Louis walks through the door and I look up from the lyrics sheet.
“Hey” he greets me and sits next to me on the couch.
“I had dinner.” I gesture at the used plate on the table. “I would’ve waited for you but I missed lunch so I was really hungry.
“It’s okay.” He assures me. “I already ate anyway”
“So are you ready for tomorrow?” I ask
“Yeah. I’ve sung this already with my friends so it was easy to practice.”
“Me too” I smile.
“Did you stay at the studio the whole day?” he asks
“Yeah. Until about an hour ago. Where were you by the way?”
“I was just going around the hotel to find a nice spot for future practicing, you know, if I go through tomorrow. And I just ended up on the top floor where the pool is so I decided that it would be a peaceful place to stay in.”
“Oh”
“And” he continues, “I’d like it if we could go hang out there tonight. I mean if you’re done practicing.” He eyes the lyrics sheet next to me on the couch.
“I’d love to.” I grin.
The rooftop is basically a big square with a pool in the middle of it and chairs and tables around it. It’s dark except for the dim pool lights and it’s a full moon. The scene reminds me of the night I first met Louis and thinking of how we’re now friends makes me laugh.
“What?” Louis asks when hearing my laugh.
“Nothing. It’s just that this reminds me of when I first saw you in the concert. You know, the lights.” He looks around and smiles.
I start to remove my shoes when Louis looks at me “what are you doing?”
“Aren’t you going to swim?” I ask, confused. Why did we come here if he doesn’t want to swim?
“Uh sure if you want to.” He takes off his shirt and I do the same. I’m not able to finish placing my shoes neatly because before I know it, Louis grabs be and swings me over his shoulder.
“Louis! Stop!” I laugh
“Not going to happen styles” were the last words he said before he jumps into the pool.
“Oh you’re going to get it now” I say after resurfacing.
“Shit”
After splashing and pushing each other under the water repetitively, we get out of the pool and lay down on the beach chairs near it.
“Who knew you had such a tight grip” Louis muses, indicating how I stopped him from pushing me under water for the eighth time.
“You shouldn’t mess with me, Tomlinson “I wink and he laughs.
“You know, I originally wanted to come here so I could know you better. I mean, I’ve never clicked with someone so fast.”
“Well, what do you want to know?” I blush
“Everything. Don’t hold back any embarrassing encounters either.” He smiles mischievously.
“Fine. But you’ll have to tell me everything about you when I’m done.” I glance at my phone. It’s 9:30. “We’ve got time.”
“Deal”
“Okay” I take a deep breath. “So I’m from Holmes chapel and I have one sister called Gemma…”
“No way!” Louis screams.
“Yeah way!” I laugh
“In front of everyone?”
“Yes.” I blush. “It was primary school! Everybody’s done it!” I try to ease my embarrassment.
“I haven’t!” he yells and hold his stomach from laughter.
Although I should be pissed because of him laughing at me, I’m actually glad he is. There’s something about his laughter that makes me feel warm and it has a homey sense to it. It makes me at ease.
“Okay okay enough of laughing at my expense. Let’s hear your story.” I say
“fine.” He straightens up and looks ahead, lost in thought. “I was born in Doncaster, I have four little sisters…”
As Louis finishes his story I can’t help but smile because our lives certainly are so similar.
“Haz?”
I look up at him. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay? You seem off.”
“I was just thinking.”
“Of what?” he presses
“Of how similar we are” I explain. “I’m really glad we met.” I conclude. It’s true, it feels like we were destined to meet somehow. Like we were supposed to meet in that stupid concert but we didn’t so we got another chance.
Louis leans on his elbow and looks at me. “I’m glad too” he smiles. “It would’ve sucked if I had to go through all of this without a good friend.”
I don’t notice that it’s eleven before Louis tells me. We rush to get back to the room before someone catches us and take turns in the shower.
“You’re so messy” I groan while picking up his t-shirt from the kitchen floor. “Why is this even in the kitchen?” I ask as I throw it at him.
“Hey!” he protests. “It’s my room. If you don’t like it you can leave.” I know he’s joking from the goofy smile on his face.
I place my hand on my chest dramatically. “That hurt. Deep.”
“Wow styles you’re such a good actor. What the hell are you doing in a singing competition?” he sarcastically remarks and turns to put his shirt away.
“Kicking your ass” I reply.
He looks up at me. “Good one.” He laughs.
I grin at him.
After brushing my teeth, I find Louis in the living room sitting on the couch.
“Aren’t you going to bed?” I ask
“Not yet. I near to mentally prepare for tomorrow. Did you need something?” he looks up at me expectantly.
“No, I just wanted to say good night.”
“Oh okay.” He stands up. “Good night harry.”
I smile and wrap my hands around his shoulders, inhaling the smell of the hotel soap.
“Good night Louis” and with that I leave the living room and a smiling Louis.
( vote, comment it would mean a lot if you did. twitter : @larrytats love you -mira)
