The Story Left Untold
01
“Kennedy Mae Beckett, get your behind down here, or you’re losing your DS for a week,” I yelled up the stairs, pulling my cardigan on quickly.
“Calm down, Payt, I’m coming,” she said, running past me to grab her shoes from the mudroom.
She plopped on the bottom step, shoving her sockless feet into her Toms, and straightening the red jeans she had picked as she stood up. I handed her backpack over; glad she already had her coat on, and pushed her out the door so she wouldn’t be late for class again. I turned on the radio as we drove down the road, not expecting the squeal she emitted as One Direction started playing.
“Christ, Kennedy, what was that for?” I asked, turning onto the main road towards her school.
“Louis comes home today!” she said, making my heart nearly stop, “And he’s picking Phoebe, Daisy and I up from school instead of their mum!”
My throat tightened at that moment, knowing I would have to face Louis when I picked her up after my classes ended. I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year, meaning I never told him about my parents getting killed. I was almost positive he knew, considering our families had always been close, but knew he probably had resentment towards me for keeping it from him. I debated turning the car around, telling Kennedy we could have a ditch day, but knew it was wrong and that she needed to go to school. I pulled into the parking lot, my heart strings tugging at the site of the mums and dads dropping their kids off, and turned the car off so I could walk Kennedy to class.
“Kennedy! Payton!” I heard two voices say in unison as I walked towards her class door.
“Hey girls!” I said giving each of them a hug, “I heard that a certain goofy brother is back today, is that true?”
They both giggled excitedly, smiling and nodding, before grabbing onto Kennedy’s arms, and dragging her to their classrooms. I laughed, waving them off, and returned to my car, realizing I had time to actually stop at Starbucks for once. I turned on the oldies station, humming along to Fleetwood Mac, and drove to the Starbucks near campus. I slid out, wondering why there seemed to be more teenage girls than normal, and slid past them into the warm building. There were still girls inside, making the line longer than necessary, causing me to groan and pull my phone out. After about five minutes in line, I tapped the girl in front of me on the shoulder and asked her why it was so busy.
“Haven’t you heard? Louis Tomlinson is back in town today, and rumor has it that this is the Starbucks he goes to when he’s home!” she said, a squeak of excitement in her voice.
“He doesn’t drink Starbucks,” I laughed, not even thinking.
“How would you know?” She asked, eying me skeptically, “Do you know him or something?”
“We went to school together,” I lied quickly, “I mean, he could drink it now. He just never did back then.”
“But you were friends with him then?”
“No, just lab partners,” I said, wishing the line would move faster.
She seemed to buy my answer, and turned back around, finally be called up order. I decided on a plain black coffee, not wanting to wait for my normal latte to be made, and quickly ducked out of the store. I drove as fast as I could to campus, and barely skid into my lecture hall before the professor did. I took my seat next to Kinsley, grabbing my laptop out furiously.
I spent the majority of the class taking notes, only getting distracted briefly when an IM window from Kinsley popped up. I rolled my eyes, feeling like I was passing notes like I did in primary, and read her invitation to a study group that night. I declined, knowing I wouldn’t want to see anyone after seeing Louis. When she replied with a sad face, causing me to almost laugh, I told her I’d explain after class, and turned my attention back to the droning professor.
=====
The rest of the day flew by, and before I knew it I was sat in my car outside of the Tomlinson residence, working up the nerves to actually go inside. Kinsley had told me I’d be okay after I told her everything, and even promised to show up at my door with ice cream and tissues if it didn’t. I chuckled at the memory, hoping matters wouldn’t turn to that, and finally drew the keys from the ignition.
The short walkway seemed 500 miles long, and I held my breath as I heard the doorbell ringing inside the house. I heard the pattering of feet on the tile of the foyer, and released a breath when his face wasn’t the one to be on the other side of the door. Jay pulled me into a hug, ushering me inside while taking my coat, and told me everyone was on their way to the dining room. I had barely made it into the room, when Kennedy was hugging me, and shouting a question at me.
