Everything About You

“I’m going out on a date tonight.”

Gregory froze and looked up at me over the morning paper he was reading. “I thought I told you. No dating until you’re twenty- three. You know what happened with Holly,” Gregory said as he gave me a disapproving look.

I sighed and plopped down on a bar stool across from him at the breakfast nook. “You can’t control me, Greg. I promise that I won’t get pregnant before I’m twenty two, like Holly, but you can’t tell me that, although Fiona wasn’t planned, that you don’t love her to bits.”

Gregory stiffened and grumbled, “That’s different and you know it.”

“How is that different?” I asked, incredulously. “Holly was the same age as me when her and Mike started going out. You tried to stop her from dating, as well. It’s no different and there will be no difference. I’m going out with Louis tonight, and that’s final.” I slammed my palm down for emphasis.

His green eyes flashed as they always did when he’s angry. “You go on that date tonight, Natalie, but don’t call me when he breaks your heart or he knocks you up. I won’t be there, not this time Natalie!” Gregory bellowed, before grabbing his mug of coffee and dumping it down the sink.

“Run away from it, Gregory! That’s what you do best!” I yelled after him, as he stomped down the hallway towards my guest bedroom. “That’s why you could never truly be the dad Holly and I needed. Real fathers don’t run away from their problems, Gregory. Remember that next time you try to be dad.”

My only reply was the slam of the door. I wiped away a stray tear that had been making its way down my cheek. Running a hand through my hair, I leaned against the counter and sighed. The rest of Greg’s stay was going to go great, just fucking great.

I glumly made my way around my yellow kitchen, cleaning up the mess from our lunch gone wrong. I hummed a tune I vaguely remembered from my childhood as I cleaned the counter of a few stray coffee grinds. I wrinkled my nose. I don’t know how anyone could stand such a bitter drink, no matter how many sugars and creams you put into it.

"From the moment I met you everything changed. I knew I had to get you whatever the pain. I had to take you and make you mine."

I smiled and practically ran down the hall to grab my ringing iPhone that sat on my dresser. Holding the phone to my ear, I lay down on my bed as I answered, “Hello?”

"Hello, love!" Louis voice greeted me over the phone.

"Louis, hey! I hope you're not calling to cancel on me." I bit my nails as a sudden wave of nausea came over me. What if he had finally come to his senses, and realized that I wasn't good enough for him?

"Quite the opposite, actually. I was calling to ask if you maybe wanted to come over to the flat, and hang out with the boys?" He sounded nervous, although he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Sure, I'd love to!" It took all the willpower I had within me to not get up and do a giddy dance around my bedroom.

"Awesome! We can hang out with the lads for the day, and then I can drop you off at your place to get ready and then we can go on our date." I blushed and couldn't help the smile that took over my face. "I'll pick you up in ten, yeah?"

"Yea, I'll be ready!" I gave him the directions, in case he had forgot from last night. We said our goodbyes before hanging up.

I scrambled to find a suitable outfit. I didn't want too dressy, but I didn't want to look like a total slob either. I finally settled on one, changed out of my PJs and rushed to brush my teeth.

With my teeth clean, I popped in a stick of gum to keep my breath minty fresh. I quickly sprayed my neck and chest with some perfume-not too much but not too little either-, before grabbing my purse, slipping on my flip-flops and making my way down the hall. On my way to the door, I passed Gregory, who had emerged from the guest bedroom and was lounging on the couch watching some television –not that there was much on at this time of day.

“I’m going out Greg. I’ll be back to get changed later,” I said, before turning the doorknob and leaving the flat. I could hear Gregory calling after me as I made my way down the stairs, bypassing the lift all together.



I stepped off of the curb as I saw Louis’ car pull up. He honked the horn at me and waved before coming to a stop right beside me. Louis rolled down the passenger window and called out to me, “Need a lift, Madame?”

“Oui, s’il vous plaît!” I answered, as I opened the now unlocked car door and sat inside. I looked over and saw Louis blank face and I translated what I had said. “I said Yes, please! You didn’t know I spoke French, Louis?”

He shook his head and laughed as he pulled out of the car park. “Well, I guess you learn something new every day! Hey, you should try to teach me sometime. It would come in handy when we tour in France.”

“We can try if you want, but I don’t know if it will help. I’m very quickly learning that you get distracted quite easily,” I pointed out, as Louis fiddled with the radio.

“I guess you’ve got me there.” He finally settled on a station and quickly began humming along to the end of the song. “CALL ME, MAYBE!” Louis bellowed, nearly scaring me out of my seat and through the windshield of the car. Louis just looked at me and chuckled as I tried to get my heart rate back to normal- as normal as it could be around Louis.

“And that was Carly Rae Jepson with ‘Call Me Maybe’. Up next, we have One Direction, telling us what makes us beautiful.” The DJ said announced through the car speakers.

Louis and I shared a look as the first chords of the guitar began to play. “You’re insecure, don't know what for. You're turning heads when you walk through the door. Don't need make up, to cover up. Being the way you are is enough!" Louis and I sang Liam's part, fairly off key.

"Everyone in the room can see it, everyone but you!" We sang and pointed each other. "Baby you light up my world like nobody else. The way you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed." I did a full head bang, sending my hair flying every which way. Louis cracked up as he drove, and we continued singing. "But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell you don't know, you don't know you're beautiful!"

We kept singing along as Louis drove. I wasn't quite sure where our destination was, but I wasn't going to question it. I knew good things came to those that wait. Time was flying as we sang along to song after song, somehow knowing most of the words, and if we didn't...let's just say, we made them up as we went.

Finally, after completely messing up all of the lyrics to 'We Are Young' by Fun, Louis had parked the car. "Where are we? I thought we were going to hang out with your band mates..." We were in a car park in front of a row of little boutiques with a restaurant at the end of the row.

Louis shut off the car, unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door. "We are! Come along, love."

I unbuckled and got out of the car. I scrambled to match his long strides as we made our way through the crowds of shoppers. Somewhere along the way, someone must’ve noticed Louis. I could tell by a few shrieks, and the sudden flashes of cameras. Louis grabbed my hand and pulled me along, as the lights blinded me. He was obviously used to this.

Louis leaned down and whispered into my ear, “Watch out for these ones up here, those are the paparazzi.” I followed his eyes and I saw about ten reporters with flashy cameras that were hung around there neck, posed for action.

“Louis, over here!”

“Who’s this mystery girl, Louis?”

“Is she your new girlfriend?”

Louis just pulled me along, smiling slightly and waving at the fans. He stepped up our pace a bit as everyone began to crowd around us, before going into a sprint as they started to chase after us for pictures. Louis pulled me into a restaurant, gasping for breath. Someone locked the door behind us and we sank into a booth.

I looked around us at the Italian interior and the empty booths and tables. “Where are we?”

Louis grinned and let go of my hand. I saddened a little at the loss of contact, but kept the smile on my face none the less. “We’re at a special place called Nando’s.”

“Oh, I think I remember Fiona telling me a little about this place. Isn’t it a favourite of yours?” I asked, looking down at the menu that Louis had passed me.

Louis nodded, as he looked intently at something behind me. “Yea, it is. The mates should be here soon. Do you need to use the loo or anything before they come?”

I nodded. I’m sure my makeup could need some touching up after that run. I got up and followed the signs to the loo. I plopped my purse on the counter and began searching through the contents for my mascara that I always kept in there. I had just spotted it at the bottom of my bag when the stall behind me banged open with a bang!