Going the Distance ✔️

Chapter forty one.

Liam's POV

I may have gone a little overboard with this one.

I was quite shocked with myself that I went through another person's belongings, especially Louisa's whom I have already fallen for. She doesn't suspect a thing yet and I've been meaning to tell her, but I can't find the right moment. Who am I kidding? There will never be a right moment to tell someone that you're in love with them. Lou would be leaving soon and she was still getting over Mason so I couldn't tell her.

I didn't mind being friends with her, but the fact that I was friends with her was driving me insane. I wanted to kiss her so badly and I wanted to hold her until the sun came up, but I couldn't do any of those things. I have never felt this way about anyone other than Olivia, who was long gone by now.

As my mind trailed off, Lou was watching the sharks swim around in a big tank that was above us. Her eyes never lost its gaze and I watched as they grew wider and wider with pure excitement. I loved the way she loved the little things in life and I was happy that I could tick off another thing that was on her list.

We had been at the aquarium for a few hours and not once did she complain about us ditching again. I knew she wanted to be here and I was hoping that me being here would be an extra bonus for her and maybe I could be that someone new that she ended up kissing before she left.

"Are you hungry? There's a small cafe around here somewhere." I asked her as we began walking away from the sharks and into the jellyfish section of the aquarium.

She nodded as her eyes never landed on mine, but on the jellyfish instead. "Let's just look at these for a moment. I love jellyfish."

I didn't argue with her and we stayed for another ten minutes with the jellyfish. We saw hundreds of jellyfish in a huge tank and there were information boards about them too with facts and videos. We watched a few videos about them and Lou took a few photos on her phone of the jellyfish in the tank.

"Okay," she said, "we can eat now."

I led the way and we came across a cafe, which was already beginning to get busy. "What would you like?" I asked her as we stood in line.

She glanced at the bakery section for a second before responding. "A blueberry muffin." She looked at me with a smile. "Thank you."

I returned that beautiful smile of hers. "And to drink?"

She looked up at the selection of hot and cold beverages before replying. "A hot chocolate would be nice."

I nodded. "Go and find us a seat." Louisa nodded with a smile and found a seat near the window as I ordered her a blueberry muffin with a hot chocolate and I ordered myself a chocolate muffin with a diet soda.

I felt like my brain couldn't even function when I was around her anymore and it was so much easier in the beginning. It was fun to have a ditching buddy, especially since she was the good girl with the straight A's. I didn't exactly know what changed. She grew on me in a way nobody else did and she cared for me. She wasn't afraid to talk back or to yell at me for saying something stupid and she wasn't afraid to do things out of her comfort zone, even though she didn't want to do most things because it would get her into trouble.

Heck, I didn't even know I was in love with her until she told me what I said when I was drunk. I really wished she hadn't told me, but then she would be avoiding me and we probably wouldn't be here right now. I tried to search my mind for when I fell for her. Maybe it was when she got sick and we stayed in the house alone for a week or maybe it was when we hugged in the refrigerator light after I told her about Olivia. I didn't exactly know when, but I knew that I was in love with her.