Rachel's P.O.V.

The holiday had dragged on over the next few days. I had spent most of the time hiding out in Harry's room, only going to the beach when Skylar assured me Ashton wasn't around.

At long last, we were back at the airport, waiting to board the plane. It was sufficiently awkward. I was sitting with Harry, Louis and Skylar. Ashton, Luke, Calum and Delia weren't far from us, with Lizzie and Michael in the corner nearby, talking quietly.

Eventually we got to board, having checked in with Harry, I got to sit with him, steadily avoiding dealing with Ashton. I could at least relax in the fact that once we were back on English soil I could completely avoid seeing him altogether.

It was going to be to be a long summer. Skylar was back for now, so at least I'd have her over summer. Although, she would want to spend time with Luke too. There was no chance of me spending any time with Delia.

And worst of all, Louis would be gone for the whole summer. He had gotten a student working visa in San Francisco for the summer and was leaving in only a week. I'd definitely miss having him around all summer.

I watched a movie on the flight back, and before I knew it, the plane wasn't landing.

When in the airport, we all started going our separate ways. Michael and Calum headed off after saying goodbye to everyone, Ashton not far behind them. Lizzie hugged me before she left, promising that we would have to meet up again soon. Skylar and Luke were both taking the same bus so I hugged them both before they took off.

That just left Harry, Louis and I.

Mum was coming to pick Harry and I up and Louis was taking a bus that was coming in another ten minutes. Harry had gotten hungry and wandered off to find some food, leaving just Louis and I sitting at husband bus stop.

There was an awkward silence for a minute before Louis eventually cleared his throat. "Rachel, I need to tell you something," he turned to face me, his tone serious.

"What's up?" I asked, confused.

He took a deep breath, seemingly deliberating for a moment.

"Okay.. well ... you know I'm leaving soon, so I'm not gonna be around at all this summer.." he began, trailing off.

I nodded. "Don't remind me," I mumbled.

He grinned at that. "I know my timing is awful here Rachel, I know that.. I just don't want to leave, without telling you," he continued ambiguously.

When I raised an eyebrow at that, he took another breath.

"I don't want to come back and find that you've moved on, without knowing how I feel about you," he clarified softly.

At his words, I froze.

"Rachel, I've never really gotten over you and I -"

"Louis, now is really not the time.." I interrupted him.

He nodded, biting his lip.

"I know, and trust me Rach, I'm not looking for anything from you, you don't have to say anything.. I just, I just wanted you to know that I do still have feelings for you, and I don't think that that's gonna change anytime soon," he explained softly, keeping his gaze locked on mine.

"Hey Rach, we better get going, mum's here now," all of a sudden Harry had reappeared, a packet of crisps in his hand.

I stood up quickly, tearing my gaze away from Louis'.

"Yeah, I should - we should go," I mumbled quickly, turning back to Louis. "We'll see you in a few days?" I asked quickly, hoping to have some time before I'd have to face Louis, and his confession.

"He's staying with family for the next week, it'll be the end of the summer when he's back," Harry answered airily, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

My eyes widened at that, as Louis stood up, pulling Harry into a brief hug. "Enjoy your summer, man, I'll talk to you soon," he assured him.

Once they parted, Louis looked hesitant on what to do, so I quickly pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. I pulled back ever so slightly, keeping my arms wrapped around him. "I'll see you at the end of summer?" I questioned gently, meeting his eye.

He nodded, and after a moments hesitation, I pressed a kiss to his cheek before pulling away. "The end of summer," I repeated, before turning back to Harry, who was giving me a slightly odd look.

"Time to go home."

Notes

Okay! So this is the end of this book, there will be a chapter posted soon though that will have a link to the sequel so if you're interested in continuing to read the third and final installation to this series, please subscribe to this book so you can get news on the next one!

Thank you all so so much for reading, the sequel will pick up at the beginning of the next college year, any requests or suggestions, feel free to comment them below!

~ Niall's_Strawberry_Red