Louis and I walked back to the larger part of the beach once the sun was entirely gone. When we got there, everyone else was gone. Meaning, Harry convinced Liam and Zayn to go spy on Niall and Marlee. Well, hey, at least he stayed away from Louis and I. Knowing no one else will, we start to pick up all of our stuff and load it in the van waiting for us in the parking lot. Once we've got everything put away, we see five bodies running towards us in the distance. Perfect timing guys. Leading everyone is Marlee, and I immediately assume that Harry was caught spying, as usual. I'm sure he doesn't care though.
"I can't believe you guys! Get a life!" Marlee shouts as Harry and the two other boys in on his plan cry out in laughter. "What happened?" Louis asks. "Niall and I were talking and hanging out and then all of a sudden Harry screams and ruins the only alone time we've had all day!" she is giving Harry a death glare and he knows he's in trouble. But of course, he doesn't care and simply goes back to laughing. "It wasn't worth it, they weren't even doing anything!" he smirked, earning himself a punch in the shoulder from Marlee and laughter from everyone else, including me.
We had just arrived in Berlin, Germany a few hours ago. Given that the boys had no show this evening, Louis and I thought it would be fun to invite Marlee and Niall on a double date, since their last was kinda-sorta ruined by Stupid Styles. Niall was tired, but couldn't pass off a date with Marlee, so they agreed to meet us for dinner at 6.
"Keep up, you guys!" I yelled at Zayn and Liam who were trailing behind on the bike tour of Berlin. "I don't know why they agreed to doing this if they were so bad at biking." Marlee spoke from her bike beside me and I laughed. We had been out for hours on these things and I admit, I was tired. But I wasn't sweating like Zayn and Liam were. I mean, come on guys, man up.
Once we returned to the bike rental shop in the center of town, we decided it would be a good time to go shower, mainly for the weak boys but also so I wasn't smelly and gross in a few hours at dinner. "I can't believe you guys are ditching us tonight." Harry sighs as we walk towards the car waiting for us. "Yeah well, if you can get yourself a girlfriend in the next.. two hours, you can join us." Louis says and Harry perks up, but Liam pushes him over, shaking his head. We get in the car and of course blast Holy Grail, cause we're just that cool, until we get back to our hotel. Then we return to our normal-ish selves.. for the fans, of course.
"Okay well I think we'll all rest until six, yeah?" Louis asks and the three of us agree, the other boys following behind, having their own conversation about German chocolate and what makes it so 'damn' special. Up on our floor, Marlee and I run off to our room and race for the shower, but she smacks me with her giant bag and I loose. Stupid bag, I should get one of those. Once in the room, I jump on the bed and find the TV remote, turning it on and searching for something not in German. Finally I find an old episode of Modern Family, which luckily can be translated, to English. I scroll through and answer some texts from Jemmie and my mum, basically saying how much I love and miss them both. I also added that Jemmie needs to come see us soon, especially when we're in America.
The fact that this tour is already halfway over scares me a bit. What do I do after? Go back to Stanford, or stay home? What will happen with my relationship with Louis?
"Oh my gosh are you watching Modern Family? Hold the freaking phone that show is like my obsession, turn it up." Marlee yells across the room, literally a second after coming out of the bathroom. I laugh and do as she says, offering her a seat next to me. She sits and we watch the show together for a few minutes.
"I think I'll go shower." I get up from the bed and run over to my suitcase to find some clothes. "Good idea." Marlee mumbles, still watching the TV. "What's that supposed to mean?" I raise an eyebrow and she looks over at me smirking. I throw a shoe at her, but she dodges it and continues to watch her show.
Locking the door to the humid bathroom, I turn the shower back on and notice that Marlee has left me barely in hot water. Great, thanks. I try to pretend it's warm, but that only makes me colder. Quickly, I wash my body, shampoo my hair, and shave. One great thing that comes with traveling with One Direction is that we get pretty nice rooms, such as this one with heated bathroom floors. I don't even understand how that works, but it does and I'm not bothered to ask anyone. Wanting to get as warm as possible, I slipped on my bra and panties, then worked my legs through the tiny holes of my black skinny jeans. Seriously, it's like a dance trying to put pants on. Once I finish my little dance number, I put the red peplum shirt I borrowed from Marlee on and finish it off with a cross necklace around my neck.
Its just dinner, so I decide against makeup and just let my hair dry natural after I brush it out. When I come out of the bathroom, I see that Marlee is still watching Modern Family. Well I guess it's a good thing I let her go first. All of a sudden she bursts out laughing and I try to catch on, but the show ends and I feel awkward.. as usual. At that point Marlee shuts the TV off and steps over to my side. "That shirt looks great on you! I knew it would, you should wear my clothes more often. Especially for dates." she adds and I scoff, perfectly fine with my own clothes. I just needed to... do laundry, yeah, that's it.
