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"Okay, class is over for today! You all did wonderful. David, Jeremy, I need to talk to you both." Samantha dismisses the class and we all heave sighs of relief. I sink to the edge of the stage and let my legs hang. Being a background dancer is harder than I thought it'd be and I now have a newfound respect for them.
"We should probably get going if you want to wear something to the wedding. Though, going nude is perfectly find with me... not sure how my mom would react though." Harry says, stepping in front of the stage, right in front of me. I look up with a quizzical look.
"Well no thanks about the nude part, but I didn't know we were going to get my dress today... or at all. I thought you were too busy." I use air quotes around the word, busy.
Harry shrugs, "I've got an open spot right about now, but if you don't get off your ass and start moving, I'm going to take back my offer."
I roll my eyes at his rudeness and hop off the stage, grabbing my bag. "Do you mind if we stop by the dorms so I can drop off my bag? It's heavy and I don't want to carry it around."
Harry rolls his eyes and takes the bag from my shoulder and places it on his. "I don't have time for pitstops, Princess."
Oh, that word again... "Stop calling me that."
Harry smirks as we exit the theater, "Stop calling you what, Princess?"
"Okay," I cross my arms, glaring at him, "now you're just messing with me."
Harry shrugs, "Maybe."
When we get to the car he doesn't bother to help with the door, even though it's kind of jammed and hard to open. He has the nerve to even tell me to hurry up with opening the stupid door. I finally get it open and slide in, slamming the door shut. "Thank you so much for the help."
He smiles a little, his lips tilting up at the edges, but he doesn't show his teeth. "My pleasure, Princess."
I huff in annoyance and watch out the window as he makes his way to the dress store. I'm totally lost by the time we get there. I guess I should've explored a little during the summer so I'd know how to find my way through the town if I needed to.
The dress store is a huge store, nothing like I was expecting. It must cost tons of money for any of these dresses. Harry catches me gaping at the store and gives me a look. "Have you never been in a dress store before?"
I shake my head, not trusting my voice at the moment and he chuckles. "I can't say that's surprising." He looks at my choice of clothing pointedly.
I scoff and cross my arms feeling defensive. "My clothes are not that bad!"
He shrugs and walks through the store. He seems to be searching for a specific person. I follow slowly, still taking in my surroundings. It's one huge room, with a second floor balcony I can see from here. Dresses are everywhere, thousands upon thousands of different styles and colors.
A young man appears around the corner and jumps when he sees us. I stare at the sparkly eye makeup he has on, but don't say anything. It actually... goes well with his hair. "Oh dear, you scared me. What can I do for you?"
Harry gives the man a hard look before handing him a slip of paper. "We have a fitting scheduled in Anne Styles' name for this dress."
The man takes the paper and reads it, nodding as he does. "I see, I see. Come, come." He waves us over and starts to move expertly though the aisles of dresses. Harry keeps with him easily, pushing dresses out of the way. The unfortunate part is that he doesn't hold them for me. The dresses come back and smack me as I follow closely behind him. I trip countless times and I swear I see Harry smiling at one point.
"Ah, here, here," The man says with a smile, picking a beautiful dress off the rack. The mint green fabric falls gracefully down to the ground and it truly is beautiful, but I'm more focused on the top of the dress. The top comes up around the neck, but there's not much sleeve to it. It's lacy, though, and it's absolutely gorgeous. The man-- his name tag says his name is Vance-- smiles knowingly at me, showing straight teeth, a result of good hygiene. "Go, try it on." He points to the dressing rooms and pushes me towards them with the dress in my hands.
I bite my lip and approach the dressing rooms slowly. I quickly change, excited to get into the beautiful dress, but when I get it on, I can't reach to zip it up. I breathe in and crack the dressing room door open. I spot Vance immediately, "Hey, sir, I need help zipping--"
Vance looks over at me and smiles, starting to walk away. "Boy! Pretty girl in dressing rooms needs you to zip up her dress!" He calls, not listening to me trying to call him back.
"You bastard," I mutter, my face heating up as Harry returns, coming from around a rack. His eyes find mine and he smirks.
When he stands in front of me, he shoves a hand in his pocket and waits. "Well? Are you going to let me in so I can zip you up or not?"
I roll my eyes and open the door letting him in. I close it and turn around, but he's right there. In my face. This dressing room didn't seem this small when I was the only one in it. "Can you just zip me up?"
"Magic word?"
I glare up at him. "Please."
Harry tsks and waves a finger in my face. "I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Harry is sexy and I wish he'd just kiss me already.'"
I scoff, "One, that's more than one word. And two, I was raised not to lie, so I can't say that. Sorry." I shrug and turn my back to him, pulling my hair out of the way. "Now please zip the dress up, it's starting to get cold in here."
"Yeah, right. Cold is the last thing it is in here." Harry snorts, reaching for the zipper. His hands brush my bare back, making me shiver. "Hmm, maybe it is a little cold in here." He smirks at me through the mirror, causing me to roll my eyes.
He zips me up and pulls back. The dress doesn't exactly fit perfect. "I need it resized," I state, checking my reflection in the mirror. Harry agrees by nodding, assessing the dress too.
