Last Girl Standing

Haley felt numb as she stared at her suitcase just lying there on the bed. There hadn't been much to pack up; just an old Def Leppard t-shirt and some sweatpants she had been too lazy to throw back in after they had been washed.

This was the end of the line. Haley was finally leaving whether she actually wanted to or not. She was going to go back to Connecticut without Louis and try to live a normal, drama free life, not thinking about or remembering the crazy summer they had spent together.

She had to be honest with herself, they- she- never stood a chance.

“Haley?”

The boy leaning an arm against the doorframe looked more distraught than she did.

“What do you want to do now?” He asked.

Haley just looked up at Louis. What could they do?

“My flight leaves in an hour,” she said quietly.

Louis’ face blanked.

“What?”

Haley gave a tired shrug and Louis sat down on the bed next to her.

“What do you mean? Are you saying this is it? After everything?”

The small brunette nodded before shaking her head. She didn’t know what to think.

“It’d never work.”

Louis snorted in disbelief. “Haley, you make it sound like you don’t even want to try.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Louis! I can’t try. I just can’t. Aurora was wrong. Megan didn’t deserve you, but neither do I.”

“Haley-”

“No! Listen to me, Louis. Be realistic here. What is there between us worth fighting for at the end of the day when this is all over? More fighting, sex, and Say Yes To The Dress?”

Louis shook his head sadly.

“You know there’s more than that.”

What though? There was barely any trust, they knew the bare minimum about each other even after a whole summer of supposedly getting to know one another and they were dysfunctional at best compared to the other couples.

Haley bit her lip. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“It’s been good, Louis. Really. And you’ve been good to me too; you’ve shown me what could be out there for me. But I don’t- I don’t think what we had on this stupid reality show could ever work in the real world.”

And with that, she left Louis rooted to her bed stunned and heartbroken.

&&

There was no one waiting for her when she arrived back at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. So with a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, she picked up her one suitcase and went to hail a cab.

It was dismal outside, pouring rain when one finally pulled over for her. After relaying her address, she watched the droplets splat and race across the back window and listened to the radio station that had Stevie Nicks belting out Gypsy for Fleetwood Mac.

Haley sniffed, mentally -and desperately- begging the cabbie to switch the station.

She should have remembered telepathy wasn’t her forte.

Her luck didn’t turn around when the song finally ended and the DJ announced a little too happily that the next song was going to be a Bryan Adams number.

Not even a verse in, Haley wanted to bawl.

Look into my eyes, you will see what you mean to me.

She sniffed again, wiping away at her eyes as her throat tightened and somewhere deep down inside herself, she wished Louis were there to dry them himself.

The cab driver was looking at her with interest through his rearview mirror.

Search your heart, search your soul. And when you find me there, you’ll search no more.

When Louis crossed her mind again as she thought about those lyrics, Haley knew she had made the biggest mistake of her life leaving him back on that island.

She knew she was dense, and she hated herself now more than ever for it.

“Hey, you alright back there?”

Haley was about to assure the cabbie she was fine, but then she remembered hearing Louis as he reprimanded her for being so thickheaded during the scavenger hunt. So, blinking back a few tears, she relented.

“I’ve been better.”

“Bad break up?” Her driver assumed.

Haley sighed. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

Look into your heart. You will find there’s nothing there to hide.
Take me as I am. Take my life.
I would give it all, I would sacrifice.
Don’t tell me it’s not worth fighting for.
I can’t help it, there’s nothing I want more.

One more heartfelt lyric away from a major breakdown, one Haley was not prepared to have in the back seat of a taxi cab with a nosy witness, she swallowed the lump from her throat and asked if she could change her destination.

Six more songs- thankfully all irrelevant to her pathetic excuse of a love life- she was standing on a familiar porch with her one suitcase and knocking on the door, hoping she didn’t look like she’d been through an emotional hell.

Then, Shea Hart finally opened the door.

At first, Haley’s older sister didn’t even speak. She just gawked at Haley with huge similar green eyes before pulling her into a tight hug.

“You look so worn, and soaked,” Shea said when the two finally broke apart.

Haley smiled sadly. “You look like you’ve seen better days too.”

“I’ll get you something to wear. Give me everything that’s wet.”

