Cambridge (Part III)
Date?
Rachel’s P.O.V.
“And you know, we could go to the cinema, or watch some movies here or-“
“Rachel, stop! I told you, I’m going to the ball,” Skylar cut me off. “Just because I no longer have a date, doesn’t mean that I won’t have a good time,” her voice caught on the word ‘date’ but her voice remained firm.
I sighed, but decided not to say anymore. Since things between her and Luke had ended, Skylar hadn’t wanted to talk about it all. Her and Luke had been together so long, it made sense she was upset and confused about the whole thing. I didn’t want her to feel pressured into going to the ball tonight, especially since her and Luke had planned to go together. We had just started to get ready for it and I wanted to be sure she was okay.
We were going as a group, though so hopefully she’d enjoy herself, even without Luke. Skylar, Harry, Lizzie, Michael, Louis, Delia, Niall, Eleanor and I were all going together, however, Skylar, Harry and I were the only ones without dates.
“You’re so right, Sky. I don’t have a date either, we’re going to have a great time together,” I agreed, eager for the night to come.
“Well, you could’ve had a date,” she said, in a sing-song voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I raised my eyebrows at her tone, turning my head to look at her, where she was working on her eyeshadow.
“Oh, come on, Rachel, we both know Louis would’ve loved to go with you,” she replied, without looking away from the mirror.
I felt my cheeks heat slightly at the implication. “Louis already has a date,” I reminded her.
She snorted at that. “Yeah, Delia. Trust me, there’s absolutely nothing going on there,” she assured me.
“You don’t know that, they are pretty close, and they’re going together,” I countered. “Not that it matters anyways. Louis and I are friends, just friends,” I added.
“Really? Do you have steamy dreams about all your friends, then?” she teased.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you about that,” I groaned, as she began to laugh.
“It’s not a big deal, Rachel, you and Ashton have been split up a while now, and you and Louis do have a lot of history. I mean, it’s clear that he’s into you. Is there no part of you that still likes him in that way?” she asked, once her laughter had died down.
I took a minute to consider her question. She was right when it came to Louis and I, we definitely had history. It had been quite a while since Ashton and I had split up, I could be honest with myself – I wasn’t just thinking of Louis as a friend anymore.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel, I’m definitely attracted to Louis, but we’re friends, good friends, and I wouldn’t want to put that at risk. We’ve tried being more than friends and it didn’t work out, I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to-“
“Rachel! That was a year and a half ago! Don’t you think you two have moved on from that ‘situationship’? And that’s what I’m calling it because you said yourself, it wasn’t even a real relationship. You started it with one foot out the door, too worried about upsetting Harry to really give it a go,” she cut me off, her tone serious.
I turned to face her properly, again, and bit my lip.
“You’re right, it was a year and half ago. And it wasn’t even a real relationship.. and since then I’ve been with Ashton. Skylar, there no way Louis still likes me, not like that, not after all that’s happened,” I mumbled, “Louis and I made so many mistakes when we were together, Sky. It doesn’t work, we don’t work.”
“Not to mention that he’s my brother’s best friends,” I continued, before Sklyar had a chance to talk. “There’s no way that anything happening between Louis and I wouldn’t make him super uncomfortable, and that not what I want, I mean, he’s my brother. And as well, this thing - whatever it is – that’s going on between him and Delia –“
“There’s nothing going on between them! Rachel, come on, Delia is clearly still into..” Skylar quickly trailed off. I raised an eyebrow at her, but it was clear she meant to say Ashton.
Delia claiming to be in love with Ashton was one of the things I still didn’t understand about the whole situation. It was hard to know whether to believe her or not, as it could just be an excuse for sleeping with him behind my back, but something made me think she was telling the truth. As far as I knew, they weren’t together though, which made the whole situation even more complicated.
“Whatever, what I’m trying to say is, Louis likes you, Rachel. And you clearly like him too. Don’t waste time worrying about what will happen if things don’t work out. Think about what will happen if it does work out. You could make each other so happy,” Skylar said after a minute.
“And if Harry is the problem, I can talk to him for you, try to get a sense of how he’d feel about you two,” she offered, turning back to face the mirror.
“I don’t know, Skylar, I-“ A knock on the door cut off my train of thought and I met Skylar’s eye. “I’ve got it,” I told her, hopping up to answer.
I swung the door open quickly, raising an eyebrow when it revealed Ashton, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Um, Ashton?” I questioned.
“Can we talk for a second?” he asked.
I paused for a second, before nodding and stepping outside and closing the door behind me, to avoid Skylar eavesdropping.
“Ashton, what are you doing?”
“I came to see if you wanted to go to the ball together,” he started, causing my jaw to drop slightly. “Not like that!” he added quickly, when he saw my face. “I don’t mean together like together together. I just thought it would be fun for us to go as friends,” he explained.
When I didn’t reply, he continued.
“I just know you’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade, and I figured you’d be going with Louis, but he’s going with Delia, so I thought it would be nice for someone to take you. To get the whole ‘ball’ experience,” he told me, with a sheepish smile.
“I brought flowers to improve my chances,” he held them out towards me. “What do you say?”
“And you know, we could go to the cinema, or watch some movies here or-“
“Rachel, stop! I told you, I’m going to the ball,” Skylar cut me off. “Just because I no longer have a date, doesn’t mean that I won’t have a good time,” her voice caught on the word ‘date’ but her voice remained firm.