"So, should we go over to their room or wait here?" I ask and Marlee thinks for a moment. "Wait here because last time Louis took forever! Knowing him he'll do it again." she sighs and sits back down on the bed. "What do you mean? Does he take that long all the time?" I ask.
"No. Just for you. Congratulations, you're ruining the boys' perfect attendance record." she says sarcastically and I have to laugh a bit at that. I doubt I'm always the reason. Although they have been late quite a but recently..
Two knocks hit our door loudly and I turn to see Marlee staring at her phone in shock. "Oh my gosh, they're on time. Somebody get them an award!" she cries, running up to the door and opening it with force, holding her arms out wide for Niall. Exclaiming that they are exactly on time, Niall runs to her and twirls her around in a hug. Wow, cheesy much? But I do think that is the point. Louis squeezes past the two of them and for the first time since Marlee opened the door, I can actually see him. His jean jacket and plain white v-neck was classy and casual, not making me feel under or over-dressed for the occasion. His hair was curly-ish and looked messy as usual, but that was just his thing.
"Should we do that to or?.." Louis trailed off, pointed to Marlee and Niall behind us. "No, that's too cheesy. Let's do our secret handshake." I smiled and Louis looked at me, very confused, knowing that we had no secret handshake. At that second, Marlee and Niall turned to us and I laughed as I started moving my hands around, Louis trying to keep up. We ended it with a chest bump and earned a round of applause from the two in front of us. I bowed and Louis laughed, taking my hand as I came up. "Well since you showed us who the top couple is, you can buy us dinner." Marlee smiles and we all laugh, deciding that would be alright.
The restaurant the boys chose isn't too far and just like our outfits, isn't too fancy or casual. We get a table in the back and a waiter comes by with waters and menus. I take a sip of mine as I begin to browse the menu, but nothing is really seeming that appetizing right now. Honestly, I'd like to just order nothing. Problem is, Louis would assume that I was having some issues today and immediately take me back to the hotel, saving some food in a carry-out box for later. So maybe just a small salad will do.
The boys sit closest to the back wall and Marlee and I sit on the other side, facing them. They immediately start talking about sports and that causes Marlee and I to zone out. "So, how is everything going with that thing?" Marlee says and I raise an eyebrow. "Are you referring to my boyfriend as a 'thing'?" She laughs and shrugs, waiting for me to continue. "Well, he and I are great." I say and she rolls her eyes. "Details, Emma! I want the inside scoop! I promise I won't tell a soul, not even Niall."
"Okay well... we had our first date the other night as you know, and that was really wonderful cause it was relaxing and comfortable. But then last night, after you and Niall left, we walked off and kissed, that good enough?" Marlee smiles down and giggles to herself. "Finally! And no, what did you think of that?" she looks back up and has her eyes open wide. "Well, hopefully you're not referring to Louis as that again, but I'm going to take it as the kiss. And that was wonderful." she squeals quietly and softly claps, not wanting to gain the boys' attention. The waiter comes back to our table and brings by some beers for the guys and ends up taking all of our dinner orders. I stick with my small salad and no one seems to question it, so I turn back to my conversation with Marlee.
Normally, I would hate having her interrogate me about Louis. But strangely, I was enjoying talking about my 'love life'. I guess I'm just proud to say I have one, and that I actually am enjoying it. Marlee seems to be excited for me too, which is always good. Hopefully now she'll realize that teasing me about Louis won't be half as fun and she'll stop. Hopefully.
I look over and notice that even though we haven't gotten our food yet, both boys are on their second beers. Guess I'll just have to deal with it. I know how Louis handles his alcohol anyway: sassy and funny, but nothing more. Just sort of an embellished version of his usual self (you can take that whichever way you want). I sigh when the food finally does come and the boys order another round of drinks for themselves. I said I'd deal with it, never said I had to like it. Slowly eating my salad, I look to Marlee for some help. Honestly, I feel like this 'date' is more between Marlee and I than Louis and me. I sure am talking to her a lot more, but I haven't ever been on a double date, so what should I know?
"So, Louis, are you having a good time with your girlfriend?" Marlee stresses the last word and gestures towards me, hoping to give Louis a not so obvious hint. Niall does realize what she's doing and starts a different conversation with her, leaving Louis hanging. He turns to me and gives me a half smile, mouthing "sorry" and taking another bite of his steak.
"So, new hairstyle, right? I like it, it's cute." I eye his curly brown locks sitting atop. "Cute? Just cute? Oh great, guess I need to try something else cause all I'll ever be to you is cute." he says and I laugh, noticing his tipsy behavior that others would just see as a 'bitchy attitude'. "No, no, it's good. You look.. um.. hot? Is that the right word?" I ask, realizing I've never really referred to Louis as anything like hot, or just any guy in general. It never seemed like that important of a word to me: meaningless and stupid, but I guess to some people it meant more. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, you do too, as usual." he finishes off his next beer and calls a waiter over. Just as he is about to order another, I butt in.
