WARNING: A little smut. If you aren't comfortable with it, just skip ahead to the end:)
That morning I woke up early, sprawled across my bed with my party dress still on. Even though I hadn’t had anything to drink, my head still pounded as I recounted the events of last night. But even though it had been emotional, I felt light, as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Finally, there was nothing standing between me and Louis. No more secrets, no more lies, just two people who were finally able to begin anew.
I rolled out of bed and took an hour long shower, making sure any remnants of my past washed down the drain with the hot water. As I blow dried my hair, I thought of how nice it had been last night, the feeling of Louis’ hand in mine as he had walked me home, pointing out various constellations in the starry sky.
“Stella means star in latin.” He had said. “People have been using the exact same stars we’re standing under right now to guide them since the beginning of time. So it’s actually pretty fitting that you’re named Stella, because whenever I get lost, I look to you and you bring me right back home again.”
I dressed in a maroon t shirt dress with a black belt and my favorite Tory Burch flats, then headed downstairs to eat some breakfast. Louis had said that he wasn’t coming until 10:30, so I still had time to fix something. I poured myself some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, powering up my iPhone to text Ash as I began to eat. I hadn’t talked to him in a while, and that mixed with the lack of information I had given him about that night at the club was probably driving him crazy. However, before I even had a chance to open up my message thread with Ash, my phone beeped, indicating that I had a new text. My heart dropped as I read the tiny words on the screen.
Niall: Judging by how you ran out on me last night, i’m guessing I was a bit too forward with the whole “I love you” thing. But I still want to talk, just the two of us. Are you free?
I sighed in frustration. Why couldn’t the universe seem to understand that I was trying to get Niall out of my life for good? Whenever it seemed like I had finally gotten rid of him, he always seemed to come back when I was more vulnerable then ever, which was why I kept letting him in. But not this time. Not anymore.
Not bothering to text Ash or reply to Niall, I dropped my phone back in my bag and went outside to wait for Louis. It was a beautiful September day. There wasn’t a cloud in the azure colored sky and for once it wasn’t a billion degrees, the temperature was perfect. I sat on my front step and enjoyed the feeling of the soft breeze rustling my hair, smiling when Louis’ Porsche pulled up into my driveway. I waved to him then jogged over to the passengers side, sliding across the soft leather into the car.
Before he could say anything in way of greeting, I pressed my lips to his softly. It was the same type of kiss we had shared last night, so soft and innocent, and when I pulled away, he was smiling.
“Forget hello, I could get used to that.” He laughed. I didn’t say anything, instead just laying my head back on the leather headrest and looking up at him. He was wearing jeans and a Miami Heat basketball jersey, a relaxed expression on his face. I had never seen him looking so casual before, but I liked it.
“Any chance you’ll tell me where we’re going?” I asked him, knowing full well that he wouldn’t tell me.
He smirked playfully. “Come on Parker, haven’t you learned by now not to ask any questions?”
I sighed in mock frustration, but my smile gave me away. I was actually looking forward to the surprise. “At least try and stick to the speed limit today, Tomlinson.”
He rolled his eyes, but there was a grin playing on his lips. “No promises.” He said as he backed out of the driveway. However once we hit the road, he started speeding down it at about ninety miles an hour, probably just to spite me. Honestly, who had given this boy a license?
As I tried to keep down my breakfast, my brain racked over all the places we could possibly be going. We were on the freeway now headed toward South Beach. It was way too early to go clubbing, so maybe lunch at the Fountainbleu, bowling, or a picnic on the beach? No, those were all too normal. Knowing Louis we were probably going to do something crazy like extreme go karting or speedboating. But all my predictions were blown out of the water when he turned off the main radio onto Biscayne Boulevard. There wasn’t much to do here unless you were going to a concert at the American Airlines Arena. Maybe there was a Heat game on today? That would explain why Louis had a jersey on.
“Stop trying to guess what we’re doing.” Louis said, and I laughed at how easily he had read my mind. We had driven into the arena’s parking garage, which was completely empty. Pulling up into a space, he cut the ignition.
“We’re here!” He announced, popping the trunk and exiting the car. I looked around, more confused then ever.
