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After applying one last coat of red lipstick and adjusting my hood one last time, I stuff my phone into my bra and head next door to Louis’ house. I’m meeting him here so that we can arrive at the club together where we’re going to meet out friends to celebrate Halloween. He had told me earlier to just walk right in and that he’d most likely be in his room, so that’s where I headed.

“Knock-knock,” I say as I enter. I giggle almost immediately when I see Louis lying in bed with his costume on. We decided to do a couple’s costume. I’m going as Little Red Riding Hood, and he’s supposed to be the Big Bad Wolf. Currently, Louis has a frilly lady’s apron and bonnet on top of his hairy fur. “My, Grandma, you’ve changed since I last saw you,” I joke.

“My Little Red, you don’t have to remind me. I know I’m getting old,” Louis plays along, speaking with an old lady voice. “Now, come give grandma a hug.”

“Why, Grandma, what big eyes you have,” I say as I make my way over to the side of the bed.

Louis glances at me from head to toe. “All the better to see you with, my dear.”

I lean over to give him a short hug, but instead, Louis pulls me down so that I’m lying on top of him, our chests flush against one another. Pulling back slightly, whisper, “And what big hands you have,” as I feel them slowly making their way lower on my body.

“The better to touch you with, my dear,” he growls.

I find myself in awe as we stare deeply into each other’s eyes. I could stay like this all day if possible, just gazing into his eyes that are blue like the deep waters of the ocean. I only break contact shortly to glance down at his mouth. “What kissable lips you have,” I say under my breath, but then I shake my head and realize that’s definitely not in the story. “I mean–“

Louis cuts me off with his lips pressing against mine. I kiss back with equally as much passion, enjoying the ecstatic feeling that radiates between us. He pulls back not long after, smiling contently. I giggle at him and begin to wipe away some of my red lipstick that decided to stay with him. “Red is a great color on you, but I think you should leave the lipstick stuff to me.” Louis lets out a hearty guffaw and sweeps me up off the bed with him as he takes a stand. He pecks my lips quickly one more time before discarding his grandma add-ons, and with that, he takes my hand and we head for the door.

~

I can already feel the bass when Louis pulls into the backlot of the club. It’s so deep that I almost find it hard to walk in my heels on the rocky pavement. As soon as we approach the entrance to the club, the bouncer doesn’t even hesitate to let us through. At least we don’t have to wait, because if we did, my feet would surely have died before I even got the chance to hit the dance floor.

Louis gives me directions to go to the VIP balcony that overlooks the entirety of the nightclub and wait for him while he goes to buy us both drinks. When I get to the top of the stairs, I immediately spot Liam and Zayn chatting away, so I go over to them and make my presence known. We chat for a few minutes until Niall arrives with Katy on his arm. I’m literally so ecstatic for them because not only is Katy actually dating someone for the first time ever since I’ve known her, but also because Niall won’t be going after me anymore. The guy’s sweet, but after everything that happened in primary school, I just really don’t think me and him would be a good idea. Besides, Louis makes me really happy.

After squealing with Katy about how cute her and Niall’s look as a cop and “Miss Demeanor”, Louis comes back with two drinks in hand and a dead looking Harry following behind him. I glare at the mop headed freak, making him think twice about walking over with Louis to where Katy and I stand, but I can’t help but notice my best friend’s smile instantly turn into a frown as she looks in the opposite direction and walks off to Niall. She tries to get into her conversation with him after that, but she looks like she’s struggling to laugh at his jokes. I mean, they’re not that funny, but they aren’t terrible either.

“Hey, babe,” Louis greets, handing me something in a bottle.

“Thanks,” I smile. I don’t even bother asking him what it is before downing half. Might as well enjoy the night by using alcohol to distract from the awkward tensions between all the people in here.

Within the next hour, Louis and I find ourselves on the dance floor, grinding it out to some new EDM hit. Our pelvises are flush and swaying in sync to the beat. I have one of my arms wrapped around his neck, the other playing in drunken wonder with the fuzzy ears that go with his costume. I can feel his heart beating fast as he pulls me ever so closely to him, his eyes shut as he leans his forehead to mine and a wide smile upon his face that I easily reciprocate.

“I love you, Lina Ellis!” he shouts to me over the music and raging voices of the club. He opens his eyes and tries to catch his breath a little bit as he stops us both from dancing. “I love you,” he says again, but this time just barely above a whisper.

Louis is staring at me, and I get this feeling that I’ve never felt before. It’s like we’re the only two people in the room, because all I can hear is him and how hard we’re both breathing and how fast our hearts are racing. Even though I may be drunk, I most definitely mean it when I reply, “I love you, Louis Tomlinson,” between erratic breaths that I don’t nearly have enough time to fix before he pushes his mouth to mine.

We both pull back minutes late when the song changes, smiling like idiots near the center of the dance floor. Louis lets out a ridiculously elongated “Wooo-hoo!” at the top of his lungs while I laugh at his half drunken stupor. At this point, he wants us to go back up to the balcony to calm down for a bit, so I tell him to go on up while I get another drink at the bar. He agrees, but not without leaving me with one last kiss before we separate.