She understood why too when she found Chase’s La-Z-Boy recliner missing from the living room as she changed into a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants of Shea’s.

“I’m sorry,” Haley whispered.

“Me too.” Shea sighed. “It was probably for the best though. After… the incident, I found out about every other girl. Why didn’t you tell me he was cheating?”

“I didn’t want to be the one who hurt you,” Haley replied truthfully. “I figured you probably hated me after.”

“Can I tell you something?” Shea asked after a brief beat of silence.

Haley nodded.

“I did hate you. When I first signed you up for that reality show, I had hoped you’d get your heart ripped out, like I did, so it was fair. But I forgot love was never really your strong suit.” The two sisters shared a small, bittersweet grin before Shea continued. “So I settled for hoping all the fighting and constant drama would kill you. I thought you’d be back within a week.”

“I did too. I hoped.”

“Yeah. Then, the longer you were gone; I could just tell something had happened. And I realized I was an idiot for signing you up.”

“Well, I’m sorry you had a change of heart, because you got your wish.” Haley exhaled softly.

“I guess we both messed up, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did. It’s really good to be home though. I missed it here.”

“So, do I get the inside scoop on this season of Love Games?” Shea smirked.

She might as well have kicked Haley in the gut.

“Too soon?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

“I’ll grab the ice cream. You can turn on the TV. It’s Friday, so-”

“Brideday on TLC,” Haley finished with a small smile. “Got it.”

She just wanted to fry her brain and forget about the summer for a while.

The channel was set to MTV when Haley crashed onto the couch and grabbed the remote. No doubt Shea was watching Cribs or Teen Mom before she came. Typical, Haley thought to herself as she shook her head.

And then suddenly, what looked like Zayn’s smile flashed across the screen. It caught Haley totally off guard and her heart plunged into her stomach as who were definitely Liam, Louis, Harry and Niall filled the small screen, sharing the space as well.

Against her better judgment, Haley watched without noticing the crestfallen look that was forming on her face.

“Hello!” Harry began, smiling. “We’re One Direction!”

“And this is Love Games,” Niall followed, smiling as well. They all were like they were supposed to. “Band boys need love too!”

“Where putting you heart on the line is expected,” Zayn laughed as a big red plush heart was thrown his way.

“And getting it squashed is totally normal!” Liam continued, taking the plush for himself as Zayn pouted at him.

“Who will win? And who will leave heartbroken?” Louis supplied lastly, causing Haley to nibble on her lip.

“May the best couple win!” All the boys shouted at once, ending the all too cheerful promotion.

Haley wondered if they had any idea what they were getting themselves into when they shot for the stupid commercial.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn’t notice Shea standing in the doorway, two tubs of Ben & Jerry’s in hand and a frown on her face.

“I don’t hear Randy talking!” She announced.

Haley knew she was supposed to find this funny, but someone had decided that replaying One Direction’s TV show promotion would be funny too.

“Oh…”

Thankfully, Shea replaced the remote in Haley’s hands with the mint chocolate chip ice cream and switched the channel.

“You know, I nearly shit myself when I first saw the commercial. It only started airing a couple days ago. One Direction, wow. What I wouldn’t give to do Harry Styles.”

Haley just stabbed at the pale green contents within the tub with her spoon as a bride-to-be was put in an awful dress that looked like it was made out of old lace curtains.

“Still too soon?”

Haley nodded, shoving a spoonful into her mouth.

She should have at least tried.

The thought kicked her in the gut, hard.

“I’m still dying to know which member you got with, you know.”

“I know.” Haley swallowed.

“And what happened-”

“Shea,” Haley warned. “I just made the biggest mistake of my life leaving him back on that goddamn island after… after a lot of things, and just… please drop it for now, okay?”

“You didn’t even try to work something out, did you?”

Shea sighed and shook her head. Haley just pretended not to hear her.

For the next few hours the two sisters sat watching bad TV and eating ice cream silently until it was almost dark.

“What about that dress?” Shea eventually pointed out.

Haley wrinkled her nose in disbelief. “She looks like an ostrich,” she said flatly. “All she needs to do is stick her head in some dirt and she’ll be one. I bet you that dress took more than fifty down pillows to make. The first dress was much better.”

