Ronan: To the Moon and Back

35. Wedding Date

Mid January is freezing still; like that bone deep cold where nothing seems to be warm enough. Snow flurries swirl around in the air and Rae wonders, not for the first time, how's she's going to make through a winter wedding without her fingers falling off. She brings up this concern to Kari, over steaming mugs of hot chocolate as she comes up with plans to successfully photograph while wearing an Eskimo coat.

"Are you bringing Louis as your date?" Kari asks casually, interrupting Rae mid Eskimo rant.

Rae knows she hesitates for a half second, then says, "Photographers don't have dates." Then she takes a big gulp of hot chocolate, nearly burning her tongue. Ignores Kari when she just fixes her with a knowing look.

That turns out to be a lie; for when Harry gets wind of that, he offers to be her date. Rae agrees only if Harry will reattach her fingers when they're eventually to snap off. Harry laughs, reminds her that the majority of the wedding is inside a nice warm church. So, she's got a casual, friendly date, because despite what every media outlet says about Harry Styles, he can in fact have a friend of the opposite sex who is just that. A friend. And if Louis is pretending to study his fingernails and not bite the inside of his cheek, then, okay. He doesn't go unnoticed to Rae.

She spends the rest of their lunch sitting close to Louis, arms pressed against each other's while she asks his opinion on the latest issue of the Hospice newsletter. She ends up with Louis' wool-lined jean jacket over her shoulders when she shivers a little. Ignores Zayn's knowingly raised eyebrows when he nudges her foot beneath the table. If Liam and Niall notice how Louis' touch lingers over her hand when he -accidentally- brushes his fingers against her knuckles to point at a picture, they don't say anything about it.

***

On the day of the wedding, Rae shows up on Louis and Harry's flat doorstep, quite annoyed, and a little earlier than planned. She just came from the Hospice, bag of her wedding outfit in hand. Harry opens the door, with a confused pout on his face.

"You ruined the illusion of the date, Rae." He starts, stepping aside when Rae politely pushes pass him. "I'm suppose to pick you up."

Rae shrugs offhandedly, pulling off her boots. "I'll let you open doors for me, lovely Harold."

There's a mumbled, "hanging out with Louis too much," from Harry.

She continues talking, already making her way down the hall towards their rooms. "That one guard was at the gate and refused to let me in, even after I showed him my ID and my name on the list. Refused to call so I was sat there until he typed in all my info. Like he was doing a background check or something. As if I didn't just come from a children's hospital, with said sticker on the back of m-oof!"

Rae literally runs into Louis mid sentence, as he comes out from his room. The unexpected impact knocks both of them back a few steps. Louis falls back into his door frame, and Rae knocks against Harry who had been following her.

She blinks. Louis is shirtless. Shirtless and rubbing his right shoulder which knocked into the wooden paneling. Her eyes focus on his chest tattoo, on the 78 on his left shoulder, and blinks again. His skin is slightly tan (which how is that possible), and smooth and her eyes follow the lean cut of his stomach. She swallows the dry lump in her throat, and realizes Louis has been talking for a solid ten seconds.

"-told him it was fine." He's saying. "You're about as harmless as a fluffy bunny."

Mentally shaking her thoughts away, she asks, "Are you not freezing then?" Choosing to ignore the fluffy bunny comment; she can be more threatening than that.