“Um, Lou?” I asked, getting out of the Porsche. “There’s no one here.”
Louis had pulled his guitar out of the trunk and was now locking the car. “That was the plan.” He said vaguely. “Now follow me.”
Normally, I would have stood by the car and refused to move until he told me what we were doing, but my curiosity had gotten the best of me and I started to walk after him. We walked down three flights of stairs and across an abandoned parking lot that seemed to stretch on for miles before we finally reached a set of unmarked doors. Setting down his guitar, Louis pushed open the doors and looked both ways before beckoning for me to follow him.
We were standing in the middle of a pitch black hallway. I grabbed onto Louis’ hand so I wouldn’t lose him, and silently, we continued walking. After about three minutes, he finally spoke up.
“We’re almost there.” He said, pulling me about another 200 meters before dropping my hand and pushing open another door.
I followed him into another completely dark room while he started thumping around, as if he was looking for something. Apparently he found it, because he let out a relieved sigh and seconds later the room was flooded with light. I had to blink several times before my eyes focused enough to be able to take in my surroundings. But when I did, I let out a surprised gasp. We were standing on the stage of the AA arena’s concert hall, surrounded by 50,000 empty seats. I had only been here once before, when Niall and I had come to see Maroon 5, but back then I had been up in the nosebleeds, which wasn’t even comparable to being up here on stage. The only word I could use to describe it was amazing.
“How did you- How are we- How is this even possible?” I asked him breathlessly.
“Don’t worry about it.” Said Louis, who had removed his guitar from it’s case and was now plugging it into an amp. “Now go sit down and prepare to be amazed.”
“No.” I said, defiantly. “Not until you at least tell me why i’m preparing to be amazed.”
“Stella, when are you ever going to get the chance to sit front row in this arena again?” Louis asked sassily. “Now stop asking questions.”
I had to admit he had a point, so I trudged down the steps and was halfway to the centermost front row chair when I realized he hadn’t followed me. “Aren’t you coming?” I asked Louis, who was adjusting a mic back up on the stage. Was he going to sing to me? If so, I wasn’t sure that i’d able to go on.
“Baby, can you please just sit down?” He asked, exasperated. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”
If he hadn’t called me baby, I probably wouldn’t have so easily obeyed, but I would let him win just this once. I sat down and stared up at him expectantly. “Well?”
“Are you ready?” He asked, smiling down at me.
I could barely contain my excitement. “Ready for what I might ask?”
“You, Stella Grace Parker, are about to have a once in a lifetime experience.” Louis laughed. “A private Louis Tomlinson concert.”
I couldn’t hep myself, I was thrilled. I had only heard Louis sing one other time, when we had been in the car, and since the whole band thing with the other guys had been so kept under wraps, I wasn’t sure I would have the opportunity again.
“What an honor!” I joked, just so he wouldn’t know how excited I actually was.
He glared at me in mock anger. “Don’t make fun! Mark my words, someday this arena’s going to be full of girls who would kill just have five seconds alone with me singing to them.”
I felt a sudden pang of jealousy at his words, but I pushed them aside. After all, what were the chances of that actually happening? That was like me saying that I was going to become the Queen of England or something.
“Okay.” He said nervously into the microphone before he began strumming his guitar. He was good at playing, sure, but I wasn’t really rendered speechless until the lyrics started flowing from his mouth.
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song, and this one's for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
I hadn’t realized it while he was singing, but when he stopped I could feel tears streaming down my face for what seemed like the millionth time this week alone. But for once, it was’t because I was sad. It was because I had never been so happy in my entire life. Louis’ voice was so achingly beautiful, so earnest and haunting, it had taken my breath away. He was looking down at me, biting his lip, as if waiting for me to say something. But I didn’t reply. Instead I walked up to the stage and held out a hand so he could help hoist me up.
Once I was standing level with him, looking into those indescribably beautiful aquamarine eyes, I realized his voice wasn’t the only thing about him that made me speechless. Everything about him did. The way he bit his lip when he wasn’t sure what to say. The way his hair always looked as if he had simply rolled out of bed and forgotten to brush it. The way his muscular, tattooed arms looked in his sleeveless jersey. He was perfection, there was no other way to put it.
