Chemistry (L.T.)

Genetics (Chemistry Sequel) Chapter 1

As promised, here is the first chapter of the Chemistry sequel- Genetics (L.T.). Don't get too excited though, I will be working on finishing The Fallout (N.H.) before really diving into writing this, so it may be awhile (Check it out if you haven't yet!). Thanks again for all your support!

Genetics takes place roughly three years after Chemistry ends. Louis (now a senior) and Alexia (now a junior) journey to London for an international soccer tournament. But what should be a relaxing vacation, takes a sharp turn as Louis's past and the uncertainty of their future come to light.

"Now boarding Flight 1045 to London Heathrow" I can barely make out the flight attendant's words through the ungodly amount of noise coming from the crowd of people clustered near gate G15. Although, I wouldn't expect anything different with a large percentage of the crowd being made up of rambunctious college soccer players.

I stand, gathering my suitcase and throwing my large, overstuffed carry-on bag over my shoulder. The weight of it seems to pull my shoulder down a few inches, and I instantly regret my inability to "pack light".

I take a minute to survey my surroundings, after all these would be my last moments on American soil for the next two weeks. The airport has an almost constant chatter echoing through its halls, a combination of bustling people, squeaky suitcase wheels, and overhead announcements reminding us 'Not to leave our luggage unattended'. The gate we have been situated in for the past hour is surrounded by walls of windows, allowing for bright natural light to dampen the artificial fluorescents that seem to be found in nearly every other corner of the airport.

Outside I can see only a small portion of the large, white, British Airways plane that I will be spending the next eight plus hours aboard. Although it looks immense from this angle, I have no doubt that our economy seating will not parallel the size of the plane.

"Are ya ready?" I feel the gentle touch of an arm across my shoulder and turn to meet the twinkling blue eyes of my boyfriend Louis, who can't seem to hide the excitement across his face.

"As ready as I'm going to be," I shrug. To be honest, I have never been on a transcontinental flight before, and as someone whose family preferred road trips to plane rides, I am far less experienced than some of the frequent fliers that graced our presence.

Louis slides his warm hands down my arms and wraps his fingers in my own. "You are going to be fine love, eight hours will fly by." He wraps his arms around me, giving me a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

"Tomlinson, can you stop with the PDA and get in line already, coach has got to take a headcount!" Louis turns abruptly and gives a nasty look in the direction of Niall Horan, his fellow team captain, before dragging his suitcase and getting in line behind the rest of the boys. I shake my head at the group, acting as if they were such professionals when really they were a bunch of schoolboys who couldn't contain their excitement to be on the national stage.

"Should we get in line too then?" Harry says from behind me. Leah gives him a nod and the three of us slowly drag our gear to join the seemingly endless line of passengers.

"Passports?" Leah asks, turning first to Harry, then to me, and receiving simultaneous nods.

"Tickets?" I respond, and the two hold up their tickets in unison.

"Sounds like we are ready to head to the motherland," Harry says with a laugh. Well, maybe Louis and Harry's motherland. I am still amazed my parents allowed me to travel halfway across the world over my Christmas break.

As the conference champions of this year's soccer tournament (and the past three years), as well as being national ranked, the team had qualified to participate in an international soccer tournament in London this year. Although it had never been confirmed, I had my suspicions that the Styles family had provided some of the funding for the team to make the expensive travel to the UK, especially seeing how they had funded my travel along with Leah's. Maybe they viewed it as some sort of tribute to Louis's senior season. In their eyes, especially considering how he started out, it is a bit of a miracle that he made it this long.

"Alexia, you are absolutely sure you don't want me to swap seats with Louis?" Harry asks onces again. I may have expressed my slight fear of take off a few too many times. Harry had graciously offered on multiple occasions to switch Louis seats for the take-off portion, but each time I had adamantly refused.

"I'm sure," I say mustering up a soft smile, while internally trying to calm my nerves. I can't possibly take Louis away from his team for a little bit of nerves. Take off didn't take too long anyway right?

Harry seems to interpret my body language more than my words as he rests a reassuring hand on my shoulder "We'll be right there with you." The line begins to move forwards and I see Louis and the boys up ahead scanning their tickets to get onboard.

I can't believe this is actually happening. I'm traveling abroad, Louis is about to play his final games as a collegiate soccer player, and life as we have known it for the past two and a half years is about to change. Although I've tried to push it off too many times over the past few months, choosing not to except the fact that some big decisions and changes were about to come our way, the uncertainty of the future is quickly approaching.

I look with a slight tinge of jealousy at Harry and Leah as they hold hands in front of me. Their future is far from uncertain. Harry was recently accepted into medical school at Harvard, and Leah had found the marketing job of her dreams nearby in Boston.

Louis and I were quite the opposite, however, with Louis having no idea what he wanted his future to looks like. With me working on my own medical school applications, the question of where we wanted to be a year or two from now had definitely become a point of contention in our relationship.

I welcomed this trip as an opportunity to get away from everything and just relax, explore and spend time with the man that I am in love with. As we find our seats, my assumptions are correct, as the leg room is comparable to that of a small box. I buckle my seatbelt and try my best to find a comfortable position, thankful that Harry and Leah have graciously given me the window seat. Spotting the back of Louis's head a few rows ahead puts me slightly at ease and I rest my head back, closing my eyes and awaiting take-off.