Anti Blue Skies

For a reason I couldn’t explain, I couldn’t let Louis drop me off because I didn’t want to see him drive away. I wanted this night to last forever, and as of now it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye.

Louis placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding us up the stairs to my apartment building. I had to hold in a laugh whenever his thumb would graze the parts of skin my dress didn’t cover, but when we reached the door his hand slid off of me and I was left to make a decision.

If I asked him to come up to my place, did that make me easy? I wouldn’t blame him for assuming, but if I kissed him goodnight I would have to spend the night alone and lately I’ve become really sick of feeling lonely.

I was thrown from my thoughts when an ambulance sped by following two police cars, each with their own set of lights and sirens. It wasn’t unusual, Quinn and I were used to it by now, but at first it really freaked me out to live in an underprivileged part of London where burglaries and murders weren’t uncommon.

Louis’s head snapped to look at the vehicles passing by, startled by the sudden noise. “For God’s sake, don’t you get a bit paranoid living here?”

I shook my head, “Not anymore.”

He chuckled slightly, moving to lean against the railing. “I’m sorry to say this, but you couldn’t pay me enough to spend a night here.”

My face fell, there went my idea of him staying over, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t walk me to my door. Instead, he was awkwardly trying to make conversation, which was strange because all night it seemed he knew just what to say at exactly the right times. Maybe he practiced in front of a mirror.

“Do you think someone got shot?” He questioned me like I knew the answer, staring in the direction the sirens could still faintly be heard.

I furrowed my eyebrows together, “Just forget about it Louis, I’ll walk myself up.”

I know it was probably a little harsh, but first of all he was insulting my home, and second of all he was making me more and more uncomfortable. I turned to go up to my room, but was stopped completely when he grabbed a hold of my arm, spinning me around to look into his soft baby blues.

“Hey, come on, cut me some slack.” He gripped each of my upper arms, searching my eyes for some let up. “I’m so nervous.”

“What?” I scoffed lightly. “That’s crazy, why are you nervous?”

He stepped closer, putting us in the position we were in before I kissed him earlier. A gust of wind blew against my skin and I didn’t know if it was the cold that gave me chills, or Louis.

“I don’t know if you know this or not,” He scratched the back of his head nervously. “But you’re kind of intimidating.”

I wanted to burst out laughing from how far off he was. If anything, he was the intimidating one. He had perfectly coiffed hair, a great sense of humor, and he was the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. I had a habit of hiding how I felt, major trust issues, and no money and if you ask any normal person, that’s not exactly the correct definition of intimidating.

“Quit looking at me like I’m crazy!” He started to laugh and I was still confused. “You just seem like you have it all figured out. I mean, all night I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what makes you tick.”

I shook my head slightly when he lent down to kiss my cheek with a quiet peck.

“Goodnight. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to leave for his car.

He managed one step before I threw my hand out, clutching onto a piece of his jacket. His foot stopped in midair and he shot his head over his shoulder, an amused expression on his face.

“Wait, don’t go. Just--can’t you at least walk me to my door?” I was desperate at this point. No one had ever put the slightest bit of effort into me before, it was thrilling.

Something flashed in his eyes and I was being pulled through the building and into the elevator faster than I could say hell yeah.

I couldn’t keep my hands off of him, my fingers running through his hair while his arms gripped tightly around my lower back. Our lips increasingly becoming more forceful as they clung together in a mesh of salty saliva and the occasional clash of teeth. The elevator became hotter than fire and I could feel the stickiness on his neck when I trailed my nails against it.

As soon as the elevator dinged, signalling we were on my floor, Louis grunted and pushed us out into the hall while I directed him to my apartment. The whole while our lips still hungrily tearing at each other.

As we reached my door at the end of the seemingly long hallway, Louis pushed my back up against it while I struggled to fit the key in the keyhole. Louis smiled and angled his head down to nip and suck at my neck, allowing me less distraction while I fidgeted with the keys. After what seemed like forever, the knob gave in and I turned it effortlessly to the right to open it just a crack, but not before grabbing hold of Louis’s wispy hair, pulling his head up to me again so I could kiss his swollen lips.

He harshly placed his hand on the door next to my ear, pushing it open with a huge thud when it hit the opposite wall. Something felt strange when my back was fully exposed to my kitchen, like someone was watching me. Louis must have felt the same way because his eyes shot open and his mouth tore away from mine in an instant.

Louis started to scratch the back of his head again, and I was hesitant to turn around, but when I finally did, saying someone was watching us was an understatement. There was a mob full of eyes all staring at me and Louis.

I hated attention from an audience, nothing made me more uncomfortable. I had never been more embarrassed in my entire life.

The big man that barged into my room from the last party Quinn had, approached Louis with a huge smile on his face and planted a couple hard pats to his back before handing him a bottle of beer.

“Thata’ way little buddy.” He slurred, patting him on the back a few more times.

I noticed the attention strayed away from us when the entire room erupted in chatter once again. I threw a hand delicately over my mouth, trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Louis’s blue eyes looked to me, then he shrugged his shoulders with a chuckle and began chugging down his beer.

As mortifying and humiliating as it was at first, now it was quite hilarious.

