◣ 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞... ◥

❝ 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁. ❞

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— [✩] ; CORA WAS RUNNING ON THREE cups of coffee and four hours of restless sleep when Louis arrived at her doorstep. She had half a bagel with some Nutella spread that she was still eating as they left her apartment, or as Louis called it, her flat. Louis laughed at her as she tried to keep up with his long strides and freakishly long legs, whilst she held her bagel in one hand and flipped him the bird with the other.

"You have an Oyster card, yeah?" Louis asked as they entered Paddington Station, the teen making sure that girl was close by.

Cora gave him a strange look before laughing lightly and quickly shook her head. "I'm highly allergic to seafood, so no."

He chuckled as he nodded his head at the nearby escalators, his hazel eyes glazing over the signs that were hung up. "Good to know, but an Oyster card is like a credit card specifically for public transportation in London. You can even download an app to put money on the Oyster card, or have your mum do it for you."

"I set up a bank account and got a debit card so I can do it myself," she nodded as she followed closely behind him. "While we're on the train, rails, tube, you've gotta give me a quick lesson in British slang coz this Oyster Card stuff- I need to be more in tune with it since I live here now if that's okay."

"Awe, I'm chuffed that you're turning to me for help." Louis put a hand over his heart with the most dramatic tone he could acquire.

Cora was quick to roll her eyes and lightly shove him. "You were my second choice, Louis, don't feel cocky now. I asked Google but got too confused. And, what the fuck does chuffed mean?"

After buying an Oyster Card and finding the correct line to go on, which was A40, Cora and Louis were sat side-by-side. Their shoulders brushed against one another as Cora moved every so often to get something out of her bag or put something back. From what Louis could tell, she was double-checking she had everything she needed, like her wallet, her keys, emergency makeup kit, sanitary items that she wasn't afraid to put onto display for the scarred Londoners, and other knickknacks she held in her bag.

"Hey, d'ya wanna listen to some tunes?" she asked as she took out her phone and her Airpods from her pocket.

"Yeah, sure," Louis grinned and held his hand out as Cora handed her one of the Airpods.

"Cool beans," Cora smiled as she pulled up a playlist on her phone and angled her body closer to the boy beside her. "I hope you don't mind some K-pop, because I'm going to expose you to my favorite groups."

His lips curled into a grin at the sight of Cora growing increasingly eager about K-pop. He had heard about K-pop before, like BTS, but it didn't quite interest him as much until now. "I don't mind at all-"

"Holy shit I'm going to show you their music videos too! Louis, I can't even begin to tell you how advanced K-pop stars are compared to western pop stars. Dude- they're on another level!" Cora was practically shaking with excitement, unable to wipe the smile off her face as she pulled up YouTube on her phone. "We have like fifteen minutes, right? Okay, I need to show you Blackpink, BTS, Tomorrow x Together... get ready to have your socks rocked, Lou."

Louis let a small laugh escape him as he nodded softly, watching as the girl next to him sitting tailor-style. She smushed against his side, shoving her phone between them as they watched on the screen. Funnily enough, not everyone was paying close attention to the phone, but the one beside them.

But who you ask? Who knows.

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— [✩] ; "I WANT TO DIE HERE," Cora said as she plopped down on one of the fluffy beds inside of IKEA.

"Well that's dramatic," Louis scoffed as he sat down at the edge of the bed before laying down beside her. "Though, this bed is rather comfortable."

Cora rolled her eyes before rolling around a bit. "This bed is too soft for me, I feel like I might fall through it and into the ground. Like in the movie Get Out." she wrinkled her nose and sat up before walking over to another bed. Once she sat down, she immediately shook her head. "And this one is too hard, what the hell IKEA?"

"Nice one, Goldilocks," he smirked as he rose from his spot and onto his feet. "Let's go look at something else, yeah?"

