Second Love -- My boyfriend's best friend // Ongoing

- chapter 8 -

chapter 8:

That morning Louis drove me to school, and as I got out of his car I knew that everything would be alright.

It was Friday, and just like every other Friday I went to class, had lunch with my friends, went to class again, went to dance practice until eventually the day ended. And then, just like every Friday since freshman year I met up with my friends after school.

However today, as much as I wanted to pretend that everything was the same, it wasn't.

Lilian didn't know how to act with me. One minute she was normal but then a frown would come onto her face and she went silent. On the other hand, Louis was trying to act as if everything was normal, making everything seem not normal to me.

We were currently sitting on benches putting on ice-skates. Today was the closing day for the semi outdoors ice skating rink in town, but it wasn't that busy. A few people from school were already skating among with a few children and some adults. Sam stood up and pulled me up, excited to get going. Without waiting for the others, he rushed me onto the rink and started to skate excitedly, pulling me with him and skating in circles around me, until he eventually fell over. I laughed and turned around to see if the others had noticed.

That's when I saw Cloé had also fallen over. As Sam got to his feet, Louis stopped in front of Cloé and outstretched his hand. With a pang to my heart she took it and he pulled her up. Then they started laughing and skating together.

I missed Daniel, or at least I wished he was here. At least then I would have somebody to occupy my mind.

With a fake smile I turned around and started to skate towards Sam who was trying to do some fancy figure but failing miserably. Even though he was a good skater, he lacked the grace to pull anything remotely fancy off.

My mind wandered back to Louis and Daniel. Daniel and Louis. What would happen when Daniel came back, a week from now. Would he notice something going on between Louis and I? No, I thought, he wouldn't because there is nothing going on between us. Friends. That's all we are.

I must have stopped skating during my thought process. Around me happy people buzzed past, laughing and having fun. It dawned on me that this might be the last Friday like this. This might be the Friday before everything goes boom.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand grab hold of mine and pull me along. It wasn't until he turned around smiling, I knew it was Louis. His grin made my blush but also made my smile back.

"Stop worrying." He said, slowing down so I could skate next to him. He dropped my hand but stayed close.

"I'm not worrying." I lied, rolling my eyes dramatically.

"You are, you have worry lines all over your forehead." He stated. "Everything will be alright." He smiled.

Just as I was about to admit my worries and voice them, the lights turned off and black lights turned on, sending blues, greens, pinks and yellows all over the room. Shortly followed by some music. I Don't Know Why by Imagine Dragons blared through the speakers, filling the rink.

'We could be strangers in the night..'

"Dance with me!" Louis suddenly said.

"How?" I laughed letting him take my hand.

"I don't know!" He admitted, picking up speed as we skated.

"I swear if you make me fall over!" I squealed as I almost fell to the floor.

"I'll catch you." He winked, lifting up my arm and twirling underneath it.

'Dangerous
Your love is always dangerous
And now I'm lost in us
We're livin' in a lying trust...'

He finished in some sort of a bow. "Your turn." He grinned lifting up his arm and gesturing for me to skate underneath it. As I was trying to twirl, the front portion of my skates got stuck in the ice, causing me to trip. I braced myself for the cold impact, squeezing my eyes shut, but it never happened. Instead I felt the warmth of a body and the strength of a swimmer's arms around me. I opened my eyes and turned my face to look up at him. He had a concerned look on his face, but once he saw that I was alright he smiled.

"Maybe we shouldn't dance." He grinned, still not letting go.

"Maybe not." I murmured, unable to remove myself from his embrace.

Without warning he tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. I watched, unable to react. That gesture, so simple and innocent revealed so much of what we were trying to forget.

Louis cleared his throat and quickly removed his arms from around me.

We had come to a stop near the exit. The desire to skate had left me, so without a word I exited the rink and sat down on one of the wooden benches.

"You want hot chocolate?" Louis asked, gesturing to the hot chocolate stall only a few yards away.

"Sure." I nodded, and Louis went off to get us both one.

Just after he left, Lillian sat down next to me. The look on her face made me want to dig a hole in the ice and disappear. I attempted a smile, but all I got was the following words: "What do you think you are doing?" She demanded.

"Ice-skating..." I trailed off, anxiously.

"You need to stop with Louis." She whispered furiously.

"We talked about it. We're good now." I tried to explain, but she wasn't having it.

"It's weird Mila. Not just to me, to others. Sam and Cloé noticed you guys as well. They know something is going on."

"You haven't told them, have you?" I gasped.

"No, but I won't have to if you keep this up." She sighed.

"Louis and I are just friends, truthfully. Last night never happened, it would have been a mistake, but it never happened. We've moved on." I explained, her good intentions starting to aggravate me.

"Just be careful." She insisted.

"Of Louis?" I frowned.

"No, of yourself."

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing happened Lil. I won't let myself get into that situation again. I won't cheat on Daniel."

Lilian looked at me sadly, as if she didn't recognise who I was. "Cheating isn't always about kissing or fucking. If you have to lie and pretend something didn't happen so your partner doesn't find out, then you are already there."

I stared at her is disbelief. How could she say such a thing?

But what if she was right, what if I was already there? 

_-_-_-_-_-_

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Cloé's aesthetic is above, I wasn't sure if this was the right chapter to put it in, but I'm really excited to share it with you guys so make sure to check it out above and let me know what you think it shows of her!

Love you amazing readers forever and always!

Ella

Xx