A Different Way[Louis Tomlinson]

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I find Cali on my third trip around the centre, and I stop to ask her if she knows where Marlene is.

"I heard she's in her room, but she wont answer anyone, so don't be surprised if she doesn't answer you." She sniffles, turning away. I watch her trudge down the hallway and into her room. I sigh, running my hands over my tired eyes. I feel someone's arms lace themselves around me and I can't help but smile. Louis picks me up and twirls me around the hallway, before setting me down and pulling me into kiss. When he pulls away, he takes my hand and pulls me down the hallway.

"Louis!" I laugh, digging my heels into the floor, resisting him. He pulls harder and I'm no match for those arms. I'm dragged down the hallway and into his room where he closes the door and pushes me against the wall. His mouth collides with mine and I reach my hands up into his hair. I'm pressed harder against the wall as he kisses more urgently. I continue with it, loving the feeling he gives me, until I remember what my mission was in the first place. I pull my head away taking a shaky breath, and he drops his head into the crook of my neck.

"I have to find Marlene." I sigh, dropping my hands from his hair. He lifts his head up slightly, his nose brushing my neck.

"She wants to leave. I have to stop her." I continue when he doesn't answer. He drops his head back onto my shoulder, his arms wrapping themselves around me. I sigh, leaning my head back against the wall.

****

The room is almost completely dark. There are no windows, the only light comes in from the door I left open. I gaze around the room; clothes thrown askew, shoes piled in the corner, Marlene crumpled inside a blanket on the couch in the corner of the room. I turn and close the door slightly, leaving it open only a crack. The sudden lack of light causes my vision to blur and I wait for my eyes to adjust. There's a lamp on table in the far corner, so I trudge over the precariously thrown objects on the floor over to it. The light flickers a few moments before emitting an eerie glow. Marlene still lays across the couch, her blanket beginning to fall off. I smile, remembering all the times I used to wake up in the morning to this.

We had shared a room when I moved in after my grandma died. I didn't like it at first, and neither did Marlene, but soon we were staying up late every night talking to each other from across the rooms snuggled in our beds. She'd always talk about her dreams of becoming famous, and I'd ask her all the people she wanted to meet.

"All of them... Every single one..." She'd whisper before dosing off. Every. Single. One.

"Amber?" Marlene snaps me out of my mini-flashback. She's sitting up on the couch, the blanket pooling around her waist. She rubs her eyes, as if she thinks she's still dreaming. When she see's I'm still standing here, she stands up, and slowly walks over to me. The look on her face makes me believe she's about to lash out at me. I take a tiny step away from her, and her face contorts and she looks away.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." She whispers. It's so quiet, I can hardly hear her.

"Excuse me?" I stutter. She turns back to me, black smudges trailing down her puffy cheeks.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." She says, stronger this time. I stare at her, my mouth slightly hanging open. More tears pour over her eyelashes, pulling more black streaks down.

"I was never afraid of you, Marie..." I sigh, pulling her into a hug. She hugs her arms around my shoulders, sobbing into my hair.

"Amber I'm sorry... I've been being such an ass... Please forgive me, I know I don't deserve it..."

"Marie, it's honestly okay. I know, it's okay, I forgive you." I say, a smile tugging across my face as tears begin to spill across my face.

"I've missed you so much Amber... And I know you've been here the whole time but it didn't feel like it because I was refusing to talk to you and stuff but I'm so happy you came... I was honestly going to leave because everything just seems so wrong and I don't even know... It's all my fault this shit happened..."