Chapter 14 ~ The Party

[Louis]

During the rest of that week, nothing changed between me and Harry. We continued glaring at each other whenever we crossed paths. It was like that incident when he brought up the tweet had been like dropping a bomb. Not once after that had I thought of the fact that he might feel anything but hatred towards me.

It was now Saturday, the day of the party. I was at the kitchen table, eating lunch with my family. Mom had made spaghetti bolognese, one of my favorite dishes. "So, I'm going to a party tonight," I said, placing a big portion of food on my plate.

Mom raised her eyebrows in surprise, although I could see a smile forming on her lips. "You are?"

From the corner of my eyes, I could see that Lottie seemed a bit surprised as well. I nodded my head. "Yeah. Some girl named Nathalie is throwing a party, and Hannah, Zayn, Niall and I are planning to go."

"Okay, sounds great, honey. Just don't be home too late."

I bit my bottom lip, not saying anything. When she noticed this, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait, there is more to it, isn't there?"

"Maybe," I said, feeling a bit guilty all of a sudden.

She let out a sigh. "Shoot."

"You see, she lives pretty close, so I was wondering if it's okay that all of us stay here overnight?" It wasn't meant to come out as unsurely as it did, but I couldn't help it. It wasn't every day that I asked mom for favors like this.

Thankfully though, she was an understanding mother, so she instantly caught on where I was heading at. "You mean you want us to stay over at gran's so you can have the house to yourselves?"

"Kind of?"

She let out a laugh, which was hard to judge. Did she think it was okay or not?

"Of course, honey. It's been quite some time since you've been to a party, and I trust you and your friends. Besides, I haven't visited my mom in ages. It's about time. Or what do you say, girls?"

Fizzy looked happy. She had always loved gran, and to be honest, she had always been gran's favorite, so it didn't surprise me. "I'd love to go see gran."

Lottie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it's okay. I might get there a little later though. I'm seeing Tiffany today."

Mom nodded. "Alright, then it's decided." She turned to me. "I still want you to be careful tonight though, and I mean of the house too. I trust you, my son."

I waved my hand dismissively. "Of course I'm gonna be careful. You don't have to baby me anymore, mom. I'm a grown-up now."

She tilted her head to the side, a smile spreading on her lips. "I know. My baby boy is getting old. Have fun tonight, but not too much, alright?"

I let out a sigh. "I promise."

-

I informed the lads and Hannah that it was okay to stay over at my place after the party when we had finished eating lunch. After that, I decided to go chill for a bit in my room before I had to get ready for the party. We decided that we might as well meet up at my place before the party also. It was always nice to have a little chat with your friends before something like this.

When it was half an hour until they would come, I started getting ready. I opened my closet to check through what outfit would suit this evening. In the end, I decided to put on a white t-shirt that had a black print on it together with a pair of black skinny jeans. After that, I styled my hair so it was swept to the side. I knew it was still in the middle of the winter, but I knew I would get hot even in these clothes at the party.

Once I was finished, I got downstairs and into the kitchen. Mom and the girls had already gone so I was all alone. I brought out a package of popcorn and opened it up before putting it in the microwave. Then I opened the fridge to get the good stuff out if you know what I mean.

I loved the fact that my mom was so nice and understanding. She wouldn't go all out and yell at me not to drink too much because she knew me. She knew that I wouldn't go crazy and get lost somewhere or do something I would regret, and I loved her for that. That way, I didn't have to hide any alcohol.

As I placed the beer on the table, the microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn was done. I decided to make one more package because I knew for a fact that Niall was pretty crazy about popcorn, especially newmade, so one package would definitely not be enough.

Once all finished, the bell rang, and not even a second later, I could hear the noise of my friends entering my house. I laughed at the fact that it sounded like a storm had entered the building, knowing that my friends were just as hyped for this as me.

"Where are you, my little LouLou?"

I rolled my eyes at Niall's comment, making my way to the hallway to greet them. "Hey, guys."

"There you are!"

Niall hadn't even got out of his outdoor clothing. He just stumbled over to me and wrapped his arms around my body, his big jacket getting in my face. Yep, he was definitely already wasted. "I see you've already gotten started," I laughed as he let go of me to finally take off his jacket.

"He's just a light head. All he's had are three beers," Zayn informed, rolling his eyes behind the blonde haired boy.

Niall let out a whine. "I am not. I had a Tequila shot also, you dummy."

