Everything (To Nothing)

"Ivory? I think we need to have a chat, yeah?"
Every muscle in my body froze as I looked at Louis, learning against the store cupboard. He didn't look too much different - he was wearing a shirt that I'd already seen, with a new pair of jeans and a haircut. Just a few words and a look was all it took for all of our memories to come flooding back to the forefront of my mind.
His eyes raked over me as well, and I felt the strange urge to run away and hide. "Yes, I suppose we do."
He gestured to a desk in front of him, pulling an extra chair around for me. As we sat, my curiosity got the better of me, and I questioned him before he said anything.
"So, how are you a teacher? I thought you loved the English Language & Literature course." I asked hastily.
"Well, I did up until you left. I suspect you had something to do with my enjoyment of that course," he replied, smiling. "But a few weeks after you left, I realised that I liked the idea of having a job after I left. So I went back to the course, and it came to placement time…" he said, drifting off into his thoughts before becoming sombre.
"For my placement, they told me I'd be teaching at a college in London, and I humoured the idea of it being at yours, before realising that I'd never asked which one you went to, and it was actually a possibility. I tried to block that out, and I all but had - but when I saw you in the classroom…"
"It was a bit of a shock," I finished for him.
"Always the annoying one, aren't you?" he said quickly, grinning and flicking my ear - something he knew I hated. I swatted his hand quickly away, and couldn't help the smile that came across my face either. We both stilled, and the tenseness that had been temporarily lifted had come crashing back down again.
"I think it would be… unwise to do anything while I'm your teacher," he finally said, his eyes flicking down the the table. I took one of his hands in mine and smiled as I looked at him.
"I understand," I replied, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
His other hand suddenly came up to grip mine already holding his, and he looked up at me with a fierce burning hidden behind his otherwise peaceful expression.
"I haven't given up on my promise. I wanted you to know that. And as much as I'm not looking forward to having to keep this to myself while I'm your teacher, I'm looking forward to not having to hide it after."
I bought my free hand up to his cheek and gave him a quick, sweet kiss before grabbing my bags and leaving the classroom. As I got to the door, I turned back.
"Why did Mr Malik come up to me this morning and ask me about university options?" I asked. He knew the meaning behind it - how much does he know?
"Zayn's fine. He's an old friend, and he definitely owes me a favour or two. Don't worry about it," he said confidently, standing up out of his chair. He put a smug expression on his face before sarcastically saying, "Now get to class before I have to give you a detention."
I grinned at him and poked my tongue out, before leaving the classroom, laughing.

~-~

The first few weeks passed without incident, aside from deleting Louis from Facebook and having to put up with most of the female (and even some of the male) student body talk about how attractive and funny he was. I made sure to avoid him if I could, not get too flustered if he called on me for an answer in class and to give Mr Malik an extra smile if I passed him in the hallway.
However, a very long month after our talk, Louis wasn't in class. It was unlike him to take a day off - though he preferred personality over professionalism sometimes, he was always in class on time and ready to either watch or teach. During the lesson, I tried to put it out of my mind, but there was a certain tenseness in Mr Malik's shoulders at the end of the lesson.
"Please skim over Chapters 14 and 15 over the weekend, or even better, actually pick up a book and read it. Before you go!" Mr Malik yelled, as students had started chattering and packing away their books, "Mr Tomlinson will be away for a week or two for personal reasons." There was an audible groan, followed by the unmistakable sounds of worried girls gossiping. "He'll be fine. Also, Ivory, I need to see you for a bit."
I turned to see Aubrey's confused expression matched mine, but I didn't have any answers for her. I shrugged my shoulders.
People started clearing out of the classroom, and I waited until it was empty to approach Mr Malik's desk.
"Hey, Ivory," he greeted me, rubbing his temple. "Um, look, I know it's not really my place. But I've known Louis for a long time, and I know what happened between you two."
I took a deep breath, but said nothing.
"I… I really don't want to be the one to break bad news, but one of Louis' sisters is really sick. He can't leave for Doncaster for another two days, and I think he's going a bit insane. I really think you should talk to him."
My insides turned to ice and an awful feeling crept up on my back. "Which one?"
"Lottie," he replied, sitting in his seat and letting a defeated expression crawl onto his face. "I was friends with Louis when we were both children. I remember when Lottie was born, and I remember how much he absolutely doted on her. I mean, I'm upset, and I'll bet it's just a shadow of how he feels."
I glanced down at my hands knitted tightly together. Lottie was the only member of his family I ever met, when she came down to stay with Louis for a few days. Though he would never admit to having favourites, I knew he shared a special bond with her.
"I'm not sure that would be a good idea," I slowly admitted, not looking at Mr Malik's face. "I haven't visited him in London. I don't know even know where he's staying."
Mr Malik suddenly looked sheepish. "Well, I do."

~-~

The conversation that followed was exactly how I found myself sitting on the swing (once mine, now my little brother's) in my front garden, waiting for Mr Malik to pick me up. Not for the first time that afternoon, I wondered if this was the right thing to do.
It turned out that Louis was staying with Mr Malik. After I reluctantly agreed, Mr Malik had made a ridiculous plan that involved him writing me an excuse to get out of classes and him finishing his last period of teaching for the day while I went home to dump my school stuff. He said he was going to drop me at his house, and then disappear for an hour or two so I could talk to Louis.
I'm cutting classes, sitting in my front yard and waiting for my teacher to pick me up. When did this become my life?
Before I could think too hard about all of the very real and very valid reasons why I shouldn't go, a shiny black car that was obviously expensive pulled up in front of my house. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, that was completely typical of Mr Malik.
I walked over to the car and got in the passenger side before I could change my mind. I just hoped that this was the right decision.