"Louis, do you really think you should be having another? You've already had so many, and you probably don't want to get sick." I say sweetly. Trust me, I'm a pro at talking to drunks. I have been since I was nine. "Why do you care? Niall said he'd buy drinks anyway, I figured I'd take advantage of that rule." and there's the 'bitchy' part everyone referrers to. I didn't want to be hard on him though, cause I doubt he'd remember it tomorrow. So I just shrugged and went back to my salad.
Dinner continued and so did the drinks, which then slowly discontinued any civil conversation with Louis. Niall was a truth-teller when drunk, so all he could say was how much he loved Marlee and how beautiful she was. Blah, blah, blah, can Louis do that now? I'm really annoyed with him.
"Marlee and I are starting a bad-knee club. But you guys can't join cause it's just for us." Niall mumbles and Marlee giggles, trying to explain to us that it's not true. "Niall you're so weird. Even your girlfriend is making fun of you." Louis says and takes out his phone, ignoring my shocked expression. "Excuse you? But have you even noticed how you have been acting tonight? Well, everyone else has. And let me tell you, I'm tired of it. This shouldn't even be counted as a date because I surely don't want to remember you being like this ever again. So you can either shut up and stop ordering beers, or I'll leave." I say, finally having Louis' full attention for the first time that night. Niall blows out some air and goes back to blabbing to Marlee and Louis and I are left in awkward silence next to them.
"Gosh Em, just because you hate alcohol doesn't mean I have to." he says and I literally want to order another beer for him just so I can pour it all over his 'hot' curly hair. I stand up and push my chair back, setting my napkin on the table. "That's not what I was talking about Louis. Maybe if you used your brain you could figure it out. But obviously you're struggling with that, so I'm just going to go and give you some time to figure it out." I turn and walk away from the table.
Almost out the door, I hear Marlee behind me and I figure I owe her something, so I turn around to face her. "Em, you can't just leave! How are you going to get back to the hotel?" she asks. "It's not too far, I'll walk. Don't worry, I'll forgive him tomorrow, probably. If he even remembers it. I just have a headache and need to escape this disaster date. Sorry for inviting you two to tag along, it kind of sucked." I sympathetically smiled. "Oh no, up until your little dispute, I was having so much fun getting to talk to Niall. Guess who's getting new earrings for her birthday next month? Oh and he and Louis were talking about taking us to a luau when we're in Hawaii in a few weeks, won't that be fun?" she gets excited and I smile, nodding. "Anyways, go ahead and go, but text me when you get back. I'll make sure to take care of Mr. Sassy-Pants over there." she points to Louis and rolls her eyes. I thank her and head out the door as a fresh wave of cool air hits me. I instantly feel more relaxed.
Maybe I was overreacting with Louis. But didn't I have a right to? Last time a guy was drunk around me, I was slammed into a bookcase and punched a few times. Yeah, I think I win this battle. However, Louis would never say that to me if he was sober. He knows perfectly well never to bring up that stuff about my dad, and he did it under the influence. Forgiving him was something I would have to worry about later as it was really just making my headache worse.
So, I stopped thinking. I let my mind wander as I walked in whatever direction the sidewalk leads me. The blanket of night was making me a bit cold, but I would be back to the hotel soon, so I could just tough it out until then. Seeing the hotel a few blocks down, I turned to my right and started to quicken my pace, realizing that I had been wandering for more than twenty minutes already.
Suddenly, a rough hand grabbed a hold of my arm and whisked me behind one of the small, local shops only a few feet away from the hotel entrance. At first, I thought it might have been Louis. But then I noticed blonde hair. And what followed that? None other than almond-shaped brown eyes. "L-leave me alone, Connor." I spoke softly, praying to God that he wasn't drunk. I had enough interactions with alcohol influenced men tonight; I wasn't ready for the abusive one. "I'm going to, but you need to watch your back. I'm done doing it for you, and that Tomlinson boy is obviously not any help. Just remember that the second you let your guard down, you'll become vulnerable to him. And that will be his chance to come and find you."
And with that, Connor let's go of my arm and walks away. When I look in the direction he went, he's gone, along with my sanity. Because right then and there, I begin to break.
(A/N: Woah, Connor has reappeared. What do you think of that? I honestly am having mixed emotions about him right now. I mean, I'd be hypocritical to say he was crazy as Louis was too when he was drunk, just to a lesser extent. But who cares what I think, comment and tell me what's going on in your mind! I feel like this is a confusing chapter, and it leaves a lot of loose ends that need to be tied. So I'd love to hear how you'd like to have them finished! And sorry it took a little longer than expected, but my team got 1st place in our tournament in Stanford, so that's an exception, right? Eh, it is to me.. Vamos Fuego! And next weekend I'm going to Santa Cruz.. so few updates then as well. Sorry! I'll do my best before and after that. But I'm super excited to see This is Us! I get to see it with my bestest friend sometime next week and we're going to have so much fun and it will be amazing and sorry if I'm ranting but I'm so excited! Feel free to rant with me in the comments, love you all! xoxo -Katie)