The Assistant // Louis Tomlinson

6 - Celebration

Midnight Memories

"Hey! So what'd you think?!" Louis squeals in excitement as he comes off the stage. Tonight is been the first show--aka my first show--and the boys are all very excited about my reaction.

"I loved it! It honestly surpassed my expectations twice over!" I answer honestly. It seriously was an amazing performance, and the way the boys seemed to have such a great time messing around on stage just made it better because at least once a song, I would start cracking up at something stupid the boys were doing!

"Now, don't hold back. We are big boys we can take it," Zayn assures.

"No! Honestly! It was amazing! You guys seemed to be having a great time out there!"

"Yeah, until Lou decided it was a great idea to shower his water bottle all over me! I was soaked!" Harry whines.

"Don't pout, it's not pretty," I told him.

He sends me a scowl before responding, "Whatever. I am exhausted. I am gonna go shower and change. I'll see you guys on the bus." He walks past us towards the dressing rooms.

"Yeah, I think we are gonna do the same. The first show is always the most tiring," Niall says.

"Okay, well I'll see you guys on the bus then," I say as they turn to follow in the direction Harry had gone. They all call 'goodnight' over their shoulder. When I turn back around, I notice Louis standing there smiling at me excitedly. I didn't even noticed that he didn't go with the other boys.

"What?" I ask.

"I am taking you out tonight!"

"What?" I repeat.

"Celebrate your first show! See the city and whatnot."

"Aren't we leaving in like... six hours to the next city?" I ask, looking down to check the time on my phone that reads 11pm. The buses are supposed to be pulling out at 5:30am sharp so that gives us a little over 6 hours. Doesn't he need to sleep?

"Plenty of time! We can sleep on the bus, anyways."

"Fine... but if I don't get any sleep before my first day of actual work tomorrow, it's on your head," I warn him.

"Don't worry! We will be back in a few hours and you will have a few hours rest before the five hour ride to the next venue! Plenty of time for sleep!" he assures me, bouncing up and down excitedly that I had agreed to his plan.

"YEAH!" Louis screams, fist pumping in the air.

This is going to be an interesting night.

☆☆☆☆☆

"How about this place?" Lou asks as we stop walking to look through the window of a small authentic Turkish diner.

"Kali Kebabs?" I ask, reading the sign beside the door. "Doner, Shish, Chips."

"Yeah! Kebabs!" he screams, throwing his hands in the air extravagantly.

"Uhh... Okay, Louis, whatever you say," I chuckle as he ushers me into the deli.

We take a seat on the bar stools in the front. I have no idea what this place was, but Louis seems excited enough about it.

"What do you want? It's on me," Louis says, turning to speak to me.

"I can pay for myself, Lou," I sigh. I hate this part because I know very well he is the kind of guy that will insist on paying even though I can very easily pay for myself, but I still have to have this awkward exchange with him out of some sort of courtesy so that he won't think I am simply mooching off of him.

"Nonsense! This is a celebration for you! I can't let you pay!"

"Well, I mean, it is for me... I feel like that would mean I should pay..." I argue, chuckling slightly at his reasoning.

"Stop. I am paying. End of discussion."

I just sit and pout before thanking him. I knew it would happen that way anyways. But I still had to try.

"So, back to the original question... What do you want?" he ask.

I take a look up at the large menu on the wall above the opening to the kitchen. "I have no idea what any of this stuff is, Lou."

He chuckles at my naïvety. I don't spend a lot of time in Turkish kebab places. Sue me!

"Okay well how about we just split the Original Kebab?"

"Sounds good to me!" I laugh and he joins along with me.

The waiter comes and takes our order before smiling back at us and returning to the kitchen.

"So, why don't we use this opportunity for some Avery-Louis bonding time? I want to know all about you!" Louis asks. He shifts in his seat so he is looking at me.

"What do you wanna know?" I ask, chuckling a bit.

"Well, I was wondering if you would talk to me about that long-story you said you would tell me," he ask as he shifts back and forth in his seat, almost as if he is trying to physically dance around the subject he knows is a delicate topic.

I huff. "I don't know Louis..."

"You don't have to tell me, but you seemed pretty upset. I just would like you to know you can talk to me if you want." He places his hand on my knee comfortingly. I look down at it's position as he slides it slightly up and down my thigh. Not in a weird way; just enough comfort me if I need it.

I open my mouth to speak, but the man behind the counter places our food in front of us before anything comes out.

I smile at Louis. "Later."

He nods in understanding. "Okay, so, let's eat this thing." He gestures to the huge plate of food before us.

"I don't even know how to eat this, regardless of the fact that I actually have no idea what it is."

"You eat it like a taco," he explains, picking up one of the envelopes of meat and taking a bite.

I mimic his actions as I take one of my own from the plate. It is amazing how this order is made for one person. There is a lot of food.

I take a bite and it's delicious.

"Wow, this is great. Good choice, Lou!"

"I knew you'd love it! I dare you to now try it with chili sauce," he says, smirking evilly at me.

"You dare me? What is this junior high?" I scoff.

"Yes. I dare you that you can't last one minute without water after taking one bite with chili sauce."

"You're on," I challenge.

His grin widens as he takes the red bottle labeled 'CHILI SAUCE' and squirt its contents onto a portion of my kebab.

I take a deep breath, looking at Louis' cheeky face, before closing my eyes and taking a bite. It only takes a second for my mouth to be engulfed in flames.

"Holy shit! That's hot!" I scream as I try to fan my mouth. I instinctively reach for the glass of water next to me, but Louis interrupts before I can extinguish my mouth.

"Duh, duh, duh... no water or I win," he smirks cheekily.

I scowls at him before releasing the water from my grip. I just sits there and tries to breathe in cold air. Hopefully I can handle this a little longer. I an down to a little over 30 seconds. I am just staring at the ground, trying to ignore Lou's 'victory grin' for I know he realizes I'm close to breaking. But, no matter how much I am dying from the burn in my mouth, I'm determined to win.

After what feels like forever, Louis' phone goes off, signaling my minute is up. I desperately reach out for my water. Louis just laughs at the relief that passes over me as soon as the cool liquid touches my tongue. I drink the entire glass before I turn to Louis.

"You cheeky bastard."

He just bursts out in a fit of laughter. "You know you love me."

I smirk. "Whatever."