admiration [l.t]

xi

Louis wouldn't have it any other way if he were to be honest. The way he's lying beside Bella as the sun rises over the horizon, the light illuminating the small freckles on her face, the way her steady breaths are falling slowly from her lips as she sleeps, and the way the constant beating of her heart is calming enough to lull Louis back to sleep is enough for him to wish the world would just pause in this moment. He doesn't want to go back to sleep, despite his heavy eyes, because he wants to cherish this moment with her forever. The moment where she looks the most vulnerable and fragile, as if a feather landing on her cheeks would cause her to crumble and fall through his fingers.

She's rested with her head on his chest, her arm draped over his torso and their legs intertwined. Louis is laid on his back, his fingers lightly threading through her hair as he stares at the ceiling of her dorm, deep in thought.

Unfortunately, he's been thinking a lot lately about the two of them. He being a senior in college and her being a junior is surely to cause some problems in the future. He wants to leave this town as soon as he graduates and gets his bachelor, but she wants to stay a few more years in college to get her masters. The topic has only been brought up once by Louis, but it was also quickly shut down by him, not wanting to think about something that could end what they have. The year ends in only a couple of months, and Louis knows it must be brought up soon at some point to figure out what they're going to do.

However, the gentle stirring of her body and the way she stretches her arm out causes Louis' gaze to fall back on her face, quickly bringing him out of his thoughts. He can only see her hair from the way she's laying, and when she tilts her head up to meet his gaze he can't help the smile from forming on his lips and leaning forward to kiss her.

"Morning, beautiful," he whispers.

"Morning," she says back contently, a small smile on her lips. Bella rests her cheek back down on Louis' chest, fingers running up and down his torso, repositioning herself so she can look at him.

"Sleep well?" Louis asks, never taking his eyes off of her, fingers rubbing her arm.

"Very," she mumbles, snuggling deeper into Louis' grey shirt.

"Sure sounded like it."

"Whadya mean?"

Louis smirks down at her before imitating a snore, breathing in heavily and releasing in the most obnoxious way possible.

"I do not snore!" she protests, lightly hitting his chest.

"Oh, but you do, love. Very loudly I might add. I'm quite surprised the neighbors didn't come barging in with complaints."

Bella only sticks her tongue out at him before rolling away from his body, now lying on the other side of the small bed.

"Where do you think you're going, missy?" Louis playfully asks, reaching his arms out to her and pulling her back to his chest, burying his face in her hair.

"Louis!" she yells, trying to squirm away from the boy, although not really trying hard enough to actually escape, enjoying the warmth his body is giving.

Louis only mumbles something incomprehensive as he pulls her closer to him, legs now wrapped in hers so she can't move.

"I have classes today, Lou," she says, trying to get out of his hold.

"And I have work, both of which don't start until four hours. Nice try though."

Bella only sighs in defeat, no longer moving. She keeps her eyes open, listening to Louis' breathing behind her, hot breaths hitting the back of her neck. Her arms move up to wrap around his, which are still wrapped around her body, rubbing the knuckles on his hands. "Do you want to go get breakfast or something?"

"I just want to lay here with you," Louis whispers, eyes closing in content.

"Hmm," Bella mumbles, agreeing with him.

++

An hour later the two of them are finally getting out of bed, taking showers and getting ready for breakfast.

"So what place did you have in mind to go eat breakfast?" Louis asks as he walks back into her dorm just getting finished with a shower, shorts hanging low on his hips as he dries his hair with a towel.

"There's a small little café about five minutes away from here, it's called Mint Hill, if you've heard of it before," she says looking into the mirror as she fixes her hair and puts makeup on.

"Yeah, I usually pass it on my way to class," Louis says pulling on another shirt before walking up behind Bella, wrapping his arms around her. "You know you don't need this stuff, right?"

"Oh I know because 'I'm beautiful without it and blah blah blah.' Trust me, I've heard it all before but it still doesn't change my opinion on wearing it."

"Although that is true, I actually wasn't going to say that. I was gonna say you don't need it because after work and class we are going to go swimming."

"Swimming?" She asks turning around to face him. "Where?"

Louis smiles down at her before kissing her forehead and walking away to go put on his shoes. "Somewhere. Somewhere you don't need to know the name of."

Bella sighs before turning around again to face the mirror. "Why don't you ever tell me where we're going?"

"It's funner that way."

"More fun," she says smirking into the mirror.

"And the student becomes the teacher," Louis smiles at her through the mirror, tying his shoes.