As soon as the door was shut behind Louis, Jaime immediately walked into the bedroom and quietly grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt so big it stopped a few inches below her mid-thigh. Then, in the bathroom, she switched her little black dress and heels for the pajamas. Once she was in comfortable clothes, she threaded her fingers through her curled, blonde locks and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
Cold water splashing on her face had calmed her racing thoughts and pounding heart. He's okay, she kept on telling herself. Louis isn't upset, he's probably just tired. It's been a long night.
A very long, amazing night...
Patting her face with a nearby towel, she glanced in the mirror. Her eyes were hooded, a deep frown on her face with worry wrinkles on her forehead. She huffed out a breath before turning to leave with her clothes and heels in arm.
She tip-toed silently into the guest bedroom, hoping not to wake Charlie. Setting her things on the floor in a corner of the room, she tip-toed towards the opposite side of the bed Charlie was in. In her absence, Charlie had switched positions to laying on his side with his hands tucked underneath the pillow.
Climbing underneath the covers, Jaime laid down on the bed, facing Charlie as he was now facing her. Only his eyes were now open and a smile was gracing his lips.
"You're here," he whispered.
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. But it's nice to be ho--" the word, 'home' was right on her tongue and nearly tumbling off her lips when she caught herself. No, this wasn't her home. It was Louis'. She corrected herself quickly, "Here. It's nice to be here."
His hand slipped out from underneath his pillow and slowly slid across the sheets until Charlie tangled his fingers with Jaime's. A slow smile grew on his face when she didn't move her hand away from his.
"You asked about my home," Charlie said, the smile slowly fading from his lips as he spoke. "Are you still curious and want to know more about where I come from? Though I'm sure I can't give you the details, there are some things I can say."
Jaime nodded her head enthusiastically and pulled the covers up to her chin. Warm and toasty. Now, she was ready to listen.
"I know you humans have created this time line," Charlie began, his eyes no longer meeting Jaime's green ones, as his eyebrows furrowed down. He concentrated hard on the words that were coming out of his mouth, "of Earth using what you've discovered over time. There was a period of massive creatures roaming the Earth. I'm not sure I know the name of what you called this period, but I believe you called these creatures dinosaurs."
It suddenly felt like someone had squeezed out all the air in her lungs when Jaime fully grasped his words. Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. Struggling to breath, Jaime still listened to Charlie's words.
"My people lived in this time," he said. Those gray eyes became distant, as if he were remembering something long ago. "We were strong, mighty and we were able to live along side these massive creatures for centuries. Although it was much more dangerous than it is now, we were able to survive then."
Again, when he confirmed it, it took Jaime's breath away. When she spoke, her voice was quiet, breathy almost. "You lived among dinosaurs? What was that like?"
A corner of Charlie's mouth lifted in amusement. "It was dangerous, of course. Many of those creatures were picking us off one by one. But it was a beautiful place back then. There weren't any of those buildings or cars back then. However the food now is much better. There is a lot of variety."
Jaime couldn't help but laugh. "All right, continue, continue."
"I don't remember much of my life in that time. There isn't anything left from that period to remember anything, regardless," Charlie said this almost bitterly. But he quickly continued talking as if it never bothered him. "I remember the day it all ended. Fire rained from the sky. There was terror and chaos... even the biggest of the creatures were terrified. We were... We were planning different ways to hide from the fire and the destruction when it came. The shaking of the earth and the bigger fires that we didn't escape from."
Jaime tightened her fingers around Charlie's when she felt his hand trembling. Words escaped her and it was the only comfort she could offer. No matter of "it's okay," or "it's all right," will change what happened, and she knew that.
"My home became the skies we looked up to at night. My people and I have our purposes," he pursed his lips, almost as if there were things he couldn't say after this. But a sigh passed through his lips and he continued. "We watch over you humans, watch you live, evolve, and change. You all are extraordinary beings. I have never seen souls so capable of so many things over the years. It is amazing to watch and protect over you. This is something I will never tire of."
For a couple minutes, no one said anything. Their hands never moved, their fingers stayed entangled. But Jaime was taking everything in.
That's how he knew my wish, she realized. That could also be the reason for him turning up in her house with nothing covering him.
Her cheeks darkened considerably at the memory. Suddenly, she was thankful it was dark in the little guest room. Charlie wouldn't see her blush.
Drowsiness began to seep in. Her eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier until she swore she was going to pass out any moment. She opened her eyes long enough to see that Charlie was already asleep.
A small smile was brought to her lips before her eyes fluttered shut and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
She woke up, hours later. A deep sigh escaped her lips as Jaime buried her face into the pillow while inhaling its freshly laundered scent. It took her a few minutes to realize the space next to her felt empty and her hand was no longer entwined with someone else's. Her hand was tucked safely underneath her pillow.
Jaime lifted her head, glancing around the bedroom. In the corner was the black dress and heels she wore last night, where she left them. But Charlie was nowhere in sight. She shut her eyes for a fraction of a second before opening them and pushing the thick blankets back.
Without bothering to change out of her sweats and too-big t-shirt, she walked into the living room where Charlie was sitting, focusing on some book in his lap. Louis was leaning forward, eyes focused on his laptop.
