The Space Between Us | L.S

Withdrawal

"I didn't give her anything mate." Niall laughed, clearly not bothered in the slightest by Louis' ire.

Louis' eyes shifted to stare me down this time. "What did you take?" Unlike Niall, I was not calm and collective under Louis' tempered gaze.

'Um, weed?" I answered truthfully but it came out like a question.

"Danielle brought some edibles. She had some, chill out."

"Chill out?" Louis questioned, "She shouldn't be taking that shit." My eyebrows lifted in disbelief, who was he to tell me what I can take.

Almost as if he read my mind, Niall replied, "She can take whatever she wants mate."

"Yeah mate, I can take whatever I want," I said brushing past Niall with my hands up high, waving peace signs over my head. With one look from Louis, my arms fell loosely to my side and I lifted my hands to show my surrender. "Alright, yep." I said popping my 'p'. "If you need me I'll be back here," I said, jerking my thumb backward as I slid back, bobbing my head.

I stared down the peanut butter jar that had been discarded on the counter as I tried to eavesdrop on their hushed whispers. Before I knew it, I was alone in the kitchen with Louis. Although the rowdiness from the party in the other room was trickling into the small room; it all seemed muted as I felt his focus on me.

"I don't even know why I showed up." He numbered after a few moments of silence.

"Cause I invited you." I replied honestly, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

"Which should have been reason enough not to come." I tried not to let his words hurt my feelings but they did.

"I wanted you here." I confessed softly, looking back down at the peanut butter jar. His pointer and thumb scooped my chin up and brought me eyes level with his.

"You did?" I nodded against the weight of his hand. His thumb traveled up, gently pulling my bottom lip.

"Fuck." He grunted under his breath. We stared at each other; unexpectedly, his hand drifted to my hip. It settled there and pulled me vaguely closer. I inhaled sharply.

"You're making this too damn hard love." My eyebrows twitched to the center just a bit; trying to decipher what he meant by that.

"Do you have a toaster oven I can borrow?" We both turned our gaze to the third party occupying the room with us. I had no idea who this man was or why he wanted to use my toaster oven but I burst into a fit of giggles, leaning my head against Louis' chest as my body shook with laughs.

"So, I'll take that as a no." The man replied, which made us laugh even harder.

We walked back into the main area; the party had decreased by half. Finally giving us room to maneuver to the living room. I noticed Sam and Celine chatting near our eating area, their hands both stuck out the opened window probably smoking; I went to make a break for them but Louis' hand shot out, pulling me towards his friend group who were still claiming ownership over the seating areas. He tugged me down to sit beside him on the loveseat, our thighs practically overlapping.

"Where's Rhi tonight?" Niall inquired, taking a large sip of mountain dew from the plastic bottle. My ears jolted in slight interest; who was this Rhi? A new friend, or an old one I had never been introduced to?

"How should I know." Louis replied curtly. Why was he being so hostile, it was just a question?

"Exactly, thank you, Wendy." Niall giggled and my face grew warm at the fact I had said that aloud.

My friends thankfully joined us at that moment, comfortably inserting themselves into the conversations.

"And she was just like 'Hey Gregory', and just decked him straight in the face like it was an everyday occurrence for her." Harry recalled dramatically; standing in the middle of the circle like an actor on the stage. He spun around in a 360-degree circle The party had slowly dispersed; Jonas and Will joining the circle, and finding spots in front of me and Louis on the floor.