“Guess I’m sticking around for the party.” Louis said, allowing me to take his jacket from him. I hung it on the coat hanger before scanning the place to see if I recognized anyone.

As usual, it was mostly sweaty men with pointless tattoos and women with boobs bigger than their heads and legs skinnier than toothpicks. And of course, how could I forget the beefy guy that landed in my bed while I was sleeping peacefully.

I grabbed Louis’s hand while he was talking to a stranger and I didn’t care that I was tearing him away from conversation. While I tried leading him further into the room, two familiar faces appeared in the kitchen, cutting my journey short. Harry was wearing a plaid shirt with the buttons unfastened about half way, revealing parts of his bird tattoos. His hair was a mess and his lips looked red and puffy, like how I imagined mine looked. Quinn had her head tucked under his armpit, her bloodshot eyes thick with black eyeliner and her cheeks a flushed shade of pink.

“Lydia!” He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glowing a deep shade of green as his eyebrows rose in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.”

My stomach dropped and I felt extremely annoyed, maybe even a little scared. I stepped closer to Louis, muttering a response. “But I live here.”

Harry quickly lifted his arm off of Quinn’s shoulder, her eyes shooting open. She crossed her arms over her chest, slightly swaying back and forth. Harry reached his arm out past me, holding his hand out for Louis to shake.

“You seem like a nice bloke, gonna take her off to her room? Get in a good snogging like before?”

Louis let out an uncomfortable laugh, shaking Harry’s hand for only a short period of time. I scrunched up my face, hoping he wouldn’t wreck whatever chance I had with Louis.

“Harry shut up, you’re drunk.” I replied, looking between him and the floor.

“What?” He set his empty beer bottle on the counter next to Quinn then grabbed two more from the cooler, one for himself and the other for Louis. “I can’t say I blame the lad. I saw your entrance, he’d be a fool to not finish what he started.”

“Excuse me, who are you exactly?” Louis asked, pointing his finger between a drunk Harry and a noticeably high Quinn.

Harry simply raised an eyebrow then took a few chugs of beer. The blonde next to him decided to speak for the both of them. I wanted to ditch into my room and never come out again just to get myself out of this situation, but the pit in my stomach and the twisted look in Harry’s eyes told me that wasn’t an option.

“I’m Quinn, her roommate.” She spoke very loud and slow, pointing to me while twirling a piece of her ratted hair. “This is my boyfriend.”

My eyes lifted from the floor as soon as the last phrase left her lips. Harry choked on his drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He then quickly pulled a chair out from the table and helped Quinn take a seat. From the look he was giving, I could tell he had been taking care of her all night and he was fed up with it.

“No, I’m not her boyfriend.” Harry’s lip twitched, but I saw a slight soften in his eyes when he looked back at me. “Are you two together or something? Is that why you’re so eager to get in a quick screw?”

My heart stopped beating for a second. How many times was I going to feel completely mortified tonight?

“Alright mate, I think that’s enough.” Louis defended himself, holding up his arm.

Harry’s face puckered, giving Louis a once over. I prayed to God they wouldn’t start a fight, because honestly right now Harry looked like he wanted to eat Louis for dinner.

“No, I decide when enough is enough.” Harry smacked Louis’s arm away from him, then after setting his empty bottle on the table, he took a few steps closer.

My frantic, blue eyes flashed between the two of them. The more Louis remained calm and tried to be the voice of reason, the more Harry got pissed off. I noticed more eyes staring at us and when I looked to Quinn for help, her head was buried into the crease of her arm.

Harry got in Louis’s face, green eyes dominating blue ones. I couldn’t take it anymore, if no stronger force was going to step in, I’d have to stray from my comfort zone.

I shimmied myself into the small space between the two of them, facing Harry whose nostrils were starting to flare. His knuckles were beginning to turn white from clenching his fists into tight balls at his sides. This Harry wasn’t the Harry I used to know in high school. Even though he hurt me so bad, right now I couldn’t think of anything better than having him back.

“Stop, please.” I whispered up at him, not wanting to draw any more attention to us than there was already.

It wasn’t getting through to him however. His face went pale and he opened his mouth to make another smart ass comment but I cut him off.

“Harry, please! You’re acting crazy.” He ran a hand through his hair, then took a step back, his eyes glossing over as he looked down at me, sobering up slightly.

For a second, I saw the old Harry, the one I fell for. The one that cared.

Harry sighed, taking more and more steps backwards while keeping his eyes locked on mine. I could see them watering and the dark veins started to fade away. He grabbed hold of Quinn’s arm, dragging her into her room with him. The wooden door shut with a loud slam causing me to flinch.

I turned around to check on Louis, he looked like he had relaxed since Harry left the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s not always like that I swear.” I found myself sticking up for him, the words falling from my mouth before I could even think them through.

Louis brushed it off, flicking his hand. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve dealt with plenty of drunk losers. Are you alright?”

I nodded my head, amazed at how ok he was about everything. If I was him I would take it all out on me and hightail my ass out of the apartment.

He smiled and draped a strong arm over the tops of my shoulders, pulling me close to him. “Good, the night’s still young.”