Midnight Memories

t h i r t y // f i v e

"I'd cut my soul into a million pieces, just to form a constellation that would light your way home." - Andrea Gibson

        Taking a deep breath, I smoothed down the skirt of the blush colored tulle skirt I was wearing with a tucked in black silk tank top and a leather jacket, all Astoria's of course. I felt little nervous tingles behind my belly button, as if they were first date jitters. In a way, it was. After all, Louis and I didn't really know each other anymore, did we? We had been through so much that we were surely much different people than we were a year ago. I thought of Old Stella, with her long hair, dark lipstick, and a perpetual look of sadness in her hazel eyes. She felt know like someone I had known long ago, but hadn't talked too in a while. I wondered what she would think of me, and with a pang of sadness, realized that she would most likely hate the person that I had become. 

Louis was standing in the foyer, as I had instructed him, dressed in Ash's old clothes. He gave me a weak smile when he saw me. "So, are you going to tell me the plan or not?" He asked.

"Or not." I said. "It's a surprise." 

"I hate surprises." He said grumpily. 

"Well," I shrugged. "Maybe you'll like this one. There's going to be someone there that I think you'll be really happy to see." 

I could see his expression soften a little. "Alright. I guess i'll humor you this time around."

"Then let's go. I'll give you a hint... we can walk to where we're going."

"Walk?" He looked deep in thought. "It has to be somewhere in South Beach then." He mused as we walked out the doors and into the elevator. 

"Maybe." I gave him a small smile. 

"Maybe? Where else could we possibly walk too? The city is five miles from here." He laughed softly.

"Ugh, stop being such a killjoy! Just go along with me here, I promise it will be worth your while." Well, this wasn't going too badly. We were joking around like we used too. 

Once we were downstairs, I saw Louis take a deep breath and look around. Even though it was late, the sidewalks were still packed with people, as they usually were at this time a night.

"Don't be nervous." I told him. "They wont find us here." 

He let out a small, nervous laugh. "They'd find us anywhere. It's only a matter of time before we run out of places to hide."

"Don't think I about that right now." I said calmly. "Pretend that all that... all that bullshit just doesn't exist anymore. Pretend that we're just two crazy high schoolers in love, trying to get into clubs with some shoddy fake IDs, drunk off our asses on some booze we stole from my dad's liquor cabinet." 

"I wish." He looked down at his shoes. "We should have appreciated those days while we had the chance. They went by way too fast." 

"I would give anything in the world to turn back time." I bit my lip, looking around at all the intoxicated, carefree people surrounding us. In the background, the sound of waves hitting the shore mixed with a fusion of rap and reggaeton blasting from the bars and clubs created such a sense of nostalgia in me, it almost brought tears to my eyes. I wanted so badly to go back, to not have been so miserable when I should have been having the time of my life.

"Look." Louis pointed, jolting me from my thoughts. "It's Cameo. Remember when we went, there, on our first date? What a shitshow that was." 

"Come on!" I perked up, grabbing his hand. "That's where we're going. I think there's someone there who would be really happy to see you."