With a Lack of Wanderlust

Louis’ POV

After Liam removed himself from Isabelle reluctantly, I fought the urge to punch him in the face right then. If not him, Joy. My fists clenched and all of the boys looking at me in anticipation, I bit my tongue to save myself from saying something stupid. Isabelle seemed to be doing the same, staying silent next to me. It wasn’t until Joy spoke that I realized Liam was the one I should be hitting and yelling at, that she had nothing to do with it.

“What a dumbass!” She laughed, “I didn’t mean her, you moron!”

Liam only rolled his eyes in response and turned to me, as if expecting me to say something. His whiny, asshole-ish attitude was really starting to get to me. A smirk formed on his face, “Louis, truth or dare?”

“I think I’ll be a man and take dare.” I said in a mocking tone, annoyed.

“I dare you to do something that you’ll regret later.”

“Liam, would you stop it? What has gotten into you?” Joy seemed to take this as a spiteful challenge more than I had, giving him a look of irritation. It was good to have her say something, because I had no clue what to say to him, “First you go and kiss his girlfriend like an idiot, and then you dare him to do something that would make people hate him?”

“Joy, it’s okay.” I said, words finally forming. I lifted my eyebrows and pursed my lips, “I mean, it’s not like I could kiss anyone’s girlfriend. But if I could, I would know they would make me regret it sooner than later. I mean, I guess I could…” I leaned forward and smacked him with as much force as I could muster while sitting down. With a smile, I spoke once more. “Wait, no, I don’t regret that.”

“Yeah, get on that shit!” Joy shouted as anger seemed to begin to shine in Liam’s eyes. Without a verbal response, he lunged on me, pushing me down like an animal. He lifted his fist as if he had the right to hit me just after moving in on my girlfriend. I pushed him back in return and shook my head, standing up. “Well fuck,” I heard Joy mutter as Liam got on his feet as well.

“Are you seriously going to try to lay a finger on me after you just did that?” I backed up. His arm was still raised, ready to swing. He shrugged and tilted his head to the side as if to say ’Yeah, what’s your point,’ a heavy, angry breath escaping his mouth. I waited for his shrill voice to say it as well, but instead he just kept moving a step forward for every one I took back.

As his arm moved in to swing, I slapped him once again and attacked him just as he had done to me. However, Joy moved in between us before I could even think of hitting him.

“ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR,” She said, one hand on my chest and another on Liam’s. We were still breathing heavily, looking at her blankly as she laughed aloud, “But seriously you guys sound like one of your fans fighting over Harry, jesus.”

“She’s my fucking girlfriend, not yours!” I yelled across Joy to Liam and he threw a hand in the air, frustrated.

“She could have been mine.” He breathed, shaking his head.

“You’re both making arses out of yourselves in front of her, I hope you know.” Joy interrupted, but we continued to ignore her. She still refused to keep from separating us, though, as we argued. I could understand that, as I noticed my own fist being at the ready.

“Yeah if you weren’t such an asshole, she could have.” I was more annoyed than angry now. He couldn’t even formulate a new argument. What happened to ‘I was just overreacting’?

“Louis, just end it,” she was still trying to mediate, without success.

“ITS YOUR FAULT! IF YOU HADN’T GOTTEN IN THE WAY I WOULDN’T HAVE HAD TO BE!” He was screaming now. I only gave him a look of frustration, not wanting to repeat my own line of reasoning again as well. He sensed this, picking up where he would have if I had spoken, “SHE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HALF OF YOUR LIFE, LOUIS.”

“YEAH, WELL SHE DOESN’T KNOW HALF OF YOURS EITHER, SO I DON’T SEE WHERE YOU HAVE ROOM TO TALK! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO KEEP IT FROM HER.” The room had fallen silent once again and Joy dropped her arms, a confused look on her face. We only kept arguing, caught in the heat of things.

“YOU COULD HAVE TOLD HER ANY TIME.” He enunciated. I stayed voiceless, realizing this now. It still hadn’t changed the fact that he had violated the rightful code of best friend conduct, but I had nothing to say in response. I especially had no words, coming to the understanding that Isabelle had heard all of what he said.

--

Isabelle’s POV

“What?” My voice was tiny and I heard it shake, my whole body trembling itself. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, was all I could think. No one had the nerve to answer me, and Liam looked like he had just made an awful mistake. I knew something was up, I knew it was too good to be true, “Louis, what don’t I know?”

I glanced at Niall and a look of guilt overcame him, along with worry. He shrugged, as if it wasn’t his place to speak. Next, I turned to Zayn, then Harry. They all had the same expression.
Before I was able to continue questioning them, my phone lit up on the pillow, signifying that I had a new message--two, actually--from twitter. My eyes closed and my breath caught in my throat, I opened the newest one.

