All I Need Is You

Louis Tomlinson sighed as he pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex fifteen minutes away from his own. That is, fifteen minutes if you were speeding only slightly. He was pretty sure his time this time around was around six minutes, a personal record. He pulled into a parking space and got out quickly, locking his doors as he hurried inside. He nodded at a few people in the lobby, who were giving him weird looks because of his attire. Plaid pajama pants, a striped shirt, a jacket, and a beanie. His signature style. He flew into the elevator as fast as he could and pressed the '3' button at least five times. The door shut agonizingly slow and the ride seemed to take even longer. Louis huffed and tapped his foot impatiently. As soon as the elevator doors open he ran, actually, ran out the elevator, into the hall and straight to room 3122. He knocked on the door only to have no response. Worry quickly filled him.

"Annalise?! Anna! Come on, open the door!" He would bang on the door, wait for a few seconds and when he heard nothing, would shout as loud as he could, which, was probably pissing off the whole floor, but he couldn't care less. "Anna! Look, you cannot text me, telling me to 'hurry over, i need you' and then not open the door. No matter in what manner, you may need me." A man unlocking his door a few feet down gave him a weird look and Louis smiled brightly at him. After more shouts and bangs, the door finally flew open to reveal a distressed Annalise Guidry. From the southern part of Louisiana, her dark hair and skin proved she was Cajun through and through. However, she had one thing that most Cajuns didn't; green eyes and Louis loved them. They stood out from her dark tones and caught everyone's attention. At the moment though, they were bloodshot and puffy and Louis knew she'd been crying.

Louis reached out to her and pulled her close into him, as he stepped past the door. "Annie, what happened?" He whispered into her hair as she clung to him.

"He's gone." All it took were those two words and she broke down in Louis' arms, sobs shaking her entire, five foot frame. Louis let go of her with one arm and shut her door closed and then he led her further into her flat, sitting her on the couch. He wrapped her in a blanket and then placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"I'm going to make us tea." Anna shook her head and tried to speak, but Louis shushed her and walked to her kitchen, setting the kettle to boil. He listened carefully but all she did was sniffle. The kettle was starting to steam, so he grabbed out two mugs and two tea bags, and the sugar cubes and honey. The sugar and honey, for Anna, he took his tea regular. After a few more sniffles Louis walked away from the kettle. "Annie, take a tissue." He said, handing her a box of Kleenex. She reached out like a robot and took the box, but didn't make any movement to grab a tissue. Louis shook his head and sat down next to her. He grabbed a tissue from the box and wiped at her cheeks and eyes. He held it up to her nose and grabbed her hand, gently moving it from the box to hold it at her nose. The kettle started to shreik, but Louis didn't move until he was sure Anna was holding the tissue. He poured the boiling water into each mug and stood at the counter letting the tea steep. He dropped two sugar cubes in Anna's mug with a teaspoon of honey and stirred it around. He carried them to the living room of her flat and set his mug down on the table, handing Anna her mug. She held the tissue in her hand and looked at the mug. Her eyes found Louis' face and he smiled. "Take it Annie." She did, placing the tissue on the table. "Now sip, Annie." She did and Louis smiled, satisfied. He grabbed his own mug from the table. He watched Annie carefully as she blew on her tea and sipped, blew on her tea and sipped. He sipped his own tea and finally Anna let out a sigh. He set his tea down and she wrapped her hands around her mug and stared out into the living room, her eyes settling on a picture of her and her grandparents.
Louis knew Anna's whole life story. She was French on her father's side and Cajun French on her mother's side. Annalise Celeste Guidry-LeBlanc. Anna's father had never played a very large part in her life, so she stated to her mother she wanted to drop his last name from her's since she hadn't seen him since she was eight, and that happened when she was 16. Her mother's parents, the people in the picture had practically raised Anna. She spent more time in their house than she did anywhere else. Her mother was busy divorcing her father, woking, and trying to find another man. Anna had always been obsessed with Europe and England, especially, and from their savings, her grandparents bought her a trip to England, where she met Louis, and instantly found a friend. She fell in love with his humor and antics, his easy going personality and his ability to be serious when the time came. He kept her smiling her whole time in England and when she had to leave, he promised to stay in contact and he did. When Anna was 18, she decided to move to England and with her grandparent's blessing did. The picture she was staring at was on her last day at home.
Her face clearly showed that she'd been crying and on her right the short man, with eyes so dark, they looked black, smiled, and had an arm slung around her thin frame, and the plump woman on her other side, with identical eyes to her's, was kissing her cheek.
At this point in time, Louis had no idea who the 'he' she had spoken about when she saw him was, but the way she was looking at the picture had him guessing pretty good.

"Lou?"

"What, m'love?" Annie looked at him.

"He's the only father I've ever known." At those words, Louis knew she was talking about the infamous Lester 'Boo' Guidry.

"That's what you always said." He said quietly, placing a hand on her knee. She nodded.

"He was going to give me away at my wedding, walk me down the aisle, have a father/daughter dance, worry about me, hold his great-grandchild and smile like a proud grandfather, like he did with my mom, and with me." The tears poured down her face freely as she spoke, and Louis' heart broke. There was nothing he could do to make any of it stop. "He's gone, Louis, gone. I talked to him last night, yanno. I said, 'When ya coming to see me Pawpaw?' " She smiled. "And he said, 'When you come see me!' and I said, 'I have a ticket booked for next week, don't tell Mawmaw, I wanna surprise her! And don't do anything-' " She let out a sob and in a flash, Louis had her mug on the table and her in his arms. "-'Don't do anything silly, not at least 'til I get there!' " She wailed and Louis squeezed her hard against him, his chest aching for the pain this girl was feeling. He couldn't imagine losing a family member he'd ever been so close to.

"Do you want to tell me how it happened?" He asked quietly.

"He was cutting down a tree and, and," She stopped and took a shaky breath. "And he took his safety harness off to come down the ladder, and lost his footing." She paused and adjusted Louis' zip-up hoodie. "He fell thirty feet and landed on a root sticking out of the ground. He smashed his pelvis to bits. A lot of internal bleeding. His heart stopped on the way to surgery." And she was gone again, shaking in his arms, soaking his shirt with her tears. Louis pulled her onto his lap, rocked her and sang to her, until she fell asleep.

When she awoke hours later the sky was pink with the sun sitting on the horizion. Louis had postioned them so he was laid out on the couch, her on top of him. She looked up and Louis smiled at her, day old scruff on his face, his eyes bloodshot. Anna had a million thoughts running through her mind, but could only think if one thing to say, "You didn't sleep at all." Louis shook his head 'no' in agreement.

"Of course I'm coming with you to Louisiana, I'd never dream of doing anything besides it." He said, knowing she wasn't going to ask, but desperately wanted him there.

"Oh God, I need you there, Louis." She breathed in relief. He smiled smally.

"I know Annie. I know." She fell back against his chest and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep. As soon as her breathing slowed, Louis let his eyes close and got some sleep, before the sleepless nights he knew where ahead of him.