Chapter Twenty-Six – The Hobbit

Sydney's POV

"Sydney, we have a surprise for you," Niall said, the entire group of boys surrounding him.

"And what would that be?" I asked, leaning back in my seat.

"Well, we're arriving in L.A. today and we know these past few weeks have been difficult for you and we're so proud that you joined us again and are being so strong," he continued.

Harry cut in, "Yes, yes, we're very proud. Anyway, we would like to present to you one ticket to the premiere of… drum roll please." Everyone smacked their hands against their legs until Harry held up his palm to stop them. "The Hobbit!"

They all looked at me with big grins as they awaited my response. "Is this a joke?" I asked, standing up.

"Of course not honey," Louis said as he grabbed my hand. "We all know how much you love the book and the entire trilogy, so we decided to get you a ticket while we're here!"

"Well, thanks, but do I have to go alone?" I asked, my face was concerned with the humility.

"No, Harry here would never have let that happen," Zayn intruded. "He's almost as nerdy about it as you are."

I looked at Harry, "Really?"

"Yeah," he began. "When I was younger I used to have all sorts of posters up in my room. Frodo Baggins was my best mate."

"Frodo?" I snorted. "We both know it is all about Aragorn."

"Aragorn, schmaragorn. If anything I thought you would like Frodo too because you're about the size of a hobbit!"

With this I leaped at Harry, crashing into Zayn as he ducked out of the way. We all laughed as the flight attendant gave us a dirty look for causing such a ruckus. As we moved back to our seats I looked at Louis, "Will you be my date?"

"Of course I will, babe. Just make sure you wear heels, because I promise you there will be more hobbit jokes; many of them coming from yours truly." He winked, sitting in the seat next to mine.

I glared at him, but burst into laughter. We shared a quick kiss before I cuddled up to him. We stayed like this for about twenty minutes until I shot straight up, gasping, "I have nothing to wear!"

"Theresa, come on, we're going to be late!" I yelled as I finished putting the hotel key into my bag.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she sighed as she shut off the bathroom light and grabbed her shoes. I waited as she put them onto her feet and stood up. The nearly fell flat on her face when doing so. Theresa wasn't very used to wearing heels, but I told her that if she didn't wear them to something like this she would end up being talked about for being too casual.

Eventually she was ready and we exited the room. The boys were all waiting outside the door, goofing off as usual. They didn't see us so I let out a cough.

"Oh!" Liam said, stopping whatever shenanigans they were doing. "Shush, Danielle's calling." He went off to the side and started talking to her.

Louis turned to me. "Wow, Syd. You know, you make this whole not being able to ravage you in public thing really difficult when you dress like this. You're too fit."

I chuckled, "Well shucks, but I think you can manage." I went up to him and wrapped my hands around his next. We stood there rubbing noses and smiling at each other until Liam finally joined us again.

"Danielle will be here in about five minutes," he said, wrapping his arm around Niall's shoulder.

"Ryan just text me the same thing," Theresa said, typing away on her phone.

I looked over to her, "He's going to be really happy to see you tonight. You look absolutely stunning." I saw her cheeks turn a crimson color as the boys all agreed with me. She had been having a hard time dealing with the long-distance relationship they were going through. She constantly worried that he was going to get tired of waiting for her, but Liam helped her with that. It was nice that the boys were so easy to confide in. Each of them had something that we could relate to. Liam was there when we had relationship trouble, Niall was there when we felt unnecessary, Zayn was there when you just needed someone to watch old movies with, Harry was there to have those deep conversations at two in the morning, and Louis was there for a pick-me-up.

"Syd, will you come over here for a minute?" Louis said as he pulled my hand to the corner of the hall away from everyone. No one noticed as they continued on with their obnoxiously loud conversation.

"What is it Lou?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"I want to give you something." He said, reaching in his pocket.

His hands now contained a small velvet box. He opened the box to reveal a beautiful aquamarine ring. I was in shock of how beautiful it was, but apparently my facial expression gave away my other concern.

"Don't worry; it's not an engagement ring. More like a promise ring. I think that's what you Americans call it. It's a promise that no matter what happens; I'm going to be here for you. It's your birthstone. I saw you eyeing it when we went shopping in Paris and bought it right before I got on the plane to come see you." He explained, pushing the ring onto my middle finger.

"Lou, it's beautiful." I began to tear up as I watched the ring sparkle.

I felt his knuckle grace the tear streaming down my face, "Baby, stop, you're going to ruin your makeup."

"I can't help it, it's just so beautiful and sweet and I love you so much," I exclaimed, throwing myself into his arms.

"I love you too, now come on, Danielle and Ryan are here!" I turned to go over to them when all of a sudden Louis' legs wrapped themselves around my torso. "Charge!" He screamed as I struggled to move an inch in my heels to where our harem was gathered. I eventually just collapsed to the ground and stayed there until Louis scooped me up into his arms. "I'm sorry babe, I couldn't resist."

He set me down next to Theresa who was currently throwing herself onto Ryan. "Ugh, get a room," I teased smiling. This caused both of them to blush and move away from one another. "Guys, I'm totally kidding. Have sex for all I care."

All the boys laughed at me and I shared a quick greeting with Danielle before we headed out. "Perrie is going to meet us there," Zayn said as he clapped his swinging hands together.