When I went to look at it, it was just as I had suspected:

@valerwee: @isabellesanchez What, did Nick try beating him up for being the third boy to ask you out as a joke? (:

I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t stop bothering me; it had almost been a year since what happened. I felt like bursting into tears at the realization that she would probably pester me forever, but being as masochistic as I was, I clicked to the next one:

@valerwee: @Isabellesanchez I dare you…to kill yourself (:

Dropping my phone back onto the pillow, I sucked in my breath and looked back up at Louis. He was nearer to me now, his face in his hands. “Louis…” My voice was shaking more, barely audible. This was made evident as he didn’t seemed to hear me, “Louis..” I repeated.

Niall showed up beside me, the concerned, worried look still on his face. I stared off at nothing, distracted as he began to try to talk to me, “Isabelle, are you okay? It’s alright, I can explain…if you want me to.”

I shook my head and wiped my eyes, handing him the phone. After a moment or two of looking at it, he seemed even more uneasy and bit his lip. Before long, though, he pulled me in for a hug, “She’s making up for her own sorry life by paying attention to yours, love. Don’t worry about it.”

With that mere gesture, my head rested on his shoulder, I began to cry. Niall rubbed my back assuringly as Louis finally addressed the subject, “What? What’s going on?”

Niall didn’t make a sound, but against me, I felt him moving, most likely mouthing whatever he was saying. It was getting hard to breathe, and I didn’t understand why I always did this in response to simply words. I was so weak.

Seconds later, I was then in Louis’ arms. He tried to kiss me, but I turned away, pushing my phone in his face, “What are you hiding from me? How does she know these things, Louis? Why does everything seem to be connected, but then not at all?!”

“We’re famous.” Niall blurted out. When I turned to look at him, he had just decided to focus on the ground. I glanced back up at Louis, who nodded slowly. Looking at all the boys, they were nodding as well, seemingly nervous.

“What?” I still didn’t comprehend anything.

Liam moved to the television, turning it on and grabbing the remote. He flipped through a few channels before sighing and going to his recorded shows, scrolling through a list of things, most of them with the words ‘One Direction’ in them. Stopping on one and pressing play, a bunch of girls appeared on the screen, screaming those very words. A minute or so later, a woman’s voice erupted from the speakers and the same boys I‘d seen the past week emerged.

“A year ago, five boys each shared the same burning ambition,” I sat quietly, watching the girls go crazy over them, “To become the next singing superstar. This is their story. This is One Direction.”

“Why am I watch--” Louis covered my mouth.

“Shh, this explains it better than we can.”

So I watched it go through all of their stories on a show called ‘The X Factor,’ with cuts for interviews in between. I was grasping what I was seeing now, but it was hard to believe. They seemed too normal to me. It was a lot to take in, but everything since the time that I had met them seemed to make sense now.

An hour into the viewing, Harry fought for the remote from Liam, “She doesn’t want to see me cry, stop the tape, stop the tape!” He yelled melodramatically before Joy grabbed it from him.

She fast forwarded the documentary, “Maybe she wants to see you half naked.”

“She will sooner or later.”

“What no, oh god, just stop it now.” I laughed. Louis’ arm was around me, and he turned to look at me, somewhat surprised.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” He asked, somewhat arrogantly.

“What am I supposed to say?” I responded, “Louis, I’m so glad I’m your one and only carrot top, oh my god call me baby again. Hold my hand.” I’d seen plenty of girls like that at my old school, and I had made a point to mentally make fun of them whenever they would get crazy over someone they would meet once, if not at all. The room erupted in amusement.

“I have a question though,” I said, coming to a realization, “Still, how does Valerie know everything that’s been going on?”

Harry threw his blackberry at me suddenly, and although off guard, I caught it and began flicking through his texts. They were all from the girl he had asked out, Madison, and I was still confused. “Sent,” He said when I looked up at him. I let out a breath and went to where I was told to look, seeing more texts to Madison, but finally some to twitter.

@hai_imjoy just saved Louis from getting his ass kicked! Ahaha!

Playing truth or dare with the boys, Joy, and Tommo’s girl…It’s getting interesting…

And finally, a photo message to the website from earlier that day, accompanied with the text ‘Aw, Louis and his newfound love.’

Comparing the posts with the messages from Valerie, it made sense. But it also scared me. Could Valerie more easily find me now that she knew about the band and there would be news about their whereabouts? I shook my head and handed Harry’s phone back to him.

“Do you understand now?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, hiding my anxiety more easily than usual, “But why haven’t I gotten any messages from your other fans, if Valerie knew that was me?”

He just shrugged, “I guess she recognized you. I didn’t post your username. I didn’t even know if you had one.”

“Do it, then,” I said bravely. Although I was scared and even more unsure of what being Louis’ girlfriend entitled me to now that I knew he was famous, I had to admit that being a part of the life of someone who was important to a large group of people was something I had wanted forever. It was a life-changing type of thing, and for the longest time I had wished to have a different view of things.