Playing Perfect

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Nichole

            I woke up in his arms. I smiled at the cliché movie moment. In the midst of all my emotional thoughts there was one that stood out. I had sex. I did a little victory dance in my head. My dad would kill me. Was I being a good daughter? Ha really Nic? Do you need me to answer that question? Great you’re talking to yourself again. Suddenly the weight crashed down on me. You had sex. What do I do after this? Is he going to act the same? Is he going to leave me? Oh my god. What if he leaves me?! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. “What are you thinking so hard about?” Louis groggy voice shook me out of my thoughts.

            “Nothing.” I replied a little too quickly. I bit the inside of my lip so I wouldn’t blurt out what I was really thinking. Is this what it’s going to be like from now on? Keeping secrets and everything that comes with them?

            “Nothing’s going to change Nic.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in.

            “Thank god! I was freaking out! If you could hear the conversations in my head you would’ve die-” Louis busted out laughing interrupting my rant. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “What is so funny?” He held his hand up and tried calming down, but it wasn’t working. Irritated, I threw back the blankets and rolled out of the bed. The cool air hit my bare legs. I was just in my underwear and Louis t-shirt. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the bathroom.

            “Babe! Don’t be like that!” Louis yelled. I could hear him scrambling to get out of bed. I locked the bathroom door and two seconds after I did he was banging on it. “Nic! Come one! Please!” I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.

            “Nope. You’re too much of an ass for a morning person like me to deal with.” I took a deep breath to keep from ruining my cover.

            “I’m sorry! Don’t be mad at me.” I slowly opened the door and burst out laugh once I saw how distraught he actually looked.

            “My god you’re easy.” I wrapped my tiny arms around him. “But I love you.” His strong arms wrapped around me and he kissed the top of my head softly.

            “I love you too.” I smiled up at him.

            “Well I’m going to take a shower, so get out.” He raised his eyebrows and his famous smirk appeared.

            “We could always shower together?” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

            “In your dreams Louis.” His eyes lit up.

            “But I do dream about that! Does that mean I can?!” It was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

            “No you pervert!” I slammed the door in his face. His laugh sounded through the door.

            “One day babe. One day it will happen.” I rolled my eyes and turned on the shower.

            “What was that! I couldn’t hear you over the water running down my naked body!” I heard him bang on the door after that. “I love you Louis!” I sang in a sweet voice.

            “Yeah yeah. Whatever.” I laughed to myself.

I love that boy.

********************

            Louis and I were wrapped in blankets lying on the couch watching The X Factor. Whenever we knew one of the songs they sang we would sing along. He would sing a lot better than me though, so normally the songs ended with just him singing. He never really noticed whenever I dropped out. It was like he was lost in his own world. “You should go on this show.” He looked down at me like I had three heads.

            “No thank you Nic.” His jaw clenched. Not a good sign.

            “But you’re really goo-”

            ‘Nichole! I said no! Drop it!” He yelled. I sighed and got up. “Where are you going?” I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my keys. “Nic!” He grabbed my arm and I rolled my eyes. “Where. Are. You. Going?” I yanked my arm out of his grasp.

            “Going to visit my dad.” His face scrunched up.

            “It’s not about me yelling at you is it?” Yes.

            “Nope.” I lied. He shook his head and opened the door.

            “Are you going to be back for dinner?” No.

            “Yeah probably.” Lie number three of the day.

            “Okay. Love you.” He kissed my forehead and I headed out to talk to my dad.

*****************

            “I’m here to see Vincent Banks?” the receptionist typed something on her computer while I played with my hands.

            “Room 16B. He’s still unresponsive though.” She gave me a sad look suggesting the worst. As I walked to the room I thought about everything I wanted to say. He’s my dad. This should be easy right? I slowly opened the door. Monitors were beeping and equipment surrounded him. He looked so peaceful. It looked out of place since he was normally full of rage and whatever other side effects the alcohol wants to throw in. I pulled the chair up to the side of his bed. Here goes nothing.

            “Hey dad.” Silence. “I guess no one has come to visit you. Mom left again. You probably would’ve guessed that though. She always runs when life gets hard.” I didn’t hold his had or anything like that. I wasn’t about to take that leap of faith. “Um. I’ve been staying with Louis because our empty house screams all the secrets we’ve hid in it.” Wow. Way to be deep Nic. “I’m not trying to go against you or anything. It’s just that he makes me complete. He brings out the best in me.” I took a deep breath. “Truth is dad; I’ve been thinking a lot about this since you’ve been in a coma. I know now why I have put up with you all these years.” I blinked back the tears. “You’ve been the only one there through all these years. You’ve done some bad things, but I can see in your eyes that you regret it and you want to change and you don’t know how so you drink.” I furrowed my brows in confusion. “I just don’t understand why you don’t ask for help. I mean yeah you’re the dad, but I don’t know. Louis doesn’t ask for my help either. Maybe it’s a guy thing.” I laughed a little. I thought I saw one of his fingers twitched, but I probably just imagined it. “But I want you to know that when you wake up from this, I’m still here. Unlike Mom I didn’t leave you. I’ll always be here and you’ll always be my dad. We may not see eye to eye, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” I sighed. “Louis doesn’t understand how I can still speak to you knowing what you did, but the fact of the matter is, no matter what you do you’ll always be my dad.” I reached for his hand. “And I’ll always love you.” I stood up and kissed his forehead. One of my million tears landed on his cheek. I put the chair back and walked out of the room. Once the door was shut I collapsed outside of it. I buried my head in my knees to quiet my sobs. Why me? I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder. I figured it was one of the nurses so I started wiping my eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m in your way.” When I looked up into those familiar blue eyes I lost it. “What are you doing here?” I asked Louis.

            “Do you honestly think I’d let you do this alone?” I jumped into his arms crying into his neck. This is the Louis I loved. “Let’s go home Nichole. You’ve been in here for two hours.” I just nodded and snuggled closer to Louis.

I love you Dad.