"Over here, Harry! Harry, can you tell us what you're wearing?"
"Zayn, Perrie, can we get a kiss for the camera?"
"Niall, whose the new girl? Is this your girlfriend?"
As the boys each stepped out of the limo I felt my stomach churn with nerves. The crowd outside was huge, filled with fans, photographers and other celebrities. We were at the boy's American This Is Us premiere and it was going to be mine and Louis' first real appearance as a couple.
"Hey," Louis said softly as his hand slipped through mine, squeezing tightly. "Are you nervous?"
Just looking into his crystal blue eyes calmed me enough that I could manage to return his squeeze and give him a slight nod. "Just a little," I said, despite the fact that I felt like I might throw up all over the leather seats.
Liam was just stepping out with Sophia and I heard a whole new blur of hurdling questions being thrown at him. They were like vultures, pushing past to get their microphones in faces and their camera flashes blinding.
"It's going to be okay," Louis assured me with a bright smile. "You ready?"
I reached out and used my free hand to smooth down the collar of his black blazer. I drank in his appearance, taking in his broad shoulders and the collar bones peaking out from underneath his white v-neck. It took all I had not to drag him towards me by the fabric and kiss him hard. If it weren't for the fact that Lou had already warned that she would kill me if I messed up his perfectly tossled hair, I would have knotted my fingers through it and just gave in to my temptation. He looked so good in his tight skinny jeans and his slight scruff tickling his cheeks.
Louis gave me a smug smirk, arching one eyebrow. "Ready, love?" He repeated.
I tried a smile and nodded. My hands nervously tugged at the hem of my short red dress. "Let's go," I tried to sound positive as I watched him slid against the leather seats and then emerge out the door.
Screams were blurring together, words like Stella and trust and betrayal were being thrown around. The flashes were so bright I had to use the back of my hand to shield myself from being blinded. Everyone wanted to know how Louis could possibly want to be with me after everything I had done.
I felt soft fingers grab at my wrist and then fumble so they folded between my own knuckles. I gave Louis a thankful smile and he nodded, his eyes soft as he looked at me. "Interview, over there," he said, leaving in to be heard over the screaming fans. I had already known we were going to be doing a joint red carpet interview. Their management had picked out someone good who would ask genuine questions but not put me on the spot and accuse me of everything. I was still nervous.
Louis and I had remained a very low profile for the past three months. He was on tour a large portion of the time and I was home in Chicago, so it wasn't too difficult. But everytime he got the chance he'd fly over to see me and my family or we'd jet off to some destination spot. I even spent two weeks in Austraila when they were touring there. We had been spotted together enough that people had figured out Louis had forgiven me.
And they didn't have very supportive things to say about it.
"Louis, how are you?" The female interviewer asked with a huge smile. "What's this like for you, tonight?"
"It's surreal. We honestly can't believe all of this is happening to us. And honestly just a massive thank you to anyone who helped with the film," Louis grinned, leaning into her microphone. He was so good at this, knowing when to look at the camera and what to say. He'd undergone all this media coaching and all I was left with was "try not to disclose too many details that will upset fans". Yeah, that gave me a lot to work with.
