Chapter 5 ~ Can I Ask You Something?
I woke up the next day by the sound of someone letting out a loud yawn. Groaning, I fluttered my eyes open and noticed that I wasn't in my own room but in fact someone's living room, lying on their couch.
I squinted my eyes at the figure sitting on the other couch, trying to see who it was. The person was fairly short, had feathery brown hair that was sticking out in every direction, a grey beanie in their hand, and was wearing a pair of black glasses that I recognized so well... Oh, God. It was Louis.
Everything that had happened yesterday came flooding back, and I was suddenly aware that seeing him was probably a very bad idea right now. Shit.
He broke the silence that had occurred by letting out an annoyed groan. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Fuck, that morning voice. His usually high-pitched one had a trace of a rasp in it, and it was just so goddamn attractive. Why did he have to make me suffer like this?
Mentally shaking my head, I checked him out again, eyeing his body from head to toe. He was wearing a tight, white t-shirt along with a pair of black skinny jeans, something I hadn't acknowledged yesterday. To say he looked hot would be an insult. He looked nothing but breathtaking in those clothes.
"I could ask you the same thing," I said, raising an amused eyebrow.
He narrowed his eyes, ready to give me a comeback, but then he suddenly brought a hand up to his forehead and let out a sigh instead. "I'm too tired and hungover to argue with you right now," he muttered, slumping back against the backrest.
I pulled myself up into a sitting position, grimacing at the sudden pain that filled my head. "No one told you that you had to, you know?"
His eyes snapped up to meet mine, a cold glint sparkling in them. "I know, Styles, but maybe I just want to argue when it comes to you, huh?" His voice was so harsh it almost caused me to wince a little.
"You're being immature," I mumbled under my breath, running a hand through my curls.
"Says the boy who has a thing for someone who obviously doesn't like them back." He rolled his eyes, making my blood run cold. He did not just say that.
"Stop talking bullshit, Tomlinson. You're so damn full of yourself."
He got up from the couch to walk over to me, staring deep into my eyes. "I am?" He scoffed. "So, you're telling me what I just said isn't true?"
I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in my head as I got up to be at the same level as him. "I am. Now shut the hell up before my head explodes," I groaned, hoping he couldn't hear that I was lying.
He let out a huff, spinning around on his heel to walk out of the room dramatically. I rolled my eyes after him, ignoring the glare he flashed me just before exiting.
I sat down on the couch again, letting out a deep sigh. Nothing had gone as planned. Louis still hated my guts. He hadn't even shown a sign of changing that opinion about me. Was there even something I could do to change it? It was like it was imprinted in his head that he must hate me no matter what.
I wanted to know the reason why he despised me, though, but whenever I asked him, he always avoided the question.
A thought then popped up in my head. When I was a little kid, mum had told me to ignore Louis for some odd reason. What if his parents had told him the same thing? That would explain why he hadn't liked me even when we were kids.
If this for some weird reason were true, I, unlike him, had not followed my parents' order. But since my mum never reminded me of Louis anyway, I didn't feel the need to. Maybe his parents had been stricter than my mum?
I continued thinking about this possibility for a few minutes until I came to the conclusion that I had to speak to my mother. I wanted to know why she had told me to stay away from Louis in the first place, and what in the world had happened that made her hate his family so much.
With this new thought in my head, I got up from the couch, grimacing at the pain in my head again, and made my way into the kitchen.
To my surprise, Zayn, Gemma, Adam, Liam, Louis, and one of Adam's friends were there, sitting around the kitchen table, each with a glass of water in front of them.
I strode over to the table, but not before grabbing a glass of water myself along with an Advil, going through the kitchen drawers like I owned the place.
"Morning, baby brother." Gemma teased as I sat down beside Zayn.
Louis choked on his water, coughing like he had a duck stuck in his throat. Liam slapped him on the back, trying to help him. "Brother?" Louis managed to let out between coughs.
I smirked at him, ready to answer, but Gemma beat me to it. "Uh, yeah?"
He mumbled something under his breath, the only words I caught being 'mum', 'told', and 'never', but it was enough. I knew exactly what he was talking about.
It made me wonder if my suspicions have been right, that Louis might only hate me because of his parents. But for some reason, I felt as though there had to be more to it. It was impossible for him to only hate me only because his mother told him so.
But what if he knew what had happened between our parents in the past? Moreover, what if the truth was worse than I had thought in the first place? Would I end up hating him too?
Again, I really needed to talk to my mum.
"Oh. Um, I guess I didn't know that," he said awkwardly, looking down at his glass.
This side of Louis always caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach. I rarely got to see it, so when I did, I went all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Well, it was never brought up, so I suppose that's why you didn't know," Gemma shrugged.
He nodded in agreement, going silent.
How come our parents hadn't mentioned anything about or to Gemma, though? She obviously didn't have anything against Louis, and he didn't even know that Gemma was my sister.
After that, small talk was made and all of us actually got along pretty well. Except for me and Louis, of course, and I still disliked Adam for having a crush on my sister.
At around twelve o'clock, we went home. Gemma drove to Zayn's house first to drop him off before heading over to our place.
