Where I Am Without You [L.S]

Chapter Forty Three

Europe's shows pass in a blur of late nights, stage lights, hotel rooms, stolen moments of bliss and a whirlwind of new memories, and before any of them know it they're flying back home to London for a five day break before they fly out for the North American leg.

Zayn fly's ahead to America to be with Gigi and her family for the short time. Niall opting to spend some time with his family in Ireland which leaves just him, Liam and Louis waving goodbye to the two lads at the airport as they're escorted to their gate.

Acting as though Louis is nothing more than his bandmate in public spaces hadn't ever become easier during their first attempt at a relationship and it's not easier this time round. They'd both had too many close calls to count over the past four weeks. At one point Mitch had physically had to place him between them as they'd wandered around the streets of Burn, barely able to hide the way their bodies angled instinctively towards one another eyes alight.

And as they made their way through the airport, Liam strategically slotted between the two of them, he wondered how people hadn't begun seriously picking up on the way the two of them had been acting around one another over the past few months. Let alone all the incriminating evidence over their five years together. They'd run into more that enough fans out on the street, seemingly the frenzy surrounding the band hadn't died down, and there had been very few instances where Louis wasn't somewhere close by.

It wasn't just Louis keeping his mind occupied recently. Talks had begun over the past few days of the plan they each wanted to form for when this tour ended. He had a full solo album released only months ago which he'd yet to decide when he would tour and knew most of the other boys were in a similar situation. It wasn't as though they didn't want to continue, more like they didn't know which path they wanted to explore first. He recalled Louis months ago know saying how he was willing to write new music as a band, and it had certainly crossed his mind a number of times recently. He just wasn't sure if that time was now.

They're led to their seats with little fuss. The three of them so attuned after all these years to airport operations that they hardly require the assistance.

Bluetooth connecting to his headphones, he clicks upon a random playlist of his ad closes his eyes. Determined to spend the however may hours they have now on their flight back to London from Oslo. They're barely ten minutes in the air when he feels a weight worm it's way half on top of him and a head settle upon his chest. He hums contently and wraps his arms around Louis, somehow managing in the process to blindly tuck him half beneath the blanket that's also covering him.

They're shaken awake by Liam as they touch down in London, blinking bleary eyed outside into the dark London night. It's not raining, so he takes that as a bonus at least.

Moving through the airport is slow, though due to the late arrival time there's only a few people who recognize the three of them as they shuffle through the familiar airport. Not being greeted by a wave of fans after a tiring few weeks is something he'll never not take for granted. Sometimes he truly just doesn't have the energy.

There's three sperate vehicles waiting for them outside the terminal building and he pauses as he takes them in, hanging back as the rest of their time load the luggage into the vehicles.

"You al'righ?" Louis mumbles from beside him shocking him out of his stupor.

"Yeah it's just..." He trails off unsure how to continue. They're together now, have spent the past few weeks tangled up in each other every night in hotel rooms across Europe and stumbling their way to hidden rooms backstage but he doesn't want to let those memories fade now as he's faced with the prospect of travelling home alone to his house. Clingy is how he feels as he stands there numbly staring at the vehicles. Unsure because he desperately wants to ask for Louis to come home with him, wrapped up in his arms underneath the covers of his own bed, just like every other night before this but this is new territory for them once more. They've spent weeks together and although Louis has never said he's wanted space they didn't think about this earlier. Not in their excitement to be going home for a few days.