Light up My World

Ellie rushed through her bedroom as she tossed items into her handbag hurriedly, she had never been particularly gifted in her punctuality, and it was something that drove her mother absolutely mad at the best of times. “ELOISE REBECCA CARSON! YOU HAVE PRECISELY FOUR SECOND TO GET IN THE CAR BEFORE I LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!” Darcie Carson called up to her daughter from her position at the bottom of the staircase, tapping her foot as she heard a loud squeak and Ellie came hopping down the stairs, attempting to slip her heels on successfully while managing to not fall down.

She was juggling her handbag and a large wrapped gift, it was the birthday of Ellie’s niece, Becky, and she was having a pirates and fairies party. Ellie had promised her brother that she would be there early to help set up, she loved her niece to death and was always willing to help out her brother with the children. Becky was the light of Ellie’s life, the little bundle of happiness had been the only thing that kept Ellie going on some of her darkest days, and she would not have traded in a moment of it for anything.

When Ellie’s brother, Sam, had come into her room one late summer afternoon and told her that the girl that he had been seeing in a strictly physical sense, was pregnant with his child, she was in utter shock. There was 12 years difference between the two of them and Ellie had been the only important girl in Sam’s life for as long as she could remember, at the age of thirteen, she couldn’t wrap her head around the thought of being an aunt, but she couldn’t imagine her life now without the bubbly blonde girl, or her little brother.

She climbed out of her mother’s car as they pulled up outside an average looking house, they weren’t rich but they did the best with what they had, she was so proud of Sam for how he had handled becoming a dad. He was wonderful as a father and loved those two kids more than anything; it truly warmed her heart to see him care so much about them. She balanced Becky’s present in her arms as she knocked on the heavy oak door, “Ellie-Belle!” Sam cried as he opened the door, pulling her into a tight hug, winding her.

“Sam, let me go, you twat” Ellie coughed out, struggling to regain her breath as she pushed past her brother into the small house, placing the neatly wrapped present on the table along with her bag, she shed her leather jacket eagerly before turning towards her brother. “Now, where might my Becky be? Hiding from her aunt and avoiding putting on that pretty little dress?” she asked out loud, making her way down the hallway, she tucked her sunglasses into her wavy blonde hair and peered into the doorway carefully, gasping when a small blur jumped out and tackled her.

“Aunty!” her six year old niece shrieked as she leapt into her aunt’s waiting arms, curling her arms around her neck tightly, Becky loved Ellie almost as much as Ellie loved Becky, and she always looked forward to the days when Ellie would visit on her way home from college. “I scared you, huh? You were more scared than daddy was!” she giggled, hopping down from Ellie’s arms and scurrying off in search of her Grandma. Ellie swooped down and picked up the sparkly pink dress that Becky had abandoned on the floor, she was going to be wearing it.

[&&&]
Daisy Tomlinson patiently sat at a stool in the bathroom, her mother, Johannah, carefully twisting her caramel coloured strands of hair into ringlets; all the Tomlinson children had the same hair, from her eldest son, Louis to her youngest, Daisy and her twin sister, Phoebe. All of her children had similar personality traits, but out of all of them, Daisy and Louis were the most alike, they had the same outgoing and friendly nature, which is why Johannah had decided to ask Louis to take Daisy to her friend’s birthday party this morning, she knew he would enjoy himself.

“Hello? Ma? Daze? Are you two in?” a deep yet high pitched voice rang out through the large house as the eldest Tomlinson child could be heard making his way through the house in search of his mother of little sister, Daisy’s eyes lit up at the sound of her older brothers voice and she began to squirm in her seat while Johannah put the finishing touches on her ringlets, hushing her and smoothing down her sparkly blue dress just as her eldest son appeared in the doorway of the bathroom that they were situated in, grinning widely at her.

“Lou-lou!” Daisy shrieked, jumping down from her seat and bolting over to her older brother who swooped down and picked the smiling girl up, kissing her cheek softly as she nestled herself in his arms, giggling as Louis’ fingers dug into her sides. Johannah smiled warmly at her children before slipping past them to fetch Daisy’s shoes from her bedroom, along with the perfectly wrapped gift, complete with pink bow and ribbon.

“Mama! Mama! Is Louis really going to come with us to Becky’s?” Daisy asked eagerly as she ran into her bedroom, allowing her mother to put her shoes on.
Johannah nodded slowly, feeling her own happiness swell up inside her at the look of pure joy on her daughters face. Daisy hugged her mother around the legs before skipping over to Louis who helped her into her coat and slipping her ballet flats on gracefully, Louis held out his hand for her and Daisy excitedly slipped her hand into his, bouncing on the balls of her feet as he led her out of the house, her mouth going a mile a minute as she rattled on about her friend Becky and how cool she was, reminding Johannah of Louis.

