Lock & Key✔️[l.t. soulmate short story]

•Five•

[Kealleigh]

I'm not sure why, but I just had this feeling in the car. Like I had to stand up for Louis, even if it was covered as me making a joke to lighten the mood. And he laughed. Louis laughed and I swear for a second, all I could imagine was a happy boy that loved a good joke. But when I glanced back, he was glaring at the city as we passed by, hands clenching together beside his thighs.

We've just arrived at the boys' hotel that they were staying in for the night, but I still couldn't stop glancing at Louis.

"Alright, so let's get this out of the way." Harry says before sliding his key card through an opening the door.

"Lads," three other men look up to greet Harry. "Lads this is Kealleigh," he says, pronouncing the 'key' in my name prominently. "Kealleigh, this is Niall," he points to the blonde, "Liam," the one with the buzz cut, "and Zayn." The tan one with the black quiff.

"Hello," I smile and wave slightly at the group. Louis walks past us and goes down a hallway, I presume to his room. Everyone shares awkward glances until Harry speaks up.

"Alright, maybe we best get this out of the way too. If you tell anybody about this, by the way, our management will shut it down." My eyes go wide, I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into.

"Oh love, it's nothing bad ." Liam chuckles a bit and Niall stands, walking to me and slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"What I mean to say, is if you tell anybody what our soulmate tattoos are, then nobody will believe you. I'm not saying you would tell anybody, because I think we can trust you. We just want to compare incase you see one that matches yours."

"Well, haven't you all had the same tattoos for months? I just got mine a month ago." I play with the ring on my forefinger, suddenly nervous at the idea that this was my life now. Searching for my soulmate.

"Oh that's right isn't it." Liam purses his lips. I glance to Harry to see wheels turning in his head, he looks to the floor.

"I'll be right back." His eyes remain on the floor as he leaves through the same hallway Louis went through a minute earlier. The boys all look slightly confused, but Niall leads me to the couch and we start talking about what food to order tonight. Apparently I'm staying here for longer then I thought.

[Louis]

Not even five minutes after I enter the room I share with Zayn, does Harry barge right in. I was changing into something more comfortable, and only made it so far as to have sweats on when he enters. He doesn't even talk to me, he just turns me around and grips my shoulders.

"What the fuck mate, let go!" I squirm away from him and he looks at me with apprehension.

"When did you get that tattoo?"

"What?"

"When. When did you get it?" His voice is much louder now than the first time he asked.

"Harry, what is wrong with you? It's just a tattoo."

"No, I don't think it is. I think you're in denial. That came on New Years where we were at the time right? January first where we were?"

"Well I noticed it that day, yes. Tattoos don't just appear Harry." I chuckle dryly, but he's not having it. He gets closer.

"Louis, I think this one did." My eye brows furrow and my eyes squint into a slight glare.

"I told you Harry, I must have gotten it when I was drunk."

"Zayn!" Harry yells and I roll my eyes at his sudden need for back up. Zayn walks into the room with a questioning gaze.

"Zayn, have you seen this tattoo on Louis before New Years?" Harry forcibly turns me around and Zayns eyes widen.

"That's..."

"What? Fucking spit it out already!" I shout impatiently. "Stop staring at me like I'm some zoo animal." I say harshly.

"I thought I saw a tattoo but I was so confused because it was already healed. Wait, let me see it." Zayn turns me back around and holds his arm up to my right shoulder. "Mate, the skin isn't raised at all."

"What..."

"Louis I said the skin isn't raised. This is a soulmate tattoo." As soon as the words left Zayns mouth I pushed him away from me and slipped a shirt on.

"No, I don't have a soulmate." I say, making my way down the hallway. My plan to leave the hotel room all together was stopped by Kealleigh's face when she saw me ready to leave. She looks disappointed. I glance at her and she sends me a small smile. No, she doesn't know me well enough to know what she's doing. I open the door to find a man holding a pizza, hand in the air about to knock.

"Here you go mate." Liam appears beside me, paying the man, taking the pizza, and shutting the door in front of me. I glance at the girl one more time and decide that being sad doesn't suit her, so I take the box of breadsticks from Liam and sit beside her on the couch. I keep my usual glaring expression up, until she reaches into the box of breadsticks and takes one, dipping it in the sauce I was getting ready to use. I look to her in surprise and she giggles.

"Don't worry, Lou. I won't double dip if you're worried about my cooties." She smiles at me and the boys all try to hold back snickers, but as my facial expression remains the same and doesn't leave her face, the boys' good mood dies down. I can tell Kealleigh feels the mood change, but she ignores it. She flips her breadstick over, dipping the untouched side into the sauce and biting into it, smiling at me before turning back to the movie Niall had put in.

I was stunned for another few seconds, continuing to stare at her, until I snapped myself out of it and grabbed my own breadstick, taking a bite and dipping it in the sauce again. 

"Hey, you just double dipped! I thought we had a deal." Kealleigh pouts at me, erasing any previous thought in my mind. I laugh and stick my tongue out at her, smiling as I double dip again and eat it dramatically. Putting my face inches from hers as I chew it.

"Watcha gonna do about it, Key?" Her eyes widen slightly and it confuses me. "What, do you want me to call you 'Lee' instead?"

[Kealleigh]

Growing up, all I wanted was for someone to call me "key," I mean it's a cute nickname and it's right there in my name. Nicknames weren't the same if you instructed people to use them, and it seemed as if everyone would call me anything but that. So I shook my head when Louis asked if he shouldn't call me "Key".

"No, you can be the only one." He smiles fondly and goes back to eating the breadsticks, grabbing a pizza from the table soon after.

I didn't understand Louis' mood swings, but something about him made me want to understand everything.