Surrender

Chapter Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Leave? Wh-what do you mean leave?” I stammer, my tongue tripping over the words. He looks over his shoulder at the door to the living room and then tightens his grip on my hand and turns around, pulling me through the swinging door. Harry looks up at us from the couch, a suspicious look on his face.

“Practice safe sex!” He calls as Louis leads us across the room and into the hallway. He stops suddenly and spins around, pushing me up against the wall. He bites his bottom lip and leans into me, keeping his voice low.

“I can’t explain it right now, it’s…” He runs a hand over his mouth, “Complicated. Gemma and I have to go back to Boston for a few days to take care of some things. I know I’m being vague, but I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back. I just need you to trust me.” He looks at me, pleading with me to just go along with it. Jealousy sparks within me at the idea of him and Gemma alone together, thousands of miles away, and on top of that, he’s leaving right when things were starting to feel normal again. I don’t question him, as much as I’d like to, I simply nod once and twirl the hem of his shirt between my fingers.

“If you sit next to the window, the flight attendants are more inclined to give you extra peanuts.” I say, my eyes focusing on his shirt going around and around my fingers. He sighs right into a laugh, resting his forehead against mine.

“I was wrong.” He says, dragging his index finger along my bottom lip.

“About what?” I ask, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him into me.

“You. I thought I had you figured out, but…I was wrong.” He takes my waist in his hands and crouches slightly, leaning in and titling his head. Our lips are about to touch when the door flies open and Gemma comes rushing through the door, her phone pressed to her ear. Louis takes a step back and shoves his hands in his pockets, blushing. I stay pressed against the wall, trying not to hate her for interrupting us. She closes the door, looking quickly at Louis and then at me.

“Oh. Rae, it’s, uh, it’s good to see you.” She says pleasantly, distracted by the voice on the other end of the phone. She walks towards Louis, smiling as I lift my hand to wave awkwardly at her.

“Our flight leaves in an hour, the car is still running. We need to leave, like, now.” She says quietly, but still loud enough for me to hear. Louis nods, his eyes on me.

“Where’s Harry?” She asks, the voice coming from her phone getting louder.

“In the living room.” I say. Her eyes flick to me and she nods, stepping around Louis and disappearing around the corner.

“Come here.” Louis says, heading up the stairs. I follow him, my legs feeling heavy and tired. We enter his room and he goes to the closet, pulling out a worn, brown leather bag. He unzips it and crosses to his closet. He rummages around inside and comes back out with his arms full of clothes. He dumps everything on top of the bag and then goes over to his dresser. I cross to the bed and sit next to his bag, beginning to fold his clothes, placing them neatly inside. He comes back with a two handfuls of underwear and stuffs them on top, pulling the zipper closed. He grabs the long strap, the leather sliding smoothly through his long fingers and swings it over his shoulder. I stay perched on the edge of his bed and tilt my head up to look at him. It all felt too good to be true. I had glimpsed what it could be like to be happy with him and now it was all coming to an abrupt halt. He holds out his hands to me and I place mine in his reluctantly, leaning all of my weight on him as I stand.

“Rae.” He says in a low voice, taking my face in his hands, “Are you alright?” I wanted to say no, to tell him about Peter and the panic attack in the car, but we were out of time. I quickly nod and wrap my hands around his wrists, smiling away any trace of worry from my face.