The Dating Game

Chapter 20: Tiled Bathrooms And Electric Shocks

Haylee's Point of View

"Ow!" Louis hissed as I placed the cloth with alcohol on his split lip. Louis was pretty beaten up as far as I know. He has a cut on his lip and has a few bruises on the corner of his eye and his cheek. That's all the injuries I know of so far, but I'm pretty positive that he has bruises on his chest.

"Sorry" I apologized as I continued to place little pressure on the wound. After Louis and I held each other for what felt like an hour after Jake and the others left, I led him to the bathroom so I could mend to his wounds. We were pretty close, considering the bathroom was extremely small. We've been in the bathroom for more than 10 minutes without any talking, but thankfully it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable.

I took the cloth away from his lip and tossed it into the sink. I brought my hands up to his face, cupping his cheeks. I sighed as I scanned my eyes over his other bruises. I never knew Jake could deliver such a powerful punch. Then again, I didn't know Louis could either.

I brought my thumb up to the bruise at the corner of his eye and gently stroked it.

"I'm so sorry Lou" I muttered. Louis moved his head slightly so he was looking into my eyes.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't know that Jake was the one at the party. And you sure as hell didn't know that he would end up at your house. You have nothing to apologize for" he explained as he brought his hand up to grasp my hand that was currently on his cheek.

"Yeah but, you're hurt because of me" I admitted, my voice cracking at the end.

"No no no no no. Please don't cry" he rushed as he cupped my cheeks. I felt his thumbs swipe away the few tears that had fallen.

"Haylee, I would take getting my bones broken every day if it meant that I was protecting you. I mean, did you really expect me to just stand there when he was provoking you and touching you? I told you before that I would kill him, and I'm pretty sure I would have if you weren't in the room.... Haylee I'd take a bullet for you", he added, which caused my heart to swell.

"But, if you took a bullet for me you would die. Then I would have no one here to protect me" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Louis chuckled. "Why must you ruin the mood Haylee?" he exaggerated. I playfully rolled my eyes as I stepped away from him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What?" Louis chimed up at me.

I began to chew on my bottom lip, trying to figure out a non-awkward way for me to tell him to take off his shirt. If I said it the wrong way, he could take it as strange, creepy, or sexual. But, knowing Louis, he would most definitely take it sexually.

"Um, well..." I started. I took a deep breath before just bluntly saying, "Lou, I need you to take your shirt off."

Louis rose his eyebrows at me before replying a very slow 'okay'. I found the floor very interesting as I waited for him to take his shirt off. Of course I've seen him shirtless before, but that was a long time ago when we went to a water park together. You'd be surprised how a simple year can effect someone physically. Louis was always muscular, but I think he's gotten even more muscular. I could already tell by just seeing the way his arm muscles bulged underneath his shirt whenever I saw him.

Wait! Why the hell am I talking about him like this? My only explanation would be a weird tingling feeling I was feeling ever since he had 'kissed my pain away'. I didn't know what that feeling was about, but it felt oddly pleasing.

My thoughts were interrupted by Louis letting me know that his shirt was off. I gulped as I slowly looked up, my eyes meeting his body. I was definitely right when I had assumed he had gotten more muscular. My eyes travelled across his tan and broad chest. I felt my breath hitch in my throat when my eyes landed on his toned abs and barely visible v-line. His v-line was just peeking above his jeans, and I had the very odd feeling of wanting to see more of it.