Shirtsleeve

Chapter 1

It's pretty much an ordinary day. The sun is shining, but the air feels cold. Damn it, I forgot to close my window last night. I get out of the king size bed Louis bought me for my 18th birthday when our Mum finally gave in to me moving to London and staying with him in his house. I've always wanted to live here and because of my lovely brother I have to opportunity to do so.

I decide to get out of bed and walk to my wardrobe. I pull out light blue skinny jeans and put them on. Of course I take off my pajama pants first. I look at my desk and see a gray pullover on top of my laptop. It's not mine, it's my brothers. I decide to wear it today too. See, the thing is, Louis and I can share our clothes, as we're both like the same size. I totally benefit from that. He doesn't, cause, well he simply doesn't wear clothes that are meant to be for girls.

I make my way to the bathroom quickly but I bump against the door when I want to open it, as Louis locked the door.

"Sorry kiddo! Give me 10 minutes, I just came out of the shower! You can prepare breakfast in the meanwhile!" he shouts from inside. I let out a groan. Gladly it's a Saturday and I don't have to go to school.

"How about a good morning first?" I shout back and head for the kitchen. Now that I have to make breakfast, I can decide what we're going to eat. And I'm craving some waffles. I get the ingredients out of the fridge and lift them off the shelves and start measuring them out. I mix everything together and start to bake the waffles. 20 minutes later Louis still isn't here. I should have known that 10 minutes are not 10 minutes.

I open the fridge, in order to take out some fruits. I grab a knife and cut them into small pieces so we can use them as topping. I also reach for the whip cream, some cinnamon and powder sugar. I get two plates and set them on the dining table in the living room. I put the plate with the now finished waffles and all of the toppings on the table as well.

About 4 minutes later, Louis enters the room with a smile on his face.

"Smells delicious! You're a very good cook." he compliments me and sits down next to me. He uses the remote to turn on the tv. Currently, the news are on.

"Well, I can't live off pizza and takeaway food when you're away for tour." I reply and start eating my cinnamon waffles. As much as I love and benefit from being here, there are also other sides. When Louis is touring all across the world, I have nobody here. I live alone in this house during those times. Not having close friends doesn't make it any better. I get on well with everyone, but nobody truly wants to be closer to me, because I am Victoria Tomlinson. Note the truly there. People used to use me because of my brother, but I've always noticed from second number one.

There is one friend though, who I wouldn't want to miss in my life. His name is James. I don't even know why, but we get on so well, that people even thought we were a couple before we told them we're not. Sometimes people ask me if I wanted to date him or not. I always say no, because firstly it's the truth and second, he has a girlfriend anyway.

"We're having a barbecue later today at Niall's house, you wanna come with me? Tanja will come too, as well as Liam's girlfriend and Harry's sister. So you wouldn't be left out or anything." my brother asks me, his voice sounding warm and soft. Tanja is his girlfriend by the way.

I think a few seconds before answering. I don't have anything to study, but I also want to spend the day at home in bed. But if I'm alone, I'll feel lonely and when I feel lonely I become sad and when I become sad the demons crawl back and make me think bad, like really bad things.

"I'm coming. I suppose it will be fun." I smile at Louis and he grins. "What?" I ask and my voice is unnaturally high. Weird.

"I'm just glad that you're trying to get away from the darkness. Not just pretending to be." he pauses and grabs my arm, kissing my wrist. If you haven't figured it out already, I used to selfharm. Louis helped me get through the bad time when he found out about it. My scars have almost fully faded away. "I know I tease you a lot, but to me you're one of the most important people in my life. You know, you're my favourite sister right?"

"Yes Louis. Thank you for everything you've done for me." I get up and hug him tightly. Not wanting to let go anymore. The bond we have is amazing. People say we're sibling goals.

"I have something for you, I didn't know when to give it to you but it's in your room. Go and look for it. I'll do the dishes today."

"Okay" I squeal in excitement. I run into my room and see a nice black bag on my bed, only waiting for me to look inside. I open it and there is a small box with the word HOOLA on top. I already smile like an idiot because I know what this is. Benefit's HOOLA bronzer. A few weeks ago I complained about having a shitty bronzer and wanting another one but for me, the good ones are quite expensive so I think twice, sometimes even three times before getting something. There is a chocolate bar as well. White chocolate, my favourite.

I walk back to Louis and thank him for it. He just says that he likes seeing me happy and turns his attention to the dishes again.

"Oh, by the way, can you drive kiddo? I wanna have some drinks with the lads and the girls."

"With a few drinks you mean like, getting really drunk and having drunk sex with your girlfriend when you're home?" I tease him. His face turns into a deep shade of red. Caught him there. "Don't blush Louis, of course I'll drive. But I want one beer. Barbecue without beer is like a rain without water. It doesn't work out."

"As long as you don't get drunk I don't mind. You should get ready now, we have to leave in an hour or so."

I walk into the bathroom and take a quick shower, simply because I wanna smell nice when I leave the house. I put on my clothes again and afterwards it's time to do my make-up. I apply some concealer under my eyes and around my nose. On top of that some powder to fix it, then I apply the bronzer Louis got me. In the end, I put on some mascara and that's it. I don't think you have to put a lot of make-up onto your face when you go for the bronzed look. I like to keep it quite natural. Nobody wants to hang out with a barbie doll.

I quickly put all the stuff I could need into a bag - my fully charged phone, my keys, my wallet and some hair ties. You never know you need them until you need them.

"Victoria?! You ready?!" Louis shouts from the living room.

"Yeah! I'm coming!" I yell back and grab my car keys as well. I drive a BMW and I'm very very proud of owning one. I rush outside and open the door on the driver side. I throw my bag onto the backseat and get in. Louis gets in the car too and I pull out of the driveway. He's giving me the directions to Niall's house, cause honestly, I've never been there and I didn't wanna buy a navigation system for my car as they cost a lot of money.

The whole car ride my brother and I sing along to the songs on the radio, him obviously slaying all of my vocals. It's a lot of fun actually.

"We're here!" Louis says excitedly. I pull into Niall's driveway and stop the engine. After getting out of the car I lock it and we make our way to Niall's front door. I ring the doorbell and shortly after that, a blonde guy, none other than Niall opens the door.

"Hey mate, Harry and Liam are in the garden. Nice to see you." He greets Louis and they bro hug. Then, Louis just walks past Niall inside of the house.

Niall must have seen my unsure look cause he pulls me into a hug and tells me that he's happy about Louis taking me with him here. "Want me to show you around?"

"Yeah, that would be nice of you." I answer and he starts to walk. I just follow him.

"Well, to the left is the kitchen and now we're heading for the living room."

"Wow it looks so nice and comfortable! I bet you spend loads of time on that sofa when you're at home."

"I actually do, yes. Unless the weather is really awesome then I prefer to be outside." Niall also shows me the rest of the house and then we go outside, where I say hello to the other boys. Right now, I'm the only female here, because the girls are coming together. At least that's what Louis told me when we drove to get here.

I honestly think that I will have a lot of fun today.