A Love, a Lie and a False Identity (Louis Tomlinson)

Louis

Chapter 15

Louis

          “I knew you liked her,” said Harry from my sofa as I walked into the lounge the next day, nervously pulling at my sleeves.

          “What?”

          “Veronica- I’m sorry, Ronnie-” he smirked, but not unkindly, “I knew you had a thing for her from the moment we were talking to her.”

          “Shut up,” I ignored him, but the fact was he knew me almost as well as I knew myself.

          “Only because you know I am right. Well, I’m happy for you lovebirds,” he said, stretching as he stood up and slapped my shoulder as he headed towards the door. He had stayed over last night after we had cracked a couple of beers and I had told him about asking Veronica on a date. A date that was happening today. The thought made me feel slightly sick with nerves; it had been a long time since I had been on a first date. Although, was this technically our second date? Either way, I was nervous to say the least.

          “Shut up,” I repeated, but he just chuckled, rearranged his curls and grabbed the latch on the front door.

          “You love it. I’m off to see Rosie, but behave today, and have fun. God knows you need it,” he said in way of parting, and he was gone before I could ask him what he meant. I pushed it to the back of my mind; I had enough to worry about today without thinking about Harry and his double meanings. Checking my hair for what felt like the millionth time in about five minutes, I took a deep calming breath, trying to focus on keeping my heartbeat regular.

          “You can do this,” I said to my reflection, “it’s just one date. Stop freaking out.” Even my reflection didn’t look convinced, but it was too late now to back out. And deep down I knew that I didn’t want to, I was just being a bit of a coward. I grabbed my car keys and headed out of the door, the photographers grabbing a couple of shots, no doubt going to make up more stories about Harry and I spending the night together. I had gotten used to it, but it still hurt when paparazzi and fans called us harsh names, homophobic names that were just not acceptable to anyone. More than once I had had to stop Harry from retaliating, he took it slightly harder than I did. Then again, I had always had someone to go home to and who loved me, but now it was the other way round I guessed. He had Rosie and I…I was alone. Perhaps that was why I was so afraid of this date, it may be the start of something more, and I wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. But I was getting ahead of myself, as always.

The drive over was quick, Ronnie had texted me her address the night before and I wasn’t surprised to find she lived in the higher end of London, close to Mayfair. Huge houses adorned either side of the road as I pulled up in front of a black down with gold numbers on the front. As I jumped out the door swung open and a man in a suit with white gloves appeared who smiled politely as he led me into the foyer to wait. This was so surreal, I really didn’t realise anyone lived like this anymore. A minute passed, and then Ronnie appeared at the top of the stairs, a huge smile passing across her face. Her long brown hair was loose, falling down to her elbows, and she was wearing black shorts and soft loose white shirt tucked into them. Her long bare legs captured my attention as she made her way down the stairs.

          “Hey,” she greeted when she reached the bottom. Glancing up I could see Laura and Katherine peering over the banister, disappearing with a giggle when they saw me looking.

          “Hello,” I responded, feeling slightly awkward. I felt like I was picking her up for prom or something. Taking another steading breath I grinned, “you ready to go?”

          “Of course. Am I dressed appropriately for what you have planned?” she asked nervously, plucking at her clothes. Just seeing that she was as anxious about the date as I was somehow calmed me, and suddenly I wasn’t so scared about it all.

          “You look perfect,” I said sincerely, and a blush crept up her cheeks, making me smile wider.

          “Thank you. Shall we go? I can feel Laura and Katherine watching us,” she whispered, and I offered my arm I response, feeling the tingles as she wrapped her hand around it. The man in the suit opened the door once again, the sunlight of the midday pouring into the room as we left it. “So where are we going?” she asked, but I just tapped my nose secretively.

          “It’s a surprise.”

* * * *

“No way,” she said, her eyes lighting up as she stared around at where I had brought her. “Was this because of what I said yesterday?”

     “Yes. I listen,” I said, pretending to be hurt. “Did you think I didn’t?”

     “Not for a second. But this…Louis, this is amazing.” I couldn’t help it, I was proud of myself, because the look that was on her face right at that moment, that was exactly what I had been hoping for.

     “I’m glad you like it. Come on, I’ve booked a whole pod for us,” I said, grasping her hand, interlinking our fingers as I pulled her forwards towards the London Eye. We passed straight passed all the queues, people stopping and staring when they saw us, some people even taking out their camera phones and snapping pictures of us.

     “Mr Tomlinson, your pod awaits,” the security guard ushered us through as soon as he saw me.

     “Thank you.” Inside, the doors slid shut, and we were alone. It wasn’t the first time we had been alone, but it felt different, the atmosphere felt more electric than it had the first time. Perhaps it’s because we were officially on a date, of our own choice, meaning we both liked one another. At least, that was what I hoped it meant.

     “This is incredible, seriously Louis.” Ronnie turned round to face me from looking out of the window, the view slowly getting more and more amazing as the Eye rotated.

     “You’re pleased?” She nodded enthusiastically as I came to stand next to her. Almost subconsciously she reached out with her hand and linked our fingers once more.

     “Thank you,” she whispered, her head resting on my shoulder.

     “Don’t thank me yet, this is only the first stop on our list,” I answered, and she turned to me with wide eyes, her fingers squeezing my hand tighter with excitement.

     “There’s more?”

     “A whole lot more, I promise.”

The London Eye trip went past in a blur, far too fast for my liking. We stood right by the railings, staring out across London whilst talking about anything and everything that came to our minds. But the whole time, I couldn’t help but feel like Ronnie was hiding something, some part of her she didn’t want me to see. She would hesitate slightly before answering any personal questions I asked, and uncertainty would flicker in her multi coloured eyes. But then it would be gone, and I would doubt whether I had even seen it or not, or whether my imagination was playing tricks on me.

But as the day progressed, I started to want to find out more and more…

Author's Note: Bit of a filler chapter I'm afraid, but I wanted a few chapters where they were happy before everything starts getting chaotic :) Hope you enjoyed it!

Ellen x