The Fanfiction Writer (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Walk Down Memory Lane

Chapter Twenty-Four: Walk Down Memory Lane




*Lilah's POV*



I'm panting, my body feeling numb and shaky. Sweat is literally pooling down my body. I shut my eyes and focus on my breathing, my hands on my waist and I arch backwards. I want to lay down but I know it might cause me to pass out. I shut my mouth and breathe through only my nose.

The only upside is that I'm outside in the cool night air. I don't know what time it is, but I know this is the last task of the day. Or at least it better be. I can't handle any more.

I finished my two miles before any other girl and now I'm waiting alone, leaning against the cold walls of the theater. We danced an entirely new routine, one that was no where near the simplicity of the first, and then was forced to run two miles on our track.

And now I feel like dying. Physically dying.

"Lilah!"

I open my eyes and see Jared, Thomas, Zayn, and Niall walking towards me. The others must be on the track, pushing the girls to finish strong. Thank god I'm done.

I hold my hand up when they're within five feet. "Stop right there. Don't come closer. I smell," I say, finally feeling my breathing go back to normal. "And no, you're not smelling me this time." I can literally smell my own self. I'm in need of a shower. Badly.

"Chill babe, nobody was thinking about going near you," Niall laughs, crossing his arms over his chest. He must be cold in his tank top. Doesn't this boy ever wear jackets?

"Good because I'm sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat."

"Ew, gross!" I roll my eyes at Jared's outburst. He puts his hand over his nose and plugs it. "Yeah, I'll talk to you when you're showered. You really do give off a bad odor."

"I'll come with you. I could use some food," Niall says before they both walk off, the two blondes in love with food. Jared stands a bit taller but not by much.

I lower myself to the ground and lean against the wall. My body is screaming at me. "So," I mumble, looking up at Thomas and Zayn. "Are you two just going to stand there?"

"Someone's grumpy," Thomas teases before sitting down. We both look up at Zayn who hasn't made a move to take a seat on the floor.

"Well? Zayn aren't you going to sit?"

Zayn looks at me amused. "No, the ground is dirty and Jared is right, you do kind of reek. I'd prefer to speak to you when you've showered," he says and shrugs. "I'll just see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Alright, fair enough. Bye Zayn," I wave to him as he says his goodbyes and then leaves, heading back towards the track. He'll probably wait for the rest of the lads before leaving. "Aren't you supposed to comment on my stench and then leave as well?" I ask Thomas.

He just grins lazily. "I've smelt worse on you. Like that night after a party and you got hit by a skunk."

"Oh god," I groan, remembering that night in full detail. I was walking out to my car with Thomas because he had been too lazy to drive and said he wouldn't want to drive under the influence anyways, and out of no where this skunk showed up and when I screamed, it sprayed me. Not my face or even higher than my waist, but the smell was disgusting.

"Remember how you had to borrow Ky's clothes and then we burned your other ones?"

"Of course I remember. We burned my favorite pair of jeans."

"The smell would never ever come out, Lilah."

"I know that, but it still sucked. Not just burning my clothes, but the skunk smell, the tomato bath, and the humiliating walk through the party." I groan again just at the memory of it.

"Yeah, but the night was still a good one," Thomas says and I look at him grinning.

I smile back. "Yeah, yeah it was."

Part of me thought he should have forgotten everything that happened seeing as he had been drinking. That night was different than most between us. It was the only time I really wished he would just kiss me.

"You're blushing," Thomas says suddenly.

"What?? What? No, no I'm just...sweaty." I lie. I know I'm blushing.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm so you can take a shower and get some rest. Tomorrow I heard Louis is planning to kick it up a notch."

We stand up and my legs feel like jello. "Kick it up a notch?! A notch?! Shit, when I die I'm leaving my belongings to Lena. Let her know," I mutter, forcing my legs into motion.

Thomas just laughs as we retrieve my items from inside the theater. He carries them instead of making me do it and I thank him. I'm already not looking forward to the walk back to my dorms. It's a pretty decent walking distance.

I walk beside Thomas, keeping three feet between us. He keeps ending up beside me and I wonder if he's doing it on purpose or he just walks crooked.

