***Annalise's P.O.V.***
When I opened my eyes in the morning, I could feel the smile taking over my lips. Today was October thirty-first, and that was more than Halloween for me. There definitely was a plus to having my birthday on the same day as that wacky pagan holiday. I got to watch everyone dress up every single year, and I got candy for free along with amazing Halloween parties, and presents to add onto it. It's also the exact reason for why I didn't tell Louis when it was; Halloween plus Louis really don't seem to mix in my mind, and adding my birthday into the mix gave me a bad feeling.
"I hurt myself today," Louis' voice sounded heavenly as it drifted through the hotel room. From the pitter patter of water that could be heard, he must've been in the shower. He almost always sang in the shower, and he usually woke me up with it in the mornings. I wasn't complaining, though, he had an amazing voice, and it was amusing to listen to him sing some of the songs he chose. Once, he sang Barbie Girls and was practically belting it. I had never pegged him for someone to sing Cash, though.
I got out of bed so that I could get ready for the day; I would be kind of busy. I had to go get my hair cut, and I wanted to walk around London for a while just to see if there was anyone in their costumes already. Jenny said that she and Niall were going to be dressing up early so that they could go to the Irish pub down the street and hang out there like the couple they were. When I suggested something similar to Liam, he said that he would think about it. Of course, that meant that the answer would probably be no. It didn't bother me that much anymore; I was used to him canceling. I'd usually just walk around London when he did because I didn't want Louis to find out that I was being ditched by Liam so often and then have him go all crazy on him.
Louis' voice continued to travel through the room, and he was really getting into his song. He was having trouble with hitting a few notes; it was a song for someone with a deeper voice but he was still doing really well. As he continued on with the wonderful song, I pulled out my clothes so that I could get changed. "Dammit soap, stop slipping," Louis groaned and interrupted his singing, and I couldn't help but to smile as I heard it. He was so stinking loud; I'm pretty sure that Harry and Zayn could hear him singing and talking in the shower. "If I was in jail I would be screwed," my eyes went wide at his words before I was struggling to keep in my laughter.
Shaking my head, I pulled on my pants and then a shirt before grabbing my phone and wallet. Liam knew that I would be stopping by before I headed out for the day. He was the only one who I had told about my birthday being today, and I couldn't wait to get a hug and a kiss from him to start the day off on a great note. So, I walked down the hallway to his room and knocked on the door.
When the door creaked open, Liam stepped out with a long yawn and smiled at me. He had on part of his costume which was, of course, a batman costume. It took him less than a second to pull me into a hug and then pat the top of my head when he pulled away. "What're you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but," he trailed off with an expectant smile while waiting for me to explain myself. I let my eyebrow raise in question at his words but quickly shrugged it off; he must remember what today is. It's pretty much impossible to forget since it's the same day as Halloween. That's how everyone who knew me remembered it.
"I said I would come by before I went out for the day," I reminded him, and he nodded.
"Are you coming to the Halloween party down in the lobby of the hotel tonight?" he wondered as his hand absent mindedly traced patterns on my hip since it still rested there.
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it," I assured him, "especially because it's today." He looked a little confused at my words, and I gave a heavy sigh of defeat before placing a quick kiss on his cheek and bidding him farewell. He actually forgot. Now, I wasn't going to throw a hissy fit just because my boyfriend had forgotten my birthday. Liam had been stressed out lately, and I understood that I might not be his top priority. Still, it was a little disappointing to have the one person I chose to tell forget about it. Maybe I should have told Louis...
A buzz from my phone made me stop in the middle of the hallway. I opened up the text that I had gotten and started walking at a slow pace until I reached the lift.
Louis: Are you going to be out for the whole day?
I smiled down at my phone and typed back my reply after hitting the button for the elevator.
Me: No, I'll be back later. You're going to the Halloween party in the lobby tonight, right?
The ding of the lift sounded, and I put my phone in my pocket as I stepped inside and pressed the button for the lobby. About halfway there, a couple stumbled into the lift dressed in sailor costumes. They both looked tipsy, and it was only noon. Both of them were being obnoxiously loud, and I probably wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been for the fact that I was in a tight space with them. I used Louis' texts as a distraction.
Louis: Of course; it's going to be special. I have to go; don't forget to have fun today, Annalise.
I was in the middle of sending back a quick 'okay' when one of the girls from the sailor couple bumped into me. My IPhone practically jumped out of my hands in a matter of seconds, and I could hear the two girls gasp as it hit the floor of the lift. I'm sure that there was a look of horror on my face, and I don't know how long I had been holding my breath for. All that I could think was 'please don't be broken'. Slowly, I reached down for my phone, and I only turned the screen towards me when I felt prepared enough for the outcome.