I sighed, but decided not to say anymore. Since things between her and Luke had ended, Skylar hadn’t wanted to talk about it all. Her and Luke had been together so long, it made sense she was upset and confused about the whole thing. I didn’t want her to feel pressured into going to the ball tonight, especially since her and Luke had planned to go together. We had just started to get ready for it and I wanted to be sure she was okay.
We were going as a group, though so hopefully she’d enjoy herself, even without Luke. Skylar, Harry, Lizzie, Michael, Louis, Delia, Niall, Eleanor and I were all going together, however, Skylar, Harry and I were the only ones without dates.
“You’re so right, Sky. I don’t have a date either, we’re going to have a great time together,” I agreed, eager for the night to come.
“Well, you could’ve had a date,” she said, in a sing-song voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I raised my eyebrows at her tone, turning my head to look at her, where she was working on her eyeshadow.
“Oh, come on, Rachel, we both know Louis would’ve loved to go with you,” she replied, without looking away from the mirror.
I felt my cheeks heat slightly at the implication. “Louis already has a date,” I reminded her.
She snorted at that. “Yeah, Delia. Trust me, there’s absolutely nothing going on there,” she assured me.
“You don’t know that, they are pretty close, and they’re going together,” I countered. “Not that it matters anyways. Louis and I are friends, just friends,” I added.
“Really? Do you have steamy dreams about all your friends, then?” she teased.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you about that,” I groaned, as she began to laugh.
“It’s not a big deal, Rachel, you and Ashton have been split up a while now, and you and Louis do have a lot of history. I mean, it’s clear that he’s into you. Is there no part of you that still likes him in that way?” she asked, once her laughter had died down.
I took a minute to consider her question. She was right when it came to Louis and I, we definitely had history. It had been quite a while since Ashton and I had split up, I could be honest with myself – I wasn’t just thinking of Louis as a friend anymore.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel, I’m definitely attracted to Louis, but we’re friends, good friends, and I wouldn’t want to put that at risk. We’ve tried being more than friends and it didn’t work out, I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to-“
“Rachel! That was a year and a half ago! Don’t you think you two have moved on from that ‘situationship’? And that’s what I’m calling it because you said yourself, it wasn’t even a real relationship. You started it with one foot out the door, too worried about upsetting Harry to really give it a go,” she cut me off, her tone serious.
I turned to face her properly, again, and bit my lip.
“You’re right, it was a year and half ago. And it wasn’t even a real relationship.. and since then I’ve been with Ashton. Skylar, there no way Louis still likes me, not like that, not after all that’s happened,” I mumbled, “Louis and I made so many mistakes when we were together, Sky. It doesn’t work, we don’t work.”
“Not to mention that he’s my brother’s best friends,” I continued, before Sklyar had a chance to talk. “There’s no way that anything happening between Louis and I wouldn’t make him super uncomfortable, and that not what I want, I mean, he’s my brother. And as well, this thing - whatever it is – that’s going on between him and Delia –“
“There’s nothing going on between them! Rachel, come on, Delia is clearly still into..” Skylar quickly trailed off. I raised an eyebrow at her, but it was clear she meant to say Ashton.
Delia claiming to be in love with Ashton was one of the things I still didn’t understand about the whole situation. It was hard to know whether to believe her or not, as it could just be an excuse for sleeping with him behind my back, but something made me think she was telling the truth. As far as I knew, they weren’t together though, which made the whole situation even more complicated.
“Whatever, what I’m trying to say is, Louis likes you, Rachel. And you clearly like him too. Don’t waste time worrying about what will happen if things don’t work out. Think about what will happen if it does work out. You could make each other so happy,” Skylar said after a minute.
“And if Harry is the problem, I can talk to him for you, try to get a sense of how he’d feel about you two,” she offered, turning back to face the mirror.
“I don’t know, Skylar, I-“ A knock on the door cut off my train of thought and I met Skylar’s eye. “I’ve got it,” I told her, hopping up to answer.
I swung the door open quickly, raising an eyebrow when it revealed Ashton, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Um, Ashton?” I questioned.
“Can we talk for a second?” he asked.
I paused for a second, before nodding and stepping outside and closing the door behind me, to avoid Skylar eavesdropping.
“Ashton, what are you doing?”
“I came to see if you wanted to go to the ball together,” he started, causing my jaw to drop slightly. “Not like that!” he added quickly, when he saw my face. “I don’t mean together like together together. I just thought it would be fun for us to go as friends,” he explained.
When I didn’t reply, he continued.
“I just know you’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade, and I figured you’d be going with Louis, but he’s going with Delia, so I thought it would be nice for someone to take you. To get the whole ‘ball’ experience,” he told me, with a sheepish smile.
“I brought flowers to improve my chances,” he held them out towards me. “What do you say?”
Notes
Hellooooo!!!
I am so so sorry this chapter took so long!
I hope you enjoyed reading it and I promise the next one will be out very very soon.
So, I want to address something, which is the recent Fanfiction Award nominations. To those of you who dont know, I've been nominated for Best Original Author which is so so amazing!
Thank you so much to whoever nominated me, I love you so much and I'm so glad that you've enjoyed reading the Cambridge series as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH
xox ♥
~Niall's_Strawberry_Red
Skylar offering to talk to Harry on Rachel’s behalf is adorable! It’ll give her the perfect excuse to get to spend time with Harry alone and she’s br helping out her friend! It’s a win win!
Rachel better not say yes to Ashton! Louis would be so heartbroken! Although maybe the jealousy would be enough to get him to do something about it and they’d finally get together! Can’t wait to see how it all plays out anyways!
10/27/18