It's Gotta Be You (One Direction Mini Fic)

You Belong With Me

            I stared into those familiar eyes and everything flowed back to memory. Just looking into those eyes, I tuned out the rest of the world and remembered all the good times we had.

            Louis raised his hand and I linked mine at his elbow. We slid our arms back until we held hands, as if we were about to thumb wrestle. We bumped fists, and then reattached our hands at the thumbs and raised them up, wriggling our fingers, like a butterfly flying away. I was shocked at how easily I remembered our old handshake, our secret handshake. I giggled and Louis tackled me into his arms, squeezing me tight. I squeezed him tighter.

            “I can’t believe it’s you! I thought I’d never see you again!” Louis exclaimed, holding me out at arm’s length. All I could do was nod and smile, lost for words.

            Harry raised his hand like a schoolboy. “I have a question,” he announced. “What, exactly, is going on here?” he wore a puzzled expression, similar to everyone else’s.

            “Yeah and where did ‘Will’ and ‘Caroline’ come from?” Zayn enquired. Louis looked at me, still smiling, inviting me to explain. I nodded and began.

            “When I lived in Doncaster I lived next to Louis. He was my best friend since I was barely two years old. We were so close we just called each other by our middle names, Will and Caroline, so everyone would know how close we were. The only time we ever fought was the week I moved to Canada.

            “I had made plans to go to the park with Will the day before we left, so I could tell him we were leaving, but then the boy I had a crush on, Tommy, wanted to play instead so I went with him and…” I trailed off. “Shit, Will, I never even said goodbye.”

            A single tear rolled down my cheek. I had never thought about it until now, but I had been so distracted with Tommy that I forgot to tell Will I was leaving. I looked to Louis and my heart dropped.

            His eyes looked hollow and seemed almost angry. “I actually forgot about that for a minute, thanks for bringing it up,” he threw the van door aside and slinked into the night.

            I could almost hear my heart break as I struggled to follow him. “Will!” I called out. I found him slumped against a tree trunk several metres away. “Will, come on, it’s freezing out here.” I reached out to take his hand but he shrugged away. “Will, what’s the matter?”

            “Don’t call me that.”

            My jaw dropped. “Fine then, what’s wrong, Louis?”

            Louis shook his head with a sarcastic smile on his face. “What’s wrong is you blowing me off for Tommy!”

            “You’re mad at me for that?” I raised an eyebrow. “That was eleven years ago!”

            “Yeah, after eight years of being like this!” he protested, crossing his fingers to demonstrate our friendship.

            “I was EIGHT! I didn’t know any better! And don’t you dare tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing if you were in my shoes and Hannah had come round to yours!” I shouted.

            “You said you never wanted to see me again! I saw you with Tommy and you told me to leave and to never come back!” he cried. “Did you even stop to think about how that made me feel? You knew Tommy didn’t like me and you told me to bugger off just to make him laugh!”