Dare To Love

29 - You Only Get One

The dorm room was cold as Louis padded through, head hung back as he sighed. For the last few hours, he'd searched for something to do. It was ten at night and he wasn't feeling tired, so he cycled through a number of random activities to occupy himself, none of which were very entertaining or sleep enducing. He watched TV for a bit, played on his phone, and even cleaned his room. He even tried to read for a while, but simply couldn't get into it.

Louis hated days like this, when he desperately wanted to do something, but everything he actually did bored him. It drove him mad. Normally, he'd go to meet the others at Niall's but they'd all gone home for the holidays. He finally gave up after a while and figured that he might as well go on his computer, since there was apparently nothing that was actually going to please him.

The blue-eyed boy grabbed his laptop from where it rested under the side of his bed a and turned it on. After a moment of scrolling through his social medias, and finding absolutely nothing new, he logged into Facebook. There were pictures of some high school acquaintances he never talked to anymore, and some family members who all had picture perfect lives. There were pictures of engagement rings that blind his eyes through the screen, and pictures of cute little toddlers running around.

He kept scrolling for a while before rubbing the palm of his hand against his forehead, closing the screen and plugging in his computer to charge before burying himself under the blankets of his bed, his head landing on the soft pillow with a huff.

Tomorrow, he'd be on his way to Doncaster for the Christmas break. He'd be spending a week with his crazy and large family. After a while of shifting and turning, Louis finally turned onto his side and looked at the window before closing his eyes. He needed sleep, ten in the morning would come quickly.

And it arrived in the blink of an eye, the loud blaring of his phone waking him from his deep sleep.

Louis sighed, rubbing at his eyes and rushing around the room, dressing himself and shoving clothes from the back of his closet and the bottom of his wardrobe, his toothbrush, chargers and an extra pair of shoes into his suitcase.

Ten minutes later, Louis was sat at the back of a taxi, watching as the old man weaved through the streets of London and off towards the Train Station. The drive was quiet, painfully so as Louis kept his gaze to the window. The taxi pulled up to drop-off along the curb and he unbuckled his seatbelt, fishing out the required amount before disappearing into the station with his suitcase.

Louis reached into his duffel bag, digging around in its contents. After a second too long of searching, his hands finally wrapped around his ticket.

Gate 5H. Sure. The young man was all the way across the fucking Train Station. Of course they'd drop him off as far away as humanly possible.

Silver linings, Louis, he reminded himself. It's the holidays, after all.

The strap of his bag went over his head, he checked to make sure his wallet was in the pocket of his jacket, and he dug out headphones from his bag along with his phone.

As soon as the music started playing, he felt better, earbuds practically shoved against his eardrums as he made his way to gate 5H.

He found a seat in the corner of the seating area, where he dropped his bag unceremoniously onto the seat next to his and leaned his head against the wall. He closed his eyes, listening to the blaring music and beat for a while before moving to wait patiently in line as passengers were asked to board.

Louis found his isle quickly, C4, close enough to the front that the seats still had semi comfortable leg space. Not so bad. He shrugged off his coat, placing the bag at his feet. He had the window seat, so at least one of his elbow had enough space as he waited for everyone else to come through. The train filled up rapidly, and he was pleasantly surprised when everyone was seated and the two seats next to his were still wide open.