Hello! This will be a short chapter. Sorry. I'm trying to sort out all of my ideas, because honestly I don't even know where this story is going. I probably won't update for a few days – I know, I know, I'm sorry! – because I'm going out of town again. I'll try to get new chapters up as soon as possible. Anyway, here is chapter eleven!
I woke up to Niall planting kisses on my neck.
"Good morning, princess."
I smiled and sat up. "Morning… and oh my god, my hair." I could see myself in the mirror, and my hair was a mess. But there was also something else. I got out of bed and moved closer to the mirror, examining myself. Yep, there it was. A hickey. Right on my neck. It was super visible. "Niall!"
"Sorry." He shrugged. "Guess I wasn't thinking."
I groaned, picking up a pillow from the floor and throwing it at him. "I'm not going to be able to cover this with makeup! This is SO embarrassing… Did I bring anything that can hide this? Maybe a scarf…" I began digging through my suitcase.
"Nat, relax. Today is a chill day. We don't have to go anywhere," he assured me. "We can just stay here and watch a movie or something."
"Fine." I closed my suitcase and moved back to the bed. "I'm still kind of tired, anyway… Niall, stop smirking, I didn't mean it like that!" I punched his arm playfully.
"Whatever. I'm hungry, you want anything?" he offered, picking up the phone to order room service.
"Sure. Get me whatever you're getting." I started flipping through Movies on Demand. "Oh look, they have The Vow! I haven't seen that yet… it has Channing Tatum in it…"
He groaned. "A chick flick?"
"Alright, we don't have to watch it… I just kind of wanted to see it. Maybe next time."
"No, no, we can watch it. I'll survive."
"Yay!" I purchased the movie, and soon enough, the room service arrived too. "Jesus Christ, Niall, how much food did you get?"
"I dunno." He shrugged, handing me a plate of waffles, which I happily accepted.
After a few hours of Channing Tatum's sexiness and extreme girly romantic storyline, the movie ended.
"Aw, that was cute," I commented.
"Yeah… the ending sucked, though."
"You actually watched it?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"What else was I going to do?" he defended. "Besides, it was a pretty good movie."
I nodded in agreement. "I think I'm going to take a shower real quick, then maybe we can hang out with the boys?"
"Sure. I'll call Liam," Niall offered. "He mentioned something about wanting all of us to chill in his room for a while."
"Sounds good."
When I got out of the shower, I quickly blow-dried my hair and put it up in a high ponytail. I decided to wear a simple red t-shirt, jean shorts, and sparkly white flats. For jewelry and makeup, I kept it pretty simple – silver hoop earrings, a white ribbon on top of my ponytail, some mascara, and my favorite pink lip gloss.
"Alright, I think I'm ready to go," I said finally.
"Cool, Liam's room is right down the hall." He took my hand and led me out the door.
"We're here!" I exclaimed as we walked into the room. Everyone else was already there… except for Eleanor. "Hey, where's El?"
"Gone." Louis sounded heartbroken.
Harry sighed. "She broke up with him this morning."
"What?" I rushed over to Louis and gave him a big hug. "Why would anyone break up with you? You're such an amazing person!"
"I dunno… she said that she wanted to just be friends. The generic saying, you know? No real reason," Louis explained, sniffling. His eyes were puffy and red from tears. "I just… I just loved her, Nat. A lot."
"Aw, baby, that's terrible." I pulled him closer to me. "I'll go buy you some ice cream. How does that sound? Then we can rant about how heartless women can be."
"Ok. Thank you." A small smile formed on his lips.
"No problem, sweetie. Niall, do you mind coming with me to the store? I don't want to walk alone."
"Sure."
When we were at the store, Niall started asking me odd questions. "So, um… you and Louis are pretty close now, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. He's like the baby brother I never had. Except… he's older… well, you know what I mean." I shrugged. "Why?"
"I just want to make sure you don't still have that celebrity crush on him," he admitted, blushing. "I dunno."
"Nialler, don't be silly. Sure, Louis is a good friend, but that's it. You're the one who has a special place in my heart." I kissed him on the cheek. "Come on, let's get this ice cream back to Lou."
He beamed. "Alright."
A few tubs of ice cream later, I think Louis was starting to feel a little better.