Grabbing a handful of his jersey, I pulled him into me, pressing my lips to his. He seemed surprised at first but soon began to reciprocate, placing his hands on the small of my back as I let my own slip underneath the bottom of his shirt and rest on his the smooth, warm muscles of his stomach. We stayed like that for several minutes until he finally pulled away, barely able to hide his happiness.
“I take it you liked the song then?” He asked, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I pulled him back into me, my hands flying to his belt buckle.
“Whoa there Stel.” He said, pushing my hands away. “I’m not expecting anything-”
I sat down on the cold, hard stage, patting the ground next to me so he knew to sit down too. “I want to try something.” I cut him off.
Obviously surprised my blunt, forward actions, he hesitantly sat down next to me. For the second time that day, I grabbed the hem of his jersey, slowly nudging it up until he was shirtless, discarding the fabric aside. I placed a hand on his chest and pushed him backwards until he was laying down, with me falling on top of him. Not being able to help myself but blushing as I did so, I admired the well defined lines of his tanned upper body, my finger absentmindedly tracing the It Is What It Is tattoo on his chest.
“Why do you have so many tattoos?” I asked suddenly, truly interested in the answer.
There was a thoughtful look on his face as he replied. “I’m not sure. Most of them don’t really mean anything. I guess it was sort of my way of taking back control when I felt as if my own life was completely out of my hands.”
I pointed to the one on his forearm of a stick figure falling off a skateboard. “This one’s my favorite.”
Louis laughed. “That was my first one. It’s a bit silly, mum almost killed me when I showed up at home with it. Josh picked it out, I don’t think he thought I would actually go through with it.”
Now I was tracing the paper airplane right above the stick figure. “Does it hurt, getting a tattoo?”
He shrugged. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He said as he placed his hands on my hips. “But i’m not so sure I can handle you.”
I bent over so that I could kiss him, my long dark hair forming a curtain around us. As the kiss became more heated, so did my need to feel Louis close to me. Straddling him, I slowly began grinding my hips on his groin, causing a soft moan to escape him.
“Stella, i’m serious.” He breathed. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want too.”
“Shhh.” I said, raising a finger to his lips. This moment was so incredible, so intimate, it didn’t need words. Our actions were speaking loudly enough for the both of us.
I could feel him begin to grow hard as his hands helped me to establish a steady rhythm, and this time when I went to undo his belt, he didn’t stop me. I undid his button and zipper, my hands suddenly beginning to tremble. After all, I didn’t have much experience with this. With Niall, there hadn’t been any forethought, it had been straight down to business. I didn’t want this to be a complete disappointment for Louis.
As if sensing my anxiety, he stroked my cheek. “It’s fine baby. Take your time.”
Placing his hands on top of mine, he helped me to slide down his jeans to his ankles, which he then proceeded to kick off. My hands trembling, I then hooked my fingers around his boxers, making sure to keep my eyes firmly focused on them as I slid them down his legs. It wasn’t long before they had joined his jeans, and he was lying in front of me, completely naked.
Blushing furiously, I paced one hand on his stomach and used the other to cup his already throbbing erection, causing him to moan in pleasure. Even with such little experience, I had enough to know what to do next, so I gently wrapped my fingers around his thick length and began to slowly pump back in forth. Judging from the soft groans escaping his lips, I knew that I was doing something right. As I continually moved my hand over him, his chest began heaving up and down, as if he was at a loss for air. Before I could do anything else though, he removed my hands from him, breathing heavily.
“I’m too close.” He explained in between gasps for air, and I knew what he wanted me to do. Kissing him softly on the lips first, I let my mouth trail softly down his body, leaving a few love bites on his neck and some kisses here and there. He shuddered as my lips brushed the inside of his thigh, which caused a wave of warmth to rush through my own body. Just knowing the effect I was having on him was such a turn on, I wasn’t even hesitant about what I was about to do.