"The kids' section!" Cora grinned brightly as she laid flat onto the hard mattress then shot her arms up lazily as she waved her hands around. "But please, be a dear and help me up?"

Louis sighed dramatically. "Oh, I guess." then he walked over to where Cora laid and carefully wrapped his hands around her wrists as he pulled her up.

The teenage girl laughed softly as she was pulled to her feet, taking an instant like the feeling of Louis' hands on her skin. Then, in a rather bold move on Cora's part, she grabbed his hand and started to lead him towards the kid's section with a small smile on her lips and her cheeks tinted pink. Louis certainly wasn't complaining, smiling along as his cheeks felt red whilst he followed Cora as she dragged him throughout the store.

"Lou! Look at this cloud," she tugged him towards one of the many light displays in the kid's section. "Awe, it's so cute. And this purple flower? Oh my god, this little otter friend," she pointed to the white otter light.

"The otter has to be my favorite," Louis nodded as Cora gently tapped the otter's head, watching as it changed from white to blue.

"I don't need it, but I want it," Cora said firmly and turned her head to see kid's beds not too far away. She gasped loudly and then tugged Louis along, carefully knitting their fingers together before turning to face him. "These beds... are so... small."

He chuckled lightly and nodded. "These beds are made for children, Cora."

"Doesn't it ever blow your mind you were once that small? Like, look at you, Louis! You couldn't fit in this bed even if you tried."

"Are you fat-shaming me, Corazon?"

"Absolutely not! I would never- I was just saying you're freakishly tall. Plus, you're fit, you have good arms, and uh- you're not fat. You don't need to worry about that." Cora's face instantly turned red as she realized she called Louis fucking fit and said that he had good arms. Jesus Christ, woman. She mentally scolded herself for letting words leave her mouth without thinking.

Louis smirked. "You think I have good arms?" he looked down at his arms, mostly just to annoy Cora further, and started to flex his free arm, especially his exposed bicep. "I never really thought about that."

"I said nothing, I recant everything I said," Cora quickly let go of his hand before walking ahead, trying her best to calm herself down from whatever the fuck that was. Was that flirting? Was Cora flirting? Is that how flirting works? She asked herself as she felt her whole body heat up in embarrassment for herself.

"Oh, Corazon," Louis laughed lightly as he walked up behind her and then slung an arm over her shoulder before pulling her close to his side. "You're very cute when you're flustered."

Cora's cheeks wouldn't stop turning pink. "Oh, uh, thanks, Lou." she liked his arm around her shoulders, like, a lot. She decided to return the favor by wrapping one of her arms around his torso and leaning her head against his chest as they walked. For a moment, she felt Louis tense when she wrapped her arm around him and laid her head against him, but he was quickly put at ease and tugged Cora closer. She smiled like an idiot. "Can we go to the food court now?"

"I suppose," he replied before pulling out the paper map of IKEA from his back pocket. "Let's just find it, yeah?"

"We're on the second floor, the food is on the first floor, see?" she pointed at the map. "Either in the US or UK, the food is usually on the first floor." Cora grinned as she spoke in a matter-of-fact kind of tone.

"You frequent IKEA a lot, don't you?"

"I told you before, and I'll say it again, Louis, I will gladly die in IKEA."

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— [✩] ; ON THEIR WAY BACK FROM IKEA, Louis got a FaceTime call from his sister while they were on the tube. Cora remained quiet while they talked, leaving herself to be entertained by her phone and Candy Crush to let Louis and his sister have some alone time. She couldn't quite tell if it was Issie, his older sister or Millie, his younger sister, but to be frank, it wasn't any of her business. Whilst beating level 60 on Candy Crush by using only 15 out of the 40 moves provided, Cora felt someone poke her side and turned her head away from her screen.

"Yeah?" she hummed.

"Uh, my sister, Issie, won't let the call end until she meets you," Louis said with his face slightly pink. "Hope that's alright."