I couldn't help but laugh at his comment, and neither could Zayn, making Niall pout even more. Before we could do anything else though, the doorbell rang, and a second later my girlfriend entered the house, her blonde hair curled and her face was caked with a bit more makeup than usual. She looked gorgeous.

"Hey guys," she greeted, closing the door behind herself.

"Oh my God, is that popcorn I smell?" Niall burst out, his eyes widening.

He disappeared into the kitchen in a snap of the fingers. Zayn and I exchanged a knowing look while Hannah looked between us questioningly. "How much has he had?"

Zayn laughed, shaking his head. "Not enough to blame his behavior on it."

Her mouth formed an 'o' as she just like Zayn took off her jacket. Once we entered the kitchen, Niall had one of the bowls in his hands, his mouth full of popcorn. "Good thing I made two bowls," I laughed, sitting down opposite of the blonde haired boy who shot me a glare.

Hannah sat down beside me while Zayn took a seat next to Niall. He had brought beer himself, and Hannah had a bottle of what looked like roséwine, so there was definitely no lack of alcohol this evening.

"Alright guys, how about we play some never have I ever and get this party started?" Zayn suggested, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

We all nodded in agreement, Niall only murmuring something, his mouth busy chewing on popcorn. Hannah decided to pull her phone out and look up relevant questions for the game. "Alright, so here's the first one... Never have I ever skinny dipped?"

I popped a beer can open and shamelessly took a swig. Niall who had finally taken his attention off of the popcorn lifted his beer can to his mouth. Okay, that one wasn't even surprising, and judging by the looks I was receiving from Zayn and Hannah, they were more surprised by the fact that I took a swig than Niall.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I was ten, don't judge. Plus, it was only me and Harry so it wasn't like anyone saw," I explained, rolling my eyes.

They bought that explanation and Hannah went on to the next question. This went on until she was halfway down her bottle of whine, Zayn and Niall had emptied two beers each and I three. I didn't know if it was just that I took bigger swigs or if I just had to drink more often. However, I still wasn't near as wasted as the blonde haired boy was.

"Okay, I seriously think you should tone it down a little with the alcohol, Niall. Otherwise, you might not even be able to go to the party," Zayn said, watching as Niall pouted his lips, the popcorn bowl still in his arms even if it had been empty for a long time.

"Fine."

I rolled my eyes at his childishness, Hannah doing the same thing. "I say we do one more round then we start getting ready to go, or what do you say?" She suggested, taking a sip of her bottle of wine.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds great. It's almost ten anyways. Might as well get there before it all ends."

Zayn and Niall agreed as well. Hannah turned to her phone, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows in concentration. I couldn't help but think about a certain curly haired boy when she did so. It was something they had in common...

"Never have I ever had feelings for two people at the same time."

I gulped at her words. It took me by surprise because I had never really thought about my situation that way before. Did I have feelings for two people right now?

Biting my bottom lip, I could feel all of their eyes on me. I didn't know what to do. If I told the truth, I knew Hannah would be sad, and I didn't want that, but I didn't want to lie either. Besides, didn't she kind of already know that I had never really let Harry go?

"For God's sake, just drink, Louis. We all know you've experienced it," Hannah said, rolling her eyes.

I glanced over at her, giving her a sad look before bringing the can to my lips and taking a sip. "I hate myself for it, though," I muttered as I placed it on the table again.

She gave me a small smile. "I know, but you shouldn't. You've come a long way," she encouraged, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I returned the smile and leaned in to place a kiss on her lips. "Thank you, love."

"Alright, enough with all the cute little small talks. Let's get ready for this party," Zayn interrupted, standing up and clapping his hands together.

Niall followed suit, finally placing the bowl on the table, beside the other one that was also empty. He stumbled a little as he started walking towards the hallway, but thankfully Zayn was there to support him. "Man, I'm not going to be your personal assistant tonight, if that's what you think."

"I can walk by myself, you don't have to help me," Niall grumbled, slipping from Zayn's grip on him, only to almost fall to the floor if it weren't for the fact that he supported himself against the wall. "Alright, maybe I just need a little help out of the house, but once I'm out in the fresh air I promise I'll sober up."

"Good luck with that," I mumbled under my breath, chuckling at his drunken state.

Somehow, we managed to get to the party, and part of that reason might be because it was just down the street. It was even closer than I had first thought, which was definitely a good thing.