Slowly, I brought him into my mouth, an almost animalistic groan escaping his throat as I did so. His hips involuntarily rocked forward from the pleasure, but otherwise he remained stationary. Wanting to hear him moan again, I took more of him in my mouth, wrapping my fingers around what I couldn’t fit in. I could hear him try to say something, but he couldn’t form anything coherent. Knowing that I probably wan’t doing this perfectly but still enjoying the power I had over him, I swirled my tongue around a little, causing him to emit more groans from his lips, which he was biting down on, trying not to fully lose himself to the pleasure.
I started pumping faster, causing him to swear as the intensity of the sensation increased. When I looked at him, his eyes were closed and his light brown hair was matted to his forehead. The air around us was thick and heavy, but I barely noticed it. His hand slipped down to my neck, where he began to slowly stroke his thumb back and forth over the soft skin. From the euphoric look on his perfect face, I knew that he was close. I dug my fingernails into his thigh, moving my hand faster and faster until I could finally feel him shuddering above me, a deep, throaty moan escaping him.
“Holy fuck.” He said over and over again, his eyes still closed. I moved my lips back up to his lips, kissing him passionately as he rode out his orgasm. Every so often my name would escape his lips in a husky whisper, until finally, he just lay there, his breathing erratic.
“Shit Stella.” He breathed, still recovering.
I smiled at him, softly pushing the damp hair off his forehead so that I could stare into his eyes, which were now a dark slate grey. “I hope that was okay.” I said, a bit self consciously. I knew it probably couldn’t compare to what he had experienced before, but from the look on his face, it couldn’t have been all that bad.
“That was amazing.” He breathed, sitting up so that he could look at me. The cheeky grin from before was back. “Now, should I return the favor, or should we skip dinner and head straight for desert?”
I laughed at his cheesy innuendo, but I never got a chance to reply, because our intimate moment was interrupted.
“WHO’S IN HERE?” Boomed the voice of a security guard from somewhere in the concert hall. I looked at Louis, who was still in various states of undress, absolutely panicked.
“Shit.” He exclaimed, hastily pulling back on his boxers and jeans, not even bothering with his shirt. I grabbed it and stuffed it in his guitar case, my heart beating out of my chest.
“HEY, YOU TWO CAN’T BE IN HERE!” The security guard called, beginning to run down the steps towards us. Not even bothering to wait for Louis, I began to take off in an olympic caliber sprint towards the exit. I tried my hardest not to laugh as I did so. Whether I genuinely thought the situation was funny or I was absolutely mortified we had been caught doing what we were doing, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t allow myself to make a sound until I burst through the doors back into the bright sunlight.
Louis was right behind me, breathing heavily from all the exertion his body had experienced in the last hour. There was a cheeky grin on his face. “Well that was close.”
I finally allowed myself to laugh, my cheeks flushing red from both the running and the realization of what we had just done. “Too close.” I agreed.
“I have to admit i’m disappointed.” Louis said, and I felt my heart drop. I knew my experiences with anything sexual were sub par to say the least, but I hadn’t known they were that bad. “You never got the chance to answer my question.”
I started laughing all over again at his audacity. “The answer is neither, Tommo. I was just going to leave you there lying naked on the floor.”
“NOTHING’S FINE I’M TORN, YOU’RE A LITTLE LATE, THIS IS HOW I FEEL, COLD AND I AM SHAMED LYING NAKED ON THE FLOOR.” He started belting out.
I reached into the guitar case for his jersey, which I proceeded to pelt at his face. “Shut up and put a shirt on.” I said playfully, but all of a sudden, the look on Louis’s face was anything but.
Without even having to ask, I knew something was terribly wrong. Silently, I followed Louis’ gaze to a black Lincoln Escalade parked on the curb, as if it had been waiting for us. I didn’t know who was in that car, but whoever it was, they certainly couldn’t be very friendly.
“Stella.” Louis said forcefully. “Do you know anyone who lives around here?”
I looked at him, confused. “My brother Ash and his girlfriend Astoria live right up the road.” I said. Ash and Tori’s exclusive Miami Beach high rise was barely visible over the horizon.
“You need to go there, right now. I’ll give you the keys to my car, stay there until I tell you it’s safe to leave.” He instructed, his eyes still firmly focused on the black car.
