mute » tomlinson ON HOLD

seven; finding

My hand met with the cold wood of the door as my other hand gripped tightly onto the napkin. Shuffling around impatiently, my feet refused to remain on the cement sidewalk for too long. My eyes had started watering from the fierce wind whipping around my face, and I tried desperately to blink away the moisture.

I brought my hand up to pound against the door again, when it flew open. A tired Lillian stood in the doorway, making me realize it was still early in the morning. My face flushed when I realized how intruding I must of seemed.

"Louis? What're you doing here?" She pulled her white robe tighter against her body when the wind picked up.

"Sorry for waking you," I looked down shyly, then up again, "I was just wondering if Rainy was here?"

"No, she's at the bookstore by now," her eyebrows came together in confusion.

I nodded cooly, as if I wasn't itching to run back to my car to race down to the mall. "Okay, thank you, Lillian." I began walking backwards down the sidewalk that led to the front door.

"Lilly," she corrected me and smiled, then called out, "Bye Louis!"

I waved and turned fully around before jogging back to my car. My frozen hands jiggled around with my keys until I could finally hit unlock. I was glad that the inside was still slightly warm from the heat that only shut off a few minutes ago. The key was quick to find the ignition as I hurriedly shifted the car into drive and sped down the road.

~*~

I was happy to find the shopping center's parking lot nearly empty, considering the early hour. I shut my engine off and hopped out of the car eagerly. I had figured out what I was going to say to her during the drive, and I said it over and over inside my head while I ran into the building.

The heat from the vents poured down on me as soon as I stepped through the sliding doors. I could feel the spots of coldness defrosting from my skin, a minor burning sensation spreading across my cheeks.

My feet carried me to the east wing of the mall, where I remembered the bookstore was. The Christmas decorations still hung beautifully around the building, though I was thankful I didn't have to pass Santa's meet and greet only to get harassed by the people dressed as elves to buy a photo.

The faded sign of my desired destination shone dimly as I neared the bookstore. When I got closer, I even noticed one of the o's were burnt out. My attention was quick to change, however, instead to the girl sitting glumly behind the counter.

Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail just like last night, and her fingers thumbed through a book with it's cover ripped in half. I could tell that her legs were politely crossed underneath the table from the way her posture was perfectly straight. The pink tint upon her cheeks hid some of the freckles that I adored so much, but I couldn't argue over the way the rosy color looked angel-like against her pale skin.

Once my foot stepped through the archway, her eyes peeked up from her book, then her head snapped fully towards my direction. Her eyes were wide, that same look of wariness clouded in the blue-green color.

"Hey," my voice came out small, careful to approach the situation.

A brown strand of hair fell in front of her eyes, but she was quick to  fix it, all the while never breaking our eye contact. The fingers that gripped her book were slightly shaking as she kept staring at me.

Once I realized she wouldn't talk– couldn't talk –, I spoke again, "I just wanted to stop by to tell you that– that it's okay." I licked my lips and continued, "It doesn't matter to me, alright? If it mattered that much, I would've stopped talking to you right away. I would've never came back to the bookstore in the first place like I did. I'm sorry about how I reacted last night; I was being a selfish asshole, I know. But, can you– can you just explain it to me?"

She rolled her eyes. I was surprised; that was the first reaction she had to my words, and I wasn't expecting an eye roll.

She took a piece of paper from the clear container sitting on the corner of the counter– that were most likely for writing the author's name and isle number to find a book –and began scribbling down words. Her handwriting was the same, of course it was; curvy and neat.  She wrote with her left hand while her right held the tiny slip against the counter.

The letters spelled out, "How do you expect me to do that?"

I sighed, "You can write it out, just like this. Well, until I learn sign language."

She blushed, tucking her chin to her chest and grabbing the pen again, "You're going to learn sign language?"

I read the note and smiled, "Of course."

She showed a small smile back, then it faded and she started writing, "I can't write my entire life story on small pieces of paper, Louis."

I grinned at how she wrote my name. It looked perfect in her handwriting; better than when I wrote it, that was obvious. "Come back to my place. I have something that could help. Please," I begged.

She sighed, looking at everything in the room besides me. Her eyes were focused on a poster displaying an advertisement for The Great Gatsby movie when she finally nodded.

An even wider grin broke out on my face while I watched her eyes flick across my profile, a thoughtful expression overtaking her dainty features. I grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the door, "C'mon then!"

She smiled at me and shook her head. Her smile was mesmerizing in the way her cheeks lifted slightly and her eyes became small slits. I would do anything to see her like that at all times, to see the blue in her eyes shine brighter and her thin lips spread wide.

Rainy held her free hand up to me as if signaling me to hold on, then she pulled our hands back to the counter. She let go and picked up the pen again, pulling out another piece of paper from the container.

"My shift doesn't end for another hour," she smiled up at my pouted expression.

I groaned rather loudly at that and tugged on her hand again, "You can blame it on me, c'mon, let's go."

She looked around the shop, seeing as the place was deserted, then, slowly, she nodded her head. I jumped and intertwined her fingers with mine, pulling her fully through the exit.

~*~

Rainy walked into my apartment more comfortably this time. She easily slipped her shoes off and padded to the living room to plop down on my couch.

I didn't know where the old shy Rainy went, but I was more than fine with her new confident self. I could tell from the way her fingers fidgeted against each other in her lap that the hesitant side had not completely left. I wanted it gone for good, and I hoped that I could eventually help her break out of her shell; at least, around me.

Though, her shy innocence was adorable.

"Just wait here; I'll be right back," I clasped my hands together in front of me, then turned and dashed down the hallway.

Quickly opening the door next to my bedroom, I moved around the clutter of blueprints on the floor to get to my work table. I dug through the bucket where I kept my utensils and grabbed some markers. My eyes fell on the portable white board I had bought not too long ago to sketch down my ideas, before rushing over to erase the useless scribbles that covered the white surface. Rolling it out of the room with the markers in hand, I headed back to the living room.

When the hallway opened up, I pushed the white board in front of the TV, then stepped back with my hands perched on my hips. I grinned towards Rainy who sat there, a small smile highlighting her features while she shook her head.

Nonetheless, she stood up and took a marker from my outstretched palm. 

they best hurry up bc louis has to be at the ski resort that night

but isn't rouis cute aw aw

since louis is an architect he's got his own little studio aw

anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter !! if you did, please vote and comment c:

and this is unedited again

ily guyssss

-kay