Troublemakers

"We need to talk." Louis sighed, standing at the other side of our apartment door. He usually barges right in, so I was a little shocked that he stood timidly with his hands in his pockets, blue eyes begging me to let him in.

I stepped aside and motioned for him to walk in. I shut the door behind him and a squeal erupted, causing us both to flinch. "OH MY GOD! IT'S LOUIS TOMLINSON!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. I was really starting to loath Iris' little sister. She had done nothing, but whine the entire time Iris has been gone, and she freaks out at the mere mention of any of the boys. I looked at Harley and silently begged her to punch the girl in the throat, but she just smirked at me. Bitch.

"Hello love, you must be Lizzy." He smiled, pushing himself up on his toes and rolling back onto his heels, his hands still in his pockets.

"You know my name?" She sighed dreamily. "Louis Tomlinson knows my friggin name!"

"Pipe down obsessive." I growled.

Louis laughed and wrapped the girl into his arms for a quick hug, causing Lizzy's whole face to turn fire hydrant red. "I'll talk to you in a bit, yeah?"

She nodded her head up and down so fast I was sure it was going to snap and fly backwards off of the balcony, but much to my disappointment it didn't and I was following Louis to my bedroom.

I closed the door behind us and locked it. Louis rose his eyebrows at me curiously, but I just pointed to the door as if it was obvious. I leaned over and pressed the play button on my iHome, before turning up, so no one could eavesdrop on the private conversation I was sure we would have.

I plopped down face first into the mattress and heard him laugh at me. I pushed myself up on my elbows and propped my head in my hands in order to look at him. He had the most dazzling smile. His eyes would crinkle and he would squint, he even had slight dimples. I frowned at him and he shook his head at me. "You are insane."

"Why are you here, Louis?" I sighed. "Again?"

The smile vanished from his face then, and I instantly regretted it. He never really smiled, because of me and I ruined it. He looked down at his hands, his eyelashes fluttering ever so often, but he never looked up at me. He let out a puff of air and I rolled over in order to stop my hand from falling asleep.

"Spit it out, Lou." I whispered.

"Why are you doing this to me, Victoria?" He breathed, closing his eyes tightly like he was in pain.

"Me?" I chuckled. "I haven't done anything, you're the one who showed up uninvited."

"My best mate?" He murmured.

My brain turned into a thunderstorm when he uttered those words and suddenly I wasn't in the room with him anymore. My mind was reliving every moment we've ever shared together- the night at the club, the arguments, the spiteful words- all of it. I couldn't understand why he was so torn up. The gears were turning beneath my skull as I tried to fathom why Niall and I's relationship bothered him, but I just kept coming up empty handed.

"Why do you care?" I exclaimed, getting angry, because it seemed like everything I did affected Louis in some way and I didn't know why. I was my own person, and most definitely didn't have to please him. Even though a small part of me really wanted to.

"Niall's like a brother to me, Victoria." Louis sighed, looking at me pointedly. His calm demeanor only seemed to piss me off anymore. "How do you think he's going to feel when he realizes that we've slept together? You don't think that will effect him in anyway?"

I growled and clenched my hands into fists by my sides. "Of course it will bother him, dipshit. Who the hell is going to tell him though? I mean you wanted me to keep things quiet, I'm pretty sure Eleanor doesn't want to go selling the story to the media, so that leaves you. You gonna tell him, Louis?"

He shook his head at me and I noticed how utterly defeated he looked. I was trying desperately to connect all of the dots in my head, but there was something I was missing. It was driving me insane. "Of course not, V."

"Then what are you saying?" I demanded.

"The truth always has a way of coming out, love." He looked up at me and I noticed his eyes were the dark stormy blue that had been plaguing my dreams as of late. "You need to think of Niall. The longer whatever you two have goes on the more the truth is going to hurt him. I don't want to see my brother get hurt."

"You're beating around the bush, Louis. There's something you know that I don't and you need to spit it out. Who is going to tell him?" My voice was layered with my annoyance, my hands aching to grab him by his shirt and throw him out of my room.

"Eleanor." He whispered, his eyes clouding with grief and his shoulders shaking from the wave of sobs that crashed into him like he was an ocean shore. I reached forward, my body reacting before my brain, and encased him in my arms. "Sh-she said she's tired of playing pretend. She knew that I was jealous when I saw the two of you together today and she's done. She said that I haven't loved her in a long time, and she was tired of telling herself that I would learn t-to love her again."

I let my fingers dance in his hair as I shushed him, my free hand rubbing his back gently. I couldn't stand to see anyone cry, much less someone I cared about, and the devastated way he was looking at me was breaking my heart. And that's when the light bulb went off in my head and the sick feeling in my stomach erupted like an angry volcano.

I cared about Louis. I genuinely cared for a boy I had spent the past couple of months loathing. I was fucked. I was fucked, because I really liked Niall as well. I had grown really fond of the way he always got on to me when I insulted someone, and the way he skipped around like a little girl to make me laugh. Eleanor was going to blab to Niall to get back at me, and it was really going to hurt him. I was beginning to think I needed to pay little red riding bitch a visit.

I looked down at Lou and sighed. "I think this is best, Lou."

Lou nodded and I gave him a weak smile. When his mood didn't seem to change at all I frowned. "Why are you so upset, anyways? I don't get it."

"She's going to tell Niall everything. He's going to be really hurt, Victoria. He wont be that upset about you, but he'll be so disappointed in me. I don't want to let any of those boys down."

"When?" I snapped, deciding I needed to get a hold of Niall before Eleanor did.

"She didn't-"

"Need to tell me anything." Niall's voice called from the doorway.

We both looked up at the door shocked. I was almost positive I had locked the door, but yet there he stood before us. His usually angelic face was plagued by anger and my heart sank in my chest. Louis opened his mouth and stood, reaching his hand out towards Niall's shoulder, but Niall stepped back. I watched helplessly as his mouth set in a grim line and he looked at Louis sharply.

"She didn't need to tell me anything, you both just did." He backed out of the door and exited the apartment like it was on fire and I just sat there completely dumbfounded as Louis chased after them.

The only person that had ever made me feel like I was a decent human being had just looked at me like I had shoved a knife into his gut, and maybe I had. At that moment I was almost positive things between me and the rest of the boys of One Direction would never be the same.