“Can I please stay over tonight, sis?” she asked, making her brown eyes wide and watery, “It’s a Friday, and Aunt Jay already said it was okay, that I just had to ask you. So please, please, PLEASE!”
“Ken, that’s fine!” I said, stepping back as she hugged me even tighter, “Do you need me to go get you an overnight bag after dinner?”
“Already taken care of,” the all too familiar voice smoothly said, causing my head to snap around, “Nice to see you, Payton.”
“You too, Louis,” I said softly, smiling back at him.
He brushed past me, patting my back softly, and sat at the chair I had always remembered him sitting at. I took the one adjacent from him, my normal spot at the house and waited for Jay to bring in the main dish, allowing us start dishing up our plates. Louis seemed to be the main topic of conversation; him telling us about his time on the tour, and I just sat back and listened. I managed to blend into the background, not having a topic about my life brought up, until after desert when the girls had already moved to the basement to the playroom.
“So how have you been, Pay?” Louis said using the nickname he always had, “Anything big happen in your life recently?”
The malice in his undertone made my mouth dry, and my palms sweaty. I could see Jay giving him a warning look, knowing what he was trying to get me to say, and watched her wait for my reaction. I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say, and quickly shut it so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. Louis let out a low whistle not long after, causing my head to snap up so I could meet his eyes, and gave me one of the meanest looks I had ever seen cross his face.
“Not surprising you have nothing to say,” he sneered, “Kind of like you didn’t say anything all those months ago. Seriously Payton, like-“
“I-uhm-I have to go,” I stuttered while cutting him off, “Thanks for everything Jay, I’ll pick Kennedy up in the morning.”
I jumped from my seat, ignoring the hushed scolding that Jay was giving to Louis, and grabbed my bag while bolting out the door. I hit the unlock button on my keys numerous times, and threw myself into the driver’s seat, shakily slamming my key into the ignition. I started up my hands free dialing as soon as I was away from the curb, and Kinsley told me she’d be on her way before I even had a chance to explain.
“Calm down, Payt, I’m coming,” she said, running past me to grab her shoes from the mudroom.
She plopped on the bottom step, shoving her sockless feet into her Toms, and straightening the red jeans she had picked as she stood up. I handed her backpack over; glad she already had her coat on, and pushed her out the door so she wouldn’t be late for class again. I turned on the radio as we drove down the road, not expecting the squeal she emitted as One Direction started playing.
“Christ, Kennedy, what was that for?” I asked, turning onto the main road towards her school.
“Louis comes home today!” she said, making my heart nearly stop, “And he’s picking Phoebe, Daisy and I up from school instead of their mum!”
My throat tightened at that moment, knowing I would have to face Louis when I picked her up after my classes ended. I hadn’t seen him in nearly a year, meaning I never told him about my parents getting killed. I was almost positive he knew, considering our families had always been close, but knew he probably had resentment towards me for keeping it from him. I debated turning the car around, telling Kennedy we could have a ditch day, but knew it was wrong and that she needed to go to school. I pulled into the parking lot, my heart strings tugging at the site of the mums and dads dropping their kids off, and turned the car off so I could walk Kennedy to class.
“Kennedy! Payton!” I heard two voices say in unison as I walked towards her class door.
“Hey girls!” I said giving each of them a hug, “I heard that a certain goofy brother is back today, is that true?”
They both giggled excitedly, smiling and nodding, before grabbing onto Kennedy’s arms, and dragging her to their classrooms. I laughed, waving them off, and returned to my car, realizing I had time to actually stop at Starbucks for once. I turned on the oldies station, humming along to Fleetwood Mac, and drove to the Starbucks near campus. I slid out, wondering why there seemed to be more teenage girls than normal, and slid past them into the warm building. There were still girls inside, making the line longer than necessary, causing me to groan and pull my phone out. After about five minutes in line, I tapped the girl in front of me on the shoulder and asked her why it was so busy.
