Chapter Twenty-Two – Paris

Sydney's POV

My eyes opened when the sunlight peered its way through the window pane. I could feel Louis' breath on my neck as I rolled over to face him. His arms still tangled themselves around my body and my blurred vision made his face seem faint and distant. The sun was draped across his face, emphasizing the beauty in his jaw line. I slowly slid my glasses onto my face so that I could better make out his features. The short stubble of his chin stuck out like a porcupine and begged to be shaved. His eyelashes were straight, mixing together with the two separate rows. His lips curved into a pout, beckoning me. I couldn't help myself as I pressed my lips to his and enjoyed the sensation that pulsed throughout my body.

This sudden motion startled him and he shot up, his head smacking against the bed above us.

"Morning sunshine," I giggled, stroking the back of his head. He grumbled a greeting and rolled out of the bed, rubbing his eyes. I stood up too and wrapped my hands around his neck.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked, looking around. The entire bus was deserted and we were in a parking terminal. He shrugged and went comb his hair. I spied a note sitting on the table and bounded over to it.

I began to read aloud, "Dear lovebirds, we got to Paris at about midnight and didn't want to wake you two, you just looked so cozy. There's an extra key here to Harry's room…" there was a winking smiley face that I could tell was written in by Harry's chicken scratch handwriting. The note continued, "…for if you guys want to come into the hotel. Sound check for tonight is at four, so don't be late. Also, don't get pregnant. Love, Theresa, Liam, Harry, Zayn, and Niall." I set the note back down as Louis' arms once again wrapped around my waist, this time from behind. He slumped down to place his chin on my shoulder and began to speak, "So, what do you want to do today, love?"

"I don't know," I replied. "But I think whatever it is, requires me to put pants on first," I laughed as I spied the shorts I managed to wiggle off in the middle of the night.

"Well, not necessarily," Louis winked, smacking my bum.

I hit him on the shoulder and walked over to the bed. I picked up my shorts and was about to slide into them when I decided to just completely change and do my hair.

"Hey, I'm going to go to Harry's room to shower and get ready, so you can have the bus, meet you back here in an hour?" I asked, grabbing the key on the table.

"Sounds good," he said, popping a piece of toast in his mouth. With that, I slid some cotton shorts over my hips and grabbed a change of clothes.

It took me about five minutes to make my way out of the parking garage and into the hotel. Once I found Harry's room, I slid the key in the door and waited for the little light to turn green. Once it granted my entrance, I turned the handle and allowed the light to enter the cave of a room he was in. I looked at a clock for the first time and realized it was ten in the morning and Harry needed to get his butt up. I walked over to the curtains and flung them open, allowing the sunlight to fill the entire room. I only heard a grumble from Harry as he rolled over so that his face was in the pillow.

I set my clothes on an available chair and moved to the bed. I climbed as stealthily as I could atop the bed and then began my attack. Jumping up and down, I landed on Harry's appendages multiple times. I began to sing, "Harold Styles, it's time to get up!" He let out a loud moan as my butt landed directly on his back. "Get up, curly," I yelled, springing off the bed. He eventually sat up and looked at me, disgust welling up in his eyes.

He rubbed his hand across his face, "I'm assuming last night went well?"

I nodded vigorously and smiled from ear to ear.

"Spill it," he said, pushing me down into a chair.

An hour had passed by the time I told Harry the story and finished doing my hair and makeup. I headed towards the bus again, a big grin still spread across my face. As I pulled open the door to the bus, I saw Louis through the window. He waltzed around the bus, singing as he did so. The sound of his voice made my heart swoon and melt in my chest. I was reluctant to interrupt him, but I just wanted his arms around me again.

As I walked up the stairs his head whipped around and caught me. A small giggle escaped my lips as he stared at me like a deer in the headlights with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

"What are you laughing at, cheeky?" He asked, grabbing the toothbrush.

"Oh nothing," I replied. "Just this here fool."

