( ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ ⁺ ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ ⁺ ⁱᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ )

ⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

SO, she's actually doing it. she's going on the blind date.

his name is drew and he's pretty cute from the pictures chris showed her. messy golden brown hair and emerald eyes and a smile that could melt even the coldest of frowns.

he is safe. he is nice. he is a good choice.

he is not louis.

but maybe that's a good thing. maybe she needs exactly that, someone she can't possibly fall so hard for. someone who isn't louis and won't be able to cause her any pain and might actually reciprocate her feelings.

she stares at the short white dress adorning her body in the mirror and considers changing, but she has already changed her outfit four times, and if she doesn't hurry up, she's going to be late. she reapplies her lip combo and sprays on some of her signature perfume before casting one last glance at herself in the mirror and then leaving the room.

she realizes she's nervous as she walks toward the kitchen. there is a sort of knot in her stomach—butterflies or anxiety, she can't quite tell. she is a little scared, a little excited, but entirely ready and willing to at least make an effort to move on from the boy who is currently sitting at the kitchen counter once again with a mug lifted to his lips and a novel resting on the counter.

she is silent as she walks over to grab her purse which she accidentally left in the kitchen, but her heart beats loudly in her chest. she wonders if louis can hear it, but his eyes are glued to the page he is reading and he doesn't even look up at her.

something makes her veins grow cold and it feels a lot like disappointment. but she brushes that aside when she gets a text from an unknown number.

hey stella, this is drew. chris gave me your number. i'll be at your apartment to pick you up in 5.

her heart skips a beat at the message, and she takes it as a good sign. she sends back a reply and then rounds the counter to start walking down to the garage so that drew doesn't have to come up.

louis looks up for the first time since she walked into the kitchen. he opens his mouth to say something upon seeing her, but then he starts choking on air. stella furrows her eyebrows, looking at him in confusion.

"what?" she says.

his eyes flicker down her body and then back up to her face. "where are you going looking like that?"

he realizes how mean it sounds the second after he says it. she frowns and glances down at herself.

"do i look bad?" she asks.

she sounds so sad in that moment that louis wants to drown himself in a tub for ever hurting her. he wants to reassure her, tell her no you look the complete opposite of bad. you are fucking stunning and i want to hold you in my arms and never let you go.

the thought hits him so suddenly, and he has the startling realization that it's what he actually wants. he wants to hold onto stella and never let her go. and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's known her since they were kids or that she's his best friend's sister.

"no, you—" louis cuts himself off, his expression pained as he tears his gaze away from her and clears his throat.

he wishes he could tell her, but the feeling is so new and unfamiliar and this is stella. he has known her since she was eleven. she is his best friend's little sister. but deep down, louis knows she's more than that. so much more than that. because she's stella. how could he ever think of her as just his best friend's sister?

but he can't find the words, not right now.

stella's frown deepens. "i what?"

louis just shakes his head, his heart betraying him and beating fast against his chest. he changes the subject.

"where are you going?"

stella purses her lips, unsure if she should tell him the truth or not considering she just revealed her feelings to him. but it isn't as if anything will ever happen between them so why should stella sit around and cry about him never wanting her?

"i'm going on a date," she tells him, her voice casual as if she's telling him she's hanging out with her friends.

louis's face shifts, and she can't quite decipher it.

"with who?" he asks. she is unable to place the tone of his voice.

she shrugs and tells him the truth. "just this guy, one of chris's friends."

he blinks. "oh."

she blinks back. "yeah."

and then suddenly the air turns awkward as they stay there just staring at each other.

her phone chimes with a notification and she looks down to find that drew is here and asking if he should come up to get her. she quickly texts him back to say she's coming down now and he doesn't need to get out of the car.

"he's here," stella says to louis awkwardly. "i'll see you later."

