I Can Love You More Than This

The days after the concert were great. I spent a lot of time with Louis and the rest of the guys, just hanging out and trying to have some fun on my last days of “vacation.” It wasn’t anything too crazy, mostly just watching movies and playing games. Kelly even joined in, and I noticed she seemed to gravitate towards Niall most of the time. And he didn’t seem to mind at all.

But now the fun was over, and it was time to head back to work. I was actually looking forward to it; it had been so weird not being there for so long. Lane was excited too, tackling me as I walked through the door.

“OH MY GOD I’VE MISSED YOU!” she screamed, “This place is almost impossible to handle without you! Everyone was sad about what happened, but still felt like; ‘oh hey, the manager’s not around, let’s do whatever the hell we please!’ and I swear I almost fired the lot! And why are you so cold?” She finished her rant in about 0.5 seconds, so it took me a second to process everything.

“Oh, well, I walked, and it’s pretty cold out right now, so, therefor, I’m cold. And what the heck could they have done to make you want to fire them?” I said, growing concerned.

“Oh, just the usual, calling off for no reason, showing up late and acting like it’s no big deal, getting sassy with customers. I took care of it though, and after the first week everyone finally seemed to take me seriously, so it’s all good.” She smiled at me, but that immediately changed to a look of concern when she said, “But wait, why the heck did you walk here?”

“I still don’t feel comfortable in my car. I’ve been considering getting a new one, but it was hard enough finding that one. I don’t know how I can afford a new one.”

“At least this one you could trade in though? Then you’d have something to put towards another” She said optimistically.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how much I’ll get for it. It’s a little beat up considering I had to get used to driving on the other side of the road.”

“Oh, right. When you first moved here, you were seriously the worst driver, I’m pretty sure everyone in town was petrified if they saw you coming.” She laughed.

“Shut up!” I said, laughing along with her, “At least I’ve improved a bit!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get to work!” I said, trying to act all bossy. She just laughed, but we started working and getting ready for the day.

It was good to be back.

……………

After work, I walked back to my flat and found Louis waiting outside of the door for me.

“You really need to get a new car,” he said while shivering, “It’s too cold out to be walking.”

I just laughed as I unlocked the door, leading the way into my flat, “I’m fine, really. And once I know I can afford it, I am going to buy a new one. I just can’t right this second. Plus, I really don’t think it’s that cold out.”

“You know, I could help you with that,” he said, making himself at home on my couch in the process. “The car, I mean.”

“Are you nuts? You’ve only known me for, like, 3 weeks; you’re not buying me a car!”

“I don’t have to buy it for you! Just, maybe make the down payment… and the monthly payments. You know, the little things.” He said, smiling like an idiot.

I just laughed, shaking my head at him. “You’re crazy. And you’re not buying me a car!”

“Alright, fine, I won’t buy you a car,” he said, defeated. “But I can give you rides, or even let you borrow my car, anytime you need it. In fact, I can give you a ride tonight!”

“Tonight?” I asked, confused, “Where am I going tonight?”

“Out to dinner! With me! And maybe a movie, whatever you want! Unless, of course, you don’t want to?” he started to look nervous at the idea of me saying no.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, we can go out. I just feel bad, you’ve been spending so much time with me lately, I don’t want to steal your attention from anyone else.”

“Oh, trust me, you’re not. I spend a lot of time with the guys at work, and although we do enjoy hanging out together at home, it’s nice to have someone else to get away with for a change.” He smiled at me, making me blush a little. I looked away, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“Ok, well, we can go out somewhere tonight then. But you’re going to have to wait until I shower and get ready, because I am not going out smelling like sandwiches and looking like this.” I pointed to my gross looking subway uniform, making him laugh.

“Ok, well, take your time. I don’t see what the problem is, though, I think sandwiches smell delicious.” I just rolled my eyes at him as I turned and walked towards my room so I could start getting ready.

…………

I walked out about 45 minutes later, wearing a plain black crop top, with a lace bodysuit underneath, some skinny jeans, and my black combat boots. I topped it off with my black bowler cap and leather jacket. Louis just stared at me as I walked out, and all he could manage to say was, “Don’t you ever get cold?”

“Nope!” I said, as I pulled him up off my couch, “Now let’s go! I’m starving, and my very nice friend has promised me dinner.”

Louis drove us to the theater first, because he apparently decided that he absolutely had to see the new Hobbit movie while I had gotten ready. So, we got our tickets for the next showing, which wasn’t for another 2 hours, then decided on dinner at a café down the street. After we were seated and had placed our orders, I asked him a question that has been bothering me for almost a week now.

“So, you’re in one of the biggest boy bands ever, have travelled the world, and can go anywhere you want, yet you chose to move to Manchester?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at the end.

“Hmm… I guess I can see how that would seem strange. But the guys and I like it here, we like being close to home. Plus, here we can all live together, and work on our album, but not attract too much attention. So far, we haven’t had too much trouble with paparazzi and whatnot, because no one seems to guess that we’re here.”

“Oh, that does make sense. And you grew up around here?”

“Ehh, sort of. Niall is from Ireland, so he’s obviously a little farther from home. But the rest of us are from places a little closer to here. Mines the best though, I’m from Doncaster.” He said proudly.

“Hmm... never heard of it; but it reminds me of my home, I’m from Lancaster!”

He tried to look offended, but then he had to laugh. “And what made a girl from Lancaster want to move out here?” he asked

“Well, to be honest, I just needed a change. And when Kelly was in school, she did a semester abroad in England, and didn’t want to leave. And Manchester had affordable flats, and the college has a good pastry arts program, so it just worked.”

“That does sound very convenient. But what about your family? Don’t you miss them?”

Before I could answer, the waiter brought our dinner, so that was distraction enough for me to get away with not giving him an answer. The rest of dinner, we just chit chatted about little things. He seemed very interested in my job at Subway, while I tried to keep the conversation on his career, as it seemed much more interesting to me. We got done with just enough time to walk back to the theater for the showing of the movie. As we walked back, I realized that it really was starting to get cold. I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter, and Louis must’ve noticed because his arm was around me in an instant, pulling me close to him.

“Told you it was bloody cold out.” He said, mocking me.

“Oh, shut it, it wasn’t cold earlier.” I grumbled, “And I wasn’t expecting my date to make me walk around all over the place, either.”

“Oh? This is a date now is it?” he asked, stopping to look at me with his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face.

“No, umm… I mean… Stop it! You know what I meant!” I said, laughing and trying to make light of what I had said.

“Mhmm whatever you say.” He said, putting his arm around me again as we continued our walk to the movie.