Under The Willow Tree • Louis Tomlinson

xxviii.

xxviii. they don't know about us [pt.3]

— • —

"Cheers to another great two months spent with each other!" Liam raised his glass towards us. The show had been successful and I managed to pull of the innocent fan girl though I had to head back to the bus straight after instead of hanging in the dressing rooms for the meet and greet. If I did go backstage I would have been spotted and Michelle's great plan would have been undone. The after party was being held in private club only a few minutes' drive from the concert. Some of the crew had to stay behind and pack it all up but most of backstage was here. "Who would like to go next?" Liam asked us, Zayn, Niall, Harry, Liam, Louis and I were sitting in a lounge area toasting each other.

"Thank you all for making it a great summer!" Niall grinned

"And I hope we get to do this again many times over." Zayn raised his glass

"Cheers to not having too many incidents." Harry's eyes flickered to mine and I poked my tongue out at him.

"The past two months were a blast and I don't want it to end." Louis nodded towards us.

"And cheers to making new friends and keeping the old one." I smiled and clunked my glasses with there's.

"Cheers to One Direction!" Louis laughed and we all downed our drinks. I personally had never been to an after party so it was a new experience all together. I agreed with Louis. I didn't want these two months to end. I knew before coming into this that I would have a blast on the tour but I never thought that I wouldn't miss my job. Compared to this designing seemed stressful and mundane with only a few possibilities. But what they did, One Direction has captured the hearts of millions of girls and guys and there are more fans finding out about them every day. Their audience was so big compared to my handful of customers. "What are you thinking about?" Louis' voice shook me out of my concentration.

"I'll miss this." I sighed, playing with my half empty glass.

"What about it?" Louis asked curiously.

"Not having to worry about deadlines or opening times. Not having to care about who has what function on or what the up and coming styles are. I like hanging with you guys. You're all funny and know how to have a good time. I guess these past two months have made me feel uncertain of my career choice."

"Rose!" Louis gasped, "Even before I knew you, you wanted to be the best designer you knew! You love seeing your imagination being worn by people. You love testing your ideas and creativity. Don't tell me that just because you had a small holiday from daily life means that you want to give up everything you've strived for."

I sighed and looked away from Louis. The others were watching the both of us yet they were keeping their opinions to themselves. "It's just a phase Lou. Just you watch, in two days' time when I go back to my boutique I'll fall in love with my job all over again." I smiled at him and then asked everyone else, "Who wants to dance?"

— • —

"Remind me not to let Niall or Louis near the buffet without supervision." I chuckled to Harry. Both of them had pillaged the buffet leaving not much left to the non-fussy people like me. I was sitting across from the buffet with Harry, we had both stopped drinking not long ago and had decided to just chat with each other.

"Noted." Harry chuckled, "Do you know what time it is?"

"Not a clue. But my rough guess is sometime in the early morning."

"Really?" He gasped, "I would never have guessed!"

"Sarcasm is not the slightest bit funny when it comes from you." I sighed. Harry didn't look entirely comfortable next to me and he was playing with the corner of his shirt, totally unlike normal Harry behaviour.

'What's wrong Harry?"

"Nothing..." He trailed off, looking out into the dance floor

"I'd be blind and deaf not to know that something's wrong."

"Actually nothing is wrong." Harry said without a hint of sarcasm

"Then what's up?" I asked him curiously

"Nothing."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "Who would know? Niall? Liam? Zayn? Louis?" Harry fidgeted when I said Louis' name, "Oh Louis knows? I might go ask him."

"Don't" Harry grabbed my arm, he sounded worried

"Why not?" I shook loose of Harry's grasp and walked into the dance floor. I spotted Michelle dancing with Tori and a few others in the middle. Good for her, she never let her hair down so it would be a nice change for her to live a little. I made my way to the front of the dance floor where Zayn and Louis chatting. "Hate to interrupt you two  but can I see you for a moment Louis?" I smiled apologetically at Zayn and grabbed Louis by the arm and gently dragged him to a less populated part of the dance floor.

"Good evening Rose." Louis purred, "You look beautiful tonight."

"That's the alcohol talking." I rolled my eyes at him, "What secret is Harry keeping from me?"

"Oh." He blinked a few times and  chewed his bottom lip, "Um do you want to go outside? It's pretty stuffy in here."

"Sure." I looked at him curiously and we walked over to the back entrance and out into the cool night air. No one was out here and the world was silent around us. "So...?"

"I'm not confused." Louis stated

"I know. You're drunk." I rolled my eyes at his comment

"I'm not drunk Rosy." Louis smiled at me.

"You called me Rosy so your argument is invalid." I didn't threaten to hurt him whenever he called me Rosy. It was actually Mum and Louis who started calling me that years before.

"No it's not Rose." He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "I've been thinking."

"Go on..." I felt secure in his grasp, like nothing could hurt me

"I've been thinking that what we have now is awkward for everyone, including us. You're my best friend Rose and I never want that to change."

"There is a but coming."                

"Sometimes I wish you weren't intuitive." Louis laughed lightly, his face was being shadowed by the dimly lit back lot of the club but I could tell that he was smiling.

"It's not intuition." I stated, " I can hear it in your voice."

"From the very first time I saw you I felt something inside me, it felt like I was complete."

"Are you sure you're not drunk?" My gut told me that he was speaking the truth but I just had to be sure that it wasn't the alcohol talking.

"Now you're the one trying to hide the truth." One of his arms let go of my waist and he pushed a stray curl away from my eyes, "Now no matter what happens in life I want you and me to stay together but not just as old friends. Rose Redwood, for ten years I have wanted to ask you this. Even when I didn't really know what this was." Louis took a deep breath and paused for a few moments, "Will you be not only my best friend but also my girlfriend?"