It wasn't just broken; the whole entire screen was shattered in multiple places. I pressed the middle button and was greeted by my lock screen. It was a picture of Louis and I that we had taken a few days ago when we were just goofing off, but now it was barely recognizable. A long and heavy sigh slipped past my lips as I looked down at the cracked phone, and the girls next to me were practically in hysterics over what one of them had done.
"I am so sorry," the red head that had bumped into my sniffled. I shook my head quickly and forced a smile onto my lips.
"It's okay, it's just a phone," I shrugged. Yeah, it was just a phone. It had a lot of things on it, and they could probably transferred onto a new phone somehow. It could always be worse, right? The elevator could've gotten stuck or-. And right when I had thought that, the lift lurched to a stop, and the lights began to flicker. I was desperately hoping that it would correct itself in a matter of seconds; Liam had complained about the hotel lift before, but he said that it never stayed a problem for too long. However, it didn't go back to normal in a few seconds.
The couple shrieked in horror, and I rubbed my temples in annoyance. This could not be happening. I walked over to the myriad of buttons next to the lift doors and pressed the 'DOOR OPEN' button. When nothing happened, I then pressed the 'CALL' button. A light flickered back on at the top of the lift, and I took that as a good sign. We still didn't move, though, and the girls were in hysterics yet again. For now, I would assume that the maintenance people had been made aware of the problem; if nothing happened in the next few minutes then I would see what else I could try. It wasn't like I could call anyone, though. So, I sunk to the floor and listened to the two girls blubber about how they were going to die in a lift.
After about another minute or so of waiting, the lift lurched again, and the whirl of machines could be heard as it started up once more. We began to move, and I let out a relieved sigh while the two girls were letting out screeches of joy. I could guarantee that I was happy to be out of that small space once the doors opened up to the lobby of the hotel. A few hotel workers were standing there when we got out, and they asked if we were alright while someone seemed to be working on the electrical details of the lift. I only brushed the workers off after telling them that I was fine. In that moment, I just wanted to get out of the hotel and walk around for a little while.
When I stepped out into the outside, I was expecting to be greeted by sunshine. After all, that's what the weather channel had forecasted yesterday, and I had planned my day accordingly. However, I was practically drenched by rain the second that I stepped out onto the side walk. People who were in costume were scurrying about while trying to get under awnings or anything else that they could find, and everyone else was hurrying about with their umbrellas. I debated on whether or not to go back up to the hotel room and just forget about all of this, but I decided against it. I was going to walk around today; I didn't put up with being stuck inside an elevator with a more than tipsy couple just so that I could turn around and go right back inside. With a huff, I rubbed my arms and looked around for a path that would provide me with the most protection from the rain. When I found a pretty consistent line of awnings, I hurried over to it.
There were a few whistles coming from some guys in front of me, and I looked behind me and around me to see what they were making a big fuss about. Then, I realized that it was me that had caught their attention. My white shirt had been drenched, and my brown bra was clearly visible underneath the soaked fabric. I groaned loudly while crossing my arms over my chest and shooting a glare towards the group of boys. They quickly shut their mouths and kept on walking.
After walking underneath the awning and feeling frigid from being drenched and near no source of heating, I went into a café that was nearby so that I could try to warm up. I was still getting odd looks because of my shirt, and a few girls gave me sympathetic glances. Once I had had enough of the stares, I bought myself a coffee and headed back out to the streets.
What I needed to find was a hair place; my hair was in dire need of a trim, and it wouldn't hurt to get it styled a little in order to fit my costume. Plus, if I were to get it done then, I wouldn't have to worry about doing it later in the week. So, I found a map in the first place that I could and sought out a hair salon that was close by. When I found the perfect little place, I started off in that direction.
It was this quaint little building that was wedged in between a deli and an Italian pizza place. The atmosphere inside was comfortable enough, and it didn't look run down or anything. There were no other customers inside, and a girl who looked no older than twenty-five stood behind the counter at the front of the salon. She had her black hair pulled up tightly into a bun, and her reading glasses were falling down her nose while she looked down at a magazine lying on the counter. When the bells on the door ringed and notified her that I had walked in, her gaze shot up to meet mine. "Hello," she smiled at me and then closed the magazine that she had been reading from, "happy Halloween, how may I help you today?"
