Harry came with the rest of the boys about ten minutes later, allowing me to come home with them instead of Louis. Luckily, no one asked about why I needed a ride, but I had a feeling they already knew; whether Louis texted them or not. Louis still wasn't back when we got to Niall's house, but I managed to get my mind off of him and help Niall's mum and Marlee work on dinner for all nine of us. "Hey mate, where've you been?" Liam said at the sound of the front door opening and my heartbeat sped up, afraid of what he'd reply with. "Out." was all I heard before Harry changed the subject to something about tour.
And now, it was Tuesday, also known as Marlee's birthday. I had slept in a room with her last night, just to get away from Louis. But that also gave me a chance to wake her up at six in the morning with my amazing singing of "Happy Birthday". Of course she slapped me with her pillow a few times, but nothing could stop the beauty of my singing. When I finished the second round of the song, Marlee finally got up out of bed and faced me.
"So, for my birthday, are you going to tell me exactly what is going on with you and Louis? You guys haven't even talked since we got here, and most of yesterday, he avoided you." she questioned and I sighed, knowing this would come up eventually. Although I hated talking about my feelings, I knew that talking to Marlee would eventually do something good in my soul, I mean, she has been in a strong relationship with Niall for about two years now.
"I just was keeping something from him. It really wasn't that important, but he thought it was and got upset." I left out the part about him doubting our relationship because that really didn't seem like something I could talk about. But hey, at least I said something. "Oh that's not good. What was it, that you were keeping from him?" she asked. "Just that I had talked to this guy that he didn't really like."
"Oh that's so lame. Louis is just too protective over you. He sure loves you." she smirked at me and then threw her head back in laughter. Wasn't this supposed to be a serious conversation. "No he doesn't. If he did, we wouldn't be fighting." And he wouldn't be doubting our relationship. No, if he loved me, he would never, ever think about something like that.
"Are you joking? He's always telling the boys how much he loves you. And love, you don't know anything about love, you do? Everyone fights, but the fact that you can move past it and stick together through it is the love. You guys seem to have had that love for a while now, according to Niall." she smirked again. Love? Love was something I was not well acquainted with. I had never really loved someone, except for my family. But when my father got bad, I realized how easily love can lie to you. I couldn't trust him and more importantly, I couldn't trust love.
"It doesn't matter. Let's just go have breakfast or something." I got up from the bed and walked over to my suitcase where my clothes were squished all about. I threw on a sweater and some shorts, tying my hair up in a ponytail. Marlee got up slowly behind me but stayed in her pajamas. We walked downstairs together to find Niall's mother there. She greeted Marlee with a Happy Birthday and offered us both some coffee, which we gladly accepted. We talked about the plans for the day: how she and Niall planned to go out and hang out around the city during the day and then come back here for dinner with the rest of us. It was simple, and she was very content with it; as we all were. However, I had no plans for the day. And the idea of not having Marlee around meant I would be left alone with the boys, one in particular.
I heard footsteps approaching behind us and I silently prayed that it would be anyone but Louis. When that person touched my shoulder, I jumped, but I was glad it wasn't him. "How's trouble in paradise?" I looked to see Harry smiling at me and I slapped his head not-so-lightly. Hey, he deserved it. "What is he talking about?" Maura asked. "Louis and Emma are fighting." Marlee said and I glared at her. "Oh that's a shame. Well, why don't you hang out with me while the four boys go do something together. I'm sure you could catch a football match, Harry." he nodded from the chair next to me at the dining room table and I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of how the day will go. "I know I may not be 'hip' like Marlee, but I'm sure we can find something to do." she smiled and we all laughed, Marlee of course getting cocky. "Yeah, that would be alright. Sure you'll be fine without me around for the day, Harry?" I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes. "Oh no, what will I ever do without you Emma? I love you! I can't go a day without you, as it pains me not to see your disgusting face." he held his chest dramatically and fell backwards into his chair, while I punched his shoulder.
"What is going on down here?" we turned to see the rest of the boys and Bobby standing at the end of the staircase in their pajamas, watching as Harry pretended to die in his chair and Maura was cracking up across from him. "Harry's dying. Nothing important. Feel free to have a cuppa or go back to sleep, whatever you choose." I answered and heard Liam and Zayn laughing. Niall came up to Marlee and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, wishing her a very happy birthday. The rest of the boys then remembered what day it was and also piped in a happy birthday to Marlee, even Louis. But of course, he completely ignored me and took a seat on the other side of Harry, making me feel as invisible as ever.
"So boys, would you want to come to a football match while Niall and Marlee are out? I can get us some tickets." Bobby spoke from the kitchen counter across from us. The boys all started mentioning that it was a great idea and Bobby picked up his phone to order the tickets. We all sat around and ate breakfast until Niall and Marlee decided they should go. When they finally left after getting changed, the room definitely felt more awkward. Maybe because we were in Niall's house and he wasn't, or because there were now only seven of us and two of us were not talking.