“Haven’t you heard? Louis Tomlinson is back in town today, and rumor has it that this is the Starbucks he goes to when he’s home!” she said, a squeak of excitement in her voice.
“He doesn’t drink Starbucks,” I laughed, not even thinking.
“How would you know?” She asked, eying me skeptically, “Do you know him or something?”
“We went to school together,” I lied quickly, “I mean, he could drink it now. He just never did back then.”
“But you were friends with him then?”
“No, just lab partners,” I said, wishing the line would move faster.
She seemed to buy my answer, and turned back around, finally be called up order. I decided on a plain black coffee, not wanting to wait for my normal latte to be made, and quickly ducked out of the store. I drove as fast as I could to campus, and barely skid into my lecture hall before the professor did. I took my seat next to Kinsley, grabbing my laptop out furiously.
I spent the majority of the class taking notes, only getting distracted briefly when an IM window from Kinsley popped up. I rolled my eyes, feeling like I was passing notes like I did in primary, and read her invitation to a study group that night. I declined, knowing I wouldn’t want to see anyone after seeing Louis. When she replied with a sad face, causing me to almost laugh, I told her I’d explain after class, and turned my attention back to the droning professor.
=====
The rest of the day flew by, and before I knew it I was sat in my car outside of the Tomlinson residence, working up the nerves to actually go inside. Kinsley had told me I’d be okay after I told her everything, and even promised to show up at my door with ice cream and tissues if it didn’t. I chuckled at the memory, hoping matters wouldn’t turn to that, and finally drew the keys from the ignition.
The short walkway seemed 500 miles long, and I held my breath as I heard the doorbell ringing inside the house. I heard the pattering of feet on the tile of the foyer, and released a breath when his face wasn’t the one to be on the other side of the door. Jay pulled me into a hug, ushering me inside while taking my coat, and told me everyone was on their way to the dining room. I had barely made it into the room, when Kennedy was hugging me, and shouting a question at me.
“Can I please stay over tonight, sis?” she asked, making her brown eyes wide and watery, “It’s a Friday, and Aunt Jay already said it was okay, that I just had to ask you. So please, please, PLEASE!”
“Ken, that’s fine!” I said, stepping back as she hugged me even tighter, “Do you need me to go get you an overnight bag after dinner?”
“Already taken care of,” the all too familiar voice smoothly said, causing my head to snap around, “Nice to see you, Payton.”
“You too, Louis,” I said softly, smiling back at him.
He brushed past me, patting my back softly, and sat at the chair I had always remembered him sitting at. I took the one adjacent from him, my normal spot at the house and waited for Jay to bring in the main dish, allowing us start dishing up our plates. Louis seemed to be the main topic of conversation; him telling us about his time on the tour, and I just sat back and listened. I managed to blend into the background, not having a topic about my life brought up, until after desert when the girls had already moved to the basement to the playroom.
“So how have you been, Pay?” Louis said using the nickname he always had, “Anything big happen in your life recently?”
The malice in his undertone made my mouth dry, and my palms sweaty. I could see Jay giving him a warning look, knowing what he was trying to get me to say, and watched her wait for my reaction. I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say, and quickly shut it so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. Louis let out a low whistle not long after, causing my head to snap up so I could meet his eyes, and gave me one of the meanest looks I had ever seen cross his face.
“Not surprising you have nothing to say,” he sneered, “Kind of like you didn’t say anything all those months ago. Seriously Payton, like-“
“I-uhm-I have to go,” I stuttered while cutting him off, “Thanks for everything Jay, I’ll pick Kennedy up in the morning.”
I jumped from my seat, ignoring the hushed scolding that Jay was giving to Louis, and grabbed my bag while bolting out the door. I hit the unlock button on my keys numerous times, and threw myself into the driver’s seat, shakily slamming my key into the ignition. I started up my hands free dialing as soon as I was away from the curb, and Kinsley told me she’d be on her way before I even had a chance to explain.