Louis and I sat side-by-side on the sofa watching a movie, my head lightly resting comfortably on his shoulder. I looked down at our hands as he weaved his fingers in and out of mine. It had been two weeks since he had picked me up from the train station for my Christmas holiday. My eyes wondered from our hands inter twined to his sea blue eyes and watched as he studied each of my slender fingers, as if memorizing every inch of my hand.
"Hey El?" He whispered, not taking his eyes away from our hands.
"Hey Lou?" I whispered back with a hint of a giggle.
"Tickle attack!" Louis screamed and flipped over on top of me and began tickling my sides.
"Stop." I pleaded between my giggle fit. My eyes were scrunched tight and tears started to roll down my cheeks, but Louis just kept tickling me, his laughter filling the room along with mine. "Come on Lou, please." I pleaded again; laughing so hard I could barely breathe.
"Say the magic words." Louis laughed.
"Never!" I answered between laughs. Louis straddled me and started to tickle harder, I couldn't take it any more. "Okay, fine. Louis is the best." As the words slipped through my lips, Louis stopped and sat up.
"See that wasn't so hard, now was it?" He smiled also trying to catch his breath.
We stayed in that position until both of our breathing had returned to normal. Without a word Louis brought one of his strong hands up to my face. He looked down at me as he held my face in his hand, moving his thumb softly near the corner of my eye. His touch was soft, skilled, and gentle as he ran his fingertip along my face. A wave of shivers went through my skin.
"You're beautiful." He smiled as he bent down and softly pressed his lips to mine. Butterflies filled my stomach as our lips connected. I don't think I would ever get used to the feeling of his lips on mine, and I was okay with that. I let out a small whine as he pulled away.
"You're not to bad yourself." I joked and smiled at him pulling him back down towards me so that our lips were once again dancing. After a few moments in that state Louis pulled away to sit up.
"I almost forgot," he smiled rising his eyebrows as he pushed himself off the couch, "I got you a little something." His voice trailed off as he ran into his bedroom. "A late Christmas present."
"You didn't have to get me anything." I yelled after him and sat up on the couch, crossing my legs Indian style.
Louis re-entered the room with a smile on his face and that twinkle in his eye that I had come to learn meant he was up to no good.
"For you." he laughed, as he skipped over in front of me and carefully placed the small gift into my lap.
"What is it?" I quipped, looking down at the loosely wrapped package in my hands with a raised eyebrow.
"Just open it." He smiled and rocked back and forth on his feet, the twinkle still in his eyes.
I slowly untied the small bow that held the package together. I looked up at Louis before I started to open it the rest of the way. He nodded his head at me to continue, excited to see me open his first gift to me. I put my focus back on the gift and tore into the Christmas tissue paper and pulled out a pair of classic Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses. I held the glasses in my hand, a little confused as to why this would be the gift that Louis would get me, I had never mentioned wanting them, nor had he ever seen me wear a pair of sunglasses. Still I was touched by the fact that Louis had even taken the time to stop and buy me anything.
"How do they look?" I asked him as I slipped the glasses onto my face.
"Wonderful darling, simply wonderful." Louis sang happily. "They'll look even better when you wear them in the mountains." He said giving me a boyish smirk.
"In the mountains?" I questioned him as I took the sunglasses off and placed them back into their case.
"Yes," He said taking my hands and pulling me up to stand with him. "I'm taking us skiing."
The smile on my face faded as he continued to tell me all about the trip that he had planned for the two of us. I started to feel bad, I hadn't gotten Louis anything for Christmas or his birthday and he had taken the time to get me something and now was telling me all about a ski trip that he had planned. He had told me not to get him anything when I tried asking him what he wanted, was he just tricking me I thought. The butterflies that once filled my stomach were now replaced with knots that kept growing the more Louis talked.
"What's wrong?" Louis asked furrowing his eyebrows together, the corners of his smile starting to turn down.
"Nothing." I said, pulling away from him to sit back down on the couch.
"That face does not read 'nothing'." He sat down beside me as I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them resting my chin on top.
"It's just..." I sighed, "I asked you what you wanted for your birthday and Christmas and you told me not to worry about getting you anything. So I didn't" I pulled my knees in closer to me, hunching my shoulders and still feeling awful about the lack of presents I had to give Louis.
"I really didn't want you to get me anything, love." His voice was soft and he leaned in closer to me, placing his hand on my back. "Having you as my girlfriend was really all I wanted." He took hold of my arms and pulled me around to face him while still sitting.
"But you got me those glasses and planed a whole ski trip for us," I whispered, starting to feel frustrated at the whole thing, "and I got you nothing."
"Listen," he raised his hands to my face, lifting it so that my eyes were looking directly into his, "for the first time in my life I can afford to give to those I care about."
"Louis," I said, pulling away from him and standing up. "I don't want you buying me things just because 'you can'." I started to feel my cheeks turn red and my frustration turn into anger.
"Wait, are you mad because I bought you sunglasses and planned a trip for us?" Louis asked with confusion in his voice.
"Yes!" I replied throwing my hands in the air as I began to pace back and forth in front of him.
"You may be in a popular boy band and can afford to just throw your money around and do what ever you want with it, but to be honest I don't care about that, and I would really prefer for you not to do that with me. You see, I'm with you because I really fancy you, and I don't want you to think that you have to buy me lavish gifts or take me on these grand holidays to get me to stay with you." As I stopped to take a deep breath, I heard a small laugh come out of Louis that he tried to cover with his hand. "Don't laugh, I'm being serious." I needed him to hear what I had to say. "I don't want people thinking that I'm only with you because you're Louis Tomlinson of One Direction. And don't get me wrong I think it's sweet that you want to do nice things because you can, I really do." I paused starting to realize how crazy I was starting to sound. "I...I don't know." I huffed throwing my arms down to my sides and turning to look at him.
"You're so cute when you're angry." Louis said standing up and crossing over to me.
"Louis I'm..." He put his finger up to my mouth to stop me from saying another word.
"If the sunglasses bother you that much I can give them to my sister, and if you really don't want to go skiing then we don't have to go." he smiled and placed his hands on my arms.
"It's not that, I just don't want people thinking I'm only with you because of your fame." I felt my cheeks start to blush. He pulled me in closer and wrapped his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.
"Don't worry about what anyone thinks." He said now resting his chin on the top of my head. "It's only you and I in this relationship."
I looked up at him, feeling the butterflies start to form in my stomach again. It was then that I felt the first traces of love for him. It was his kind and warm heart, his carefree boyish personality and his unique outlook on life. It was the way his whole face lit up each and every time he smiled and the way his blue eyes would twinkle when he knew he was about to cause trouble. But most importantly it was the way he made me feel safe. I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry I was being so unreasonable." I whispered and Louis looked down at me with a crooked smile. "Forgive me?" I asked quietly, placing my hand on his face.
"Only if you say you'll go skiing with me this weekend?" He laughed.
"I'll go skiing with you."
"And wear the sunglasses?" He asked raising one eyebrow.
"And wear the sunglasses." I confirmed smiling.
"Then all is forgiven." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
It was then that I knew that there was no turning back now, that Louis would keep my life interesting, that everything from now on with him would be one big constant adventure.
An adventure I knew I would never regret.
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