"I'd like to get a trim and maybe have my hair straightened," I suggested, and her bright blue eyes scanned my hair as if to decide whether or not it would work. With a curt but polite nod, she motioned for me to follow her towards the salon chairs. I obeyed, and I sat down in the one she pointed out before she draped one of those covers over me and tightened it a bit too much around my neck. She wasted no time in getting to work, and I closed my eyes while I tried to relax. Each sound of the scissors snipping made me unreasonably nervous, and before I knew it, she was telling me to open my eyes again.
Horrible. That was the only appropriate word for the way that my hair looked. I wasn't just being overdramatic, either. This wasn't just something I thought because I had always hated my hair and was always dissatisfied with how it looked. No, this hair stylist had taken off way too much for it to be a trim; I was missing about three or four inches of my hair which was enough to make it shoulder length and absolutely hideous. Plus, her cutting wasn't even, and there were so many mistakes in it that I didn't know where to begin.
"How's that?" she asked with a smile. The poor girl actually seemed like she honestly didn't see a problem with it. How could I say anything without coming off like a complete bitch?
So, I forced a smile for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, "perfect."
"And you said you wanted it straightened?" she wondered while pulling out the straightener from a drawer. I looked into the mirror at my hideous new haircut, and decided that I had nothing else to lose. And who knew, maybe it wouldn't look as bad when it's straight. I was wrong. After she had finished straightening it, it still looked horrendous. This was absolutely not what I had wanted, and I was starting to regret even stepping outside of Louis and I's hotel room.
I thanked the girl with another forced smile and paid her what I had to before leaving the hair salon with my coffee from before still in my hand. If I thought that I had been getting odd looks before, then I was definitely getting more since my hair was the way that it was. Maybe I was just paranoid and no one was actually looking at it, but it felt like they were and I hated it. I looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact, but you should never do that on a busy street.
A body collided with mine, and it was enough to crush the Styrofoam cup in my hands and send my lukewarm coffee spilling down my front. The other person only got a few dots of it on themselves, and they pushed past me while muttering curse word. Fuck, this was an absolutely horrid day. I wanted to curl up into a ball on the middle of the sidewalk, but I couldn't do that because it had started to pour again. So, I threw away my crushed cup, looked down at my stained and practically see through shirt, and then made my way back to the hotel.
My pace was faster than it had been before because I really just wanted to get back so that I could brood in my bed until I had to get ready for the Halloween party. Maybe I wouldn't even go; my hair looked horrible and my mood was definitely taking a nose dive. I wasn't looking forward to what Louis would say when I walked into the hotel room with my stained shirt. Let's just hope that he doesn't let his eyes wander due to my shirt practically being see-through, though, I doubt he would.
I got more cat calls and odd looks from the people inside of the lobby, and I decided to bypass the lift just to avoid getting stuck again. The only downside to that was that I had to climb up seven flights of stairs just to get to our floor. By the time I got to the floor, I was panting and coughing from the amount of work that I had put myself through. Gosh, I was so out of shape that it wasn't even funny. All of those lazy days with Louis were really starting to wear down on my health. Maybe we could start doing something healthy together, like working out or jogging in the mornings.
I burst through the door, and froze when I heard a loud curse from behind it. Turning around, I saw a man who looked like he was on his way to somewhere important-the suit and tie gave it away-and he was clutching his nose. "I am so sorry, sir," I rushed out but he held up a hand to stop me before he shook his head, glared at me and then walked away. With a heavy sigh, I headed towards my hotel room and prayed that nothing else would ruin today. It just seemed like incident after incident.
I was quick to get out my hotel room keycard and open the door so that I could trudge in. The bathroom light was on, and I walked past to see Louis brushing his teeth while he was already dressed up. I had actually spent a longer time than I thought outside, and it was close to dinner time so I'm guessing that everyone was getting ready for the party. "Welcome back," Louis' voice was muffled by the fact that he was brushing his teeth. I groaned in reply, and walked over to my dresser to grab a shirt so that I could change. "Well, you don't sound too hap-," his words were cut off when I pulled my shirt over my head, and he cursed, "whoa, wow, give me warning." I looked over at him to see him covering his eyes and looking away from me. I just rolled my eyes and pulled on the clean shirt before throwing the dirty one in the bag that Louis and I had designated as the 'hamper'.
With a heavy sigh, I made my way over to him and leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom. He was still vigorously brushing his teeth and it was rather amusing to watch. Well, it was amusing until I looked over to the right side of the sink and didn't see my toothbrush sitting there. My God, this day was horrible! "Louis, what are you doing?!" I shouted with the annoyed and distressed look making its way onto my face.