"So you all know the plan for today, correct? Niall told you?" Maura asked the four boys gathered around the table. They all smiled, and I just looked at her confused. "Alright well, Emma and I will stay here and decorate the house and the rest of you can go to the game, but pick up the rest of the stuff on the way home." she explained and I figured they were doing some sort of surprise party for Marlee. All at once the boys got up and went to get changed, leaving Maura and I behind to clean up the mess from breakfast. "So, was it Niall's idea to throw her a surprise party?" I asked. "Um, yeah. He just wanted to make sure she had a good birthday, which I'm sure she will with everyone here." I nodded as we finished cleaning and took a seat on the couch in the living room. "Alright well, let me tell you exactly how it's going to work this evening. Then we can start decorating."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh thank you boys for picking that up, it looks perfect, doesn't it?" Maura spoke as Zayn set a large, colorful cake on the dining room table, surrounded by other sweets and favorite foods of the birthday girl that Maura and I had worked all afternoon on. The house was decorated with balloons and streamers lining the entire first floor, food in the dining room, and presents in the family room. It reminded me of parties I had at home, and that reminded me of Louis. I had managed to keep my thoughts away from him most of the day, but now that he was back at the house, I couldn't seem to resist them. Marlee and Niall were on their way back and the excitement was building in the room, which was definitely helping my situation with Louis. We were able to be civil with each other, helping set up the last few decorations together (along with Harry). When we saw the car pull into the driveway, Maura instructed us to hide behind the sofa and we all did so as she turned off the lights.
"What's going on? Where is everyone?" I heard Marlee say as the door creaked open. The lights then flipped on and everyone shot up from behind the couch, yelling surprise. She smiled and thanked everyone, but ran off when she noticed all the food that awaited her at the table. With that, we decided it was time to eat, so everyone filed into the dining room and formed an assembly line around the table. I was near the end so a lot of the food had already been scraped away, thank you very much Niall, but there was still some left. When I reached the rolls, I started to grab the only one left it the bowl, but was met with another hand also going for it. I turned to see Louis standing there and he sheepishly turned away, moving his hand back to his side. "You can have it." he said quietly. "No, you can. I probably shouldn't have it anyway." he shook his head and grabbed the roll, handing it to me. "No, just take it." he pushed it forward but I stepped away. "No. You take it." I said sternly, fed up with him. "Or I can take it, thank you very much." I turned my head and saw Harry walking past, now with the roll on his plate. Guess that solved the problem.
But when I took a seat on the small sofa in the living room, Louis followed and sat next to me. Everyone else was gathered on the other couch, engaged in their own conversations, leaving the two of us alone. Gee, thanks guys. "Why do we do this?" he mumbled beside me, and I turned to see him fiddling with his fork, not looking up at me. "Do what?" I said, with a little bit of anger in my tone of voice. I was already pretty fed up with him from yesterday and I wasn't in any sort of mood to play games today.
"Fight. Constantly." he paused between the two words and I realized that we really did fight constantly. We could be happy one second, and screaming at each other the next. That was just how we had been working the last few months. Ever since he'd left, everything had changed and now everything is different. Especially the fact that we are kind of dating, if that will even last. "I don't know." I answered truthfully. Marlee had brought up the idea of love earlier, and although it was a possibility, I was afraid of it. I didn't want it to weaken me, so I kept away from it. As long as he didn't bring it up I was fine. "Well it fucking sucks." he says and I nod, but I'm really upset. Is that all he has to say? I've given him a whole day to think about it and all he can say is that it sucks. I guess this is why boys are said to be less emotional: they don't have enough brain power to process emotions and thinking at the same time.
"I just, I wish there was an easy way to keep it from happening. Like we could stop it before it even started." I nodded again, wanting him to continue because he was obviously thinking up something right now. Hooray for breakthroughs. But when he doesn't say anything, I look over and see him looking at me, his mouth closed. "Anything else?" I ask him quietly, afraid that saying anything will start another fight. "I'm sorry. I get that you have secrets, it's just the ones that involve Connor and stuff freak me out and I get worried and over think everything and I just-"
"I get it Lou. It's fine, just.. take the freaking roll next time." I panic and get up from the couch to wash my now empty plate off. Yeah, not the best thing to say I guess, but it was better than the other option.
Yeah, I was actually thinking about the "L" word. It was sitting at the back of my throat and it was dying to come out, but my mind went ballistic over it and thought of something stupid, but better than it instead. Gladly, Louis didn't follow me and I was left alone on the back wall of the family room while everyone else chattered about.
Finally we sang to Marlee and ate cake, which was delicious. Niall even smothered a little bit of it on Marlee's face, causing her to throw some at him, but it ended up hitting Zayn. Luckily the adults stopped an all out food fight from taking place and we were all able to enjoy the rest of the night cake free.