Buckling Daisy into her seat in his car, Louis hopped into the driver’s seat before carefully pulling out of the driveway and attempting to follow the directions that his mother had written down for him while listening to his sister’s animated story about a time when she and Becky had gone for ice cream with a lady that Daisy called “Miss Ellie”, telling Louis all about how pretty and funny Miss Ellie was, and how Becky loved her more than anything in the whole world, truthfully, Louis wasn’t particularly swayed by this development, he was more concerned on getting there.

Louis pulled up outside a quaint two storey house with ribbons and balloons tied around the letter box, by this point, Daisy could barely contain her excitement and was complaining about not being able to get out of the seat quickly enough. He chuckled at her before jogging around to open the door and unbuckle her, handing her the gift as he walked up to the door with her, the sound of music and laughter coming from inside the house. It was different to how it usually was when Louis heard those two things though; there was innocence about it.

After a small argument, Louis raised his cold fist and knocked on the door firmly, loud enough to be heard but not enough to be considered obnoxious. He laughed to himself as he looked down at his sister, she was impatiently tapping her foot with an agitated look on her face, she was exactly like he was at that age, and probably still was, impatient and hyperactive. They couldn’t wait for anything and hated not being able to keep a situation moving along, but Louis’ plans were answered when the door opened and he restrained himself from gasping loudly.

“Miss Ella!” Daisy exclaimed as the figure in front of them crouched down to wrap her arms around the small girls body, Louis couldn’t believe his eyes, truly, when Daisy had described Miss Ellie, he had thought that she was a middle aged woman with a few wrinkles, maybe a couple of cats. He hadn’t expected for her to be a girl who was barely younger than he was, with the brightest smile he had ever seen and legs that went on for days, this girl was absolutely beautiful and nothing like he had expected, her happiness radiating to him.

“You know, Daisy, I think that if you head out back, you’ll find that Becky is just dying to see you, love” Ellie told the small girl, straightening up again, almost as tall as Louis in her heels. Daisy took off running, the sound of childish giggles echoing out the open backdoor, as Ellie turned to look at the taller boy in front of her. “Hi, you must be Louis, Daisy talks about you all the time, I’m Ellie, Becky’s aunt” she smiled warmly at him, the same way his mother had earlier, offering to take his coat for him.

“I don’t think Daisy talked about anything besides you on the way over, you’ve got her wrapped around your finger” he laughed as he followed her into the small kitchen, accepting her offer of a drink of water as he leant against the kitchen counter, allowing himself to study her briefly, she was a petite girl with long blond hair and elf-like features, everything about her appearance was elegant and dainty. Her heels made her at least four inches taller than what she normally was, meaning that Louis would have good five or six inches on her without her heels.

“Daisy’s the greatest little girl, except for Becky; I love both of them to death, you should be proud of her, she’s got to be the most confident little thing I’ve ever seen, She’s more confident at six than I am at 18” she giggled as she scurried around the small kitchen, fixing plates and pouring herself a glass of water, Louis just watched her in curiosity and intrigue, she was almost a blur as she hurried around the small space. He had never met anyone like her, she was beautiful but innocent and she barely wore any visible makeup.

“She takes after me, I was the exact same at her age, I still am, as a matter of fact” he commented as he watched her, tilting his head to the side slightly in a cute way, her light hair was tumbling over her shoulder as she became incredibly interested in the floral pattern of her high heels. She looked up at him through her long lashes, biting on her lip softly as she fought the urge to smile at him, he was the most adorable boy she’d ever seen and it was getting to her in a monumental way.

“Aunty! Aunty! Daddy’s looking for you!” Becky announced as she ran into the kitchen, Daisy hot on her tail, both of their long dresses flowing behind them as they ran out again, giggling all the way. Picking up her drink, she walked past Louis, her hips swaying just enough to be attractive without being skankily seductive, there was something pure and untainted about Ellie that was unfamiliar to Louis, every girl that he knew had lost all sense of naivety years ago but not her, she was immensely different and undoubtedly a challenge, and there was nothing Louis loved more.

“Are you coming, Popstar?” she teased as she leaned against the frame of the side door, a mischievous and amused glint in her eye as she smiled innocently at the boy in front of her before disappearing out the door. Louis blinked a couple of times before darting after her, he had assumed she didn’t know who he was, after all, how else would he be able to have the first normal conversation he’d had in two and half years with a complete and utter stranger? But she knew, and she treated him the same, just like a normal person.

“You knew who I was from the start and you didn’t say anything, why?” he asked as he caught up to her in the garden of the house, his hand finding her wrist gently and pulling her to a stop, that mischievous smile still lighting up her face as she smiled at him innocently in a whatever-do-you-mean way. She flashed him a cheeky and bright smile before skipping off to talk to her brother, animatedly telling him something as he laughed and ruffled her hair. Louis didn’t know what it was exactly, but something made Ellie absolutely irresistible to him.