"Brushing my teeth..." he trailed off while raising an eyebrow at me. He was obviously confused about why I was suddenly yelling at him.
"That's my toothbrush, though!" I pointed out and he looked down at it before cursing.
"Fuck, I'm sorry; it's confusing. They look exactly the same, after all," he defended himself. I was absolutely done with this day and all of its unwelcomed surprises. Everything was going wrong, and this was shaping up to be a horrible birthday. I was expecting it to be amazing; it was my first birthday without my abusive mother being around, and I had Louis, Liam and everyone else around me. However, it was absolutely the opposite of what I thought. I just wanted to break down, and so I did. I felt the tears building up, and my vision was getting blurry.
I tried to hold back the tears for just a bit longer, "Yes, but yours is on the left side of the sink and mine is on the right."
"I'm sorry, I forgot-," the first tear fell and he stopped his previous sentence while a worried look crossed over his face. He quickly put the toothbrush down, spat out the toothpaste and washed out his mouth before looking at me. He made me look at him while I began to let more tears slip out, and he was freaking out at that point. "Why are you crying? Oh God, I swear I didn't mean to use it. I'll buy you a new one, okay? One that will be completely different than mine so that I never mix them up again."
"It's not just that," I cried while dashing away tears and gasping in air. I had turned into a mess in the matter of seconds, and Louis pulled me into a tight hug while brushing his fingers through my hair soothingly. "The lift broke down and I was stuck with these two drunk girls for longer than I wanted to be, then I got drenched and boys were whistling at me, my coffee spilled on me, I hit a man with a door on accident, and the hair stylist I went to ruined my hair." I pulled away from him and pointed to my horrendously cut hair, "I told her to do a trim! She cut off half of my hair and I look like I took a trip back to my primary school days, Louis! It's awful!" he hushed me and gently brought me back into a hug while protesting to my statement,
"You still look beautiful, Annalise."
I couldn't help but to choke out a few laughs at his words, "thank you, Louis."
He pulled away from me so that he could run his thumb underneath my eyes and wipe away the tears on my cheek. I looked up at him and sniffled before he spoke, "now, please don't cry; you shouldn't cry on your birthday."
"H-how'd you know it was my birthday?" I questioned. There was no way that I had told him, after all, unless I did on that one night that I was drunk. I seriously doubted that, though.
"Liam accidentally spilled it to me when I was hanging out with the boys," he smiled, and then tugged on my hand in order to guide me over to his bed. He sat down on the mattress and I stood between his legs when he held up a figure for me to wait a moment. He reached over to the side table and pulled out a slip of paper. "I have a present for you. It's kind of lame, and I was going to give it to you later, but what the hay," he shrugged and handed to paper to me so that I could read what it said. It had a fancy border around the words, and his hand writing was scrawled across a polka dotted background. The paper said:
Awesome Gift Coupon (for an awesome person)
Redeem this coupon for: A whole day of no talking from Louis Tomlinson :)
Before I could even stop it, a wide smile ran across my face and made me laugh a little. It was so simple, but it was kind of thoughtful in a way. Louis always seemed to be paying attention to the little things, and I thought that this was one of those little things. He knew that I got annoyed with him sometimes, and this was definitely a way to fix that. I loved the gift, and it was more than amusing.
"I know that it's not much, but-," I cut him off by tackling him in a hug that made him lose his balance for a moment. He leaned back on the bed, but managed to push us both up again and then wrap his arms around me too. Where would I be without this boy?
By the time I pulled away from him, he was chuckling at my actions. I pushed back strands of his brown hair that had fallen out of place; he had slicked his hair back for his costume and added a small quaff to it. His clothes consisted of a white undershirt dueled with a black leather jacket that I'm pretty sure had words on the back of it. He was wearing jeans that were rolled up at the bottom and black converse to top it off. "Who are you dressed up as, Louis?" I wondered while pulling his leather jacket closer together because it had started to slip off of his shoulders.
"Danny Zuko," he smiled, resting his hands on my hips while I stood in front of him. "I actually played him in a high school play and I figured that he was as good as any character. Plus, I apparently get all the girls." He sent a wink my way, and I giggled at the gesture before hitting his arm lightly. "You should get dressed; the party starts in a little bit. Don't forget your ID, too; I think they might open up the mini bar down there tonight."
"It won't take me long, wait here," I instructed and he nodded in response. Quickly, I pulled my costume out of where I had put it at the bottom of one of my dresser drawers. The shoes were just some moccasins that I had put in the closet for safe keeping, and I didn't need to do anything besides put on the dress. So, I slipped into the bathroom and got changed quickly. By the time I got out of the bathroom, Louis was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door, and he looked me over once before smiling widely.