Rubbing her forehead, Jaime stumbled to the couch and sat down. "What time is it?" she asked quietly.
"It's twenty after ten," Lou responded, not glancing up from his laptop. His eyes furrowed down in concentration and he didn't speak after that.
After a moment, Jaime heaved out a sigh and rose from the couch. She retrieved her phone from its charger in the bedroom and flipped through the contacts. Macy's name was one of the first on the list. Jaime's finger hovered over her name, wondering if it was a good idea to call her or not.
Her finger pressed down on her name, and then the little green phone call button, before she could regret it. Pressing the phone against her ear, she heard the sound of ringing a few times before someone answered.
A male voice answered, "Hello?"
"H-hey, Seth," Jaime stumbled across her words, feeling her stomach bundle up in nerves, almost as if her stomach completely went past butterflies. "Do you happen to know where Macy is right now? I need to speak to her."
"Yeah, she's home. She's in the kitchen right now, putting away the dishes in the dishwasher," Seth explained. And then, he yelled Macy's name, but it was muted. Jaime knew that he was pressing the phone against his chest. "She's right here."
There was the sound of the phone shuffling, passing from Seth to Macy, and then her best friend's voice rang through the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Macy..."
The bundle of nerves in her belly tightened as she heard her friend's voice. It was sharp and clearly held some type of anger that was directed towards her.
"You're calling me now?" Macy asked, scoffing. Jaime could see her rolling her eyes in annoyance. She bit her lip.
"Yeah, I wanted to say I'm sorry for not saying much and for basically running off to New York without saying anything to you," she murmured, fiddling with her fingernails.
"Jaime," she said her name slowly. "You realize a blurry picture of you and Louis Tomlinson is going around the internet, don't you?"
All the air seemed to have been squeezed out of her lungs in one fluid motion. A blurry picture of her face – as ordinary and plain as she was – was spreading around the internet with Louis Tomlinson by her side. In seconds, she was panicking.
"What!" she shrieked.
"Uh, yeah... I mean, I only know its you because you're my best friend and I know you, but the rest of the world hasn't quite figured you out. You mind telling me how you managed to get into an exclusive birthday party with Louis Tomlison?"
"I, uh... Well..."
While Jaime stammered and had troubles conjuring up a good excuse – or come up with the half-truth – the bedroom door opened, revealing a very curious Louis raising his eyebrow.
"I don't know what to tell you, Macy," Jaime whispered, hanging her head in guilt. "So much has happened and I honestly don't know where to start."
"How about you start with the truth?" Macy asked. And the edge to her voice was back.
Heaving a sigh, Jaime fell back against the bed. "Hey, can I call you later please? I have to go."
Macy scoffed and mumbled something underneath her breath before hanging up. Jaime threw the phone aside and sat up to face Louis who was patiently waiting at the doorway.
"So, what were you screaming about?" he asked as he moved to sit next to her.
Taking a deep breath, she let the words fall from her lips. She wasn't sure if he knew already or what his reaction will be if he didn't know.
"I was on the phone with my friend, and she said there's a blurry picture of you and I going around the internet. She said she's the only one who recognized me," Jaime confessed as she looked down at her hands.
Surprisingly, though, there was no outburst. No anger, no shouting, nothing but silence. Jaime glanced at Louis, who looked as if he was expecting this or knew it already.
"I've known since this morning," he clarified, clearing my confusion. "My manager called me up and asked me who was this girl I was with last night, asking all kinds of questions. I had no idea what he was talking about until I went online. It seems someone took a picture of us at the party last night. I'm sorry this happened, Jaime."
She wasn't upset her face was blown up around the internet and caught hanging out with him. That was hardly the issue at hand. Jaime understood clearly that Louis part of a very popular and famous band, so his privacy sometimes is thrown out the window.
"No, don't apologize. I'm not upset the picture's gone viral. I'm just shocked, I guess. I don't know, I honestly hadn't expected it to happen, though I knew it was a possibility," Jaime said as she ran a hand through her blonde, disheveled hair.
Louis looked at Jaime in disbelief. "So you're okay with your face being on the internet?"
She nodded her head. "Yeah, I am. It's not much of a big deal to me."
His eyes furrowed down, as if he was thinking hard about something, for a moment before his eyes fell on Jaime again. "But you have social media accounts?"
A small smile reached Jaime's lips. "No. I don't have any. I find them pretty useless. Besides, I'm fine with email, text messages and phone calls. That's all I need."
Louis' blue eyes widened. "You really don't have social media?"
She shook her head.
He laughed once, running a hand through his disheveled, brown hair. "Well, finding you just got harder for the media."
The corners of Jaime's lips curled up in amusement, but she said nothing for a moment. The two of them sat on the bed in silence before Jaime rose to her feet. "I think I'm going to take a shower. I need to think."
Louis left the guest room while Jaime had time to gather some clothes and hygienic items. She needed to think about what she was going to say to Macy. That relationship, out of everything else, needed to survive. She was her rock and Jaime knew she would be helpless without her best friend.
Oops my fingers slipped. I updated again... my fingers might just slip up a couple more times... Or maybe until, you know, I finish the book?