“I’m not going unless you tell me what’s wrong.” I said timidly, now more worried than ever. “Louis, who’s in that car?”
As soon as the words slipped out of my mouth, the passenger door opened and a heavy set man stepped out. Though dressed simply in a pair of khaki bermuda shorts and a polo shirt, in the bright glare of the afternoon sun I saw the glint of a shiny silver gun tucked into his belt.
A look of abject terror crossed Louis’ face, and I knew what he was thinking. The last time he had watched this scene play out, his best friend had ended up dead. Digging around in his pocket, he shoved the keys into my hands as the man began advancing towards us.
“Go, now!” He yelled, and I didn’t have to be told twice. For the second time that day I started sprinting blindly, not knowing where I was going but knowing that I had to get out of where I was. Not being able to help myself, I glanced over my shoulder at the scene unfurling behind me. Struggling as he may have been, the heavy set man had overpowered Louis and was now shoving him into the backseat of the car. As soon as the door was slammed shut, the car took off speeding down Biscayne Boulevard.
At this point, I had to stifle a scream. It didn’t even quite register with me what had just occured, the only words I were thinking that seemed to make sense were “Go to Ash and Tori.” I ran and I ran and I ran until I thought my lungs were going to burst, until finally Louis’ car came into view. I yanked open the door and collapsed into the front seat, locking myself in. My hands were frozen on the steering wheel as a million thoughts jumbled together in my mind, none of them making much sense. I closed my eyes, bracing for the gut wrenching sobs that were most likely going to be emitted from my body at any given time now, but surprisingly, they never came, as if I had already used up my allotted amount of tears for the year.
In our freshman year, everyone in my english class was required to read a poem, Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott. The poem begins with the words “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”. Yes, the words seem relatively straight forward. Don’t tell lies and you’ll live an uncomplicated life. But as I sat here in the car of the boy I loved, who had just been shoved into the back of a Escalade by a thug wielding a gun, it was as if I was hearing the words for the first time, reverberating in my mind louder and louder as the seconds passed by. Life, my life especially, had been built upon a foundation of lies, which had interwoven together so unsystematically that everything I thought I knew was collapsing underneath me, leaving me trapped in a web of my own mistakes.
Louis may have been joking when he had sung about how nothing was fine and that we were torn, but he may just have been repeating words that the universe seemed to so desperately want us to hear. No matter what lies we told ourselves, about how we could start anew and fix what was broken, they were never going to come true, because we had already both lived lives so full of deceit that we were doomed to be trapped in our lies forevermore, dealing with the consequences of our own actions.
As I sat in that car, I was torn, more so than ever. Torn between forcing myself to accept that I had spent the last few years destroying my own life and trying to think if there was anything I could do to fix it. But as all of the jumbled thoughts in my mind came together, forming a web tangled beyond my wildest imagination, the only thing that seemed blatantly obvious was that nothing was ever going to be okay again.
___________
A/N
First off, I would just like to say that this story is based off of many real life events. First off, I did see Louis (and the rest of 1D) live in concert last week at the AA Arena. Secondly, I did want to do very dirty things to him on that stage (sorrynotsorry). Thirdly, he was wearing a Miami Heat basketball jersey, and yes, his tattooed, muscular arms did look quite fit in it, as did the rest of him. Okay, so the similarities pretty much end there but I kind of loved writing this chapter because it has a bit of everything: romance, some saucy bits, plus the ever present drama in Stouis’ lives!!! What do you all think is going to happen to Louis?! Also, i’ve never really written a dirty scene like that because i’m the most awkward person ever so I hope it was okay?! Let me know. Lastly, I would just like to thank everyone for getting me to a thousand reads!!! Honestly, it may not seem like it’s that much to most people, but to me every read is something to be celebrated. You all have been so amazingly supportive and it means so much to me, so keep voting, commenting, following and reading because you have know idea how happy it can make someone feel to know that their story is getting recognized!!! I’ll update soon, and yes Nella shippers Niall will be back so there’s something to look forward too! Love you all.
Mac xoxo