"You watch it," he warned, taking a step closer to me.

I took one more step towards him and closed the gap between us, my chest touching his stomach, "Oh really? And what if I don't watch it?"

Before I knew it I found myself flipped over Louis' shoulder. I laughed even harder as I remembered the first time this happened, this first day we met. However, this time I allowed myself to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. I kicked and screamed until I was exhausted and began to plead with him, "What do I have to do to get you to put me down?"

"I don't know," he smirked.

"I'll do your laundry for two months." I bargained.

"You already do my laundry."

"Dangit. Well, no more Mr.-nice-Sydney. If you don't put me down, we can't be friends anymore."

With this he slowly lowered me down to the ground, a sad look in his eyes.

"You can't fool me, Tomlinson," I taunted. "I win!" I stood on my tip toes and planted a short kiss on his lips. We both smiled at each other for a minute before he broke the silence, "So what do you want to do today?"

"Well, we're in Paris, let's go shopping!" I squealed.

"As you wish," he smiled and went to grab my jacket.

I slipped the supple leather jacket over my shoulders as I exited the bus, my purse in one hand and Louis' hand in the other. We weren't very far from the center of town, so it was a short walk to the first store we entered. It was a little boutique filled with over-priced items. I still was in awe of the beautiful fabric placed in front of me. I couldn't help but touch everything I saw, leaving no attention for Louis.

By the time I had looked at everything in the shop an entire hour went by, "Whoops! Looks like I lost track of time. I'm sorry, babe."

Louis laughed, "Its fine, you're really cute when you see something you like. Your eyes get all big and you raise your eyebrows and your mouth turns into an 'O' shape."

"That must me what it's like when I look at you, because I really like you," I winked.

"Woah, looks like Prince Charming just walked into the room," he joked.

I smirked, "You know, if I was a guy, I would have the ladies all over me. I'm just so smooth!"

"Like a baby's bum." At this we both snorted and were hunched over due to the pain of laughter. We exited the shop after about ten people gave us dirty looks. I didn't even realize we were in public as I skipped down the street, Louis' hand never leaving my own. I was ignorant to reality, until I saw the flash. Once again he and I were caught in an incriminating position by the paparazzi. I supposed it was only a matter of time and that it was lucky there weren't any fans around, all most likely camping outside of the venue.

I quickly dropped his hand and turned to face him. "What?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The guy, you know, taking to pictures, of us."

"What about him?"

"Do we want the world to know yet?"

"I don't care if the world knows, I just care that I really want to hold your hand right now and you're stopping that from happening."

I crossed my arms and looked at him, tears started to well up in my eyes. He motioned for me to follow him and I did, my eyes fixed on the heels of his feet.

We soon made our way into a small coffee shop and sat down. He ordered some coffee and I sat there, still not saying a word. When the waiter brought us our drinks he gave me a sympathetic look, "Cheer up, buttercup." This caused me to smile a little as he handed me the warm brew. As he walked away Louis looked at me, his eyes never leaving mine.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "What are you afraid of?"

"That's a very hard question to answer," I quibbled. "There are a lot of things wrong, and there are a lot of things I'm afraid of. Like birds, I'm terrified of birds."

"Sydney, you know what I mean."

"Fine, if you must know, I'm still terrified that the world is going to hate me. I can't help but go on Twitter and Tumblr and read what your fans say about me. Yeah, sure, some people say things about me being pretty or talented or whatever, but the majority is them saying that it shouldn't have been me and that I'm just distracting you. So, if we add this on top of it, they'll hate me even more."

I began to sob as he reached across the table and put my hands into his.

"Sydney, you can't worry about this. I am completely and utterly certain that you're making this much worse then it actually is. So please, please, don't listen to them and just do what you want to. Because when it comes down to it, they'll come and go. But I want to stay forever."

"You're really cheesy," I replied, tears still streaming down my face.

"I know." He smiled. "Now let's go, we've got an hour before sound check and you look really bad."