The Story of Us // L.S

Seven.

Songs for this chapter are:

-Chasing the Summer // Room 94

-Pillowtalk // Zayn

*

I pulled the covers up to Isobel's chin and she snuggled under them sleepily. Her voice was huskier than usual from sleep and she fought against her drooping eyelids. 

"What happened next Daddy?" I sighed and rested my hand on her face, gently stroking my thumb over her cheek. "You know what happens next. Hearing the sad part of the story before bedtime could give you nightmares." 

"Just tell me again please." Her eyelids were closing and I knew she was close to drifting off. So I carried on the story knowing she wouldn't hear most of it. "And then one day, Louis went to the shops to get a surprise for both of us, because he was so thoughtful that way and he never came home. There was a sad accident on the roads and another driver collided with his car. The luckiest thing to have happened was that you were safe at home tucked up in bed." Her breathing was deepening and I could tell she was asleep. 

And I was thankful, she didn't have to listen to my lies anymore. 

I tiptoed out of her room and kneeled down in front of my own bed, pulling a large wooden box out from under it. There was a padlock on it, something I felt stupid for doing but I couldn't risk Belle seeing the inside of it. My fingers slipped all the numbers into the correct passcode, 2412, Louis' birthday. There was a satisfying click and I pulled the lock away, throwing open the lid. 

Seeing everything inside made my heart beat rapidly and feel whole again. 

I'd kept everything that had a Louis memory attached to it. I rifled through messing it up, if it had any special order, and found the first cinema ticket from the first film we went to together. Night at the Museum. No wonder they threw us out. 

There were cards from Christmases, birthdays and valentines. Presents just because. The first rose he got me, pressed inside a heavy book. But most importantly his umbrella that he gave me the fist time I met him. 

I suppose there was no point holding onto the past. I needed to let things go. I needed to start seeing this as an umbrella and use it for its purpose. 

Just as I was about to shut the lid again I spotted the one thing I never wanted to lay eyes on again. The last note Louis had ever written me. The one that detailed why he was leaving me with his new born baby.