"Oh, finally going public, mate?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, we figured that it's about time. I mean, even though everyone pretty much already knows." He replied, shrugging.

"We're happy for you, man." Niall said, patting his shoulder.

It was then silent until we got downstairs. The girls were all screaming, like usual, even before they saw the boys. I thought it was sweet that they were so dedicated, but the crowd was ridiculous. It didn't help that Danielle and I were with Liam and Louis. Some girls seemed to get a little more aggressive when we were there, and I didn't find that necessary. I had also seen about twice the amount of breasts since Louis and I started dating. I felt as though it was because they were trying to get him to look at them or something. However, he tried to keep his eyes locked on me whenever that happened.

We were pushed and shoved around and I was lucky that Paul was right next to me to make sure someone didn't pull my hair like the last time. It took about twenty minutes to get to the car, which couldn't have been parked more then a hundred feet from the exit. Ryan, Theresa, Harry, Louis, and I all got in one car while Liam, Danielle, Niall, and Zayn were in the other. Once we were in everyone took turns straightening the boys' ties, replacing bobby pins, and whatnot.

"I really want to thank you guys again for doing this; it's the second best surprise you guys have ever given me." I said, smiling.

"She read the entire book last night, I don't think she ever went to sleep," Theresa said, laughing.

"I wanted to refresh my memory of it! I mean, what if they ask me questions or something?" I validated myself.

"The only question they're going to ask you is either about the boys, about your dress, or random fact questions." She said, pursing her lips.

"I just wanted to be prepared."

It was then silent for another ten minutes until we made it to the venue. The door to the car opened and Harry was the first one to step out. When Louis and I emerged holding hands I was awestruck. Ten feet from me stood Orlando Bloom and I could see Jennifer Aniston walking the red carpet. There were so many people and I felt so honored to be invited.

I noticed that Zayn had met up with Perrie and were walking over to us. Paul gathered the entire group and began to talk, "Okay, so the media is going to want pictures of just the boys and just Perrie and just you girls. So the plan is to let the boys go first, then Perrie will walk with Danielle and Sydney and Theresa will follow. When we all get to the gate over there then Ryan can join and you guys can either become a group or be in pairs or whatever. Just be smart with what you say, okay?"

We all nodded as he slid some sunglasses on his face. Louis gave me a light kiss on the forehead, "I'll see you in a little bit, babe." I smiled at him and he turned to walk away.

Theresa and I waited for about five minutes before we emerged onto the carpet. It was crazy. There were so many flashes and so many voices; I couldn't even hear myself think. Before I knew it we were being beckoned.

"Vaalea, can we talk to you?" A woman with big curly hair and a red suit on asked. Theresa and I walked over to her and shook hands with her.

"Hi, I'm Michelle Deen from USA Today. So it's very well known that you two have spent half of the year with British heartthrobs One Direction. Now, we have to ask, are the boys genuine to the world?"

"If by genuine you mean normal teenage boys, then yes. They're just as crazy as they appear." Theresa answered.

"And what about you Sydney, how has your relationship with Louis effected the dynamic of all of you?" Michelle asked, leaning in closer to me.

"Honestly, he and I were pretty much best friends from the start. So it hasn't really been that different. Plus everyone is so supportive of us; they wouldn't let anything change our friendship." I responded, trying to be as eloquent as possible.

"That's very nice of the boys. Our next question is something I'm pretty sure every girl has been wondering. Have you slept with any of the boys yet?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't think that's any of their business," Theresa interjected and pulled me away back into the crowd. "Well, that was forward."

I only nodded in response as we continued to walk. I couldn't help but wonder how they would spin that, and if Louis was getting asked the same questions.

I was relieved when we finally caught up to everyone. Ryan joined the group again and I wrapped my arms around Louis when he wasn't looking.

"Hey Syd," he chuckled, turning around. "So bad were they?"

I laughed in response, "It depends on what you count as bad. Mean? No. But they did ask me about sex, so."

"Blimey, I hate the media sometimes. They have no respect for anyone's privacy."

"Word."

"What?"

"It's an American thing, don't worry about it. Now say privacy again. Your accent amuses me."

"Privacy."

I laughed as people snapped photos of him and I. We smiled and looked like the perfect couple, and we were. I was so in love with him, something I never thought would happen. I couldn't believe I never realized it. I looked into his eyes and wanted so bad to never look away. However a tap on the shoulder broke the stare.

"Hey, would you like to take a photo with me? I'm a big fan."

I turned to see Elijah Wood standing right next to me.

"You, you, you know who I am?" I stuttered.

"Of course I do, your music is awesome."

"Thanks. I'm a big fan too!"

"Well thank you. So how about that photo?"

"Of course!" I took a step towards him as he wrapped his arm around my waist. She smiled at the cameras as they all shouted at us to look at them. Eventually we pulled away.

"Hey, I'd love to chat sometime. Give me your number and I'll call you." He said, pulling out his phone. I gave him my number and said goodbye.

I went back over to Louis who was keeping a watchful eye. "What was that about?" He asked, grabbing my hand.

"Nothing, he just wanted to take a picture and said he'd call me sometime." I replied.

I thought nothing of it until Louis was silent. I figured he would make some hobbit joke, but he didn't. I knew when Louis wasn't joking that there was something wrong. I swallowed and dreaded the conversation that was going to have to take place tonight.