Star Crossed: Forbidden [larry]

Chapter XXXIII: Euphoria

There was a knock on the door early that morning. I wasn’t expecting Louis until later, and Niall was getting his knee surgery today, so I had no idea who it could be. I opened the door to see Zayn. I hadn’t seen him since his wedding.

   “Hey, Zayn,” I said offering a smile. I wasn’t expecting him. We weren’t exactly friends, sure we got along but we didn’t hang out just the two of us.

  “Can you talk?” he asked as he stepped inside anyway.

   “Sure,” I said  as I watched him slip his shoes off. He took a seat on the couch as I sat next to him. He didn't say anything for a while, just picked at his nails as he stared at the carpet.

 “So,” I said making him look me in the eye. His hair was a wreck, like he didn’t even attempt to style it let alone brush it and his eyes were dull and had bags under them.

  “I haven’t seen you at Louis’ in a while and wasn’t sure if you knew what was going on with him,” he stated. He seems nervous. I urged him to go on.

 “He’s been avoiding me, not answering my calls or texts, only talking to me in one word sentences. And well, about every night I hear screaming coming from his house, its always the same two voices, his and his dad’s. Sometimes theres more than just shouting like things breaking, sometimes it sounds like someone is getting beat up,” he shuddered as he told me this. I sighed  as I ran a hand through my hair.

  “Louis told me about how him and his dad have been fighting a lot lately, mostly verbal but sometimes physical. He never told me what they were about. I’m worried about him too.” I placed my hand on his shoulder for comfort. I sugarcoated things but I couldn’t let another person find out about us.

  “You should go over to his, talk to him about this. He could use his best friend right now.” He nodded his head and got up.

   “Thanks,” he said as he offers a smile.

***

The sun was just starting to go down. Music played loud through the speakers. Groups of teenagers, old married couples, as well as young couples were all over the carnival and then there was Louis and I. We could hear the teenagers lively screams from the rides. I wanted so desperately to hold his hand as we walked around the carnival but I couldn’t. I had a camera slung around my neck, I had decided I was going to get as many pictures with Louis as I could with what little time we had left together. We took pictures while waiting in line for rides, with the sign for the carnival, with some of the venders, and on top of a elephant. We rode every single ride we could fit on, including the bear affair. In between rides, we played every single game there, trying to see who could win the other the most...Louis won. As our final ride, we went on the ferris wheel. It was so late that we were the only people on the ferris wheel. I held Louis’ hand as it began to move. We watched as the world moved around us, the distance between us and the stars lessening each second. I could feel Louis tense up as we got closer to the top.

  “I love ferris wheels,” I said  as we neared the top.    

  “Uh, I don’t really like them,” he said as he shut his eyes to avoid looking at the long distance we were from the ground.

   “Right, you’re afraid of heights...well, let me change that.” I closed the space between us as I placed my hand on his cheek, and pressed his lips against mine. I used my other hand to take a picture of us as we kissed.

  “See its not so bad,” I said. He nodded his head as he went in for another kiss.

  “I love you, Haz.” If I could stop time and pick one moment to relive the rest of my life, I would pick that very moment. It was perfect, like it came straight out of a fairytale. But it didn’t, it came with the most imperfect couple in the most imperfect world. And that’s what made it all the more meaningful. That even in a world this cruel, you could still experience a moment of pure beauty and tranquility.