but still close enough.
I loved this boy, to the moon and back, too much, yet not enough. It would never be enough because he could never love me back.
I was staring at him, when Jillian walked in.
"Morgan's here. You have around 15-20 minutes to finish the meal. They will probably bowl a bit first, so don't worry," she told Harry.
I was still watching him.
"Louis? Are you okay?" his eyes bore into mine as he asked me a question.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a bit tired is all. Didn't get much sleep last night," I told him. And I didn't. I was up almost all night, thinking about him and his beautiful eyes. By the time I did go to sleep, it was 3 in the morning and I had a dream about him. He was watching me as I fell off a cliff, not doing anything, just watching, with no emotion at all.
Fingers snapped in front of my face.
"Louis? Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked. I could do it. My breathing hitched and tears began streaming down my face. I had never cried in front of someone who wasn't family.
"Louis? Oh my god," he said and pulled me into a hug, which just made me cry harder.
"Lou? What's wrong?" he asked again. His voice was thick, as if he was trying to hold back his own tears.
"Please, Lou, tell me what's wrong," he begged.
"I-I-I can't," I stuttered. "I can't t-tell you. You won't understand!" He pulled me tighter.
"I'll try to understand. I promise I will," he said.
"Just p-promise me s-something," I begged him.
"Anything, Lou, anything. I swear it," he promised.
"We will s-still be friends n-no m-matter w-what."
"Definitely! There is no question, Lou. We will always be friends, no matter what you tell me."
I had to do it. I had to tell him. I had to get it off my chest.
"H-Harry, I-I-I'm in love with you," I spit out. The weight was gone, I could breathe again. But he said nothing, just sat there frozen.
"Harry? Did you hear me?" I turned to face him.
"I'm in love with you," I said again.
His eyes were wide, staring at me, but he remained still, unmoving.
"I knew it," I whispered. He would never understand, never love me back. I broke free of his grip and ran out. I ran to the car, started it and drove as fast as I could to the only place I could think of.
The Tower Bridge.
Harry--
Did Louis just admit to loving me? Me? His best friend?
Why wasn't I taking this better? I mean, I'm in love with him, too!
Wait. I'm in love with him, too...
I have to tell him.
"Louis!" I screamed, as I burst through the doors to the outside.
"Louis!" but the car was driving away.
Why didn't I say anything when I had the chance? I could have done something, been with him.
I love Louis Tomlinson.
And I will follow him anywhere.
So... How did you like it? I know I didn't add much Niall/Jillian romance stuff, but I'll try to put more in the next chapter.
Please comment, vote, fan.
Ride a unicorn.
Eat a banana.
Give a mouse a cupcake.
I don't even know...