"Yeah, it's a bit big on you," He bites his lip. "Do you want me to unzip now?"
I nod instead of saying anything. When he unzips me, I kick him out of the dressing room and slip into my real clothes, placing the dress back in the bag and onto the hanger.
Harry is right outside the door of my dressing room. He takes the dress and starts walking away. I'm not sure whether to wait for him or to follow, so I decide to just follow him.
Soon, we meet up with a plump woman who wears a motherly smile. She pulls Harry into a big head that even he can't get out of. He awkwardly pats her back until she lets him go. "Harry! I haven't seen you in years! Heard your mom's getting married!" Harry nods. The woman's gaze pulls away from him and settles on me. Her wide blue orbs widen even more as she realizes I'm here with him. "Oh, my! Is this your girlfriend? Why, isn't she a doll!"
Harry scoffs and I blush. "Um, actually we're not in a relationship," I say at the same time that Harry blurts, "What? No. As if I'd date her."
I send him an offended glare and push my lips together. I'm not going to start fighting with him here in front of this nice lady who was nice enough to call me a doll. That'd make her realize that her generosity was just that: Generosity. Not the truth.
The woman swats Harry on the arm sternly. "Boy, that's why you never get a girl. You treat 'em like that. If anything, Doll here is way out of your league, Mister." She grabs my arm and squeezes it playfully.
A smirk falls back into place on my face as I cross my arms, "Yeah, Harry. What she said. I'm way out of your league."
Harry rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Polly, I was just giving this dress to you. Liana--" he gestures to me as he says my name, "needs this fitted. It's a little big."
Polly takes the dress and looks from it to me and back and forth. She nods and shakes her head, clucking her tongue or letting out a sigh as she assesses the both of us. Finally she smiles, "When I'm done with it, you'll look magnificent, Doll."
"Yay me," I say, giving her a small smile. She leads me to a small stool and I stand on it while she measures different areas of my body for the dress. When done, she scurries off, leaving Harry and me to find our own ways out of the store.
Harry and I are pulling out of the parking lot fifteen minutes later. I realize I'm starving, but decide to not bring it up with Harry. It's not like he'd stop anywhere. And if he did, he'd probably just get food for himself and then leave me over here starving. I send a text to Louis to ask if we can go get lunch.
Harry is just pulling back onto campus when Louis texts me back, agreeing to meet me at the same place we went to a few days ago. I agree, sending a short text back. "Harry, can you drop me off at Jones' Grill?"
Harry peers over at me curiously, scowling slightly. "And why should I do that? I was just going to go back to the dorm."
"Well," I start, kind of annoyed that he's acting like a dick about it. "I'm starved and have to meet Louis there. I thought you could be nice enough to drop me off. After all, you would be getting rid of me for a few hours. Unless you want me to come back to the dorm with you and follow your every move?"
Harry huffs, his face inscrutable for a moment. He pulls over in front of James' Grill and unlocks the doors. "Bye. Please don't come back to the dorms for at least a few hours."
I widen my eyes, looking at him with surprise. "Wow, you pulled over and said please. You're learning how not to be an asshole. Congrats."
Harry rolls his eyes, jaw ticking as he loses his patience. "Just get the fuck out of my goddamn car." I laugh and hop out. He speeds off only a millisecond after my hand retreats from pushing the door shut.
"Nevermind," I mumble. "Still an asshole."
. . . . .
Louis is in a bad mood.
"I told him. I told him it wouldn't work. And then he did exactly what I told him he shouldn't do! And our patient died. We failed!" Louis spits out the story, stabbing at his burger angrily.
"Wait," I start to choke on a fry and look up at him with a horrified expression. "You... A patient died and you're going on about how upset you are that you failed the assignment?"
"What?" Louis looks up with a confused expression before it dawns on him and he shakes his head, chuckling slightly. "I guess I left out a small, but important, detail. It was a fake patient, not like, a real person."
I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and take sip of my sweet tea to wash down the fry I choked on. "Jesus, Louis. Don't forget details like those when telling a story. You almost made me choke to death on a fry."
Louis chuckles. "Sorry."
"And," I start, nodding towards the burger on his plate. "You don't need a fork to eat a cheese burger, Lou, so I suggest you stop stabbing it vigorously."
Louis looks down, realizing how bad of a condition his burger is in and sighs, waving over a waitress to order a new burger. I giggle to myself and finish off my fries. I guess I'll just have to wait until he's done eating to leave.
"What did you do this morning that's got you all tense?" Louis asks, noticing the tension in my body, apparently.
I sigh and sip at my drink. "The Styles' family is going to be the death of me."
Louis laughs. The waitress comes over and places another burger in front of him and he thanks her before turning to me, "Oh, yeah. Anne's wedding."
"How'd you know about that?" I wondered aloud, peering at him from across the table.
"Our families are friends," he shrugs, then bites into his burger. Then through a mouthful of burger, "I thought it would be weird to show up and then have no one to talk to but a few family members, but since you're going, I'll reconsider."
