Nobody Compares- Sequel to Never Broken (Louis Tomlinson Fanfiction)

Chapter 39: Remembering

Valerie’s POV:
            We continued talking as we walked. For some reason, this street felt so familiar… I couldn’t explain it…
            “Something the matter Val?” Harry asked. I looked up at him and realized I had been spacing out.
            “No,” I replied immediately, “It’s just, this street seems familiar.” Harry smiled but didn’t explain.
            Soon, we turned and walked into a building. There was a girl at the front desk and when she looked up, she smiled at me.
            “Hey Val!” she said cheerily. I looked to Harry, confused. He shrugged and I turned back to look at the girl.
            “I’m sorry, but, who are you?” I asked. Her smile fell and she looked at Harry for an explanation.
            “She lost her memory,” he explained. The girl nodded and turned back to me.
            “I’m Sophie,” she said, “Here, follow me.” Harry and I followed her into the back room, “I’m assuming both of you want to see the cats first.” Both of us nodded and she chuckled. She opened a door to the left and stepped aside to let us in.
            I stepped into the room and smiled at the sight I saw.
            Five newborn kittens were all around their mother.
            That’s when the memories started coming…
 
             My eyes immediately rested on Louis. He had his back turned to me and he was staring at the wall. I cleared my throat and he turned to me. His smile grew bigger.
            “Hey Val,” he said, walking over to me, “You look amazing.” I felt myself blush.
            “Thank you,” I said, “You don’t look too bad yourself.” Louis walked over to the door and opened it for me. He did this overdramatic wave and bowed.
            “After you, m’lady,” he said. I couldn’t help but giggle.
            “Why, thank you kind sir,” I said, curtsying.

***

            “I was wondering if we could maybe spend some time with the animals,” Louis said. Sophie nodded and led us to the back room.
            “So we’re visiting the animals?” I asked Louis.
            “Yeah,” Louis said, “I’ve always liked animals and Harry said you love them. He even said you like cats even more than he does.”
            “Well, I wouldn’t say more than he does,” I said, “But it’s probably a close tie.”

***

            We walked into the room and I giggled at what I saw; I couldn’t help it, it was just so cute!
            On the floor were at least fifteen kittens, all playing together. One of the kittens broke away from the playing and walked up to me. It was purring as it rubbed its face against my ankle. I giggled and picked it up. Louis smiled and scratched its head, making it purr louder.
            “Aww,” Sophie said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her, “That’s Darcy. She’s probably the most playful out of all of the kittens. She’s always teasing the male kittens too.” Louis and I looked at each other and started laughing. Darcy stopped purring, meowed, and sniffed the air.
            “Does she remind you of someone we know?” Louis asked.
            “Hmm, my flirtatious twin brother?” I replied.
            “Yes it would be,” Louis said, tickling Darcy’s chin.
 
            “Val?” Harry waved his hand in front of my face. If he hadn’t, I may have remembered more…
            “What is it Harry?” I asked.
            “Time to go to the dog room,” he said, pulling me with him while we followed Sophie to the dog room. She opened the door and a puppy came running out of the room and jumped up at Sophie.
            “Down Rex!”
 
            Louis kept his arm around me as Sophie led us to the dogs’ room.
            When she opened the door, there was already a man in there, taking care of one of the puppies.
            “Oh, hey Richard,” Sophie said, “I thought you weren’t going to come in until later.”
            “Hi Sophie,” Richard said. I recognized his voice from somewhere and it sent chills down my spine, “I decided to come in early and take care of Rex here. Good thing I did too, his sneezing seems to be getting worse.”
            “Aw, let me see him,” Sophie said. She held her arms out for Rex and Richard handed him to her, “Oh Richard, this is Louis Tomlinson and Valerie Styles. Louis, Valerie, this is Richard Calder.”

***

            “Okay, so let me get this straight,” she said, “Richard is Louis’s ex girlfriend’s uncle?” Louis and Richard nodded. Sophie nodded and the confusion turned to discomfort. There was an awkward silence that lasted for a minute. It ended when Rex sneezed.
            “Aww,” Sophie and I cooed. I walked over to Sophie and leaned over Rex and rubbed his belly. Rex kicked his leg and he barked. I smiled.

***

              I had completely forgotten about Richard; I only remembered his presence when I felt someone’s breath on the back of my neck.
             “Hey there Valerie,” he hissed in my ear, “Don’t you remember me?” I turned around to find Richard’s face only a few inches away from mine. I backed away from him.
            “Um, no,” I said, “I can’t say that I do.” I looked over to Louis who was looking down at one of the puppies.
            “You don’t remember all the fun we had together?” Richard said, “Didn’t the past three years mean anything to you?” 

***

 “What do you want Richard?” I asked, crossing my arms.
            “Oh, now don’t be like that,” Richard said, his voice sickeningly sweet, “I just wanted you to know, that if you tell that precious boyfriend of yours about me, well, let’s just say, things won’t end well.” My eyes widened and I gulped. I nodded and Richard smiled, “Now, run along Valerie, you don’t want your boy to worry.”
            I walked over to Louis and he wrapped his arm around my waist.

***

            “What was that all about?” he asked.
            “With Richard?” I asked and Louis nodded. I really wanted to tell him, and I hated to lie, but I really didn’t have a choice here, “Oh, I was talking to him about maybe adopting Darcy for Harry. Those two are so alike, it’s like Harry’s meant to have her.”
            “I suppose you’re right on that one,” Louis said. I was relieved; it seemed like he believed the lie. But I couldn’t help but feel guilty about lying to him. Then, a thought occurred to me. Richard had only said I couldn’t tell Louis, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell Harry.

***

             We stopped walking and Louis turned to face me. We looked into each others’ eyes for a moment. Louis brushed a stray piece of hair out of my face.
            “I really had a great time tonight,” he said.
            “I did too.” And it was the truth; if I could ignore the parts with Richard, it had been an amazing night. Our faces were an inch apart and I could feel his breath on my lips.
            Louis closed the gap between us and when our lips met, fireworks exploded. The kiss was perfect. Sweet, but passionate at the same time. If either of us had any doubts about how we felt about each other, the kiss erased them. For a moment, nothing mattered in the world; nothing, but us.
             My head was spinning and I was breathless when the kiss ended. Our foreheads were pressed together while we were catching our breath.
            “You’re beautiful,” Louis whispered, “You know that, right?”
            “I’m anything but,” I said. Louis shook his head.
            “No, you really are beautiful, Val,” he said. He kissed me again. It was quick, but held just as much meaning as the first. When the kiss ended, I smiled.
            “You’re pretty amazing yourself,” I said. Louis chuckled.
            “True,” he said, “But not as amazing as you.” I blushed and he chuckled again, “Valerie?” I backed up a bit so I could look at him.
            “Yes?”
            “Would you be my girlfriend?” Louis asked. I smiled.
            “I’d be honored,” I replied.
 
             “Val?” Harry snapped his fingers and I jumped, “Are you okay?” I nodded.
             “Harry, I’m going back to the flat, okay? I just need to do something.” Harry raised an eyebrow, but nodded. I turned out of the room and walked as calmly as I could out of the animal shelter, but as soon as I got outside, I ran as fast as I could to the flat.
 
*At the Flat*
 
            I opened the door.
            “Louis?!” I called.
            “Yeah Val?” Louis called from the kitchen. I nearly sprinted to the kitchen. I didn’t care that the others were in the kitchen as well. As soon as I spotted Louis, I went up to him and kissed him.