As Long As You Love Me

9 ~ Explosions, Ice Cream, & Trust

♔ niall horan ♔

"Got any fives?" I tiredly ask Luci, who's sitting across the coffee table from me, yawning and looking over her cards. Zayn appears to be half asleep already. 

"Maybe," she replies. "God, Lou, when's Demetria coming back?" 

I stiffen. 

"She just texted me..." Louis is peering at his phone, as if it said something odd on it. "Hm." 

"What'd she say?" 

"To meet her somewhere?" Louis mouths the words of her text silently. "I'd better go." 

"Can I come?" Harry asks. 

"I've got a five," Liam says at last. 

"Good for you," I mutter. He rolls his eyes. 

"No, Harry." Louis grabs his keys and heads out the door before any of us can say anything. 

"How about threes?" I ask the lads and Luci, stifling a huge yawn. 

***

☼ mitchie sky ☼

"Gosh, it's c-cold!" Eleanor whines, rubbing her arms wildly. "Why are we at this park...?" 

I ignore her as I look around anxiously. The park is deserted, of course. The trees are casting looming shadows all over the land, covering the entire park in black. A lone swing set creaks in the light, icy wind. 

"This is creepy..." Eleanor shudders. "Demetria, why are we here?" 

"Just keep walking." A shiver erupts from me. Where the hell is he? 

We continue trudging forward in complete silence, apart from the whistling of the wind. Eleanor nearly trips almost five times in her heels. 

"Wait..." I stop walking as I see a silhouette in a white shirt and black skinny jeans leaning up against a tree with his arms crossed, and I smile. 

"Who's..." her voice trails off as I drag her towards him. 

"Hey, Louis?" I say with a grin. 

He looks up at the sound of my voice and abruptly freezes as he sees the love of his life standing beside me.

And suddenly, I know that they can't see me, or hear the howling wind, or see the dark trees, or feel the lush grass at their feet. I know that they're lost in a world consisting of just them. They hadn't seen each other in an entire year, yet it was all they'd wanted...just to see each other. 

Louis slowly shrugs off the tree. A fingernail goes to Eleanor's mouth. Lou's jaw is slack and his arms are hanging lifelessly at his sides, his ices flicking from my face to hers.