A Gift of Love - Louis Tomlinson (IN EDITING)

Chapter 4 - Not Awkward at All

Chapter 4 (WRITTEN BY SARAH)

***** Flashback *****

Rylie and Louis are hanging out at an outdoor pool for Lacey's 14th birthday. They're currently sunbathing, waiting for more friends to arrive; Sophie, Naomi, and Jacob, Rylie's boyfriend at the time (who is considered overprotective of Rylie). 

Naomi arrives and joins them in laying under the sun, followed by Sophie. Jacob comes 20 minutes late, but the others ignore this. 

They start the party by turning on the radio and jumping right into the pool. 

Rylie climbs out and sits on one end of the pool, giggling and watching the others splash around in the water. 

Jacob swims over to Rylie to convince her to get back in the pool. When she refuses, he keeps persisting. He forcefully grabs her arm to yank her into the pool. She falls in and is held underwater by Jake. 

Louis pulls him off Rylie before she can suffocate and throws him away. He takes her into his arms and comforts her, while yelling at him. 

"Jake, what the hell was that for?" 

"Come on, I was just having fun." 

"Drowning people isn't fun." 

Rylie sniffs. 

"It's not like I was trying to hurt her! You're not mad, are you Rylie?" Jake asks. 

Rylie nods and points a finger to the door. "Leave, Jake. I'm done with you. It's over." 

Jake turns red, gathers his belongings, and promptly leaves. But before he's out the door, he glares back at Louis, and says, "I'll get you back, Tomlinson. You'll be sorry for stealing my girlfriend."

***** End of Flashback *****

Louis's POV

"Wait, what did you do?!?!" I asked in disbelief. 

"I invited Rylie to tag along to the beach tonight. It's not a big deal." Harry shrugged. 

"It is, Harry! I don't know if you realize this, but it happens to be hell of a big deal." 

"You love her," He sighed, poking me. 

"Maybe I do, but what if she..." All the worst case scenarios ran through my head at once. Anything could happen... 

"She loves you too."

I threw my hands up in frustration. "I hope you know what you're doing." 

"I always know what I'm doing, Lewis." Harry stroked my hair and I swatted his hand away. 

"Don't call me Lewis."

Rylie's POV

There stood Harry, wearing his Ray Bans and a fake mustache. He immediately stuck his hand out. "Hello love, I'm Harry Styles. You must be Rylie." 

Well, no shit I'm Rylie. I raised my eyebrows, but took his hand anyway. 

"Yeah, I'm her. And I already know who you are, who doesn't?" 

Harry laughed, showing off his dimples. He actually was more attractive up close. 

I gestured him inside. 

"Hold on, you're not going to hurt me, are you?" He asked once he was fully inside, smirking and shaking his curls. 

I rolled my eyes. "No, why would you think that?" 

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Well, you're a teenage girl. I assumed you'd be screaming, trying to rip my hair out, throwing yourself at me, or stripping my clothes." 

"No, I'm not that big of a fangirl."

"Great, I like you already." He winked. 

"Okay. So where are we going?" 

Harry looked at me from head to toe. "You'd better change, I don't think you want to get your pretty little outfit wet." He grinned. 

"It doesn't matter..." I sighed. "Just bring me out to the limo." 

Harry held open the car door for me. I could see the boys outlines from outside the car. Louis was inside. 

I took a deep breath and slid into the limo. 

The boys sat on leather cushions with Danielle and Perrie under Liam and Zayn's arms. Liam, Danielle, Niall, Zayn, Perrie... And Louis. His mood instantly changed once he set his eyes on me. 

I took my place between Zayn and Harry, with Louis opposite me. I felt everyones eyes on me. Harry helped me introduce myself to the others on the way to wherever, and we soon became friends. A few times, I saw him glance at me. Did he want me here? Did he know I'd be coming? 

I sat back, suddenly feeling left out and unwanted. Sensing my discomfort, Harry slung his arm around my shoulder protectively. I smiled shyly as Niall breathed in and glanced at Louis, whose eyes turned cold as he glared out the window. So he was jealous, huh? I smiled evilly. I could have a lot of fun with this. 

I snuggled into Harry's shoulder and shut my eyes. He seemed tense, then relaxed and embraced me fully. 

Louis rolled his eyes.

Louis's POV

Rylie stepped into the vehicle and my eyes widened. She was just as beautiful as I remembered. 

Before I could speak, she and Harry had already taken their seats across from me. I was surprised. If she loved me like Harry said, why didn't she acknowledge me? 

After introducing her to everyone, which should have been me, Harry casually slipped his arm around her. I focused my attention to the greenery outside the window. I think Lacey must have known how I felt; she'd looked at me once or twice. 

You could practically feel the tension in the air. 

To make things worse, Rylie then decided to cuddle up to Harry. By now, I was fuming. If Harry knew our said feelings for each other, he should've backed off. I couldn't stop him, though. We were best mates, and if he wanted her then I'd have to let that happen, as much as it pained me. 

Well, if Rylie wanted to play dirty, then so would I. Rylie Anne Davis, prepare to meet your match. The war was on.