"Pocahontas?" he guessed to which I nodded and then got the moccasins from the closet and put them on. "I never pegged you as someone to dress up as a Disney princess on Halloween."
I shrugged and smiled back at him, "I never pegged you as a Johnny Cash fan."
A nervous smile took over his other, confident smile and he chuckled while scratching the back of his neck. "You heard that?" he wondered, "I don't usually sing low stuff like that, but Cash is awesome."
"I'm sure the whole hotel could hear you," I joked and pink started to tint his cheeks, "don't worry, though, you sounded great." He smiled widely and glanced down at the ground before looking back up at me and motioning towards the door. I happily followed his direction, and we stumbled out of the hotel room before stopping in the hallway. Harry was just down the way with Zayn standing next to him. They looked like they were waiting outside of their hotel room, and I guessed that Emmaline was in there or something. When they turned to look at us, Zayn and Louis both started laughing; they were both wearing the same exact costume.
"Wow, what are the odds of that?" Zayn chuckled, and Louis shook his head while quieting his laughter.
"How about this; I'll say that I'm Kenickie, and you can be Danny because you've got the black hair," Louis suggested, and Zayn nodded in agreement before they did some weird sort of handshake that I recognized from the movie. Louis and I both looked over to Harry after that, and I raised an eyebrow in question. He had on a plain white tank top, and then some black skinny jeans, but the odd part wasn't that; it was the giant magnet hanging around his neck as if it was a necklace, and there were cat faces attached to it. "What the heck are you supposed to be, Harry?"
"I'm a pussy magnet, get it? A magnet with cats on it?" Harry explained, and I couldn't help but to burst with laughter. Apparently, that whole fiasco from the other reality had manifested itself here in a different way. It was almost too much to handle, and I was basically doubled over with laughter.
"Very funny," Louis shook his head even though he was shaking with laughter at the inappropriate, but insanely funny costume.
"Oh, wait until you see Emmaline," he knocked on the door to his and Zayn's room and called out, "Babe, c'mon out here so that they can see your costume."
"Harry, I really don't like this," Emmaline's small voice called back from inside of the room, and whatever costume she had on must've been embarrassing because her voice completely made that evident.
"Aw, come on, you look adorable," he insisted once she had opened the door. He could see her apparently, but we couldn't, and we were all waiting for her to step out.
"Harry," she whined out.
"Please?" he begged with a pout making its way onto his lips.
"Fine," she grumbled while stepping out from behind the door and revealing what she was wearing. Again, we all laughed, but in a good hearted and not mean way. She was wearing a cat costume-not one of the ones that reveal too much skin or stick too tightly to a girl's body, but one with tons of fur and a tail and everything. Harry hugged her towards himself, and placed a kiss on his cheek while she scowled at him. It was honestly really cute; they were matching basically.
A door creaked open down the hall, and we all watched Niall and Jenny walk out of their room. Their costumes had an abundance of green; it was obvious to see all the way from where we were standing. When they were closer, it only took me a second to figure out their costumes. Niall was dressed up as a leprechaun, and Jenny was an Irish bar maid. They fit well together, especially since Niall kept his arm around her waist. "Liam will be out in a second," Niall told us just before I could ask the question that would warrant that answer. Right after the words left this mouth, their door opened again and Liam emerged in his full out Batman costume.
"Nice," Harry commented which earned a smile from Liam. He stood by Louis so that he was in front of me, and his smile dipped for a moment.
"What happened to your hair?" he asked which made my smile turn upside down in a matter of seconds. I had seriously been hoping that no one would bring it up. Was he the only one to notice or had the others seen it too and just chosen not to ask me about it? I mean, Louis had seen it but he didn't sound nearly as judgmental as Liam's tone sounded.
I almost missed Louis' elbow connecting with Liam's side, but I had managed to catch it right when it happened. Liam sucked in a breath and then sighed shakily as if the nudge had been more powerful than he had expected. I wonder how hard Louis hit him... "I mean, wow, Anna, you look amazing. Pocahontas, right?" I nodded, and shifted my gaze over to Louis who gave me an 'innocent' smile. Seriously, this boy was one of the best things that'd ever happened to me.
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Wow, I think that that is the longest chapter that I have ever written! It definitely took a while to write. I might update tomorrow as well, but don't count on it. The next chapter will definitely be the Halloween party itself, though.
-cow_queen