When Haley looked back over at her older sister, she saw Shea smiling.

“What?”

“You actually like a dress?”

Haley rolled her eyes.

“Shut up.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, startling both of the girls. Haley looked at Shea expectantly, who only shrugged.

“If it’s Chase, tell him he can go fuck himself.”

“Why do I have to get the door? It’s your house.” Haley glared.

“Because, yeah, it is my house and I got the ice cream,” Shea countered.

Haley slammed down her half-eaten carton with a huff and got up.

“You’re such a baby, Shea.”

“I love you too Hay-bear!”

“Shea! I’m warning you!” Haley stormed out of the room, grinding her teeth at the sound of her childhood nickname.

Once at the front door, Haley steeled herself as much as she could with the state she was in for a very awkward and tense exchange with Chase.

Only, when she opened the door and her mouth, she didn’t find Chase.

She found Louis.

His name caught right in her throat as he produced a sullen half smile.

It was still raining heavily, and he was soaking wet.

“How’d you find me?”

“When your sister signed you up, she put her address down. Then I figured if you weren’t here, she’d tell me where you lived. If Niall could pull a few strings to keep October on, I could pull some to see your file.”

Haley nodded, biting down on her lip. So many emotions were running through her, she didn’t know whether to laugh, smile, cry, hug Louis, or rip his clothes of right there on the unsheltered porch.

“Haley!” Shea’s voice jolted her back to reality. “What’s taking so- oh. Oh… Louis. I’ll just- you guys can get a room, right? There’s a Ramada just down the road and over a bit.”

And then, just like that, she was gone. And Haley could swear she heard the door lock.

Sisters. Haley was going to murder hers.

Louis chuckled, despite the situation at hand. “She seems like a good time.”

“You don’t even want to know.”

The whole conversation fell silent, and the two just looked at each other through the rain.

“Look,” Louis finally said. “I get it. You’re scared, you’re unsure, and you hate opening up to people. And I’m Louis Tomlinson, that annoying twat from that stupid little British boy band who shags way too many birds not even the paps can keep track of them all. And then, you’re right with the upcoming tour and all. It will be hard. If you don’t want to get involved, I understand. But if you think for a second that we can work out whatever this is between us, I’m begging you to try.”

Haley was glad it was pouring cats and dogs outside, because she was sure she was crying all over again. And Louis, knowing all too well, wiped the tears and rain from her cheeks, earning a small smile.

“Louis, I-”

“Don’t you dare say you’re not worth it, that we aren’t,” Louis growled. “I’m here, aren’t I? I just couldn’t let you walk away that easily.”

A cab parked on the side of the street honked and Louis turned around, holding a finger up.

“One second!” He yelled. “Bloody wanker, I’m paying you to wait!”

Haley couldn’t help a nervous giggle as Louis turned back to her.

“Always at the worst times, I’m interrupted,” he muttered. “So what do you say?”

Haley gulped. She didn’t deserve him. She didn’t deserve remotely close after all the shit she put him through, after she made him work harder for the both of them. But there he was, all the way in Connecticut, doing it all over again for her.

It was the last straw.

“I promise,” Haley whimpered before launching herself into Louis’ arms and wrapping her own around him. “I’ll try my best.”

Louis thought his face would crack in half with how wide he was smiling and he hugged Haley back just as tightly.

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

Then he kissed her with all his might, glad to have her back in his arms again, along with the promise to be able to hold her for a lot longer.

“Thank you, for not giving up on me.”

“Don’t thank me, I’d never give up on you.”

“So,” Louis broke the tender kiss again after a moment. “About that hotel room your sister was talking about?”

Haley laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Way to ruin the moment, Tomlinson.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be quite right to have make-up sex on your sister’s front porch, now would it?” Louis grinned.

“It’s amazing that you actually think you’re going to get make-up sex now,” Haley scoffed, dragging Louis to the waiting cab.

“I’m not?” He asked innocently.

Haley pushed Louis into the back of the cab with a kiss, and then later, him her onto the hotel bed.

In the wee hours of the next morning, tucked safely into Louis’ arms, against his bare body, Haley never felt more at home in her life.

And then she realized that Louis was right. What they had was worth fighting for.