Once we stepped through the front door, the sound of the vacuum hit my eardrums. We slipped off our shoes and made our way into the kitchen where mum was vacuuming under the kitchen table. As soon as she caught sight of us, she turned it off with a big smile on her face.
"Ah. Hi, lovelies." She went over to embrace us in a group hug. "How was last night?" She leaned back, mainly looking at me since I had been the most eager one for the party.
I shrugged, remembering how Louis had been with that guy. It gave me uncomfortable chills just thinking about it. It was definitely not the best party I had been to. "Fine, I guess."
She raised an eyebrow but didn't question my lack of enthusiasm.
Gemma answered with a quick 'great' before leaving the kitchen, probably heading up to her room.
I took the opportunity of being alone with mum and sat down at the table, gesturing for her to sit down across from me. "Can I ask you something?" I questioned hesitantly, picking at my fingernails.
She looked at me a little suspiciously but nodded her head anyway. "Sure, honey."
I took a deep breath, thinking about how to start and with what. Eventually, I opened my mouth to begin the interrogation. "When I was about to start kindergarten, you mentioned something about a Louis, right?"
Her reaction was immediate. Her body went rigid and her eyes widened in either shock or fright. "Yeah, I did. What about him?" She swallowed thickly.
"I was just wondering why you told me to stay away from him. I mean, we have the same English, Math and Science class, so it'd be good to know," I explained.
She nodded, reaching up to run her fingers over the healed scar she had on her forehead. "It's nothing major, Harry. I was just a little unlucky when I was younger."
Well, that helped me a lot. Note the sarcasm.
"Come on, mum. Isn't there more to it? What happened that made you hate his family so much?" I pressed but made sure not to be too pushy. I didn't want her to suffer from anything I said.
She sucked in a deep breath, dropping her hand from her forehead so it landed on the table. "Please, honey. Do we really have to talk about this? It's something I'd rather not think about." She mumbled the last part, not meeting my gaze.
I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling stuck between two options. One, I kept pushing her until I might hit her limit, or two, I dropped the subject and let her explain whenever she was ready.
There was no question about what option to choose. "Okay mum, but whenever you feel ready to talk about it, please come to me."
She nodded, getting up from her seat to pick up the vacuum from the floor. When she was about to turn it on and continue vacuuming the room, she hesitated and turned back to me. "You have to promise me to keep staying away from him, okay?"
I gulped, nodding slowly. "Uh, mum... Why haven't you told Gemma to do the same thing? It doesn't seem like she's trying to avoid him."
She furrowed her eyebrows, seeming to think hard. "You're the one who's the same age as him. Gemma's a year older and doesn't go to his school. Plus, both of you are boys. There was a higher possibility you two would become friends than them," she explained at last.
Well, that actually made sense. There weren't exactly many times Gemma and Louis met, usually only at parties. "Okay... I've got one last question if that's okay?"
She nodded slowly, taking deep breaths. It wasn't hard to tell she didn't like this topic. "Do you possibly know if any of Louis' parents told him the same thing you did to me? I'm only curious because it seems like he's avoiding me as well," I kind of lied, but she didn't need to know that.
It took a while for her to answer. "I'm pretty certain Johannah did, yes," she finally said, not looking at me.
Johannah, as in his mother? But what about his father? Why couldn't he have done it? Of course I remembered Louis saying 'mum' instead of 'dad' in Adam's kitchen this morning, but that didn't change the fact that I was curious.
"What about his dad? How can you be sure he didn't do it?"
She instantly tensed. "Please, sweetheart. I've already told you too much. Now, go up to your room and do your homework."
I narrowed my eyes at her, silently wondering why the mention of Louis' dad had such an impact on her. "Mum, you know I hate doing my homework because of my dyslexia," I said, referring to my disability.
She sighed, walking over to run a hand through my curls. "I know, Hun. You unfortunately got that from me. I'm sorry for mentioning it, but please try your best, okay?"
I nodded, getting up from the chair to head out of the room but stopped when I was in the doorframe. "Thank you for answering my questions, mum. It means a lot to me," I smiled, looking at her just as she was about to turn on the vacuum.
"You're welcome, honey. Sorry for not being able to answer all of them. It's difficult, alright?"
I nodded even though I had no idea that it was whatsoever. I mean, how could I when I didn't even know what had happened? "I'm sure your answers will do for a while at least."
She nodded curtly before finally spinning around to turn the vacuum on.
I went up to my room, thinking about everything she had just told me.
There were still so many things that were left unexplained, but at least I was one step closer now. So far, I knew that one reason why Louis hated me was because of his mother. I also knew that my mum reacted weirdly when Louis' dad was mentioned around her.
What I still didn't know was what in the world had happened all those years ago between our parents, but I would hopefully find that out soon.
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Okay, this chapter was necessary because 1.) Harry has to start making progress and 2.) For you guys to get an idea of what you think happened in the past.
Thank you for your wonderful comments by the way! I love to know what you think about this story because it's nothing like my other fanfics :)
Dedication: @hazzanboo4ever! Loved your comment XD .x
Pauline .xx (The writer)
Pauline is my favorite. I love her and her 6 toes on each foot.
Love you babe.
Lacy. xx (The editor)