Never Land

There was tension in the air as everyone sat around the small campfire, their eyes locked on the flames. Evelyn knew that she and her brother were the cause of that tension, and that made the situation even more awkward for both of them. Niall already didn’t want to be there, and the whole situation was just making it worse.

Luckily, Louis still seemed to be the same sweet boy that Evelyn had met, and she was thankful for that. He seemed so intent on making sure both she and Niall had a good time, so when he stood up, stretching out his legs, Evelyn knew something interesting was going to follow.

“Evelyn,” Louis said, looking over at her with his bright smile. “I’ve got something to show you if you’d like to see.”

Evelyn could feel Niall tensing up next to her as he scooted a little bit closer to her on his leg. He was always wary of anyone who went around his sister, and Louis was certainly no exception.

Nodding her head quickly, Evelyn stood up before Niall had a chance to object. She was hoping to usher Louis away from the campfire before Niall could think of some terrible excuse for her not to go, but she wasn’t quite that lucky.

“I’ll go too,” Niall said, taking a firm stand next to his sister. He had his arms at his sides and stood the straightest that Evelyn had ever seen it. It almost made her laugh.

Evelyn could see Louis’s smile falter, but he quickly picked it back up as he walked over to the Horan’s. On the opposite side of the fire, Liam stood up, taking a few steps towards them.

“We should go too,” Liam said, motioning towards Jodie and Harry.

The brunette looked up at Liam with wide eyes, looking more confused than anything. “We should?”

Liam simply nodded and Jodie groaned, patting her arms against the tops of her thighs before standing. Harry stood more easily and looked out somewhere towards the ocean, a faraway look in his eyes. Evelyn ignored it though, and turned back to Louis with a smile.

“Where are we going?”

Louis chuckled, his grin widening. “You’ll see.”

When Louis moved to stand next to Evelyn, Niall moved between them, folding his arms across his chest. Louis’s smile dropped a bit, and Evelyn couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable he looked. She chuckled softly before the group began walking out towards the forest, Niall stepping in perfect time with her.

She was sure that, with Niall next to her, she wouldn’t be getting close to Louis anytime soon, which disappointed her deep down. There was something about him that just made her want to get to know him better, and she wondered if she’d get a chance to before they’d be forced to leave.

The sun beat down through the trees as everyone followed behind Louis, stepping over branches and between shrubs. Evelyn didn’t know if anyone else knew where they were going, but she was excited to see the surprise nonetheless.

It felt like they had been walking forever when Louis finally turned back to them, smiling at Evelyn as he spoke. “It’s just up ahead.”

The smile on Evelyn’s face grew as Louis pulled back a low branch, revealing a large pond with water as clear as glass. Waves lapped gently against the shore, which was covered in white sand, and dipped back into the pool.

Though the pond was small, it was deep, and Evelyn couldn’t see to the bottom. Niall approached it slowly, as though it may have been filled with a toxic waste, and watched with wide eyes as Louis took off his shirt.

Evelyn couldn’t help but notice that Niall looked like he wanted to punch Louis for even thinking about removing clothing in front of his sister, but he was always too timid to actually do anything.

“Let’s jump in,” Louis said, standing at the end of the shore with the brightest grin Evelyn had ever seen. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched him take a few slow steps back until his feet dipped into the water. His eyes were only on her, and he spoke with the most mischievous voice. “Are you coming?”

More than anything, Evelyn wanted to say yes, but she was certain that Niall would probably kill her. He was already having a hard enough time dealing with the whole situation and she didn’t want to make it any worse.

Before she could say no, Louis was walking towards her with his hand stretched out to reach her. He had gently grabbed onto her hand, much like he had on the roof, before she had a chance to make any sort of movement. She was certain that Niall was going to punch Louis at any second, but he didn’t, and Evelyn followed Louis nervously as he stepped backwards towards the water.

Her feet hit the waves before she even knew they’d reached the beach, and she couldn’t believe how perfectly cool the water felt against her skin. A smile fell to her face immediately, and Louis took that as a sign to take another step back.

Evelyn didn’t know how, but it felt like the rest of the world disappeared around them and it was just her and Louis inching slowly into this magical pond filled with water lilies and the prettiest fish she’d ever seen.

All she wanted to do was keep ahold of Louis’s hand and immerse herself in the water until her skin was wrinkled, but that was living in a dream world, and even in Never Land, not every dream comes true.

Niall’s hand wrapped around her arm, turning her away from Louis. He had a small scowl on his face, even though he looked like he was still trying to be comforting toward his sister.

“You can’t get wet,” he said as he pursed his lips. “You don’t have a change of clothes.”

Louis noticed Evelyn’s smile drop and immediately tried to fix it, speaking up with his light voice. “Jodie has a change of clothes she can borrow.”

Niall’s eyes tightened and Evelyn knew that he was about to get seriously pissed off. She loved her brother and knew he only wanted the best for her, so before he could get even more angry, she spoke, shaking her head.

“It’s alright, Louis,” she said, looking at him with a faint smile. “It’s better if I don’t.”

Before Louis could protest, she followed Niall out of the knee deep water, her smile half of what it was before. Even though Niall only wanted what was best for her, it was getting harder to pretend that maybe, just maybe, he was wrong about Louis.