Beautiful Scars

Making Plans

Ally walked back to grab her jacket off the ground. She quickly made sure that her phone was still in her pocket and then ran ahead to open the car door. Harry, holding most of Louis' weight, helped Louis into the back. As soon as Louis was seated, his head rolled back and his eyes fluttered.

"Would you mind sitting in the back with him?" Harry asked Ally. "Just make sure he doesn't roll off the seat."

"No problem," Ally told him, sliding in the back next to Louis. The back seat was filled with cardboard boxes, forcing Ally and Louis to squeeze into one side. His head drooped onto her shoulder and she instinctively took his hand in hers in a comforting gesture. Ally glanced in one of the boxes at her feet. Inside, it held all sorts of hair and makeup products.

"What's all this for?" she asked Harry.

"Oh, this is Lou's car," he explained. "All this was for the awards tonight. Lou's our stylist."

"I know," muttered Ally. She didn't think Harry heard, but she felt Louis chuckle.

"Aren't you just our number one fan?" he teased weakly, his voice right in her ear. Ally chose to ignore that comment, but searched for something else to say.

"Congratulations," she announced to both Louis and Harry. "For winning Best New Artist tonight. You completely deserved it."

"All the hours you spent voting for us?" Louis asked.

"Huh? How did you know that?" she asked, but Louis didn't respond and suddenly, Ally remembered how the night had started out. A stranger at the ATM, who she could have sworn was listening in to her conversation. "You heard me talking to my cousin on the phone!" she exclaimed. "Well, that's embarrassing." She gave a tiny laugh as her cheeks flared.

"Oops," was Louis's response, sounding not apologetic in the least.

"Eavesdropper," she scolded him.

"You're welcome," he muttered. And Ally immediately dropped the argument, knowing it was true. Where would she be if he had not paid attention to her? Her heart skipped a beat as her thoughts turned bleak. "Sorry," he muttered, having felt her tense up. He squeezed her hand gently. Ally didn't say anything, but she could never deny the comfort his closeness brought to her.

"Well, thank you," Harry said, filling the silence. "It was crazy to even be nominated."

"My pleasure," Ally said, knowing it was true. There was something about seeing those five boys running up to the stage to collect the award, with those crazy smiles on their faces, that made every second spent voting worth it.

"So, where to?" Harry asked. "You probably need to be getting home somewhere?" Ally felt a pang jolt through her. She didn't want to leave Louis just yet, not in a condition like this. But the thought of going home made a more pressing matter come to mind. "Oh crap!" she cried. "Emily must be worried sick. I told her I'd be home an hour ago!" She dug her phone out of her jacket which lay across her, trying not to shift too much and disturb Louis, who had seemingly fallen asleep on her shoulder. She began to dial. "Hang on, I just need to give my cousin a call." She called Emily's cell phone, but no one picked up. Then, she called the front desk at the hotel and was directed to the room's phone. Still, there was no answer. "No one's picking up," Ally announced, swamped in confusion and assuming the worst.

"I'll swing by right now," Harry said in a measured voice. "Where are you staying?"

"The Double Tree Hotel on Aston Street. If you take a left up here..."

"Got it. Why do you think she's not picking up?"

"I don't know," she said, worry overflowing her voice. Suddenly, she realized that maybe there was no reason for her to worry at all. "Actually," she continued. "My cousin Emily is six months pregnant. She could have easily just fallen asleep." She hoped she wasn't only getting her hopes up. It would be terrible if Emily had been up worrying. She would have probably called the police.