I nod. Of course. It makes since that Holly and her family are invited, considering how close her mother was to Anne. And if Holly was invited, that would mean the rest of her family, including Louis and Niall would be invited too.
"That's good. Holly will be there," I wonder aloud. If Holly will be there, then I won't have to suffer the whole wedding with Harry. I'll be able to escape any time I want.
Louis sends me a glare from across the table. "Wow, I feel so loved right now."
"Oh," I grin at him, sheepishly. "Sorry. That's good. You and Holly will be there. Is that better?"
Louis smirks, "It would be better if you actually meant it."
I laugh and shove his arm. "Shut up. I do mean it."
Louis glances at the watch on his wrist and stands up quickly, cursing. "Shit, I have to go." At my curious look, he elaborated, "I have to go to the hospital."
"What?" I sit up straight, worried. "Who's hurt? Is it Holly?"
Louis looks at me blankly before chuckling, "Wow, I'm really bad at leaving out those important details, aren't I? No, for class, I've been volunteering to go help out at the hospital. I'm entertaining cancer patients."
"Oh," I pipe, smiling softly. "That's really sweet."
Louis nods and then hesitates before asking, "Do you.. want to come with me?"
I nod enthusiastically, not even having to stop and think about it. Harry wants me out of the dorm anyway. "Of course, that sounds great."
. . . . .
Ayla Peters, eight years old, lung cancer. When we enter her room, she's staring at a TV with a bored look on her face. As soon as she glances over and sees Louis though, her face lights up like a child's on Christmas day.
"Louis!" She calls as best she can. She's already gasping by now. She's sitting up in bed, leaning heavily against the head board. "Do you have a present for me today?"
Louis scoffs, "Do I have a present for you? Of course I have a present for you! Who do you think I am? Santa? No, that dude's a rip off. I mean, come on! What kind of person only gives you presents on one day of the year?"
The little girl laughs way harder than that joke called for, but I find myself smiling and laughing a little too. This child is just too adorable.
"What is it? What is it?" She asks impatiently, clapping her hands. Louis pulls the big fluffy bear from behind his back and thrusts it towards her. She squeals in delight and wraps her small arms around the big bear.
"Now, what are the magic words?" Louis asks her, leaning down to her level and smiling endearingly at her. I could almost "aww" out loud right now as I watch their heartfelt conversation.
"Louis the Tommo is awesomer than Channing Tatum!" She shouts out, still hyper about the big bear.
I raise my eyebrows when Louis looks at me. "Channing Tatum? Really?"
Louis chuckles and shrugs, "She doesn't know what she's saying anyway. Bye, Ayla." He tells her and gives her a hug before we exit the room.
"Bye, Louis!" She calls just before the door swings shut.
"Who's next?" I ask Louis. We'd been to a few short stops and a few longer ones. It really depends on the age and which ones needed more cheering up. Louis had this all planned down though. He did different things with each child. Some were presents, some he read to, some he told real life stories (extremely exaggerated though) to and acted them out, and some he told jokes to. I haven't gotten bored yet.
"Tommy Vincent, six years old." Louis says with emotion. He'd been somber about all the other child cancer patients, but I could tell Tommy was different. He said Tommy's name like it broke his heart. "Leukemia."
When we reach his room, Tommy is sleeping. We silently slip into his room. Louis takes the seat right next to the bed and I opt for the one with the table next to the door. I watch as Louis lightly takes Tommy's hand.
Tommy stirs and he opens his eyes slightly. The room is kind of dark, so it's hard to see clearly. "Lou?" He croaks out.
Louis leans forward, resting his elbows on the bed. "Yeah, it's me, buddy. Sorry for waking you up."
The little boy turns his head because that seems to be all he's capable of and musters the cutest little smile I've even seen before. "S'okay. Sing to me?"
Louis nods eagerly, willing to do whatever the boy asks. I bite my lip, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "Whatever you want, Tommy. Do you have a song?"
"Can you sing my favorite?" Tommy asks softly, closing his eyes again. My heart breaks to watch how weak the kid seems. I just want to hug him with all my might, but that might actually break him in half.
"Of course, Tom-Tom." Louis smiles down at the little boy. "That's always a good one, isn't it? Here goes."
He glances over at me before glancing back down at Tommy and taking a deep breath in. It's the silence right before the storm. I wait, keeping silent, barely breathing. I can tell Tommy is doing the same.
Then Louis sings.
My breath catches in my throat and I stare at him as he lets the words flow from his lips. I'm practically in a trance. His voice soothes the tension in the room and I can even feel my stressed muscles start to relax just listening to his voice.
I may not have known him for long, but I feel like he should've told me how good he was at singing. How can he just keep his talent a secret? Why the hell is he wanting to be a doctor when he's got a voice like this?
By the time he finishes the song, Tommy has fallen asleep.
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Author's Note: I'm in a writing mood. Annnndd, I'm really excited because the first two parts of this book have reached 100 votes :) If you haven't voted on past chapters, will you please go and do so now? I would love to reach 100 votes on all chapters! How'd you like this chapter? I thought it was adorable.
QOTC: What song did you imagine Louis singing to Tommy at the end of the chapter?
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word count: 3359