"Hey, just remember, one day you're going to find a girl who loves you and understands you. And maybe it just wasn't meant to be Eleanor," I assured him.
"You know, Nat, you've really helped me a lot." He scooped up more ice cream. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'm always here for you, Lou." I pulled him into another hug.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything." I looked into his eyes. "What's up?"
"You do realize you have a huge hickey on your neck, right? And you went out in public… with your hair pulled back…" He cringed.
"Oh, SHIT." My hand flew up to my neck. "I forgot. I'm an idiot."
"It happens." Louis waved his hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it. But anyway, that means you and Niall are getting pretty serious, huh?"
I blushed. "Um."
"He's good for you, Nat. You're very lucky."
It was quiet for a while. I guess it was true – Louis could be very mature if he wanted to be. It was nice.
"I have another question," Louis said, breaking the silence.
"Go for it, Tommo."
"Have you talked to Paisley recently?"
"Huh?" I gave him a weird look. "No. Don't you remember, she lied to me. She hurt me."
"Hmm." He nodded like he understood. "You two were inseparable when you were still friends, though. Don't you miss that?"
"A little," I confessed.
"You should call her. Have an honest conversation with her. Maybe it was just a mistake. I mean, it did look like you had moved on from your ex. I think this is mainly just jealousy." He looked at me sternly. "You should be the bigger person and sort this out."
"…You're right." I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "I guess I could call her." I quickly dialed her number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Pay. It's Natalie," I said nervously.
"Hey." She sounded uncertain.
Well, this was awkward. "So, listen…"
"Nat, PLEASE forgive me. I was a total bitch, and I'm sorry. I broke up with Dylan. I miss you!" she begged.
I sighed. "It's ok, Paisley. I forgive you. I miss you too. Can we just forget this happened?" I was surprised at how glad I was to hear her voice.
"THANK THE LORD JESUS!" Paisley shouted into the phone. "So, how is everything? I mean, I've seen pictures online, but I want to hear it from you. Are you having fun?"
"Pictures?"
"Well, yeah. What do you think paparazzi do all day?" She laughed. "None are too bad, though. Nothing weird or anything."
I laughed too. "Good."
"Damn, girl, I wish I was there with you!"
"Really? Maybe I could get you a plane ticket." I glanced at Louis, who gave me a thumbs up. "Yeah, I can definitely get you a plane ticket."
"Shut up, no way!" she squealed. "Oh my god, yes! Can you really?"
"Sure. I'll have the boys work that out tonight so you can get here soon. I'll see you soon!"
"Thanks so much! You're the best!"
I hung up the phone. "Louis Tomlinson, I have decided that you are always right, and I will never doubt you again."
"I know," he said smugly, grinning.
I think I fell asleep on the couch that night watching America's Next Top Model with Louis. I honestly have no idea where everyone else went, I wasn't really paying attention. All I know is that when I woke up, Niall and Louis were there. And they were talking about me. I guess they didn't know I was awake yet.
"It just seems like you're flirting with her sometimes," Niall stated. "I don't like it, Louis."
"Niall, I promise I'm not trying to steal her away from you. I've got lots of ladies lined up to take El's place. Trust me." Ah, good old Lou. Back to his immature self.
"I dunno, man. I'm keeping my eye on you. I just don't want to lose her."
Louis groaned. "Jesus Christ, Niall, believe me when I say Natalie is totally in love with you. Can't you see it?"
"Really?" Niall seemed pleased.
"Yes, really. She IS your girlfriend, after all. Come on, mate, have a little confidence."
Alright, I think it's safe to intervene now. "Morning, boys."
"Natalie!" Niall gave me a hug. "Good morning, princess. Have a good sleep?"
"Yeah." I yawned. "Listen, Louis got a plane ticket for Paisley. We sorted things out last night on the phone, and I invited her to come with us. I hope that's ok."
"That's great!" he exclaimed. "She was fun to be around. I just hope Harry will be ok with it…"
"Oh…" I forgot about that. "Well, maybe Harry can forgive her too. I dunno. I don't like dealing with drama."
"Hey, I was thinking," Niall began, "Remember when you said you wanted to sing a duet with me? Well, today is another free day… how about now?"
I smiled. "That sounds awesome."
I just want to say I LOVE YOU people for reading and reviewing. You're the best, keep it up :) xx