"right," louis replies tensely.

he doesn't say anything else, not to have fun or to stay safe or anything. she has the feeling that he's upset but he's louis so he won't show it. she bites her lip but can't find it in herself to ask him what's wrong, so she slips out the front door without another word and makes her way down to the garage.

louis sits at the kitchen counter, staring at the front door as if it will make her come back.

don't go on the date, he suddenly wishes he told her. he doesn't deserve you, he thinks even though he doesn't even know the guy's name let alone his personality.

louis clenches his fists and grits his teeth, his thoughts running a mile a minute as he tries to calm himself down. he doesn't even know what he's feeling. he doesn't even know why he's getting so upset.

so what if stella told him she liked him? he didn't say anything back to her so she had no choice but to believe that he could never think of her that way. he can't expect her to stay waiting around for him to realize his feelings for her.

his feelings for her.

louis's breath hitches, and in the silence of the room, it is deafening.

because louis has feelings for stella franklyn-miller.

fuck. fuck. fuck.

"fuck," he mutters out loud.

all he's thinking about now is stella's chestnut eyes and how they light up when she's talking about something she loves. stella's soft grin when he makes a bad joke and she still laughs. stella's calming voice that he now realizes is what home sounds like to him.

stella on a date with someone else. stella laughing at another guy's jokes. stella thinking of someone who's not him.

louis fucked up. he hadn't realized it before. how much stella means to him. and now it might be too late. maybe she doesn't want anything to do with him anymore. maybe she will end up really liking this guy she's going out with. but one thing is certain.

he's not going sit around and wait as another guy makes a move on her.

ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ !

stellafranklyn.miller posted on their story !

ⁱᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ !

louis partridge created a group chat !

unnamed

[ participants ]
louis
cora
daisy
sebastian
matt
nick
chris

louis
where is stella's date?

matt
woah what is this

cora
no way bro just created a gc to ask this

daisy
screenshotted and saved for future reference

sebastian
louis must be really desperate rn

louis
can you guys just tell me where she's going please

nick
ok why but why do you need to know louis??

matt
^

chris
^^

daisy
^^^

cora
^^^^

sebastian
^^^^^

louis
i just need to know

cora
are you like jealous or smth

nick
👀

sebastian
👀

daisy
👀

matt
👀

chris
👀

louis
maybe

nick
EXCUSE ME WHAT

cora
NO FUCKING WAY

sebastian
WHAT THE HELL

matt
OMFG ARE YOU SERIOUS

daisy
LOUIS SERIOUSLY

chris
OH YM GODHAHAJ

louis
....
why are you guys overreacting

cora
this is NOT overreacting stella has had a crush on you for YEARS

matt
unrequited might i add

daisy
until now apparently

sebastian
this feels unreal ngl

louis
wait years? seriously?

cora
oh shit

nick
cora you fucking dumbass

cora
STFU NICK

chris
dude you can't actually be fr rn like it was so obvious

sebastian
so real though like EVERYONE knew except you

louis
fuck

daisy
ok so hold on wait
you finally realized your feelings for stella??????

louis
i may have, yes

cora
AHHXJHSNHJKCDNJSKSNJJBDSJMJSKSKS

nick
FUCIKSJNJSB FIBNALLYBSJWKK

matt
FUCKING FINALLY

sebastian
AHHHHHCVDSJKBHDJSKWJSHNJ OH MY GOD

daisy
THSNK THE LORDS ABOVBE

chris
TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH

louis
yes thank you guys for that.
i'm just worried i took too long and now she's moving on

cora
trust me that girl is head over heels she isn't moving on for a long time

louis
really?

nick
yes dude
but you need to make your move asap

matt
literally

louis
i'm planning on it
that's why i need to know where her date is

sebastian
you're going to crash her date??????

louis
is that messed up?

chris
nah bro
drew will understand trust

daisy
this is so rom com esque

cora
i love it

matt
they went to *location*

louis
thank you matt

sebastian
good luck mate

daisy
you got this!

matt
good luck louis

cora
stream how you get the girl on your way there for good measure 🤗

chris
believe in you man you can do it

nick
and don't fuck it up

louis
i'll try not to
thanks guys, i'm leaving now

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 !

promise the angst is coming to an end guys...

trying to write to get my mind off the fact that eras tour and f1 are ending on the same day aka tmrw 😭 i am actually mentally unstable guys literally waking up at 5 am to watch the last race tmrw morning and then staying up late to livestream the last eras show

if you don't hear from me again that means i have died from sobbing too hard and drowning in my own tears (especially if ferrari doesn't win constructors which they prob won't bc of the grid penalty im so depressed, average day for a ferrari fan)

(and also if taylor announces something tmrw like everyone is clowning for i will actually combust into flames i am not ok)