"Way to sound excited, Louie," Issie said from the phone as she glared at her brother.

Cora felt the corner of her lips curl upwards as she laughed lightly. "That's okay," then as Louis turned his phone to face her, Cora saw the face of a young woman, older than she is, with short brown hair and bangs. "Hi," she smiled and waved at the phone screen. "I'm Corazon, but everyone calls me Cora."

"Oh my god, Louie, she is cute!" Issie squealed before smiling brightly at her. Wow, Cora thought. She's fucking pretty, man. "It's nice to finally meet you, Cora, I'm Issie. As I was saying to my younger brother here, our mum has invited you to dinner if you want to join. Louis said no for you, and I was gutted to hear that, but I think mum would like to hear it from you." 

She looked at Louis and then playfully (sort of) punched his bicep. Cora ignored his pained groan and grinned at Issie. "I would love to join your family for dinner. I did buy a few things from IKEA though, so it might take up some space in your home."

"Why the bloody hell did you hit me?" Louis whined as he rubbed the area where she hit him with a small pout on his lips.

"Because you assumed I wouldn't wanna meet your family, duh," Cora smirked at him as she rolled her dark eyes. "I was only takin' a piss outta ya," she said in her best British accent which made Issie lose it on her end in a fit of giggles.

"Don't be a wanker to the lady, Louie," Issie said after her giggles died down. "I'll leave you two be and I'll let mum know to set out an extra plate."

"Yeah Lou, don't be a bloody wanker." Cora continued to smirk.

Louis continued to pout before his lips curled into a sour scowl. "I cannot win here, can I?"

"Nope,"

"In your dreams,"

After the call with Issie ended, Cora kept grinning whilst Louis proceeded to scowl. It was quite a funny sight because Louis was pretending to look mad when he wasn't. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he was slouching in his seat- Cora had to stop herself from giggling at him by bitting her inner cheek before she bumped her shoulder with his and grinned. "So, Louis,"

"Yes, Cora?" he responded gruffly.

Cora moved closer to him and started to sway side to side, each time she playfully smooshed into Louis's side. "Why don't you want me to meet your folks? Embarrassed of me, huh?" her tone was comical, but towards the end of her sentence she became worried. Was he actually embarrassed by me? Would I be too much for his family to handle?

Louis instantly sat up straight and quickly shook his head. He couldn't believe that she would think that. "Absolutely not, there's nothing embarrassing about you that I wouldn't want to share with my family," his tone sounded sincere, but Cora couldn't help but think otherwise.

I always knew that I was quite brash and that I usually spoke before I really thought, which lands me in loads of trouble... I'm too eccentric, my mind wandered too much and my focus was never on something for too long... "Honestly, I only thought that you didn't want to meet them. We did spend most of the day shopping, yeah? I guessed you would wanna go home after this."

She turned off the doubts in her mind as stared at him for a moment. Her eyes glazed over his features to really tell if he was being honest, but she could see it in his eyes, he was being sincere. "That would mean I'd have to spend less time with you, which in retrospect, sounds glorious, but sounds quite boring on my behalf." a small smile crept on Cora's lips as she looked down at her lap, seeing that Louis' hand wasn't too far from hers...

"Your thoughts are appreciated, Louis, but please, never assume what I want until you ask me. You're not a mind reader and neither am I. Communication is key."

"I see that now, I'm sorry Cora,"

"It's alright," she shrugged her shoulders before carefully reaching for his hand and interlacing their fingers together. Louis didn't seem too bothered by it, since he was moving away... "'Twas a mistake."

"Did you just say ''twas'?" Louis chuckled, his hand gently squeezing hers before his thumb rubbed her knuckles.

Cora grinned and looked up at him, her heart feeling full and warmth spreading throughout her body. "I did, indeed."

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author's note.

man i didn't realize i was so touch starved until i wrote this chapter...

n e ways, louzon ftw. they're not there yet, but they're getting there <3