"Why do you keep scooting farther away from me?" Thomas asks after I move away again when his arm brushed mine.

"I smell!" I exclaim. What part of that was unclear to him?

Thomas chuckles and steps closer again. "Do I have to remind you that I've been playing sports with teenage guys for years? Yeah, my sense of smell has become almost immune to anything weaker than a dirty football player's sweaty sock. And trust me, those stink."

I crinkle my nose at the thought and punch his arm. "Jerk! That's such a disgusting image!" Thomas laughs harder, causing me to roll my eyes. "I get your point, it's just gross to me as to how much I smell. I've been sweating literally all day."

Thomas tells me about the worst day of football practice that consists of a lot of sweaty teenage boys smelling particularly foul in the small locker room at our previous high school. He explains how they had asked one of the team's guys to wash the jerseys for the game that night, but he hadn't done it. So when the night came and they were getting ready for the game, the bag of sweaty jerseys was discovered and they had no choice but to put them on. I crinkle my nose in the places that Thomas detailed described the stench and how it felt to put it on. By the end of the story we're outside of my room's door and I'm laughing at his reenactment of one of the team member's wearing the dirty shirt.

"You should wear your hair up more often. A lot of the time it just falls over your face," Thomas says suddenly, leaning against the wall beside my door. I hardly wear ponytails because I've always been told a girl's hair belonged down. Plus, the Internet only shows girls with long hair down their back. "Trust me, it does your eyes a favor."

Was this really happening? The butterflies in my stomach again after all these years of knowing Thomas? I bite down on my lip and reach for my bag to get my dorm key. Thomas moves it out of reach.

"Lilah, do you know what you're doing with these guys?" Thomas asks so suddenly that I feel confused. Know what I'm doing?

"Of course I know what I'm doing," I say.

"I read the script, it's good, but Lilah, this is a movie. Not one of your silly little fan fictions."

"Silly fan fiction?! Thomas, do I have to remind you that my 'silly little fan fictions' are the reason they found me and asked ME to do their movie?" I try to keep cool but his question irritates me. How dare he think what I do is silly. Like I'm some kind of child merely writing words on paper. "My writing, Thomas, is none of your business. If maybe you read some of them you'd realize that I don't write the typical fanfics about how they meet and fall in love so goddamn suddenly. Why don't you open one of them in a little useless fucking app and read how much emotion I put into my writing. And for you to stand there and insult me? No, fuck you. I will not stand here and accept it."

Thomas gapes at me, his mouth open. I'm pissed off. I don't need him to tell me off about something he doesn't even understand. I grab my bag and yank it off his shoulder, dropping it to the floor. I grab my key and open my dorm door.

"Wait," Thomas whispers when I'ma out to slam the door closed. I stop and glare at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just worried that you're going into something that's way too big for you to handle. I'm not saying I don't think you can handle it, but Lilah, they're expecting a movie that's mindblowingly great. You haven't even take a video tech class."

"So you're saying I should quit?!" I scoff and try to shut the door but he holds it open.

"No I'm not saying that. Besides you never quit something you start. It's what I admire about you." Admire?! What? Where the hell did that come from? "Just, try to do a movie that a actually doable with the resources you have. You're 'the biggest directioner' right? You should be able to produce something that everyone will enjoy. I just think you don't need anything fancy to make something great."

Thomas shrugs and let's go of the door. I hold the handle knowing that if I tried to close the door again that he wouldn't stop me. I sigh and lean against the door frame.

"Thomas, don't worry. I know what I'm doing and I've got a brilliant plan for tomorrow. I am a directioner and I know what the fans are looking for. And I know exactly how I will do it," I say to him defeated, completely worn out and in no mood to argue.

"Alright Lilah, just one more thing."

"Sure," I mumble, bracing myself for some other insult.

"Don't forget the people who have always been around." Thomas gives me one last smile before walking away

I watch him, knowing that the 'people' he refers to, includes himself. And I have no idea how to feel about this.

So instead of over-thinking, I grab my towel, clean clothes, toiletries, and head to the showers. The only thing I need right now is a hot, steaming shower.