"Marlee, what is that?" I shouted and everyone turned to the two of us sitting on the small couch together. "What's what?" she asked, obviously trying to hide it. "Oh you know exactly what's what." I raised an eyebrow at her, setting my cake down and waiting for her answer. "Well, I guess now is a better time to say it then any other. Niall and I" she turned to look at him and he smiled, nodding for her to continue. "We're engaged." she held up her hand and showed everyone the ring I had spotted on her left hand moments ago. Niall's mum ran up to her son and gave him a great big hug, making him laugh. I of course hugged Marlee next to me, and the rest of the guys clapped and congratulated them.
"That was my gift to you, so, happy birthday love." Niall approached her and they kissed, earning wolf whistles from the boys. With that we transitioned to gifts and Marlee started to open the ones from the boys. Zayn gave her a nice pair of purple Beats, Liam got her a pretty awesome phone case, and Harry got her a 5 Seconds of Summer shirt, making her blush and Niall give Harry a glare while he smirked to himself. She opened Louis and was instantly taking pictures with the vintage Polaroid camera, new glossy pictures printing out instantly. She came to mine next, which was in a large purple bag. The first thing inside was a Twix frappucchino, which the boys picked up for me when they got the cake. Marlee started drinking it instantly and I knew she would be on a sugar high in minutes. The next thing out of the bag was big and bulky but it make Marlee jump up and down when she saw it. "Yay, all the seasons of Modern Family! We can watch it all night, Niall!" she yelled and he tried to smile, but sighed when she wasn't looking. Guess he was getting a little tired of the show, you're welcome Niall.
But the next gift was the funniest of all. It was wrapped in tissue paper so it took her a few minutes to get to it, but when she did, she instantly started blushing. Everyone wanted to see it, but she wouldn't show them. Finally after the boys began to chant she held it up: a Niall doll. The best part was: on his butt I had stuck a small piece of paper with the words TWERK ME written on it. Everyone began to laugh and I got a few high fives from the boys, obviously pleased with my joke gift.
It was getting late and not long after all the present opening had finished, people started going to bed. "Do you want to room with me again?" Marlee asked before heading up the stairs. "No, it's okay. I'm sure you want to be with Niall anyway. Just do us all a favor and keep it down this time. Enjoy your fiance." I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she scoffed, rolling her eyes and trudging upstairs. I laughed and followed behind her, going up to the room I was originally supposed to sleep in with Louis, but chose not to due to yesterday. Tonight I didn't really care: if he didn't want to be in here with me he could sleep on the couch. I was really tired from all the excitement of the day and once I had changed into my pajamas, I laid down and instantly felt the sleep coming. Problem is, it never came. I waited, and waited, but I just couldn't fall asleep.
Suddenly a bright light came about and I squinted to see the door opening. Minutes later, the other side of the bed sank and I realized Louis was here. I tried my best to act like I was sleeping, and I guess he was buying it because he kept quiet. When I finally thought he had gone to sleep, I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pull me closer to him. As I was still pretending to be sleeping, I had to go along with it (even though I was kind of enjoying being back in his embrace). I felt his warm chest against my back and instantly felt more comfortable, my breathing slowing.
The room got quiet again and now, comfortable, I started to fall asleep. The warm touch of Louis' lips to my shoulder made me smile and wonder if he was dreaming, or still awake. But the smile faded when he spoke and my eyes opened wide.
"I love you, Emma."
Well shit.
(A/N: Interesting huh? So, they haven't really made up, but they kind of have. And now Louis obviously loves her, but does Emma? Also, if you remember, Louis did tell Emma he loved her back in chapter 11, but that was just sort of a revelation. This one is different now that they're a couple because he's saying it just to say it, not to win her over like he did before. Wow that sounds horrible but hopefully you understand. Emma's definitely struggling more and more as the story goes on and I think she really just represents lost teenagers searching for their identities. The story is so confusing, but I just want to make it seem real, because life is so confusing and there are just times when you have no idea what to do, and you make the wrong decision. So, with that akward note, what do you guys think of this chapter and the story so far? I think it's going fairly well, if I do say so myself. It definitely is fading away from cheesy, except for that last part. Just remember to comment and vote so I know I'm not the only one who thinks these things. :P I saw This is Us today and it was amazing! I'm not going to spoil anything, but it's less about the boys past and more about right now and their thoughts right now, which is very different than what I thought it would be. But that makes it all the better! It also made me really sad that the concert is over; I miss it so much. Oh, and did you hear about Louis getting hurt today? It wasn't a bad hit, but he was injured and I'm more worried about his dignity than anything. I'll be praying for him tonight, as I'm sure many of us will. Hope everyone has a great week! I have homecoming this weekend (It's Doctor Seuss themed) and I'm very excited! Anyways, love you guys! Massive thank you to those who read and genuinely like the story. xoxo -Katie)