The Dating Game

Chapter 41: Change Of Plans

(Rated R content. Read at your own risk)

Haylee's Point of View

The river was beautiful, picturesque, and breathtaking. The crystal clear water looked more like a mirror than water, the blue water rippling while it carried on down the river. The river flowed endlessly, bending around a bank before disappearing from view. The tress that surrounded the bank swayed softly in the wind, their emerald leaves falling to the ground like snow in winter, landing on the ground with barely a sound.

The only people at the river were Louis and I, none of the others in sight. When we entered the clearing by the river, we expected for at least one of them to be here. So when we found that absolutely none of them had arrived, our already lingering suspicion took an unexpected high-dive. 

Louis was far from pissed, but he acted like nothing was wrong. While one of his hands was wrapped around mine lightly, the other was balled at his side, his knuckles turning white. I knew it wasn't easy for him to accept that his friends were supposedly up to something. He never liked being betrayed, and his friend's suspicious behavior and lack of contact with him was definitely not helping.

"Where do you think they are?" I asked, my thumb gently running along his knuckles to try to calm him down.

Louis huffed. "I honestly have no fucking clue. I was really hoping all I thought was going on was wrong. I was hoping this would somehow prove to me that they're still the lads I've grown up with and not some strangers I thought I knew."

I squeezed his hand gently in understanding. It really wasn't fair for him. He didn't deserve whatever the others were up to. Louis had undoubtedly put his trust in them, and now it seemed like they were just throwing it away. They didn't care what he felt. They didn't care that he was hurting because of their behaviors. I know Louis always says to me that he doesn't need anybody else, only me, but I know that he still needs his friends, no matter how important he thinks I am in his life. He needs that guy-to-guy connection, and they've disconnected themselves from him, for reasons we still don't know.

A loud ding resonated through the still air, the noise making both Louis and I jump slightly. Louis pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and tilting the screen so I could also read it. It was a text from Zayn.

Change of plans. Meet us at the party tonight.

"Who's party is he talking about?" I wondered.

Louis' jaw clenched, his eyes glaring at the screen like it was a bomb that was about to explode in his hand. "Jake's party."

Before I could say anything else, Louis was already shaking his head, seeming to already know what I was going to say. "No, absolutely not. We're not going to that party Haylee."

"But Louis, don't you want to know why your friends are acting like this. Don't you want to know why they've suddenly abandoned you all of a sudden and are constantly hanging around Jake. They've got to know something. I don't care what they say but I know they're up to something. After what Harry did and what Niall said, it only makes sense that they're doing something with Jake. Don't you want to find out what?"

"Yes I want to find out Haylee. But I don't want to risk going to a party, where I'm sure Grace is going to be, along with loads of other people that could be conspiring with Jake. I'm not putting you in danger, not now and not ever." Louis' eyes were determined, his jaw clenched while his eyes stayed locked on mine, daring me to tell him no.

"Louis, nothing you say is going to stop me from going. You can either go with me or stay at home, it's your choice." I crossed my arms across my chest, straightening my back to appear more confident. As always, I knew Louis wasn't going to give up so easily, but neither was I. Our stubborn attitudes counteracted each other, our personal and emotional feelings only heightening our current stalemate.