I get to the bar rather quickly and try my patience to get the bartender’s attention, but he’s rather busy right at the moment so I wait my turn. Apparently, it’s not hard at all to grab the attention of wasted teen vampire wannabes though, because within the first couple of minutes trying to flag down the bartender, I manage to draw such a guy in.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Little Red. Was the forest too soft of a scene for you, because if it was, I can show you some harder wood?”

“Ew,” I shudder. That’s probably the most horrendous thing a guy has ever said to me. I only glance slightly at him to say, “I have a boyfriend, so if you would pretty please fuck off, I would much appreciate it.”

“Well, I don’t see a boyfriend, and darling, I could give you much more to appreciate if you went home with me tonight.” This time the creep tries to go in for a butt touch, but I slap his hand away and jump away from the bar. I don’t care about the alcohol anymore; I just want to find Louis. I start to walk away swiftly, trying to remember the path to the stairs past all of the tall people in the room. About the time I make it halfway across the dance floor, someone roughly takes hold of my arm and starts to drag me in the opposite way. “Let go of me!” I yell when I realize it’s that guy again. I try to get out of his grasp, but he has a tight grip. Just when I feel like my arm is going to dislocate, he wraps his arms around my waist and picks me up. I kick and thrash about, but this bloke is bloody strong. I can only manage to slow his kidnapping down.

As he continues to walk toward what I realize is the back exit, he growls, “It’s impolite to just walk away like that, sugar.”

I can feel tears pricking my eyes until I catch sight of a familiar brunette. “Louis!” I scream. “Louis, help me!” I can tell that he’s heard his name by the way he looks around in a confused daze, but he must think it’s his drunken mind playing tricks on him because he continues to wander about almost aimlessly. “Louis!” I try again. I lose sight of him for just a second, but when he comes back into view, he’s by the entrance, a tall, slender brunette that isn’t me on his arm. I can just barely make out an unruly head of curls running up from behind the two, seeming urgent to stop them. What the fuck? Why is Harry of all people trying to stop them? He catches up and the girl turns her head back. I immediately recognize her as the girl Louis said had recently broken up with him – Eleanor. Harry begins to shout at the pair, especially Louis but I don’t even think he cares. Eleanor just laughs at him before kissing Louis’ cheek and whispering something into his ear. He turns his head enough so that I can see him smile at her. Then, they both disappear from the walls of the club. That little pig.

“No,” my voice cracks as my disappointment wins over my anger. I stop fighting this guy after that. Louis was the only one who loved me. Now, I’m nothing.

The next few moments go by beyond my mind, because all is blank. Consciously, the next thing I know is Niall squatting down in front of me as I’m sitting with my back against a cold brick wall. His lips are moving vigorously, but I can’t make out the words. I stare blankly at him as he stops so that he can pant, trying to catch his breath. From what, I’m not sure. All I know is that Louis is a cheat and he’s gone. To think I told him that I loved him.

I think we’re moving because the views that I can process are changing even though I can’t feel my feet. Niall guides me through and out of the club; a terrified Katy and Liam following suit. All three are shouting words at me. I can tell; I just can’t hear. I close my eyes and recollection of what went down on the dance floor earlier fill my every thoughts. Then, the tears start to pour. I don’t realize it at first, but I’m starting to make out words.

“Lina!” Liam snaps, shaking my shoulders gently. “Lina, what happened?”

The replay is all too real. I love you, Lina Ellis. It’s all too much, and I open my eyes with a sudden gasp. “Louis,” I manage to get out before breaking down into full body sobs. I collapse into the arms of my best friend, appreciating the familiarness of her hold from all of my previous breakups. I haven’t said much, but Katy knows. Of course she knows, because she starts to do that calming thing she does where she strokes my hair and lets me cry my heart out into her shoulder. She doesn’t even say anything, which is the best part, because she knows I don’t typically like to talk about it while I’m still sobbing.

This time is different though because as much as I want to be sad and cry, I’m also beyond angered and heartbroken. Not even twenty minutes ago I told Louis I loved him, and I thought he loved me too but I was wrong. I can just barely manage to peek out of my eyes and notice a fifth and sixth party joining us. Zayn is trying to ask Niall and Liam what’s going on, but I ignore him and look at Harry. He stares back at me with the most defeated look on his face, which encourages me to choke out, “He’s a l-liar and a cheat,” between sobs. After that, Liam, Niall, and Zayn all start saying things in red voices, but I can’t hear them over the sound of my own heart shattering.

“Just let it all out, honey,” Katy soothes. “I’m right here for you.”

And so even though my heart is aching and I can’t even begin to function properly right now, I know that everything is going to be okay, because I’ve got my best friend right here and she’s all I really need.

Notes

Chapter Ten breaks my Louna loving heart. Getting them back together is not in the story layout but I love Louis and Lina together so I may change that. On that note, this is the halfway point of our planned story. I managed to dig up a beginning for chapter 11 that iceskatez wrote but after that, the rest of this story will be wrapped up by yours TRUly aha. Not gonna lie, the storyline and general writing are about to go suuuuper downhill, but I will not leave this incomplete! Don't be afraid to let me know what y'all think (even if it isn't positive)!

~A

posted 06.14.18