Not So Picture Perfect

Chapter 13

Louis, Grace, and I all woke up to the smell of waffles, eggs, and bacon sizzling in the air. The aroma swarmed around the flat and it awaked us. I come to the kitchen to find Louis in his striped pajamas next to Grace. Rita refilled both of their plates with more eggs and greeted me good morning. I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous Louis looked in his black and white striped pajamas. He looked like a prisoner in the old days, especially how messy his hair was.

"GOOD MORNING!" He shouted with excitement.

"Morning," I said to both Grace and Louis. I sat across from them as they dug into their food. Gio stayed in his room the whole time yesterday, avoiding Grace because of particular reasons.

"So, you guys let's girl talk!" said Louis. Grace and I both cocked our eyebrows in interest.

"I'm starting to think you're gay now..." I said.

"No! I'm not, I'm just curious about what girls think about guys." Grace and I exchanged glances before we started laughing.

"You guys! I'm serious!"

"Um, okay. What do you want to know?" asked Grace.

"What do you girls prefer in a guy?"

"If he's sweet and cute, that's enough for me, but Leah has high standards. They're impossible!"

"What is it Leah? This ought to sound interesting," Louis smirked at me.

"You really wanna hear it?" I asked him and he nodded his head. I let out a long sigh, because it seems like it really is impossible.

"Well, I guess Grace is right. My standards are high. I mean, guys aren't perfect but... I don't know. Anyways, I like the type of guys who are really thoughtful. They're really creative with things they do for a girl, not just buying her things. He's polite, he treats me right, he doesn't mess with girls the way he shouldn't. I can talk to him about anything, and he can tell me anything too. Of course he has to be cute. He's funny and jokes around, but he knows when to stop. He always has to be there for me." I realized I started smiling as I explained what I liked in a guy.

"Why don't you go out with Zayn then?" Louis said and I snapped back into reality. Grace looked shock at what Louis just said.

"Excuse me?" I said

"Why don't you just go out with Zayn? He's like ninety nine percent of what you described."

"I er, I don't know. He's just a friend. It doesn't matter anyways, it's not like Zayn likes me." I said. Louis scoffed at me.

"Really? So it's completely normal for Zayn to hang out with some random girl he bumped into at Jack and Jones?"

"Louis, he likes someone else" I said with a little pang of disappointment.

"Who then?"

"Well, when I went to his flat he didn't hear me knock, so I heard him talking to Liam. He was worried about looking spectacular for someone. It was probably another girl at the wedding." I said. Louis had a clear expression of annoyance on him.

"Nevermind." He said and we all finished eating in silence.

***********

"He can't know that you like him!" Grace told me in my room. Louis was off to go pick up something. We were sorting through old magazines I had to dump.

"I don't like him!"

"Just admit it Leah, you do!"

"Fine, but it's not that much. It's just a slight slice of like."

"Well, anyways he can't know! Otherwise he'll try to hook you up with him, and if Zayn finds out that you're Teddy, than things will be screwed up!"

"I know, now I kind of wish that Teddy never existed, Or the fact that I was the one who took that embarrassing picture of him."

"I told you so, but think about it. If you didn't take that picture of him you wouldn't been able to help get your parents out of debt! It helped you from becoming homeless!"

"Why me?! Why does life have to do this to me?! Ugh." I said as I chucked a magazine to the recycle bin.

"It's okay, it's just a small obstacle course you have to go through."

"Well, this is a really difficult obstacle course!"

"I still think you guys are soul mates though,"

"Yeah right, if we were I wouldn't be Teddy Pharlem at all."

"No, if you were really soul mates, you guys will still be together even though you were Teddy. What's that saying? If you set a moth free and it comes back it's really yours? If it doesn't it wasn't meant for you err, somethin like that?"

"A butterfly Grace, a butterfly."

"Whatever.."

"Ugh, I feel like crap now. I don't know, but I know for sure if or when he finds out I'm going to fall really hard. I'm going to like have a break down, and then I'll have to force you to snuggle with me and watch a movie while we eat icecream out of a buckets."

"You would do that with me?!" Grace cheers, even though she shouldn't.

"Yes. I'll be one of those girls who get all sad when they've been cheated or dumped on. I'll even have loads of balled up tissues."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you. You're never like this!"

"You know about that soul mate thing, I'll admit it. I'm scared that if we really aren't then I'll get really sad, cause he's actually a cool guy. I guess I'll need to mentally prepare myself then." I frowned.

"Aww, you're starting to believe my soul mate crap!" Grace smiles with warmth.

"Why aren't you serious when I need you to? And when you're serious I'm the one joking around?"

"I don't know! Anyways, I'm so happy to see this soft side of you! Zayn probably does have magic in him. He fixed Giovanni alright, look what he did to you!" 

"Yeah, he sure does have magic in him." I said. We stop talking for a moment and I stare at the ground.

I don't know. I don't know what to do anymore. I know I should tell Zayn sooner or later, otherwise I'll start really falling for him and then he'll find out the truth. I feel worse for Zayn though, he'll get mad for sure. I have to deal with the consequences and I'm going to prepare myself for it.

"C'mon, let's go get icecream." Grace says and we link our arms together. She opens the door, oh how I wished she hadn't.

Louis stands casually with his left side leaning on the wall across from us. He has his phone in both of his hands. Crap. Louis was in hearing distance of our conversation.

"Oh hello girls. Lovely conversation wasn't it?" Lou lifted his head from his phone as he heard us walk out.

Life. Is. Over.