Once we arrived at the house, we didn't even bother to knock but just entered the building that was packed with people. There were teenagers everywhere, and the fact that music was blaring through the speakers didn't exactly make it easier to get a grip on what was happening in here.

The first thing we did was to enter the living room where the music was coming from. People were dancing, and in the corners, they were trying to have conversations with each other, but judging by the loud noise, I'd say it was rather difficult to do so.

Zayn led us over to the other side of the room where a bunch of people we recognized was hanging. I pointed out Eleanor in the group and judging by the fact that she nodded to me in acknowledgment, I supposed she noticed me as well. We all started dancing together, but it wasn't long until she pulled me aside.

"Do you know if the pop star is coming?"

I furrowed my eyebrows together, wondering why she was asking me this. How would I know? "I don't know, why?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering. Thought you might've known."

I shook my head. "No, but I hope he doesn't," I replied, making her smile.

"Me neither."

My lips curled at her response. After that, we went back to dancing, Hannah leaving for a second to go find something to drink while I stayed with Zayn and Niall. Surprisingly, Niall had sobered up a bit by the fresh air, so he had been able to walk here without Zayn's help, but I would still recommend him not to drink more if he didn't want to make it worse.

The second Hannah came back with three drinks in her hands and I was just about to take it from her hand, I could see her gaze falling on something across the room. The weird thing was that she wasn't the only one looking in that direction. Everyone did.

Confused, I turned around to see what had caught everyone's attention and was shocked to see two boys walking through the crowd of people, one of the two wearing sunglasses. There was no doubt who it was, and I didn't know how to react. After everything that had happened this week, all I wanted was to feel angry, but of course, I could still feel my heart skip in my chest by the looks of him.

The music was suddenly turned off, making it even more obvious that he had all of the people's eyes on him. It was also very obvious that he noticed this fact judging by the smug smile that graced his lips. It made him look ugly if that was possible.

Whispers could now be heard, and I wanted to roll my eyes at the idea. He had been here for almost two weeks. Were they never going to get used to the fact that he was back?

His gaze then fell on me, and when they did, he reached up to place his sunglasses on top of his head instead so his piercing green eyes could look into mine. It was ridiculous. It was winter, and yet he was wearing sunglasses? I hadn't even seen the sun in over a week.

However, he didn't look at me the way he did that time in the cafeteria. This was the same look he had given me the entire week, and I didn't know up until now how much I disliked it. It didn't suit him, at all.

I didn't know why, but suddenly, I was angry, just like I had first wanted myself to be. I didn't know whether it was because of that smug smile, the entire situation or the fact that he was giving me that look, but I was suddenly boiling.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed, making him raise his eyebrows.

"Are you saying I'm not welcome, eh?"

I could feel someone pulling at my arm, trying to hold me back, but I shook it off and narrowed my eyes at the curly haired boy. "Why would you be? I bet no one has invited you at least."

Another smug smile spread on his lips as he looked around the room. Everyone was listening to our conversation, but I couldn't care less. I didn't even notice it, too caught up in the situation.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but you're pretty much the only one who has something against me."

Well, I could name a bunch of other people I knew who did as well, but I didn't say anything about it. Instead, I rolled my eyes. "You're obviously too blind to see it. Must be because you're too stuck up in that ass of yours."

He took a few steps closer, so he was standing right in front of me. I could literally smell his perfume, and damn he wasn't playing fair. He was still using my favorite. This fact made me even angrier, causing my fists to curl at my sides.

Harry reached up to point a finger at me. "If I were you, I'd keep that mouth of yours shut."

I placed my hands on my hips. "Or else? You'll hit me?"

By now, it was pretty clear that he was filled with anger as well considering his jaw was tightened and he - just like myself - had his hands curled into fists. It was weird to see him like this. During all the years we had known each other, we had never been angry with one another. I'd only ever seen his anger directed at someone else.

It happened so fast that I almost didn't have time to react, but I did. He raised one of his hands in the air and swung it at me. Thankfully, I caught his wrist just in time before it could touch me. He was actually going to hit me, in front of all these people. Just that fact made my heart clench in my chest.

However, that wasn't the only thing that made my heart clench. As I held onto his wrist, I let my eyes trail down to it, and through the corner of my eyes, I could see him following my gaze. That was when we noticed it.

We were both still wearing the bracelets.

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Cliffhanger.... oops? Haha, I hope you aren't too mad at me for it. I'm looking forward to the next chapter, hope you are as well. See you soon.

Pauline .xx